The plants are all doing pretty well. They look bright green and very happy – they get hours and hours of sunshine every day. The biggest tomato plant has a few yellow flowers on it, and everything else looks perky.
These little guys poking up are the first of the basil. Grow, little green friends! I have plans for you!
And one of our strawberry plants already has a few greenish berries.
Do any of you know if there’s a trick to getting the whole strawberry plant to grow so it can make LOTS of berries? Or will it just stay small and make a few berries at a time? Do I just need to be patient?
The two rose bushes in our backyard have exploded with tons of foliage, and there are even some blooms on them.
But although everything is doing quite well, it doesn’t mean I know squat about gardening. For instance, I didn’t realize that the first broccoli “head” would be very small and that I would have to cut it off in order to allow more to grow. I just thought it would get bigger if I gave it time. Instead, it turned into a beautiful bouquet of yellow flowers, which this little buzzy guy enjoyed thoroughly.
I also didn’t know that I had to wrap the cauliflower’s leaves around the veggie and clip them with a clothespin to keep the florets white and tight. Instead, it sort of opened up a bit and didn’t look very appetizing.
So I cut off the broccoli bouquet… and hopefully more broccoli will grow.
I also snipped off the cauliflower and tossed it aside. Zora was very happy to get her teeth on it… she loves getting veggie scraps while I’m cooking, and she knew exactly what the cauliflower was and how delicious it is. I know this photo makes it look like she’s snarling, but she was just excitedly chewing, I promise. Nothing vicious here.
Do cauliflower plants regenerate and make new “heads” of cauliflower? Or is it a one-shot deal for them? I know it’s kind of late in the cauliflower season anyway…
The broccoli looks lovely on my dining room table though!
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
[...] the flowering broccoli fiasco, I’ve kept up with trimming the tiny florets as they start to open, and that has resulted in [...]
Hi there! A customer of mine recently turned me on to your Solomon's Knot Shawl. Do you think I could add it to my website with full links back to everything you do here? I would even be willing to send you some free yarn for the privileged. If you'd like to see pictures of her creation (made from my Desert Caravan recycled sari ribbon) just email me. It is breathtaking and wouldn't have been possible without your craftiness!
Hi there! A customer of mine recently turned me on to your Solomon's Knot Shawl. Do you think I could add it to my website with full links back to everything you do here? I would even be willing to send you some free yarn for the privileged. If you'd like to see pictures of her creation (made from my Desert Caravan recycled sari ribbon) just email me. It is breathtaking and wouldn't have been possible without your craftiness!
My grandpa has a strawberry farm here in Missouri. He says you have to remove all the blossoms from the strawberry plant the first year so it'll put its energy into its root system and leaves. Then it'll be strong enough to bear much fruit the second year (and beyond).
Yea! Spring is coming and fresh garden veggies, and soft green grass, and cool summer evenings….your pictures have got me so excited I am going to have to go outside and sit in a snowbank to cool off!
Isn't it lovely?
Oh, well that is no good! I mean, if we are staying here but moving on base I suppose we can take them with us, but if we're moving somewhere else … oh well.
They were one of those things we picked up on a whim though. Didn't know what to expect.
I know so very little about gardening but I would like to start one! I also love the way broccoli looks when it has bloomed.
The thing about strawberries is that they say never to expect berries the first year. You have to pretty much be patient… take good care of them, let them do their thing this season… and then next year you will have an overflow of berries!