Summer Time Garden

I was very lucky when I moved into this new house to find a raised gardening bed around the deck! I had plans to garden, but this made it that much easier. This was my first attempt to grow anything you can eat! My thumb is not very green, but I thought I would give it a try. We planted 4 different tomato varieties and peppers..green, red, and yellow (though I cannot remember which is which because my youngest son decided to move the markers around). There were already strawberries planted, but they are not yielding very big fruit. We are thinking of moving them to a pot for next year and planting more veggies. There are also morning glories planted (pssst....I kept waiting for them to grow beans because I thought they were pole beans! HAHA..remember..green thumb).

I also planted some marigolds around the plants because I read somewhere that they keep the bugs and slugs away...so far, so good!

This one is an heirloom variety

Some "Better Boys" (better than what, I don't know?)

We have been eating outside on the deck alot this summer. We have nice shade over the deck in the evening, so why not take advantage of the cool breeze during dinnertime. I wanted to do a simple tablescape to make it fun. I pulled out the vintage jars (love these!!) that I just picked up at a thrift store and decided that adding some candles would be great.

My very sweet husband has been practicing his grilling skills. He grilled some lemon herb chicken. We made a salad which I have named "Rainbow Salad". Lots of veggies, feta cheese, and greek dressing. The kids loved that I added stars to the salad that are made from peppers.

My kids have been much more willing to eat fruits and veggies since we started the garden! Score!!! So, we made up a fruit salad with mango, dried cherries, grapes, and mango for dessert.

We also decided to use our one little red tomato that was finishing ripening on the window sill and went down the road to an Amish man's little roadside farmer's market to gather some more veggies. I have a feeling that we will become friends!

We made stuffed tomatoes with some green peppers, onion, garlic, chedder cheese, and a sprinkle of parmesean cheese on top. They were delicious!

My little tablescape turned out pretty nice! I loved having the candles in the blue glass jars as it was turning dusk. It made for a nice ambiance.