Redcurrant Berries

My Redcurrant bush exploding with berries in my front landscape.

Redcurrants are members of the gooseberry family. They are native to western Europe( France, Germany and Northern Italy). It is a shrub and in the springtime it starts out with small yellowish, green blossoms, that later turn into bright red translucent edible berries.
Redcurrants are slightly more sour than it's relatives and is harvested mainly for making jams and main dishes, rather than eating raw. German language herbalist sources say that redcurrant berries can reduce fevers, and induce sweating. They also have blood cleansing, diuretic and digestive properties.These small red berries are very high in vitamin C, fruit acids, and fiber. Teas made from dried redcurrant leaves is said to reduce the symptoms of rheumatism, be useful in compresses for poorly healing wounds and as a gargling solution for mouth infections.

Raw Summer Squash Salad

Over the weekend while flicking through the t.v. channels, I came across the food channel. I forgot the name of the guy on the show, but he had some excellent recipes for summer squash. Since I'm getting bombarded with them in my garden right now, I decided to watch it. I tried the raw summer squash salad he tlaked about twice already and both times it was absolutely delicious. Here's the recipe if anyone is interested.
Ingredients;
2 small to medium sized yellow squash
2 small to medium sized zucchini
1 medium chili, seeded and chopped into flexes
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
5 summer squash flowers (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Olive oil (extra virgin)

Using a vegetable peeler, shave both the green and yellow squash into a medium bowl. Once all the summer squash is shaved nicely into the bowl, add the chopped chili, torn squash flower (with middle removed), chopped basil and salt & pepper. toss well. Add equal parts of both fresh squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, then toss again. If the dressing tastes too lemony for you, just add more olive oil to the salad.
Once the salad is tossed together well, you can serve this tasty fresh summer side dish with any vegetarian meal, grilled meal, or any fish dish.

Tessa Enjoying The Front Landscape At Dusk

Tessa has been enjoying the summer in my landscape. Her favorite places to catnap are, on my front porch, hidden among all the flowers in my garden, or basking in the sun on my sidewalk. She's almost become one of my garden ornaments.

My First Three Apricots!

Two years ago I had three baby apricot trees planted. This summer I noticed one was dead. How disappointing that was! The flip side of this all is, I was so excited when my daughter and husband came in eating some freshly picked apricots off of one of our trees. This is the first year they had fruit. Even though we only have 3 apricots on one tree, it's still so exciting. I'm hoping next season will bring a nice yield of apricots. Now I have to find another tree to replace the dead apricot tree. Maybe I'll plant a peach tree in it's place.

More Garden Pics From My Front Garden

Yesterday morning while out on my front porch, I decided to take more pictures of my new and existing blooms. Here they are. Have a great weekend .
My mums are now in bloom.

My Rudebeckia Herta's are still exploding like crazy.

Even though Queen Anne's Lace grows wild, I keep them in my landscape because they're too pretty to weed out.

Close up of a day lily bloom

My Yucca plant in bloom with pretty white tulip like petals.

One of my Star Gazer Lilies.

My Buddleia is now huge and loaded with all kinds of pretty butterflies.

Lime Flavored Baked Tortilla Chips

Last night I while surfing the web, I decided to look for a baked tortilla recipe to make for dinner. I came across a recipe and with a little revising it turned out delicious. Here are the easy to make tortillas below;

Ingredients;

1 pkg of whole wheat wraps

1 1/2 tbs olive oil

3 tbs lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

A dash of black pepper

Slice 8 triangle shaped tortillas out of each wrap using a pizza cutter, or knife. Once completed, set the tortillas aside and mix the olive oil and lime juice together, then mix. In a cup, add 1 tsp of cumin, chili powder, salt and a dash of black pepper, then mix together with a spoon. Place the wheat tortillas in a large bowl and pour the oil, lime mixture over them and toss, so that all the tortillas are well coated. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle all the tortillas with the chili powder mixture, making sure to get both sides. Bake in the oven heated to 375 for 5 to 8 minutes, then turn each tortilla over and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, transfer tortillas onto a platter and serve with your favorite salsa, bean dip, or guacamole.

White bean Dip With Spicy Pita Bread

Last year I made this delicious recipe I saw on our local news channel. Since then I've made this tasty dish many times. If you enjoy a hearty bean dip just follow the recipe below;
Pita triangles;
6 medium whole grain pita rounds, cut into triangles
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dip;
2 15oz cans of white beans (drained with liquid reserved)
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin
Extra virgin olive oil and reserved liquid as needed
1 cup of well drained roasted diced red peppers

Heat oven to 375. Slice pita into wedges and set aside. In a large bowl add olive oil, paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together and toss the pita wedges into the mixture until they're nicely coated.Loosely spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer and place them in the oven to toast, moving them around occasionally while they're toasting. Cooking time should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile drain the beans and reserve the liquid. Place the drained beans,minced garlic and ground cumin in a blender. With the blender running, alternately add the reserved bean liquid and the olive oil while the mixture is blending, until it has a nice dip like consistency. Turn off the blender and add 1 cup of roasted peppers to the dip, then pulse just enough to blend them in. While your making the dip continue to keep an eye on the pita bread.

Once everything is completed place some dip in a serving bowl and use the pita bread to dip into the mixture.

Every life has a measure of sorrow. Sometimes it is this that awakens us.

Karma means you don't get away with anything.

We do not posses our home, our children, or even our own body. They are only given to us for a short while to treat with care and respect.

Do not blindly believe what others say,even the Buddha. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace. That is the path for you to follow.

Frittata

Frittata is a popular Italian egg dish. My mom use to make this egg recipe all the time. Summer is my favorite time of year to make frittata, because of all the fresh vegetables I get to add from my garden. Fresh zucchini flowers can also be used in this delicious dish. You can omit or add anything to this recipe to suit your taste buds.
Ingredients;
Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 medium Roma tomato, seeded and diced
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp grated Romano cheese
a couple zucchini flowers, (optional)
Cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Saute zucchini, onion and tomato over medium heat until soft. Meanwhile crack 6 eggs into a medium bowl. Add Romano cheese, salt, pepper and parsley to the eggs and whisk. When the sauteed vegetables have softened, add the eggs to it. If using the flowers, add them right after pouring the egg mixture to the pan. I usually tear them and lay them on top of the eggs to cook. Keep using your spatula to form a circle around the mixture and slide your spatula under the frittata often to prevent sticking while it's cooking. When it's time to flip, you'll need a plate for the top of the pan. Place a plate on top of the pan and flip the pan over, so that the frittata lands on the plate. Slide the frittata back into the pan, so it can continue to cook on the other side. Once done serve on a flat plate for breakfast, or as a side dish during lunch or dinner.

Tonight's Full Moon "The Hay Moon"

Tonight's full moon is called "The Hay Moon". As it rises it will look like a huge glowing ball. Thankfully it'll be a nice clear night in my area, so I can enjoy it.
July's full moon is also called: Moon of Claiming, Moon of Blood (because of mosquitoes), Blessing Moon, Buck Moon and Thunder Moon. During the full moon many countries hold festivals to celebrate the moon and it's deities.
Some of the celebrations around the world during the Hay Moon are;
July 4; Day of Pax, goddess of peace, and Concordia in Rome.
July 7-8: In Rome the oldest women's festival held is called the "Nonae Caprotinae", dedicated to Juno the great mother.
July 14: O-Bon, or the festival of lanterns in Japan; dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors.
July 15: Chung Yuan, or festival of the dead in China.
July 17: Birthday of Isis in Egypt.
July 18: Birthday of Nephthys in Egypt.
July 19: The Egyptian New Year. The Opet festival, or marriage of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. Also a celebration of Venus and Adonis in Rome.
July 23: In Rome, the Neptunalia to honor Neptune, god of earthquakes.
If it's clear of clouds in your parts and If you remember, look up at summer's full moon tonight.

Photo: Full moon festival in Korea.

Fresh Harvest Salsa

During the summer months My garden gets loaded with tomatoes, cilantro and jalapeno peppers, therefore I find myself making all kinds of fresh salsa dips. Salsa can be made in so many different ways. This fresh harvest salsa recipe that I've listed below is so fresh and tasty. The fruit added to this recipe gives it a welcoming, unique flavor and tastes great with tortillas.
Ingredients;

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/2 small red onion, diced

1/4 of a small cantaloupe, seeded, peeled and diced

1/2 mango, peeled and diced

1/2 medium green pepper, seeded and diced

1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced

1 1/2 tbsp of fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 cup of fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

Tortilla chips
Coarsely chop tomatoes, onions, cantaloupe, mango, sweet pepper and jalapeno pepper. Once chopped place in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Toss well and cover. Chill for 6 hours before serving with your favorite tortilla chips.

Blight

The spots on my tomato leaves are called blight. Every summer I have a long battle to try fight blight on my tomato plants. If I get to the plant to late, I end up losing it. I have put together an organic remedy to treat this fungus. It needs to be applied to both the infected plant and the soil around the plant every 7 days. before applying the fungal treatment I remove any leaves that already have spots on them and discard them in the trash.

For anyone who wants to try to treat infected garden plants organically, this mixture can be used to treat anthrocnose, early tomato blight, leaf blight, black spot, as well as powdery mildew.

Ingredients;

1 gallon jug full of water

1 tbsp baking soda

2 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp pure castile soap

add the first four ingredients together and shake well. Once you've shaken the gallon bottle up, add the castile soap and shake again. once everything is mixed together pour some of the fungicide into a spray bottle and use on any plants that need to be treated.

Lavender

My lavender's in full bloom right now. All my plants are loaded with white sulfurs. They just adore lavender. They are so pretty to watch, fluttering around each other to land on the dainty lavender petals.
Here's a photo I took of a white sulfur resting on one of my lavender bushes. A second before I snapped the photo their were about 7 butterflies on this bush and as soon as I was about to snap the shot they all flew off but this one.

The little darling. Spring,

Has run away;

The sunshine grew too hot for her to stay.

She kissed her sister, Summer

And said:

"When I am gone, you must be queen

instead."

Now reigns the Lady Summer,

Round whose feet

A thousand fairies flock with blossoms sweet.

Poem by, Cicely Mary Barker

Pretty Blooms

A few years ago while shopping at my local garden center, I came across these pretty flowers. I decided to buy them and plant them in my backyard. I don't know the name of them, but they look so pretty in mt flower bed every July. One thing I do know about these pretty little blooms is they they are a part of the sunflower family. Maybe when I get some time I'll try to hunt these flowers down at the garden center, so I can finally figure out what they're called.

Summer's Bountiful Berries

Berries help prevent cardiovascular disease. researchers contribute the cardiovascular benefits to polyphenols also found in chocolate, wine and tea. There's no better time than right now to enjoy the fresh summer harvest of all types of berries for both their taste and health benefits.

My berries cluster black and thick

For rich and poor alike to pick.

I'll tear your dress, and cling, and tease,

and scratch your hands and arms and knees.

I'll stain your fingers and your face,

And then I'll laugh at your disgrace.

But when the bramble-jelly's made,

You'll find your trouble well repaid.

Poem by, Cicely Mary Barker

My vegetable garden

This is my vegetable garden. Last week I was out there everyday hoeing the heck out of it. How back breaking that was! I'm glad to be done with that. I'm getting tons of zucchini and yellow squash at the moment. It's so nice to be eating veggies out of the garden again. How I will miss summer once it's gone.
One of my summer squash plants basking in the hot midday sun.

Arugula Dip

Arugula also known as rocket is an edible plant. This leafy green is native to the Mediterranean region. It has been grown since Roman times and was believed to be an aphrodisiac.
Arugula looks like a longer leafed lettuce. It's rich in vitamin C and potassium. This vegetable has a rich peppery taste and a very strong flavor. Arugula can be used raw in salads, cooked slightly in pasta dishes, added to pesto, used as a topping on pizza and used in dips.
Every summer I grow arugula in succession in my garden, because I use it often. One of my favorite ways to make arugula is as a dip. If you don't grow arugula at home, many grocery stores and farm markets carry it. Below I have listed this tasty arugula dip for those who want to try something different.

Ingredients;

3 cups lightly packed arugula leaves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 large cloves of garlic, halved

1/2 tsp salt

1 15-oz, can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

Toasted baguette slices

In a blender combine arugula, oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Cover and blend until nearly smooth. Add beans and blend just until coarsely chopped and mixture is combined. Transfer to a serving bowl and add the chopped and seeded tomato it it. Stir until combined. You can serve this arugula dip immediately or chill up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, spread over slices of toasted baguette bread.

Tropical Salad

Tropical fruit is so exotic and tasty. One big benefit of consuming a variety of tropical fruits is the high amount of vitamin C they contain. This past weekend I made a refreshing fruit salad, that was very quick and easy to put together. Below is the recipe.

Ingredients;
2 ripe mangos, peeled and cubed
1 large ripe papaya, peeled and cubed
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
12 fresh mint leaves thinly sliced

Add coconut flakes to a dry pan and place over medium heat stirring frequently and let get golden brown. be careful not to burn the flakes. Combine all the fruit together in a large bowl. Add the lime juice and coconut flakes. Stir well. Once everything is mixed together, cut the fresh mint leaves into thin slices by rolling each leaf up before cutting. Garnish with the cut mint and serve.

HAVE A SAFE AND FUN 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND

JUST WISHING EVERYONE A SAFE AND FUN 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!

An Explosion Of Rudbeckias

Presently, there's a huge explosion of Rudbeckias in my garden and I love it! There's a story behind these happy daisy like blooms. My mother had always been an avid gardener. Everything she planted, whether it was in her flower beds, or vegetable garden grew like crazy. People would stop in front of her house to tell her how lovely her flowers looked, which made her day. Back in 2004 which was the summer before my dear mother passed away, me and my mom stopped at this little stand where this man was only selling Rudbeckia hirtas. He had tons of them. We both decided we would each perchase two small plants to put in our flower beds. The man selling us the flowers told us that the hirtas were annuals and would not return the following year. We bought them anyway and enjoyed looking at them the rest of the summer.
The following summer not expecting them to return, I noticed I not only had two plants, but there were now four pretty Rudbeckias in my front landscape. Immediately I thought maybe this was a sign from my mother who had now passed away. Since I've planted these flowers they have multiplied so much I can't even begin to count how many I have in m front garden. I must have a hundred of them in bloom right now and they're beautiful. What's even more beautiful is, every time I sit on my porch to admire them, I think of that pretty summer day me and my mother were out and about looking for flowers.
A close up I took of the Rudbeckia Hirtas

A close up of a flower.
A very small part of the floral explosion taking place in my garden.

Baby Robbins In Their Nest On My Security Light

These adorable baby Robbins have taken up residence on the security light, next to my back door. Their mother sleeps in the pine tree by the edge of my property. She becomes very agitated when my dog lays in the area of her nest. Mom is busy running back and forth feeding her young all day long. These three cute little birds are getting so big, I'm afraid they're going to fall out of the nest into my cat Tessa's mouth. I try to watch the area closely, so I can make sure that doesn't happen. Hopefully they'll be flying away soon.