Vegetable Homicide

I'm guilty.
  Caught red handed not having a green thumb.
I'll begin at the beginning, since it doesn't make sense to start at the end.
   I have been buzzing about since last summer in excitement of planting my garden. Making lists of all the vegetables I want to include, coming up with cute containers to upcycle as herb pots, surfing the web for inspiration and just plain looking forward to gardening weather. Last summer we lived at home, back in Stephenville and the day I brought home my vegetable plants was the day my husband decided to take another job in another town. I was forced to plant them in pots even though I had spent the better part of two weeks tilling and cultivating the perfect spot in our yard for the garden.
   We made plans to be moved out in a month's time and planned to relocate our wonderful plants when we arrived at the new house. So, I continued to go out in the evenings before dinner and water my vegetable friends and talk with them, encouraging them to grow. My herbs hung out in the shade away from their neighbors, which seemed to suit them as they grew rather quickly. The thyme crawled out of his container and rooted himself along the ground and the basil readied itself to be made into all sorts of wonderful dishes by spreading his broad leaves upwards more and more every day. The dill came to an untimely end as our cattle found it a delicious snack.
   Before I knew it I had baby cucumbers for salads and little jalapenõs sprouting from every branch. The squash arrived soon along with the onions and watermelons. I was surprised at how quickly my little garden had began producing!
   But my pride and joy were my tomato plants. I had researched all sorts of planting techniques before starting my garden and had decided to try planting them horizontally in the ground with only the tops protruding from the soil so that the entire stem could become a firm root system. They were ginormous! The roots (in their small pots, mind you) were almost an inch and a half thick! They sprawled along the ground producing little gems every few inches or so.
   Moving day came and I rounded up my darling vegetable plants with the excitement of finally giving them a new home and putting them in the ground. We set them in a grassy spot next to the house (just until we could get a spot tilled up, we were sure it wouldn't take long).
   Well, it turns out the house we lived in was a nightmare. There was so much work to be done and it seemed that my little garden plot kept getting put off for odd jobs like fixing the shower plumbing or repairing drywall or painting... a week would go by and then another and the grasshoppers took to my little plants like a plague of locusts. Little holes started to appear in the appendages of my friends and soon they were beyond saving. It didn't help that it was one of the hottest summers recorded.
   So I said goodbye to my plants and after they withered to nothing I finally came to terms with their fate and emptied out the containers.
   There would always be next year.

  And so I have waited. I have planned and plotted and (again) we may be moving during the middle of summer if we purchase a home as planned. But I am one step ahead of that curveball. I have decided on vertical gardening. The majority of our plants can stand alone in their pots and the rest will be planted along a support so they can climb to the sky (with a little assistance of course).
   It was too cool to find starter plants for all the vegetables, but we bought our lettuces and herbs and some tomato plants and pepper plants. The rest will be grown from seeds ( a new concept for me) in small containers in the house and then will be transplanted outdoors. This information was courtesy of my Grandfather (the Godfather of indoor gardening). I was so happy there at the produce market, holding my little flat and examining each leaf as I selected my plants, using my gut to judge which plants were best suited for our garden family. There were a few droll looking ones who looked as though they were bored by the very thought of becoming a delicious salad for us on a hot day. I paid for my plants and loaded them in the back of the car, asked them if they were ready to go home and headed to the house.
   The pots were waiting for us on the porch and I used my old, chipped, glass shaving mug to scoop soil into the pots, making room for all the roots. It felt good there sitting in the sun with the soil under my fingernails, which I quickly had to clean out as we were leaving to have dinner with friends. I looked at my plants in approval as we headed out the door thinking about how wonderful it would all taste.
  We arrived home very late and very tired. My husband informed me that it was getting near freezing outside and I couldn't wake my mind up long enough to make a good decision. "They'll be fine. It's not going to be a hard freeze or anything."
   Well it wasn't a hard freeze, but when I awoke the next morning and let the dog out I saw my tomato and pepper plants wilted from the stress of the night's chill. Even the basil was a gonner. The leaves looked like frozen spinach. No color, No life, just.... dead.
   Lesson learned. I knew it was too cold, but in my excitement I just had to plant them early. Well, we'll be buying more plants later on and they will do well I'm sure! My little herbs and lettuces are doing just fine and enjoying some sun as I write this. I can't wait to get home and see them!
   Today I will be planting my little seeds, so I am anxious for another afternoon on the porch!

Continuing on, (such a long post, but lots has been going on) I have also begun composting! Jamie would be so proud! I already have a pretty rockin' collection of rose petals, orange, lemon and zucchini peels along with some coffee grounds and egg shells. And it smells surprisingly good considering! The plan is to get a good compost going so that when the seedlings are ready to be transplanted outdoors, I will have some very rich soil to use as their new home. Brandon was not very keen on this idea, but we had a compost as kids and it was not only useful, it kept the kitchen garbage smells at bay. So there we have it Jamie boy! I am using ingredients from the earth in my cooking and returning them to the earth to encourage new foods to grow.

We also tried one of Jamie's fish recipes this weekend for lunch, pouting fish fingers and sweet potato fries. The fish had a very simple breading treatment to it, but the trick I took away from this one was infusing the oil with fragrance before cooking the fish. I used rosemary sprigs and garlic and it really came through in the fish. I also made sweet potato fries with paprika. Jamie's suggestion for wedge shaped made it a little easier. There was just enough thickness to be soft and just enough thinness to create crunch. Yummy!

We also tried a recipe for a pasta with lemon vodka sauce last night, which was delicious, but we found that we really just don't enjoy the texture of ricotta cheese. Brandon is usually a trooper, but he just couldn't get past the first bite, bless his heart.

  And that's all folks! Lots of new food adventures coming up this week, we're evening hoping to have friends over for a meal, so we'll see how it goes! I love to entertain!