Rooftop Garden Check-in & Cricket Update

I've had a few people ask me how our Rooftop Garden has been doing this year.  I haven't talked about it as much and I probably should.  We didn't do as many things this year because of less people to help with it and those who do most of it have been busier than usual.  But what we do have - I have taken some recent photos in the last week or so and will be posting a video, soon, too!

This year we have 3 different kinds of tomatoes we are trying.  2 out of the 3 are starting to produce something.  I will be posting more about which kinds at a later date.  Here's a pic of one of them in the meantime.

You know me and BASIL - I love it!  We have 2 'trees' of it we started this year as you can see here and we have one left inside near a window leftover from last year.  We have 2 'just starting out' plants that are growing from a 'drop off' from previous plants.

My mother has like 9 basil plants doing well in her back yard and she doesn't even use basil much so I guess it's time to start making pesto, eh!?  I know each time I mention it I have people interested in taking some once it's made.  I think I will make that a mini goal for this week and next week!

Another mini goal of mine SHOULD BE to do something with all of the Lemon Balm that is popping up everywhere!  I brought a little bit over from my mom's and it's going NUTS!

We have 3 containers of it going strong and I'm not doing anything with it...it's taking off on its own completely.

All I can think of is include it in tea but I want to try and come up with some home remedies and health/beauty ways to use it, too!

Suggestions for Lemon Balm?  Let me know!

And just a quick update on Cricket before I go...here she is!  She's a sweetie!  Ever since we lost Suzie - Paco and Riley have been going thru the motions with no real 'leader' and Cricket is leader - that is for sure!

She loves riding in the car, going for walks with fur friends, and doesn't mind baths.  But she doesn't like her nails done...so that will be something I will need assistance with soon!  She's still around 4 pounds and done growing but she has no idea that she isn't as 'big' as the other dogs!

Rooftop Gardening 2015!

If you have been reading my blog for a while now you may remember last year we started a Rooftop Garden at work.  It was COMPLETELY Trial and Error!  We learned a lot and will continue to learn a lot!  We know a lot of what NOT to do this year and from here on out I will be sharing with you what we will try and do THIS year!  That's right!  It's the 2015 Rooftop Garden, folks!  First up...Rhubarb!  Now that I am in sales in addition to other tasks at work I am able to get out and chat with our local growers!  I LOVE this!  I have been able to get more of them to advertise with us, too!  So far I have grabbed a Rhubarb starter from a local outlet.

It's DOUBLED in size since I bought it, too!  We are REALLY excited about that!

A few things we won't be doing this year on our Rooftop is tomatoes...they didn't do well at all last year.  We did a few different kinds of peppers and we still might try and do some this year but the yield wasn't too high last season.  Maybe this year we will have better luck!

One of our Basil Plants made it thru the whole winter and we had it in our production room.  We might take that outside again.  In the meantime we purchased another starter!

They seem to be doing well so far but I will be SHOCKED if they get as big as the ones did last year!  They might but I'm not banking on it...those were CRAZY HUGE last year!

I hope to introduce something new each week.  If I do I will let you know!

We got quite a bit of rain over the weekend so some of the area farmers and markets already have corn nearly ready!  And Strawberry season is near, too!

And check this out!  Our chives came back!  Even after the horrible winter we had!  Actually they came back TWICE as strong!  As a matter of fact last fall we threw one of the chive plants away in the compost pile and it sprouted up like crazy this year so we replanted it!

One of the plants is flowering!  I have been reading up on Chive Flowers lately and might try to start using them in dishes, too!

It was a slow start this spring but I'm getting super excited about the potential of the Rooftop and Container Gardens once again this year!

Indoor Gardening Journey

I've had some wonderful feedback about my Indoor Gardening hopes and dreams for this winter.  I've had a lot of interest in the topic with a lot of questions along the way.  So I figured I would start blogging about it now and keep you posted on the progress.  

Starting things off...with these 4 photos above.  The 2 plants on top in the green buckets are Sweet Banana Peppers.  We started them indoors and have kept them indoors this whole time.  They are doing quite well and we are seeing flowers and buds on two of the three plants.

The long thin leafy green lettuce is something that we've also done exclusively indoors.  It was one of the many Rosalita Lettuces we attempted throughout the season but this one looked way different than the other ones.  After a fashion the other ones had a stalk that budded seeds and flowers where this one has not and it's lasted much longer and the leaves are longer and thinner, too!

Next to that photo - in the blue bucket - was the best of the 3 Basil Plants that we brought inside.  It's still growing STRONG and making the production room smell wonderful.  I'm optimistic that we will be able to continue to grow the basil inside throughout the winter months.  One of the other Basil plants I gave to my husband's grandmother and the 3rd one we lost to frost about 2 weeks ago.

Then...in the red bucket is one of two Brussels Sprouts plants we brought in from outside.  They are still very small but I am not ready to give up on them yet.  Eventho we started from seed in April.

We are starting from seed a few other things we are going to try and do indoors during the winter months.  I will keep you posted on the progress there, too!

Spooky, Sweet, and Filled with Treats!

FREE Ground Shipping in the US - Click Here!

I will be posting my Weekly Goals tomorrow but a heads-up as to one of them...more dehydrating!  Yup!  I want to use my dehydrator MORE this week!  I will most likely be using it to dry fresh basil since we have so much from our Container Garden but I also want to try at least 1 sweet treat in there, too!  Since I'm an Excalibur Dehydrator Affiliate I thought I would post a little bit about this and some more news from Excalibur!  CLICK HERE to receive FREE Ground Shipping on your order.

Another thing I wanted to share - in case you didn't know - their dehydrators now come with a clear 'see-thru' door.  You can order your dehydrator with it or just order the door!  I LOVE that this option is available!  I find myself peeking in on my 'goods' while I'm drying and by opening the door you lose some time but if I were to have this 'see thru' door I wouldn't have to peek and extend my drying time.  I might have to order this soon OR have it be on my Christmas List!

Another great thing about their new product offerings is that they now come in 6 colors!

I'll  have a total of 3 posts today...so stay tuned for a recipe...and scroll down to see what I did yesterday...

Basil, Orange Peppers, and Tomatoes - Progress, Sort of...

These are 5 gallon buckets.  In these 5 gallon buckets are Basil plants!  The Basil Plants are about 3 and a half feet high so far.  I honestly can't believe how much basil these - once small plants - produced this year!!!  I know they usually do well - but had no idea they would do THIS well!

I'm very excited about this!  I have already done a few different pesto's out of the leaves I have plucked.  I hope to do more and very soon!

I will surely log - here on my blog - more about my near-future pesto adventures.

I think I might try and juice some and maybe add some to a few green smoothies, too, since I have so much!

But WAIT...there's more!  Yup!  You see correctly!  That's a 3rd basil plant!  This one isn't as big as the other two but still a very good sized plant. 

Oddly, this is the Basil plant I thought was NOT going to make it but it ended up pulling thru just fine!

In front you can see some of our cucumber plants.  They were slow at the start but I think we might see a few - thru to the end!

There are some Contender Beans next to the Basil - in this photo - as well.  We thought we were going to lose all of those, too, but we were able to save 2 of them.  One feel off and started growing next to it - in between the one Contender Bean and the Basil plant - all on it's own!

We've been picking them as they are ready and munching on them as snack - while at work!

This is a photo I took of our one sweet orange bell pepper last week but I'm happy to report that it's even more orange today.  The leaves are a little limp but we worked in some more soil and such to see if that helped.  I think a few bags of soil we bought were crappy.  One had too much 'wood' and the other was like mud/cement.  Live and learn - I guess, eh!?

Next year we will know not even to try the root veggies and I think we will nix the broccoli next year, too!  Eventho our broccoli plant was HUGE - it seemed to take MONTHS and ended up not producing ANYTHING.  Oh well.  This year was our first year and we will apply that to following years and go from there.

It was slow-going or should I say slow-GROWING with our Rosalita Lettuce but we were able to get a few of them to produce some greens.  We learned if we let them go too long they produce weird 'shoots'.

It's been VERY 'hit and miss' with our tomato attempts so far.  We have these two and another one that seem to be doing well but that's about it. 

Next year we might not do tomatoes.

We really tried to bring these guys back from the 'brink' with a little bit of 'lime' that Sam's father gave us.

I'm hopeful with our 3 Sunflowers - more on those in the near future - fingers crossed!

We might try and experiment with indoor container growing in off season months, too.  Nothing major just a few things we can try in the front room that has large windows.

I know there seem to be a lot of things that aren't really going our way but I want to keep trying!  There are other things that we are having success with - I assure you!

Gorgeous Weekend! Colorful Produce Is Starting To Trickle In!

Happy Monday!  I'm sad to see my weekend end but REALLY enjoyed my time the last few days and am still grinning from ear to ear about that!  I think I will do 2 posts again today as I have so much to share it will be quite long!  So to kick things off - here are my foods of the weekend!

On Friday I went over to my parents house to visit and put a fairly large Wildtree Order in - in preparation for our next 4 events!  We have next weekend off, but then we have at least 4 weekends in a row where we will be booked with events!  I know it sounds crazy but I am excited about this!  Excited about being busy!  YAY!  While I was over at my parents house my mother surprised me with these Veggie Sushi Rolls from Wegmans as well as a nice sized mass of Jicama!  I've been CRAVING Jicama lately!  In these Sushi Rolls you will see Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus, Avocado, Cucumber, Nori, Sticky Rice, and Sesame Seeds!  They were wonderful!

I was so VERY excited that Saturday was Awesomely-Sunny!  I soooo needed the sunshine!  It was fair weather and terrifically positive the WHOLE day!  I am FINALLY starting to see produce!  I still had to buy some from regular grocery store but it's even starting to look so much better than it did!  Here is most of what I bought!  I stopped at Tops Markets but also stopped at Hatch Patch - a local produce stand here and Brigiotta's in Jamestown/Lakewood, NY.  Considering all I bought I didn't spend that much!  I spent more in gas than actually buying the produce! 

While I was out I decided to treat myself to lunch.  I went to The Labyrinth in Jamestown, NY, and had this awesome Havana Shakedown Wrap!  It was jam-packed with goodness!  Black Beans, Seasoned Rice, Tomatoes, various seeds, hot sauce, Avocado, etc.

I did something that I have never done before.  I sat down and ate lunch in the cafe by myself.  I know it doesn't sound like a lot but I usually get stuff to go when I am by myself!

 One of the things I bought on Saturday were these babies!  Basil and Chive Starter Plants.  I'm really thinking I must replant them in a hurry because they are already starting to get limp.  The Basil smelled amazing - all the way home, tho! 

I have decided to DO IT!  I'm going to do a garden this year!  I'm not going to do it in the ground but rather in boxes and try that for this year!

My husband is already excited about the Chives for his Baked Potatoes!

As I type this...I'm thinking I might actually do THREE posts, today, instead!  Next up - in a couple of hours - I will be posting all of the foods from the weekend!  Yeah!  I went a little crazy!  But it was fun!

How was your weekend!?