Wrapping Up the Summer Garden

Since we had such a mild beginning to Fall in Dallas, our garden actually spit out a few more pieces of fruit and veggies this last month.  Yesterday I picked 8 eggplants!  They were little guys but still a great addition to our Loaded Baked Pasta last night.  

A big thank you to Lowes for our Meyer Lemon Tree!  Wow! I can’t believe how many lemons we got our first year, and from a “Lowes” tree.  I had my doubts buying one from there, but I was wrong.  Can’t wait to see what happens next year.  I'm on the hunt for a Lemon Infused Vodka Recipe.  Any suggestions??  I've found a few but I'm not completely sure how to store it in the freezer. . .

And I think I picked the biggest and sweetest strawberry of the season a couple of weeks ago.  Not many berries survive in our backyard.  We have a strawberry thief around here.  No, I’m not talking about squirrels or birds, it’s way worse -- a TWO YEAR OLD!  She loves pulling off the green ones and eating them!  Lovely! 

Veggie Garden Start

For a couple of months now we've been talking about wanting to start a "veggie/herb/fruit/anything that is edible and will grow" garden.  I searched around for planter boxes to buy, since the hubby isn't the most handy of men.  I came up empty handed, there is not much out there to buy.  Lot's of how-to's on building them though!  Chase agreed to take on this challenge and was actually pretty excited about it.

After a trip to Home Depot, he and Elle got to it in the garage a few Sundays ago.  I was quite impressed with the final product!!  They may not last for 20 years, but hey we will out of this house by then.  Somebody else's problem! haha : )  We used cedar wood planks (I wish they were a little thicker but that's all we had to choose from)

I had our landscaper bring us dirt, some of the good stuff that you can't buy at Home Depot.  And then we got to planting!  So far we have . . .

Tomatoes (2 different varieties)

Zucchini

Cucumber

Green Beans

Cilantro

Parsley

Thyme

Rosemary

Dill

Basil (heat tolerant variety)

Strawberries

Lemons

(l to r) zucchini. tomoatoes. zucchini. cucumbers down in front are green beans who haven't sprouted

(l to r) cilantro. basil. rosemary. dill. thyme. parsley. green beans along back who haven't sprouted