Garden 2025 Update #7 - 2 Months of HEATWAVE Later

My garden updates are a fun little way for me to keep visual track of what's working for me (and what failed miserably! Because that's all a part of the gardening journey as well.) in the garden.  I share these publicly and just hope they bless you as much as they help me!

My last garden update was already 8 weeks ago in June, and 8 weeks into mid-summer things change rapidly!  Here are the way things are going for me after a really cold spring and cold early summer, then a crazy heat-wave that finally broke for a couple of days a month ago, and then sadly came raging right back!

 

Back in mid-June I built these window boxes on my garden cottage then planted English Daisies in them. I'm quite delighted with the way they turned out. 💖 

I think next year I'll plant some mint, or basil, or some other edible herb in them. 

Out watering the garden one day and heard a rather loud conversation across the fence.  I see my neighbors have some rather adorable pool party guests. 😁

Loads of garlic scapes right on time in late June just before the 4th of July garlic harvest date. 

These are all diced & dried and used in my pantry stock of dried garlic for a variety of seasoning blends. You can also freeze them, use them in soup, stew or even summer salads. 

My cucumbers struggled considerably this year. A colder than usual spring, and colder than usual early summer created a most unpleasant result. I spoke to several local growers and we were all having the same experience. I finally picked up some seedlings in mid June and they've taken off quite well for the last 8 weeks. So far I've processed 3 batches of garlic dill pickles and it looks like batch #4 is coming this week and then they might be done with.  What you're seeing here is pine shaving mulch (pet bedding) that helps to regulate water retention in the soil, as well as the soil temperature.  This is my first year trying this method on cucumber vines and I have to say after 8 weeks, it's worked quite incredibly well.  Weed suppression was nearly 100% and that allowed the plants to really thrive without any weed pressure at all. I will definitely give this another go next year and see if the results are the same. 👍 

(Sources I've researched do say to skim the shavings off the soil surface at the end of the season and dispose with any other composting methods you're using for green/brown compost layers.)

My tomatoes haven't done well the last few years so this year I tried a new variety for my slicing tomatoes. This year it was Bonnie Best. You can't tell from this very early image but recently I sliced a ripe one and put it on my hamburger.  I never do that, but wanted to see how it held up.  

It tasted as if I 100% added sweet ketchup to my burger.  

I was considerably impressed, to say the least! 

I'll be adding this variety to my preferred list for next spring. 

Speaking of tomatoes... this year's cherry tomato variety was Chocolate Cherry.  It's been a rapid producer and the fruit is nothing short of incredible. Everyone in my family that has tried them is really impressed at how delicious they are.  It truly does have notes of chocolate, cherry, and tomato in every sweet bite. These are a keeper for sure and I'll be growing these from now on 😋

The other cherry tomato variety I grew this year was Tiny Tim.  I've discovered I absolutely hate this plant,  😂 even though I love how well it produces.  The branches grow so close together it creates this really compact shrub that makes it nearly impossible to harvest fruit from. The fruit is sweet and lovely but you can get the same thing with a much less fussy plant.  I wont be growing this one again. 

I don't have an "official" drying/curing rack for my garlic or onions so, in this case, the metal cart is the go-to drying rack.  Once I layed all the garlic out I had to chuckle as it looked like something you might have seen on Gilligan's Island, in one of Mary Ann's huts. 😄

 This is just one of the many volunteer sunflowers came up in the garden this year.  

I staked them all up as needed, and the bees and butterflies loved them. 💖

Okay so... no, this isn't garden related. 

It's a beautiful sign my sister Lora sent me that **immediately** had to be hung in my foyer. 😂😂😂

  BEST. SIGN. EVER.

Same bed as the earlier shot with the pine shavings. My local nursery's seedlings were quite strong and did incredibly well here.

Sometimes you just sit on the lawn swing and take in the view, and thank the Lord for His incredible mercy and grace, that allows you to have this. 💖💖💖

My Chocolate Cherry tomatoes showing off with "you're not the boss of me!" stems falling off the side of the deck rail after a super windy day. Indeed I was not the boss of them, but I've let them be and have been harvesting off them for the last few weeks. 😀They are 100% the boss of me. 

It may not look like much, but this is my 2025 garlic harvest. 29 heads of garlic. Most will go into wee jars of raw honey infused garlic for cold and flu immune system aid & the rest will be dried and used for all sorts of homemade seasoning blends that include garlic powder. Since I started growing my own garlic in 2021 and learning how to dry it and process it , I haven't had to buy garlic powder from the store at all. It's he tiniest changes that make the biggest differences.  

All but one of the sunflowers in my garden this year, were 100% transplants.  The one that was intentionally planted was a winter sown plant as an experiment. 

It's now nearly 15 feet tall. (seen below).  

I will 100% attempt another round of winter sowing. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you're encouraged by what you've read here, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions or questions please feel welcome to leave a comment. 😊

The Family Table: Keep a Running Jar of Onions

When I was a little girl and heard the phrase "running jar of onions" I was pretty sure I had no idea what it meant, it was just something the older folks said. In my imagination of course I pictured a jar of onions running away from someone chasing it. 😂  

In thinking about it now, it's probably what inspired me later in life to turn fruits and vegetables into cartoons.

I grew up in the 1960's with grand parents in my daily life that used language that many of us don't use today.  Their language developed out of how they did things in their day. Long before the days of rushing off to the grocery store for this or that, and even into the days of the Great Depression when you had to learn to "make do", if you hadn't already been making do.

As it turns out, keeping a running jar of onions means exactly what it sounds like.  It means saving every little scrap of onion, green onion tops, onion skins & onion ends, and letting them dry out either naturally, in a warm oven or with a dehydrator. Doing this every time you use fresh onions & sticking the odds & ends pieces into a jar until it's full.  Once it's full, they're ground down to powder either using a mortar and pestle or any type of modern appliance like a little Bullet blender. 

Voila - fresh, home dried onion powder to be used in all sorts of recipes to add a savory, deep level of umami flavor to any dish without having access to fresh onions. I use one single jar for all onion scraps (red, yellow, sweet, etc.) so my onion powder has an amazing flavor that store bought onion powder can't even come close to. I discovered the joy of making my own seasoning blends several years ago and onion powder is a staple ingredient so I make my own quite often. I've even been known to buy extra onions at the local market, just to make my own onion powder. 

It's not lost on me that if I were writing this 100 years ago in 1925, most folks would think I'd lost my marbles since this was a completely normal, every day thing many wives and mothers and grandmothers were doing already. It would be along the same lines as writing a step by step article telling folks how to brush their hair, or tie their shoes.  

Over the years society has traded "making do" with convenience and simple things like drying your own veggies and herbs became a thing of the past for most people.   

I have a lot of little things like this I do these days that started out as a simple challenge for me to try, to see if I could actually make do & save on the grocery budget the way they used to.  Some of those things became so enjoyable to me that they're just now a part of the way my kitchen is run. 

Thanks for stopping by. I sure hope this has blessed you in some way. 😊 Please feel welcome to leave a comment or question. 

The Family Table: Homemade Seasoning Blends

Homemade Seasoning Blends 

In my ongoing effort to cut costs over the years as I was raising my family of seven children, one of the most invaluable tips I ever got was how to make my own seasoning blends for various recipes. It sounds like a simple little tip (and it really is) but I can only imagine how much money it's saved my grocery budget over the last 40+ years of making my own. 

Instead of relying on pre-packaged spice blends from the grocery store (which are often quite expensive) I learned how to easily make my own, and even how to grow many of my own ingredients for them. And if you've never done it before, it's much easier than you might think.  

Growing your own basil, oregano, rosemary, onions, sweet & hot peppers and garlic for all of these blends, considerably reduces the overall cost of each one.  You don't even need much space to do this, as all of them can be easily grown in small pots and then harvested, dried and powdered/crushed for a wide variety of uses. Be sure to check out Darcy's tips & videos at The Purposeful Pantry on how to create your own veggie (and fruit) powders for a wide variety of uses.

These are my family's most used & most loved seasoning blends that cost mere pennies for the same sized jar that costs anywhere from $6.99 and $8.99 at my local Canadian grocery store. Made at home, with most of the ingredients also grown at home, it comes out to roughly 75 cents for each one.

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BBQ Spice Blend/Rub

This blend is most used on grilled/air-fried chicken and pork and hamburger patties.

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons smoked paprika (or powdered red pepper)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoons onion powder

pinch of nutmeg (optional)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

Blend well & store in air-tight glass container.

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Quesadilla Seasoning

This blend is most used on beef or chicken quesadillas or beef & refried bean burritos.

2 Tablespoons smoked paprika (or powdered red pepper)

2 Tablespoons cumin

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Blend well & store in air-tight glass container. 

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Taco Seasoning

This is by far my family's most loved seasoning. I refill this one the most, and usually triple the recipe. 

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or jalapeno pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Blend all spices well & store in air-tight glass jar.

For taco meat: 1/4 cup seasoning to 3/4 cup water with 1 lb. ground beef, chicken or turkey for seasoned meat. Cook meat until done, add seasoning and water, simmer on low uncovered, until water is reduced. 

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Italian Seasoning

Best for any Italian pasta dish such as spaghetti, ravioli, canneloni, lasagna, etc. that calls for Italian seasoning. I usually make a double or triple batch of this since we have Italian dishes quite often. 

4 Tablespoons basil

2 Tablespoons oregano

2 Tablespoons rosemary

2 Tablespoons marjoram

2 Tablespoons thyme

2 Tablespoons red pepper flakes

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I hope these seasoning blend recipes have encouraged you to create your own and help you see how easy it is trim your own grocery budget. 

Please feel welcome to share your thoughts or questions in the comment section below, and I hope you have an incredible, blessed day!