I can't help but be excited when I look at my garden every day. If you follow my blog you know besides being passionate about real estate, I'm also passionate about food, cooking and gardening and this is my time of year.
I've been exceptionally busy with work, averaging over a sale a week since the year started and this requires a tremendous amount of work on my part; often 7 days a week and typically 12 hours a day. I can's swear I love the pace, but as any good salesperson (or farmer) will tell you, “You make hay while the sun's shining.”
When I do finally get home and switch off I will say I it's incredibly satisfying to take some time to both work in and simply admire our landscaping and vegetable gardens. Whether from the front porch or sitting on the rear deck or patio, it's simply beautiful; with flowers and shrubs in various states of bloom.
Growing Great Food From The Front Yard
Our mild winters allow my wife and I to produce much of the food (vegetables and herbs) we consume year round as we constantly rotate new crops in and out of the raised beds we've built. Last night Angela picked and I cooked nearly a pound of beautiful fresh Haricots Vert; long, thin and tender as could be. Gently boiled for a few minutes and served with a squeeze of raw Flax oil and finished with s sprinkle of sea salt they were outstanding. We also enjoyed freshly picked summer squash and zucchini sauteed in a little EVO with shallots and fresh mint from the garden.
Tomorrow we'll enjoy more squash well as some freshly picked carrots and in the next week we'll be eating some fresh heirloom tomatoes, more green beans, and cucumbers. We'll be planting eggplant, more peppers, zucchini, and we might try some more lettuce in the shade of our cucumber plant trellis. This in addition to the Okra that's already in and a foot high and of course all sorts of fresh herbs and pesto’s.
This morning I took a walk through the neighborhood and was happy to see other neighbors embracing urban gardening as well. Here's a shot I took of a neighbors Straw Bale Vegetable Garden.
I hope I've inspired some of you to enjoy growing some of you own food, it's a great way to get a little exercise, insure the quality of what you eat, and have the best tasting produce ever. If you're wondering we grow mostly from seeds which we purchase from Sow True Seeds which specializes in organic heirloom varieties and is located in western NC.
Posted by Larry Tollen on
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