I know it has only officially been Spring for a few weeks, but in Southern Louisiana, summer sneaks up quickly. I wanted to start compiling my summer recipes and tips now, so mother nature can "Bring on the Heat"!!! I will add to this blog throughout the season as I find new recipes and activities for the kiddos :)
ENJOY!!!!
ALL NATURAL BUG SPRAY
This one is a must! Whether your at the ball park mid summer or on your back porch, Louisiana mosquito are vicious. I love this recipe, it's super easy and inexpensive. There are no preservatives so you'll need to reapply often, but there's also no chemicals or harmful ingredients so smile as you drench the kids in it.
1 part Witch Hazel
1 part Apple Cidar Vinegar
citronella and or geranium essential oil (add about 3 drops per cup)
That's it! Put it in a large spray bottle for home and grab a few of the travel cosmetic sprayers to keep in the car and purse. If you're going to the woods, dip a bandanna in the mix to tie around your head or neck.
ALL NATURAL CITRUS MARGARITAS
This mostly fresh juice cocktail is perfect for get-togethers, weekends on the river and beach trips. Super yummy, not too heavy on the liquor and won't rack up a million extra summer calories. Plus you can make it ahead of time.
Tip***I like to freeze the juices first for a frozen concoction.
1 gallon fresh orange/satsuma juice (100% pure juice! best if you juice it yourself)
1 cup fresh lime juice (straight from the lime, NO concentrate)
1 cup fresh lemon juice (see above note)
3/4 of a small (750ml) bottle of tequila (more or less depending on taste & remember the ice will water it down some)
Raw sugar (add a bit to the mix or use for garnish around the rim of your glass)
Toss it all in a blender and pulse. Add ice here if you like frozen margaritas or serve over ice later.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Get Growing
I love this time of year. Spring!!! The weather's getting warmer, my car is a lovely shade of pollen and it's time to start playing in the dirt. Over the last few years I have been creating an edible landscape in my yard... fruit trees, veggies and a mobile chicken coop. This year I'm expanding with a larger mobile chicken coop and yard, a greenhouse for winter veggies, grapevines and another raised garden bed that gets partial sun for those hot summer months that tend to scorch my late bloomers in an effort to have veggies year round.
Here's the almost finished chicken coop (I need to add another nesting box and attach the wheels) and the new greenhouse.
I am a busy mom and I don't have a naturally green thumb. But if I can do it, anyone can. Odds are that many of you will plant something this spring... grass seed, flowers, shrubs and/or decorative trees. Why not plant things that are edible instead?
Check out www.growfoodnotlawns.com for some great ideas and photos, especially for small suburban areas.
Fruit
Fruit trees, shrubs and vines that are native to your area are the easiest way to add homegrown produce to your diet. Most fruit trees are relatively small trees and can be pruned to fit smaller spaces. It's not instant gratification, but many produce some fruit in the first year you plant them, since you will most likely buy a 2-3 year old tree. As they grow, they will produce more and more and once they are planted they need very little maintenance. Here's a list of the trees we have. Some of these trees were planted by my parents as long as 20 years ago and are still thriving, others I've planted over the past 3 years.
Satsumas, Lemons, Baking Pears, Plums, Loquats, Mayhaws, Peaches, Persimmons and Figs. We also have blueberry bushes and blackberry vines.
I think everyone in south Louisiana should have a satsuma tree. They produce tons of fruit and aren't real picky about where they are planted, they just need full sun and decent soil. The fruit is amazing, it's a little smaller and less acidic than oranges and peel really easily, they are great for juicing. They produce fruit all winter when there's not much else growing and stay green year round.
The blueberries are my other favorite fruit bearing plants for this area. They are fast growing and produce fruit often in their first summer. There are lots of varieties to choose from. You'll want to plant 2 of the same type so they can cross pollinate.
Here's a picture of my young peach tree and blackberry vines starting to put on some blooms.
This year, I'm getting brave and trying some new fruits... raspberries, muscadines and avocado. The muscadines are a native grape so they should do just fine, but the raspberry vines and avocado tree might need a little more coaxing to grow in our climate.
Eat & grow your veggies
For most of my childhood, my father planted a spring vegetable garden. I don't remember eating the homegrown veggies nearly as well as I remember the work! Tilling, weeding, picking, more weeding and more tilling all through the south Louisiana summer. My sisters and I hated that garden. The tomatoes were awesome but it didn't make up for the sunburn, ant bites and calluses. Unfortunately, I think many people have had similar experiences and may think veggies are more trouble than they're worth. But if done right, vegetable gardens can be easier to manage than your flower beds.
Raised beds are a must for our area, where weeds can look like something from "Little Shop of Horrors" and much of our soil has been depleted. A raised bed can be designed in any shape or size and you don't even have to have a box if your on level ground. You'll just need to remove or cover any existing grass (newspaper or garden cloth works well) Then add 6 inches of top soil and a natural fertilizer like manure. Plant your seeds or seedlings and cover with a mulch. Water only as needed and wait for your homegrown dinner.
Check out Back To Eden Film, a great documentary on how to grow veggies with little effort, minimal tools and no chemicals. It's not magic or rocket science, just giving your garden what it needs to grow naturally. A must see for novice and experienced gardeners http://backtoedenfilm.com/
Container gardening can also be a great way to add veggies if you have no lawn, but the smaller the container, the less water it can store so you'll need to water often during dry, hot months.
Here's my newest raised bed and some large pots that I use for herbs. The raised bed is 4'x9'. My big kids (Brennan & Zoe) planted peas, beets, spinach and lettuce from seeds and a few green onion sets, pepper plants, dill and sage. Then my 4 year old dove into the bed, rolled around in the dirt and kicked through the freshly planted seeds, I guess that was his way of pitching in :) Gardening CAN be fun for the whole family.
Another easy way to get started is to simply mix vegetable and herb plants into existing flower beds. Cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, basil, cilantro and chives all blend in well with flowers, small shrubs and decorative grasses. Bonus, herbs can help control pests.
If you're new to gardening stick with just a few hearty varieties of vegetables that will give you lots of bang for your buck in a relatively small space, like heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and herbs.
Every year I try a few new "exotic" varieties, sometimes they do well, sometimes not so much but we have the space to give it a shot and I don't get upset if the weird rainbow colored squash vine takes up an entire planting box and produce 2 hard inedible vegetables.
My goal this year is to produce at least half of our fruit and vegetable needs, which may be tough since we eat so much of them, but I'm going to do everything I can to give my family the best food possible. I'm encouraging all of my friends, family and clients to plant something edible this spring, just one fruit tree or a few vegetable plants can make a huge difference in your family's health. And once you've had a home grown tomato, you'll never want one from the grocery store again.
Another helpful site....
LSU Ag Center's Vegetable Planting Guide- http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/lawn_garden/home_gardening/vegetables/home_garden_crops/Louisiana+Vegetable+Planting+Guide.htm
Happy Spring Planting!!!
Here's the almost finished chicken coop (I need to add another nesting box and attach the wheels) and the new greenhouse.
I am a busy mom and I don't have a naturally green thumb. But if I can do it, anyone can. Odds are that many of you will plant something this spring... grass seed, flowers, shrubs and/or decorative trees. Why not plant things that are edible instead?
Check out www.growfoodnotlawns.com for some great ideas and photos, especially for small suburban areas.
Fruit
Fruit trees, shrubs and vines that are native to your area are the easiest way to add homegrown produce to your diet. Most fruit trees are relatively small trees and can be pruned to fit smaller spaces. It's not instant gratification, but many produce some fruit in the first year you plant them, since you will most likely buy a 2-3 year old tree. As they grow, they will produce more and more and once they are planted they need very little maintenance. Here's a list of the trees we have. Some of these trees were planted by my parents as long as 20 years ago and are still thriving, others I've planted over the past 3 years.
Satsumas, Lemons, Baking Pears, Plums, Loquats, Mayhaws, Peaches, Persimmons and Figs. We also have blueberry bushes and blackberry vines.
I think everyone in south Louisiana should have a satsuma tree. They produce tons of fruit and aren't real picky about where they are planted, they just need full sun and decent soil. The fruit is amazing, it's a little smaller and less acidic than oranges and peel really easily, they are great for juicing. They produce fruit all winter when there's not much else growing and stay green year round.
The blueberries are my other favorite fruit bearing plants for this area. They are fast growing and produce fruit often in their first summer. There are lots of varieties to choose from. You'll want to plant 2 of the same type so they can cross pollinate.
Here's a picture of my young peach tree and blackberry vines starting to put on some blooms.
This year, I'm getting brave and trying some new fruits... raspberries, muscadines and avocado. The muscadines are a native grape so they should do just fine, but the raspberry vines and avocado tree might need a little more coaxing to grow in our climate.
Eat & grow your veggies
For most of my childhood, my father planted a spring vegetable garden. I don't remember eating the homegrown veggies nearly as well as I remember the work! Tilling, weeding, picking, more weeding and more tilling all through the south Louisiana summer. My sisters and I hated that garden. The tomatoes were awesome but it didn't make up for the sunburn, ant bites and calluses. Unfortunately, I think many people have had similar experiences and may think veggies are more trouble than they're worth. But if done right, vegetable gardens can be easier to manage than your flower beds.
Raised beds are a must for our area, where weeds can look like something from "Little Shop of Horrors" and much of our soil has been depleted. A raised bed can be designed in any shape or size and you don't even have to have a box if your on level ground. You'll just need to remove or cover any existing grass (newspaper or garden cloth works well) Then add 6 inches of top soil and a natural fertilizer like manure. Plant your seeds or seedlings and cover with a mulch. Water only as needed and wait for your homegrown dinner.
Check out Back To Eden Film, a great documentary on how to grow veggies with little effort, minimal tools and no chemicals. It's not magic or rocket science, just giving your garden what it needs to grow naturally. A must see for novice and experienced gardeners http://backtoedenfilm.com/
Container gardening can also be a great way to add veggies if you have no lawn, but the smaller the container, the less water it can store so you'll need to water often during dry, hot months.
Here's my newest raised bed and some large pots that I use for herbs. The raised bed is 4'x9'. My big kids (Brennan & Zoe) planted peas, beets, spinach and lettuce from seeds and a few green onion sets, pepper plants, dill and sage. Then my 4 year old dove into the bed, rolled around in the dirt and kicked through the freshly planted seeds, I guess that was his way of pitching in :) Gardening CAN be fun for the whole family.
Another easy way to get started is to simply mix vegetable and herb plants into existing flower beds. Cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, basil, cilantro and chives all blend in well with flowers, small shrubs and decorative grasses. Bonus, herbs can help control pests.
If you're new to gardening stick with just a few hearty varieties of vegetables that will give you lots of bang for your buck in a relatively small space, like heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and herbs.
Every year I try a few new "exotic" varieties, sometimes they do well, sometimes not so much but we have the space to give it a shot and I don't get upset if the weird rainbow colored squash vine takes up an entire planting box and produce 2 hard inedible vegetables.
My goal this year is to produce at least half of our fruit and vegetable needs, which may be tough since we eat so much of them, but I'm going to do everything I can to give my family the best food possible. I'm encouraging all of my friends, family and clients to plant something edible this spring, just one fruit tree or a few vegetable plants can make a huge difference in your family's health. And once you've had a home grown tomato, you'll never want one from the grocery store again.
Another helpful site....
LSU Ag Center's Vegetable Planting Guide- http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/lawn_garden/home_gardening/vegetables/home_garden_crops/Louisiana+Vegetable+Planting+Guide.htm
Happy Spring Planting!!!
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