Healthy & Homegrown: Garden Announcement

Attention Please...attention please...

Mr. & Mrs. McFrugalpants would like to announce...

they are the proud parents of...

PEPPERS!

Their very first batch!

Green Peppers: 4 1/2 inches long, 4 inches wide and 12 1/2 oz. each.

What little chunkers they are! Can you believe it? 3/4 lb. each?
(okay, there is a little runt there - but we had to pick it early because some little critter was using it as a snack. No worries. It got sauteed and put in the morning omelet)

In one month...one measly month...the garden went from THIS (on May 27th) to THIS (June 27th)

Can you say JUNG-LE? AM-A-ZON? Wow! Though, let me admit that here in northwest Indiana, we have had the perfect growing season - rain, sun, rain, sun - Mother Nature has made gardening rather easy and time efficient for us this year.

Even the jalapenos have decided to finally rear their tiny green heads. We were getting impatient a little concerned about them. Even though the plants were covered in buds, peppers were yet to be seen...until now! We were told that they take a bit longer to start forming, but once they do, look out!

Arrribbaa! Yip yip yip!

It's salsa time.

And poppers time. And pickled peppers time. And beef roast time. And. And. Anddd...burnt fingers and taste buds time. Oh, which leads me to warn you: Whenever working with hot peppers, be sure to wear plastic or rubber gloves (baggies over your hands at the least.) If they are super hot, you may want to wear eye protection (for fear of flinging pepper parts or accidentally rubbing your eyes with contaminated fingers.) If you happen to be cooking with them, or boiling them...just open the windows and leave the kitchen all together...because you will start coughing.

Trust me. Really. Learn from my mistakes.

*squeeeee* See that? Even our very first tomato is beginning.to.turn.RED. Tomatoes can now be found on every plant...waiting...waiting...

Gardening is a REAL test of patience.

And, of course, the lovely containers. Onions are growing nicely and the greens obviously need a hair cut. We have already been clipping and making salads from the little yummies. We just re-seed as we consume. Hint: a salad spinner comes in REAL handy with the delicate leaves. Otherwise, they tend to just fold up when you rinse them. Spinners are $10 or less...and can easily be found at yard sales for barely anything.

Isn't this pot amazing? Okay...so it's not edible...but it 'shore is purty. Which brings me to the fact, that we love Miracle Grow. The Mr. waters all of the blooming plants with Bloom Buster and all of the veggie plants with Tomato & Vegetable blend - every Sunday. If you happen to use any sort of fertilizer, be sure it is the right type. Putting regular Miracle Grow on your blooming plants, will only help it to become more green, not necessarily filled with flowers.

So...how is all of this helping us?

• For one, it gives us sanity. How nice to walk out in the mornings, when the town is quiet, to give a little care to something living, that will end up giving us so much.
  
• I haven't had to buy lettuce for a few weeks. Now we won't be buying peppers and tomatoes will soon follow. When the abundance arrives, we will start canning. Throughout the winter, we'll be able to pop open a jar and enjoy the fruits of our labor the whole season!
  
• I have this strange belief...call me crazy...that when you freshly pick produce it still thinks it is "alive." If you eat it right away...it just tastes different.

  Yummy. Better. Fresh.

Alive.

Do you agree with me?