Happy Summer!!!! It is official in the northern hemisphere. Coming in hot here today. Still feels pretty decent out so far this AM, but it will be getting hot later on.
So today I am wondering, when was the last time you thanked a green plant? LOL
Plants are so much more than just plants. They give us shade, they give us beauty, they give us food, and they give nature shelter.
We all know they help put oxygen back into the atmosphere. They turn carbon dioxide into oxygen.
They help control erosion.
They help control temperature. Walk in the woods and it is cooler. Shade your home and it is cooler.
They help build topsoil. As they die and rot, they turn back into earth - which in turn makes it better for plants.
They make people happier when looking at them. Yes, looking at plants and vegetation tends to lift our moods.
There are so many things we just don't give plants credit for. They do so much good for the earth.
So they next time you walk outside and look around at all the pretty plants - say "thank you".
"Grow"ceries - is what I am now calling garden!!!!!! Oh, things are sure popping up and out. I love it. How wonderful is it to be able to walk out in your yard or to your deck and pick fresh, nutritious and lovely "grow"ceries!!!!!!! It is fantastic.
There is nothing you can buy at a grocery store that can compare. Yes, we can buy fresh and nutritious from farm markets and roadside stands - but it still won't be as fresh as your backyard!!!
I looked this morning and there is a zucchini about 3" long!!!!! Tons of blooms. The cucumbers are growing and blooming like crazy.
Rhubarb is doing great. Raspberries - meh, they never do very good. They always look like they will - then I get disappointed.
I have thyme growing. There is purslane - yes, I do use it. Many think it is a weed, and I guess it is. But it is great when added to salads. Kind of a peppery taste.
I have mint, lemon balm and chives - oh my!
Pepper plants have peppers and the okra is growing leaps and bounds.
Yep, lots of "grow"ceries in the near future.
The flowers and young leaves can be added to salads. You can also cook the leaves and you get the same "thickening" with it that you get with okra - so it would be a nice thickening agent for soups or stews.
Pretty and tasty. That is pretty neat!
Nature can sure be a wonderful thing. I tell you, if I got SUPER hungry - I have tons of pigeons in the area as well. No plans on that - and I would have to be real hungry - but there is always something out there to feed us. I could never harm a squirrel - I know many love it - but they are more like pets to me. But squab would be plentiful!!!!!!!! LOL
I know many of the critters being relocated in the yards would be a food source to many. People have been known to eat about anything that can provide protein.
I guess we just never know what we would do, if very, very hungry.
For now, I will be happy with the garden and herbs. I can't wait to be able to go out an pick and come in and eat the labors of love and all that freshness. I am hoping to plant a fall crop of lettuce - it is just too hot right now.
How do your "grow"ceries grow????
Love hearing about what everyone is growing and harvesting.
My poor "grow"ceries are struggling along. I got them in very late, and the unseasonably hot weather has not helped. I've watched good rainstorms dissipate right before they got here. My water barrels are almost empty. On that pity-party note I'm off to water and put up sheets to shade the peas. Supposed to be 90F w/high humidity today.
ReplyDeleteI got mine in pretty late too. I did not plant cool weather stuff though. I still have some water in barrels - but no real rain in sight to refill! Sad face!
DeleteI hope you get some crops coming on and that they all improve and grow wonderfully!
Stay cool!
Grow-ceries! Love it! This is what folks should be doing instead flowers or plain old grass. I need to go out and check plants to see what is ready. We did trim out some foliage from the squashes so the bees can get in to pollinate and we can actually see what is ready to be harvested. Need to harvest some green onions also. We do have baby green beans on. We have been picking the black raspberries and the red raspberries are slowly ripening. Might do a black raspberry and rhubarb dessert. Tomatoes are plentiful, just still green.
ReplyDeleteLove these cooler mornings!
These morning have been glorious - may come to an end soon - but yes, wonderful.
DeleteMy raspberries never do well - that is so upsetting to me. I love them.
You must have started earlier than most with the garden to have so much coming on. That is fantastic.
Stay cool
Corn, green beans, peas, squash, lettuce, beats, chard all growing with only green onions ready to eat so far. My mom would say a weed is just a perennial gone amuck and another saying - what does not kill will fatten.
ReplyDeleteLucky you - so many goodies growing! Love it.
DeleteShe was right - it is all here to help us. God gave us what we need to survive - we just need to realize it!
You don't realize how much shade comes from one tree until you have to have it cut down!
ReplyDeleteShade is a wonderful thing during hot summer months. --Elise
DeleteLana absolutely. One tree gives so much shade and so much security to animals. It makes a huge difference
DeleteI love the Grow-ceries! Sadly, my garden got in late due to fires, then deer decimated it. I've replanted with what seeds I have, and we are finally getting rain, so I'll make the best of what I get. Thank you for always writing positive, helpful posts. Lynn Ewing
ReplyDeleteI believe I'm not very far from you, Lynn? We're in NE Arizona.
Delete--Elise
Lynn I hope you get some relief - I heard the area was getting some rain. Prayers that you get some wonderful produce and the deer leave it alone.
DeleteGood morning, Cheryl (and all). I was just thinking this morning about those who are blessed NOT to have to worry about big price increases at the grocery store or "shrink-flation". Also thinking about what to plant next year, when we can have a garden if we prepare ahead. "Grow" ceries. I Love it!
ReplyDeleteWe have plenty of trees, but all of them short & shrubby... mostly juniper and cedar. The ground is gritty clay. No grass other than native wild grasses. I did see a wild rabbit racing away the other day, but can't imagine killing and dressing one! Fencing may be in our future. Rain gutters will be installed soon, so rain barrels will be.
Any suggestions about perennials that grow in sunny, arid climates with snow in winter? I won't be planting berries of any kind so as not to invite bears. LOL! --Elise
Now is the time to plan for next year. You will have so much fun with that.
DeleteI sure hope you get the fencing and gutters soon. YES make sure you have a rain barrel or two. I don't much about your area and what would grow well. Hopefully someone on here can help. Nope, I wouldn't be planting anything that might invite bears - oh my!
I was thinking about rhubarb, which my hubby loves, and it has an ornamental effect in gardens (plus wild critters keep away from it), but am thinking it requires a lot of water? Not sure. It grew so well in Ohio. Even in Texas and California. I don't remember it in Colorado, though.
DeleteIt does need a fair amount of water. It has been so dry the past couple weeks - that I watered mine real well last night. It is pretty hardy - so maybe you would have success.
DeleteI like the new name for your garden too and enjoyed looking at the pictures of everything growing. I hope it brings you a lot of joy and produce this summer.
ReplyDeleteLOL - well that is what we are doing - growing groceries - so I figured combine the two!
DeleteMe too! Thanks
What a wonderful post awaited me as I logged on this morning. Love it!!!! Even in small spaces, we can have "grow"ceries. Pup had me up at 5:45 this morning (ugh!!!), but it gave me time to cut back my basil, oregano, parsley, chives, and make my first cutting of dill. It's all in the dehydrator now and my house smells wonderful! My bibb lettuce is ready to have some leaves cut and will provide a wonderful salad for tonite's dinner, with more for the remainder of the week. I've held off cutting swiss chard for the last week, in hopes that it would pick up and grow larger, and it's starting to do so -- it may be ready for cutting again in a couple of days. I have one green bell pepper that's about an inch long, and one tomato and a lot more blooms, red bell peppers are flowering, as are my pickle cucumbers. The snap peas about about 5" long, but so far not producing anything. With the heat wave we're having, I have to watch the soil closely. Yesterday I cut back my philodendron and set it outside to get some light. Wrong move! It was totally dry by mid-afternoon, and numerous leaves had turned black. Guess I baked it a little too long! Hoping it will come back. If not, I've got cuttings soaking. It's of sentimental value, since it was the first plant I at work. It moved with me from my 1980 classroom, to my office in 1986, and through 3 more office relocations, and it came home with me when I retired in 2019. And I attempt to kill it on my deck ... go figure!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your garden is growing nicely! I bet the house does smell wonderful. It is amazing what we can grow in just a little space if necessary.
DeleteOh shucks, I hope your plant makes it. That sun and heat was just too much. Bummer. It is hot and that sun is serious!!!!! Fingers crossed!
Happy first day of summer Cheryl. Enjoy the green!
ReplyDeleteThank you and the same to you!!
DeleteWe got our tiny garden in late, too. A few green tomatoes, but no cukes yet. With my bad knee, it's about all I can handle right now. I do have plans to plant some blackberries on one side, but the soil needs work and the rain made it impossible. Hopefully we can prep it in fall for next spring.
ReplyDeleteElise, in NW Arizona, you should get some monsoon weather so start gathering some buckets! My friend went to NAU and always told me about them and how good the rain felt in summer! I hope they still have them. She was there in the 80s.
I've always loved the trees and such. My grandparents had a little garden of Eden and I loved playing there. I used to imagine living in their big shade tree. I loved climbing up there and even hid little treasures in the branches. And I was always putting little flowers in my hair and using bird of paradise for a fairy wand!! The grass was perfect for playing in the sprinklers and croquet. My only complaint were the big gum trees that the city lined our street with. They looked great and the shade was nice, but they had what we called 'stickerbombs' and those things hurt when being stepped on or getting hit with! Yes, there were 5 nasty boys across that used to throw those at us!!
Nowadays, I appreciate the shade trees even more. And until I saw a real Midwestern storm, I had no idea how much I appreciated thick grass!! I can't even imagine the mess without it! Mud pit, anyone?! We have a little grassy gully that diverts all the water around the house and out to the gutter, which takes it to our neighborhood lake down the street.
Ive never thanked the greenery, but I thank God for it most days!
Hopefully you can amend the soil and get you some berries.
DeleteYour grandparents place sounds neat. Gum trees - YUK! There is one a few doors down and those things get all over the walkway.
I don't think I have ever thanked a tree or greenery either - LOL - but I do thank God as well.
What a neat place earth can be.
Thanks, Debby. We're in the NE part of the state, the White Mountain region, and it looks like the Monsoon is arriving! Dropped the temps by nearly 20 degrees!!! When we lived in Texas, we called those Midwestern thunderstorms a "Texas Dump"... coming down so hard windshield wipers couldn't keep up. Watch out for the hail, too. --Elise
ReplyDeleteThat is a hard rain. Gosh, that sounds kind of frightening - like it could wash things away. I like those nice soft rains - that go on for hours. They seem to be a thing of the past any more. It is always a 'storm', with high winds or hail or some other damaging junk!
DeleteWe are behind because of the cold. It is finally hot here for few days. But I do love my garden. It gives me such joy to grow things.
ReplyDeleteGardens just give us so much more than food. Therapy at its best!!
DeleteIts hot today its 93 and 102 heat index. It feels like a oven on broil. Your garden looks great..a grocery garden is the best thing tongrow.
ReplyDeleteWe got to 95 today - ugh. Too hot for my liking.
DeleteYes, anything we can grow ourselves is a blessing.
I really like the term "growceries". Our garden like others is a bit behind because of cold.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I think there are several of us that got a late start. That is ok - things will burst forth and multiply soon!
DeleteBlessings
Aren't you the clever one...Grow..ceries. Love it! Harvesting fruits and veggies will always be reminded of that. So true!
ReplyDeleteWe are now getting lettuce(heat is starting to do that in), sugar snap peas, peppers, cukes, onions and zucchini. A few red raspberries...don't think there will be many this year. Last year lots of them. Blueberries soon...but they never do very well for us. I think we may have lots of blackberries. Yay!
It is just like having our own little grocery only fresher!
DeleteHeat will do in lettuce pretty quickly. Seems spring and fall are best for that. Sounds like you are doing good. I hope your berries do well. ENJOY!
Squirrels are my gardening nemesis, so I'll cook some up for you. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of lettuce, zucchini, squash, berries, and so very many peppers. Lots of different varieties of peppers to use up! We love using all of our ingredients in dinner. tonight was a tomato basil chicken dish, featuring lots of fresh basil, tomatoes & served on a bed of spaghetti squash. Delish!
No thanks -- I will pass!! LOL
DeleteYou sound like you have a great garden going on. Good for you! Your dinner sounds so yummy - all that freshness. Hoping you get to put a lot up for the winter!
Critters got so much last year, all but a 3 inch squash and one grape tomato, that I am only growing herbs and flowers.
ReplyDelete