Breakfast Is Served!

We enjoyed summer's bounty for breakfast this morning.

Now when you think of summer's bounty and breakfast, you probably think of blueberry pancakes or waffles with fresh strawberries on top. Or maybe a delicious fruit salad and muffins.

Amelia thinks of homemade tomato soup.

That's right, tomato soup for breakfast.

Ever since we put our tomato plants in the ground, Amelia's been waiting for homemade tomato soup. When the first tiny tomatoes appeared she started asking daily when we'd be able to make some. And when the tomatoes finally started to ripen she asked if she could have tomato soup for breakfast.

How could I say no to that?

Today was finally the day. And when she sat down to eat her soup, we all decided to join her.

It may have been a little unusual, but it was delicious!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The last two years I haven't managed much of a garden. The summer I was pregnant with the boys I was in no shape (ha!) to garden.

Last year my sister Judy helped put in the garden when she was here for Easter, so we got peas, green beans, potatoes and a few tomatoes. But the garden still didn't get much attention, and it was not a good year for tomatoes in this area.

So far this year, we're doing much better.

We'll be turning the kids loose on these peas any day now.

And the romaine lettuce you see on the far left is growing like crazy and so yummy! I have learned that I much prefer head lettuces like romaine and buttercrunch to leaf lettuce. So I planted both this year. Plenty for us and the rabbits.

This bed has tomatoes, peppers and a couple cucumber plants in it. So far things are looking pretty good. I'm hoping for lots of tomatoes so I can make lots of cream of tomato soup. I'd love to have enough to can this year. The kids love it and ask for it all the time.

I'm also looking forward to fresh-from-the-garden salsa. I've got onions and cilantro out there to round out that recipe. And I've also got green beans, carrots and dill growing out there. Yum!

I grew up with a big garden, so I can't quit bring myself to subscribe to the square-foot gardening method. Things just seem too crowded to grow really well. I do take advantage of interplanting early crops with later ones, like planting green beans right next to the peas that will soon be done for the season and throwing herbs in around the edges of the garden or wherever I think they'll grow. My dill is growing right in the middle of all the peas and thriving.

Since I'm actually tending to the garden this year, it's one of the things that's keep me from blogging as much as usual. Sorry about that, but the payoff is delicious!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Maybe We Do Need A Dog

Spring is here, and today we were getting the garden ready for planting. We found a worm, and Amelia immediately picked it up. Everyone was inspecting the worm when Jeff asked what the worm's name was. Amelia was quick to answer.

Seriously? Elizabeth? Who names a worm Elizabeth? We were laughing. Then they all started petting the worm.

Eventually Jeff tried to rescue Elizabeth from certain doom by putting her back in the dirt and letting her dig her way (frantically) underground and away from the children.

They were all very interested in watching her, and they defeated her efforts to get away more than once. Most notably when Isaac picked her up for a little lovin'.



We were laughing, but ewww! Perhaps we do need to get a dog.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Springtime in the Garden

There is no better way to celebrate spring than to plant the garden. Aunt Judy and Amelia took on the task together on this beautiful day.

The photos really speak for themselves, so for a change I will let them. Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Spring in the Midst of Winter

Here we are in the deep freeze of winter, and suddenly the garden catalogs start popping up like dandelions in springtime.

I love garden catalogs. I love that I have seven of them in my mail basket and we currently have 6 inches of snow outside.

It's a welcome sign that winter won't last forever at a time when we're shoveling snow and the only thing growing around here are these:

Yes, that's a dust bunny. A LARGE dust bunny. Sometimes I like to hum a few bars from The Magnificent Seven as they roll across my hardwood floors. Whatever. A little dust never hurt anyone, and besides, the kids find them entertaining.

But I digress. Back to the garden.

I'm hoping to do better on the gardening front this year than last year.

Last year I had pathetic tomatoes. Pathetic as in I got fewer than a dozen tomatoes from four plants. Shoot, my sister did better with a pot on her apartment balcony!

Notice the lack of fruit. One of my "tomato" plants. I'd post a photo of my sister's plant, but it puts mine so to shame that it's embarassing!

I had abject failure in the form of a blueberry "bush."

Seriously, who sells this thing as a blueberry "bush"?

The pumpkins sucuumbed to fungus. (Though to be fair, I realized what was happening and never treated them.)

And the deer ate most of the peas, cucumbers and squash.

On the plus side, I did have a nice crop of green beans, carrots and lettuce. I got a few potatoes, and Amelia's watermelon grew big enough to have a taste of the fruit.

Look, Mom, it's even edible!

Now that I've had several months to forget (mostly) the failures, the excessive amount of green beans we ate, and the constant need to weed, I'm excited to try again. So I'm busy poring over the garden catalogs debating which peas are the best and whether to try another blueberry bush. (You can bet that this time I'll be making sure to find out exactly what they mean when they say "bush.")

I have a plan to ward off the deer, though Amelia insists that we need to share with them. Nice sentiment, but I'm not putting work into a garden to "share" with the animals. I'll spare you the details of the plan. Suffice it to say that in another year my three boys will love to help "protect" the garden from the deer. (Hey, the guy who has the nicest garden in the neighborhood swears by it.)

I will move my tomatoes back out to the garden plot, since they clearly didn't get enough sun up by the house. And I will plant my seed potatoes BEFORE they start to rot. I may even sprout a watermelon seed or two in the house so they can get a little head start.

Ah, yes, spring is right around the corner. Can't you just smell it?