Life's A Garden, Dig It!

I guess I'm showing my roots a little bit. Being from Southern Illinois, I'm painfully familiar with Joe Dirt. ;) The older I get, and the longer I've lived in the Chicago area, the easier it is to subtly embrace my Dr.Quinn-Medicine-Woman-4-H-lovin'-Joe-Dirt-watchin-tan-line-wearin'-ear-of-corn-high-school-mascot-supportin' roots. That's right, I said it. My high school mascot was an ear of corn. Well, technically a bunch of ears of corn (The Green Wave). I guess, somehow, I should have taken that as a sign, huh? ;)

My garden, which I have been totally digging lately, is growing like crazy! It has been so inspirational and exciting to see the development happen right before my eyes. I mean, check out that zucchini that is growing in between my two border fence sections. Is that not a big metaphor for "bloom where you're planted," or what?! Or that little beefsteak tomato (middle picture) that is starting to form, I can't believe that plant survived at all! I planted it outside too early and it survived the last two snows/hard freezes! And this cute little pumpkin below the CD, literally threaded itself through the fence! Why a CD, you ask? Well, birds are the death of me these days, and reflective light is one way to keep them away!

Through the fence, you can see how my red basil is getting really big! It tastes deliciously of clove, it's awesome! And my cute little cherry tomatoes are coming along nicely! Even though it's not a massive garden, what I've been able to learn from such a small space so far has been amazing. I thought I'd include a full garden picture for some perspective; how little you actually need for a successful garden is very cool.

I have been enjoying the creativity involved in problem solving in the garden, that's for sure. With all the birds pecking at my kale, Brussels sprouts, arugula, broccoli, and peppers, I had to do something! I read online that the best solutions are reflective light (old CD's), noise makers, and anything that made sudden movements in the wind. That sounded simple enough to me! I think this cute little garden truck wind chime says it all, I'm already wishing it were spring with the extreme heat we've had!

And being the flower child that I am (thank you Carol Ruffner from the old Martin's IGA in Effingham, IL for giving me that name close to ten years ago), of course I had to get a flower spinner!

But, the real purpose here is to provide myself with some awesome organic vegetables that I can use to create in the kitchen. With many herbs and greens already ready and many other vegetables growing bigger daily, I take to my Flavor Bible and my favorite espresso to spark up some ideas. It's a wonderful book that I will always cherish from culinary school, and if you're ever looking for a way to use some ingredients from your pantry in a new combination yourself, it's a great resource!

And eventually with enough reading, harvesting, watering, shopping, studying, chopping, cleaning, simmering, canning, rinsing and cooking... I am ready to share some of my garden goods with all of you! Below we have frozen leafy green pecan parmesan pesto cubes, roasted jalapeno tomato salsa, and pesto vinaigrette (on a darling little lettuce decorative plate I found for like $4 from Home Goods, just sayin' :) )... the full Flour Child Stuff Garden Goods menu will be available in my online store very soon!

So with everything that is going on in this world, I think it's super important to find something to dig. Whether it's gardening, cooking, or whatever else makes us lose track of time while we're doing it... it's crucial that we make time to dig into it enough to maintain balance in our lives. These past few weeks for me, it's been gardening. And I dig it! :)