Nature's Success!!!

Ask me what I had for brunch? I'm pigging on anything that's for sure even vegetables.

 

This is what I had. A serving of baby spinach and fresh strawberries topped with Ranch dressing. My favorite home made salad! Just don't ask me what I paired it with. As you can see the strawberries are kinda tiny. 

They were just picked from my potted plant. Amazing that everyday, I get to pick some for my salad. It has been weeks since we started harvesting our vegetable garden. And we have been boiling them in pots or frying them battered. 

Aside from the strawberries we got squash, green and yellow bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, huge tomatoes, and cucumber (not included in photos). And we have been making healthy dishes from them. Last week, when I was in the produce section of Wal-Mart, I noticed that the price of a paired squash and cucumber is $2.50. Wow! And here we are taking advantage mother nature's bliss. 

Travis is still eagerly waiting for his watermelons to produce. He and Tim have been working hard on the small garden. We take turns on watering them. My turn is at night. 

I harvested my herbs already and realized that I don't know how to prepare them for drying or packing. I used them on dishes and I still have some in the fridge. I noticed that it does not do well when planted on small pots because it becomes overcrowded. I learned my lesson. I need a huge herb seed box next time. Travis promised me one for next season. 

It's not complete without the flowers in the front and back porches, right?

From top to bottom: purple and yellow lantanas, pink hibiscus, red and purple verbenas, tickled pink, yellow and white moss rose, variety of purslane, pink petunias, and another red verbenas. I love them all and so are the humming birds and bees. We still have other flowers, like Travis' purple summer sky and my hardy orchid. Aren't they all beautiful? The lantanas are placed in our front yard. I hope they will scatter their blooms. The pink hibiscus is potted because I want to keep it for good. That way I can hide her from autumn and winter. The lovely verbenas are hanged in the front porch. But I still have some that are potted and placed at the back porch so that I can see them from the kitchen window. Tickled pink is my favorite! She is not that big of a plant but she blooms proudly and I saw a humming bird yesterday feeding from it's nectar. The moss roses are grandma's favorites. I call them cute roses. We have a variety of colors potted together in long pots. They are gracing the front porch too. Another family of moss rose is the purslane, even a staff from Wal-Mart doesn't recognize the difference. Their leaves are the same but the petals are different. Purslane is single-petaled while moss rose is petaled like a rose. I prefer the purslane because when the sun's rays kissed them, they bloom in a variety of colors.... like they are dancing! The pink petunias has the biggest pot but it blooms shyly. 

This is a heirloom flower plant. It was passed on by grandma's great grandmothers. Whew! She was so anxious when the seeds were sedentary for weeks after Travis planted them. I took over the watering because she got worried. Then after another week, I saw the first peek of a leaf. And now they are growing fast. Soon we will see their beautiful purple flowers. It's called "weeping tears" by grandma's ancestors. But in the dictionary it's called "magic flowers". Quite ironic! It was cried by it's owner because it was not growing; then magically they just come out from the soil.

I am no expert on growing, I just love the mystery of the soil. Earth gives back when you take care of it. 

Happy gardening everyone!!!