Nothing beats the joy you will feel when you plant a little tiny seed and in a few short warm weeks it becomes this amazing new plant. In the top photo is a new variety of tomato that my brother in law gave me. It is expect to grow over 12 feet tall. Abe Lincoln Over Load
I kind of went a little over board when planting this Abe Lincoln variety. My plans are to transplant a few of these and share with a few of my friends. When the heat kicks in the tomato starter will grow like mad so you want to be sure there is only one plant per pot.
Tomatoes I recommend for newbies to tomato growing
* Try the tiny tom variety that allows you to grow yummy salad ready tomatoes right on your table in a container.
* For the grower with more space why not try the amazing heirloom Brandywine.
* Flavor and personality are two of the qualities the Japanese plum will provide your garden to table adventure in growing.
I hope to keep you posted on my progress in the veggie garden and share more tips along the way. Please tell me what you think about growing tomatoes or if you have any questions about growing tomatoes I can help you with. I look forward to hearing from you.
While you are out enjoying the amazing spring weather hitting most of the Midwest this weekend be sure to think of gardening in your own space. It doesn’t matter if you have a big space or small space to garden Romaine lettuce is one the easiest veggies to grow this time of year. You can find starter plants of lettuce at most garden centers or I would encourage you to try growing them from seed. I’ve had the best results from Territorial Seed Company Romaine Mix in my garden and greenhouse where I grow lettuce year-round.
In the top image on this blog post I’ve mixed romaine lettuce I grew from seed, Gerbera Daisy from my friends at Costa Farms and Pansies from a local IGC. I love mixing it up because this is what gardening is to me!
Have fun and try growing something to bring to your dinner table this season!
I really love asking people to “Pin Me” …. doesn’t the idea of sticking it to someone make you take a second look at what is being shared on social media? I’m officially inviting you to come “pin” a group of amazing bloggers I just followed Val’s Food and or Art Blog over to Natasha In Oz where I was connected to a group of amazing photo sharing bloggers who love to use Pinterest just like me!
If you are not to Pinterest or perhaps you have not heard of this top social site for 2012 : Everyone is talking about Pinterest, the social “pinning” site used to share just about ANYTHING! It is no surprise that serious bloggers are using this site to connect and get traffic to their domains. The social site Pinterest is different from Google+, Facebook and Twitter sharing because it is ALL about the image and comments are not required to get strike up the conversation. The fact that NO WORDS are required makes this site my favorite because I’m all about the photos! Pinterest members post images of things that interest them to get the social buzz flying. Users can share any topic from any site using social netiquettes. Pinterest is giving us an opportunity to share our interests and find other people who enjoy the same. What a great way to get to know your network but to see what they are posting about beyond their normal niche.
Most of my connections know me as Bren who lives and grows in zone 5b Ohio but I’m also a huge fan of Travel, Food and Art. Pinterest has allowed me to capture all my favorite websites, events and even Twitter contacts all on their own special board I’ve created.
Click Image to Pin Me!
Don’t stop at the follow, like or repin on someone elses board. Take some time and comment on pins and ask questions. Just like any other social media site you need to engage in conversation to get good connections. Be sure to search topics that interest you and let Pinterest users know what you think of their shares. Join existing conversations and share your point of view. Not to contradict what I said in the opening paragraph, Pinterest is a photo sharing site but you have to engage to build your community.
I’m excited to add the Pinning Blogger Logo to my site to encourage others to join in the fun on Pinterest. Sharing the positive things in life giving everyone a voice is what social networking is all about for me and this is a perfect example of how it works!
If you would like to be included in my weekly feature post I just ask that you have one of these cute “I’m a Pinning Blogger” button anywhere on your blog… More Information on Natasha’s Site.
This was our dinner plate tonight and it was super easy to prepare. It started with some mango’s chunks I had in the freezer,fresh sweet peppers and onions all thrown on the grill for about 15-20 minutes. The time it took for me to do a Live Stream of the peaceful evening in the garden hidden behind my house the meal was complete.
Video Live Streamed while I waited for the pork chops to cook up!
Click on the image above for the easy recipe!
Have you tried mango and veggies in a recipe? I’d like to hear from you so please share by posting a comment on my blog.
You can imagine our surprise when when this super skinny box arrived last spring from Stark Bro’s. Desperate to get some apricots from our own garden we were eager to get this sapling planted! We had tried a few different apricot tree varieties but nothing seemed to survive the winter back in our Ohio zone 5 b orchard. I never saw any deer damage thanks to the poop bags we hang from the trees. This variety of fruit just never survived the winters in the orchard which is nestled in the middle of woods sheltered from the wind. Click on the image to the right to see an up close view of the skinny Wilson.
This spring Wilson as sprouted beautiful branches and healthy flowers . We are looking forward to sharing more images and hopefully a few fruits from the harvest in late summer.
I feel like the proud parent showing off baby photos … look how he has grown! Be sure to follow my Wilson updates on Twitter and stop over to Stark Bro’s site to check out the official page with information about this apricot tree.
Monday on Twitter I came across this blog share from one of my #foodie friends who blogs at The Adirondack Chick.
The first bloom that came to mind while retweeting her link was the majestic dahlia blooms that took over my landscape last summer just outside my greenhouse. I quickly clicked over to her blog to find some fabulous shares from other Foodie / gardeners and just had to share this with you on my blog. Be sure to follow Michelle on Twitter at @theadkchick And I hope you will share a comment over on her blog with what your favorite flower is.
My Obsession with Dahlia’s
This year I’m trying very hard to not go crazy with too many different colors in my greenhouse landscape / garden area. My theme this year is Yellow, Orange and Hot Pink so I was delighted to see this dinner plate Dahlia at my local garden center.
Last year starting the Dahlia root in March / April provided me a perfect head start with blooms early on in summer. The image above shows the dahlia’s each planted in 1 gallon containers in my Ohio greenhouse.
How can you not LOVE the dahlia after seeing the image above?
I will admit that after the heavy rain in late July when this dinner plate sized dahlia was found laying on the mulch in the garden I was sure to ‘tear’ up. Fortunately, the blooms were continuous with low maintenance so there were plenty more that stood tall in the garden.
Hand full of dahlia in my 2011 Ohio garden…. I totally tweeted that one!
I totally can’t wait to see the dahlia blooms for 2012 and I hope I’ve inspired you to give a dahlia a try in your garden. They are super easy to grow and they love to be left alone even on the hot days of late summer.
That image of the huge dalia above is labeled tequila. I was delighted to find it again this year at Aldi for $1.69 each : I picked up 3 to grow in my landscape this year. I hope you will share with me what your favorite flowers are and maybe I will try and grow some in my Ohio garden if I don’t already! Happy Growing ……
I really love asking people to “Pin Me” …. doesn’t the idea of sticking it to someone make you take a second look at what is being shared on social media? I’m officially inviting you to come “pin” a group of amazing bloggers I just followed 
