June Tidbits

It’s my goal to do as much as I can with my garden organically, or by re-purposing.  After making homemade hummingbird food, try putting some of the sugar water in a spray bottle and mist vine-type veggie plants like squash and cucumbers.  This encourages bees to seek out and pollinate the plants, and can also aid against some “bad” insects.  (When doing this, only spray the plants and leaves, and avoid spraying the blossoms themselves).

A lovely squash blossom!

Organic bananas were on sale last week, but two didn’t get eaten quick enough. I hate to waste food!  After they turned brown, I peeled them, dividing the mushy fruit and rotting peels, and buried them at the base of each of my rose bushes to feed the roses.  Another “recycled” plant food is from my daughter’s pet hermit crabs. We change the substrate in their “crabitat” each week; by using all-natural “Eco-Earth” made from coconuts, we can compost their waste directly into the flower beds, as well.

To discourage birds in the veggie garden, I’ve re-purposed hanging garden decorations and compact discs. 

To help keep my mint from over-spreading in the herb garden, I used the frame from my daughter’s sandbox.  It has really helped to contain it.  I love fresh mint leaves in tea and in salads.

One of the most economical ways to increase variety in your flowerbeds is to share and trade perennials with others. I really love all varieties of hosta, and consider the ones in my yard a “collection”.  A new friend and fellow suburban gardener sent me home with beautiful “blue” hosta, a type I did not have before, as well as poppies, foxglove, and hollyhock. I returned the favor with some of my bee balm, lambs’ ears, and a tomato plant.  I have plants that I remember special people by each year they bloom.  I just transplanted some Evening Primrose from the Garden Club at my daughter’s elementary school, and I know each summer when I see it bloom, I’ll  remember these special years.

One of my new “Blue” Hosta plants.  I love trading plants with friends.

My garden cart is loaded up with new plants from a friend’s flower bed. Even when doing yard work, I’ve always got my “Farmgirl Spirit!”

Morning sun and a view of the Hosta bed.

Summer starts the grilling season!  Here’s one of my own favorite ways to marinate meat.  I mix it up in a mason jar (what else?) and pour it over pork or beef, marinating it in the fridge a few hours before grilling.

Nicole’s Marinade for Meat

• ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
• ¾ tsp sea salt
• ⅛ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil

If you find yourself bothered by flies, especially if you are cooking outdoors, try this tip I learned years ago from a barbeque restaurant in Ft. Worth, Texas. Hang a clear baggie of water on the wall on your porch or deck, and the flies will not bother you!  It sounds crazy, but it truly works.

I recently learned another tip for outdoor grilling, from our local news. I posted it on the Farmgirl Connection Forum, but it bears repeating.  A man in our area was in the ER thinking he had an appendicitis, but he had unknowingly swallowed a metal bristle that had come loose from his grill brush.  Doing this can be deadly, and I’ve since heard several other stories like it.  I looked at our grill brush, and sure enough, it had missing bristles. It’s better to clean your grill with a half lemon and wadded up foil, or with a grill stone.

The hammock’s been put out for weeks, but I have yet to sit in it. Hopefully after my daughter’s school lets out I will get caught up and be able to spend a few moments relaxing!

A few more weeks and summer’s here. I think I’m almost ready. How about you? With all the recitals, proms, graduations, weddings, and weeding (on top of all our “regular” things we do), I hope you enjoy it all, and have a safe, happy start to Summer!