HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? CHAPTER 2

[Mary]

Frankie, thanks for the tips and directions.

[fhmmany2]

 

Hello, fellow gardeners!

Pepe - I hope you are feeling well enough to get here. This is a photo of the mild peppers that Lewis picked this morning (it is not the greatest photo - I need to change my camera batteries!!!!!) - the red ones down front are pimento peppers, and there are different colors of bells, Anaheims, etc. All of these peppers can be used in any recipe that uses bell peppers. What am I going to do with them? I am going to take them to daughter's MIL this afternoon when I pick up the grandchildren - she can deal with them! 

[Pepe]

FRANKIE, oh my what beautiful produce.  I would cut them in strips and blanch them and freeze them for chili, spaghetti, goulash and stir fry.  Peppers have gotten so ridiculous in price at the store.  Wished I was your neighbor. 

[fhmmany2]

 Pepe - I wish you were my neighbor, too! This time of year we give so much away, because our freezer is almost full. I cut some peppers in strips and freeze them in plastic bags - it is easy to take out just the amount needed for a recipe. I also freeze bell peppers whole - just cut the tops off, take the seeds out, and freeze. I use these for stuffed peppers, of course. They are soft when they defrost, but that is O.K. for stuffing. The pimentos are used for making pimento cheese. They have an extremely tough outer skin. You just cut them up, take the seeds out, and boil. After they are cooled, the skin is removed with a sharp paring knife (impossible to peel unless boiled first), and then I freeze them in little jars (baby food jars are perfect!) until time to use. This year, since Lewis has the pepper griller, I am also freezing jalapeno peppers - as with the bell peppers, I cut the tops off, and take the seeds out first.

[Sasha]

Frankie:  wish you were  my neighbor to....


Sasha

[Sasha]

Here are some of my gardens.  Frankie my hybiscuses are finally just starting to open I iwll have to take some pictures today.

(clickable)

[Sasha]

[Prissy]

Sasha,

Great pictures!  You have such beautiful gardens and flower beds.  You certainly have a green thumb.


Hint for those clicking on to Sasha's lovely pictures.  Click once more for a large view!

[Sasha]

Thanks Prissy....

[Pepe]

SASHA, fabulous pictures.  Love that fairy in your garden in the first picture.  She is so beautiful! Everything is perfect and no weeds!!!  I have not been able to work in my  yard at all this  year and it is pitiful.   Thanks so much for bringing your pictures so we can see part of  your yard.  Hope your garden does good.

[Anniebell]

Sasha,
The pictures of your flowers and yard are so pretty.
Thanks for sharing them.

[fhmmany2]

  Sasha!! So many of my plants are stressed from weeks of heat and drought - it is so good to see a yard so pretty! I'm glad you had the time to post your photos!

[fhmmany2]

 

Betty (Corbet) just emailed some photos of her new landscaping - hope my front flower beds will look like these some day!

Click to enlarge:

A "before" photo:



"After" of the same location:



And two more photos:

[claydevotee]

BETTY, your yard is absolutely gorgeous.  Very artistic!  Love the plantings around the large palm tree.

FRANKIE, thanks for posting these on BETTY's behalf.  I feel terrible that I never got around to posting anything from my yard this summer.  All of my clumps of daylilies are now bloomed out.  The coneflowers have taken over my perennial garden to the point that my Russian sage grass isn't growing.  Maybe in the fall I'll finally get around to pulling up some of the coneflowers.

SASHA, you entire yard is so beautiful.  Not a weed in sight! 

Anyway, I've been enjoying the photos all summer.  Thanks to all of the contributors!!!

[claydevotee]

BTW, SASHA, do you add Miracid to the soil around your blue hydrangeas to keep them blue?  We have some white ones along the back of our house and I have always wished we had planted blue ones instead.  Supposedly the color comes from a high acidity of the soil.

[Prissy]

Betty,

How nice to get to see your new landscaping!  Beautiful yard and I always love that tropical look that Floridians and others near the coast can get.  My niece in Houston has huge palm trees in her yard.

Thanks, Frankie, for bringing Betty's pictures here.

[Sasha]

Frankie:  thanks for posting Betty pictures.   you did a great job Betty.    your right Prissy nice to see tropical plants. 

Thea:  I havent given them that in a while.  I use to but they are pretty blue, without me giving them that.  they are probably 21 years old, they are really beautiful this year with all the rain we had...   

Sasha

[claydevotee]

Thea:  I havent given them that in a while.  I use to but they are pretty blue, without me giving them that.  they are probably 21 years old, they are really beautiful this year with all the rain we had...   

SASHA, Our white hydrangeas are very full and lush this year, as well, thanks to the rain we got here in Illinois.  But blue hydrangeas would be even more beautiful!  I may add some Miracid to them next spring just to see what happens.   

[fhmmany2]

PhotoBucket is not working correctly today, but I am going to see if I can post photos by using the "back door".

Prissy - if this works, these are photos of Priscilla on her butterfly bench - I've gotten some Mums for her this weekend:

[Pepe]

FRANKIE, Priscilla looks adorable, she looks lonely though.  If I lived closer I would bring Jack over for a visit with her, heck we might even have some little pot people running around!!!!    Did you paint her dress ???  Love the Butterfly bench and Priscilla is just enjoying the afternoon sitting there.