Wednesday, March 10, 2010

How does your (salad) garden grow?

This year, I’m trying two new types of gardens in addition to my regular vegetable garden. I think I’ll blame the snowy Maryland winter for my zest.

It’s March and that means it’s time to plant cold weather veggies like spinach and lettuce. And, thanks to some online directions from the Maryland Extension service and a little help from my husband and his chainsaw, I’ve made a salad table.

It sits right outside the back door…steps away from the kitchen. If all goes as planned, we’ll be having dinner salads with spinach/lettuce that was picked minutes before we eat it.

Directions for making a salad table:
http://www.hgic.umd.edu/_media/documents/hg601.pdf

Coming in April: the OTHER new garden experiment. Hint: I’m hoping to get tomatoes and peppers a month earlier than usual. A salsa garden! (And find out if the salad garden is making progress.)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Almost Vegetarian

Well, this should be interesting.
I’ve never been a big meat lover, but after finding out some not-so-great facts about the way animals are treated on factory farms as they are raised for meat, I am challenging myself to change the way our family eats.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing if we got healthier along the way too.
But the challenge is going to be finding meals that:
1.) Are easy to shop for
2.) Are easy to prepare
3.) Taste good for everyone in a picky family. And having one member who detests beans is going to make this all the harder.
4.) Are not too costly


Today is day one of an interesting journey. I’d love to hear comments and suggestions (and recipes…looking for recipes that have been successful for others).
Tonight’s dinner: Eggplant parmesan (Frozen…I’m totally cheating. But it’ll be a good test.)