The Garden

One of the best feelings of spring...

The garden is in. I wish the bulbs bloomed longer, but it was time to cut them down and get the veggie garden going. It feels good to have tomato plants, romaine, jalapeno & herbs from Berberian Farm in Northborough (plants starting at .50!) in our little garden plot. The work has begun. My Mother's Day rose bush is in a pot with some trailing vinca. The bright pink hanging geranium I found at Home Depot for $5 makes me smile, as do the perennials that are actually showing up (I'm always happily surprised when they do). Thank you to my little helpers, Caroline & Wesley. The garden is IN!

The garden story of the season is my chives. Remember the ice storm? I had my herb planter on the railing of our little deck. The wind from the storm knocked the planter on it's side on the deck floor. Winter's snow kept the planter buried. When the snow thawed I forgot about the planter since it was still too early to plant my herb garden. One day in March I looked out the kitchen door window and there was the chive plant growing sideways, but growing strong. I picked the planter up and set it back on the railing, trimming it a couple times when chives were needed in the kitchen. Fresh cut chives smell so good! Today was the first day I attempted to arrange the planter. It has been overcast & it even rained once I got the garden in...nice, huh?! I wonder how long it will take for my chives to straighten up? Maybe a good dose of sunshine will do the trick. For now, I've got a trailing chive plant & now you know how you can grow one too:D.

I {heart} perennials, my plants that actually grow, my little garden of hope & work... HOMEGROWN, and SPRING.

Memories of my Grandma's Garden-by Ama

One of the purposes of our family blog is to share stories of inspiration found in our family history.  

*The following thoughts were recorded by Teresa Brower Timms (Ama)

Grandma had the most magnificent flower and vegetable gardens at her home in Blackfoot, Idaho. She took great pride and care of both gardens.  She had several long rows of strawberries, which we as grandchildren were welcome to raid at any time.  She also grew gooseberry's with which she made my brother Bruces's favorite pie.  Her string beans were sweet and often picked fresh and eaten raw by all of us, as were the peas.  She even grew rhubarb and asparagus along the banks of the irrigation ditch that ran across the back of the yard.  Meals at Grandma's house were a cornucopia of variety and indescribable taste, my favorite being new red potatoes and peas in a cream sauce.  She cared so meticulously for her gardens.  One could NEVER find a weed in her gardens.  She crawled on her knees up and down the rows pulling out the teeniest of weeds and putting them in a gunny sack which she carried with her.  One of my favorite breakfast treats at Grandma's was a bowl of fresh raspberries which she would go out early and pick for her grand children's enjoyment.  We would always go home with bags full of fruits and veggies - the rest she would can or make frozen jam with.  Her vegetable garden took up 95% of her backyard.

The side yard was planted with rows of a huge variety of flowers - the smallest flowers, which were blue Bachelor Buttons, closet to the grass, graduating to several rows of tall Hollyhocks,  Hibiscus and Gladiolas of all colors, in the back, which lined the neighbors driveway - a fence of flowers.  This flower garden was as big as her vegetable garden.   Florists would come to Grandma, when they ran short of flowers in their shops, and Grandma would give them flowers.  She always had us help her cut flowers and take them to her neighbors and also to church to put next to the pulpit.  I remember how each time we'd visit, during the blooming season, Grandma would have us help her cut flowers and we'd go out to the cemetery to put flowers on her daughter, Hazel's, grave.  Grandpa hand crafted special vases which he put into the cement on both sides of the headstone. This way they were out the way of the maintenance men and would be left on the grave all week, until new ones were put on.  Grandma took great care to wash out the vases each week and then arrange the flowers in them.  This simple act of tenderness taught me to love an aunt I did not have the blessing of knowing.  After she would tend to her daughter's grave she would then help us take flowers over to my Uncle Wesley's grave, where another set of hand crafted vases were in place and we would repeat "caring" for his grave.

One of my favorite Primary songs growing up was, "Grandmother's Old-Fashioned Garden".  It always reminded me of my Grandma.  It was composed and written by Mildred T Pettit, who also wrote "I Am A Child of God'.

    My grandmother has a garden, old fashioned and quaint as can be.
    The flowers so rare, that none can compare,
    Neath the plum and the apricot and cherry tree.
    Would you like me to show you the garden?
    Then follow me now and we'll go...
    'Round the old grapevine arbor, back of the walk,
    Where the birds and the butterflies and flowers grow.

    The Daisies and Lilies are telling of grandmother's kind tender care.
    Sweet William and peas, Heliatrope and Heartsease, 
    And Violets, modest tho' fragrant and fair.
    I still long for my Grandmother's garden;
    With Hollyhocks, stately and tall....
    And sometime in my dreams I see her, it seem,
    My dear grandmother standing there closing to the wall.

    In my grandmother's old fashioned garden,
    There are flowe'rs of ev'ry hue.....
    Daffodils, Pansies and Hyacinths and old fashioned pinks are there too...
    I belong to my Grandmother's...
    I was picked from the family tree;
    So out in my Grandmother's old fashioned garden,
    If you come there you will find me.

~Ama

Today's harvest & 2 family favorite recipes

Thomas' friend, Ben, did a fabulous job of tending our little garden while we were off criss-crossing the USA.  We came home and our tomatoes were growing so well.  The tomatoes are still green, but there are growing in abundance.  Note to self: put the tomato cages up when you plant.  I recruited all of my little helpers today to help me get the cages around our tomatoes so they can grow tall and thrive.  Together we got the job done.

While Thomas was helping me set up a tomato cage we related it to the gospel.

mom: What's the purpose of the tomato cage?

Thomas: To help the tomatoes grow tall and strong.

mom: How can we relate the cage to the gospel?  What about the gospel helps us grow tall and strong and be the best we can be?

Thomas:  The scriptures, the prophet, teachers, prayer, repentance....

mom: Each of those things could be like a piece of the cage, all of which help us be our best, meaning who God created us to be.

Thomas: Yeah.

Caroline helped me clean our first crop: scallions.
 
They look yummy and smell so good.  My first thought was potato salad, but my waistline wouldn't appreciate that.  Diet can start tomorrow, right?  I asked Caroline what we should use the green onions for and she said, "Onion salad."  I asked her what's in onion salad, and she said, "Onions, carrots & celery."  Of course!

Wayne's steak tip marinade for his Camp Joseph meat/veggie kabobs sound like a great, healthy option for our scallions...maybe with some potato salad on the side:)

Wayne's Camp Joseph Beef Kabob Merinade:

1/2 Cup olive oil, 1/3 Cup Soy sauce, 4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2, 2 large garlic cloves, minced, 1/4 Cup lime juice, 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 3 Tbsp. brown sugar.  Put all ingredients in blender and puree.  Pour into a large Freezer Zip-loc bag along with about 3 pounds cubed serloin tips.  Merinade for several hours.  Grill with veggies of choice.

Grandma Ellsworth's Potato Salad:

Note:  After tasting several sisters' renditions of this salad, I realize that my pouring pickle juice liberally from the jar makes for a rather pickley, less creamy potato salad.  I had no idea you could ease up and make this salad creamy.  So, just an option to remember.  I think my mom liked pickles too, because I never had a creamy version of this salad until I tasted my sister-in-laws' versions.  I was fascinated:)  You know, the more I talk about this salad, the better it sounds!

Another Note: I come from a family of 12.  This recipe served all of us easily.

Dressing:

1 Cup mayo

1 Cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped green onions

6-8 chopped pickles

salt and pickle juice to taste (like I said, I'm liberal at this point, but the salad will be creamier if you're not as pickle crazy as I am)

Mix together and chill in refrigerator.

Salad:

9-12 boiled potatoes (I use 12 if they are small/med. red potatoes & less if they are larger potatoes), chopped

8 hard boiled egg, chopped

Let potatoes and eggs cool a bit.  Add dressing.  Mix.  Chill.  Serve.

In the garden

My little gardening buddy, Caroline was up bright and early with me this morning puttering around outside.  I love working with her in the garden.  We have a few bald spots on our lawn, and Caroline carefully spread grass seeds and watered them.  We did a little weeding, planted another hydrangea, and cleaned up the herb garden.  The nasturtium is brilliant!  I love how it spills over. In the center container, there is arugula surrounded by purple pansies. The arugula is one of my favorite new garden attempts this year. I'm excited to throw it in chicken Caesar salad.