The Garden

Last week we finally got started on our garden. With all the  nice weather we've had it's been tempting to get out there earlier, but I decided to follow my gardening book's advice and plant things when they were supposed to be planted. And given that it might frost here tonight, I'm glad I did. After clearing out last seasons plants we spread some carrot, radish, and spinach seeds in large blocks. When the time is right we'll add some tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and watermelon. I'm SOOO excited to try to grow watermelon. 

Last fall I planted some tulip bulbs in a little corner of our plot so we would have something growing in the spring. I love tulips. Lily likes to try to pat them gently and smell them. She loves going down to the garden in general. She has her own little watering can that she uses and a little set of gardening tools from my aunt and uncle (Hi Boisses!). It's a little tough to keep her from trampling on the dirt, but she's only 25 pounds, I figure she can't do that much damage. 

We planted this strawberry plant last year. It was called a long-season strawberry plant. It grew exactly three strawberries last year and then proceeded to just spread and spread and spread. Well, it came back this year and there a TONS of blooms on it. I am super excited to see if we get to eat any of the strawberries this year. Our lavender bush is still going strong. And I was surprised to see that a few of our chard plants survived as well. So we harvested some for a delicious side dish (recipe below). We're going to pull those plants out in a bit because that's where we're going to plant the melons. 

And here is our little indoor garden. On top we have potted basil, mint, and african violets. Underneath we are sprouting peppers and broccoli in the little greenhouse. Lily's Valentine strawberry seedlings are doing pretty well, too. And on the bottom is a tiny fern that I've done my best to kill, but it keeps chugging along. Lily really likes to help me water all of the plants and sometimes she just goes and stands nearby gazing at them. As much as I miss our cat, Duncan, having a cat-free house means you can have way more plants inside and I'm enjoying that. 

So that's our garden this year. There will be many more updates as things start to actually grow. 

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Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese (from AllRecipes.com)

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 small red onion, diced (we used green onions because that's what we had)
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste (I would recommend using less than this much)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chard stems and the white wine. Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.

I think this would be delicious if you tossed in some pancetta, too.