Garden State of Mind

Gardening ~ Cooking ~ Frugality
Live from Zone 7b in New Jersey

  • A Cheapskate’s Guide to Repurposing Household Items in the Garden

    A Cheapskate’s Guide to Repurposing Household Items in the Garden

    The garlic is starting to poke through the leaves! Not surprisingly, it seems the cloves I planted that had already sprouted are the first to reach the surface. Four of them are up. This makes me happy. Some of the lettuce and arugula seeds I planted have sprouted. Too soon to tell which is which.…

  • Wintry Walks & More Thrifting

    Wintry Walks & More Thrifting

    I really needed this weekend. I was practically skipping home on Friday, so glad the work week was done. Work was extremely busy; at home I was pulling single-parent duty Sunday through Tuesday while Tom and T went to Green Bay for the Eagles game. I worked from home Monday and Tuesday. N and F…

  • You Should Grow Something. Yes, You.

    You Should Grow Something. Yes, You.

    You should start gardening. It may be November, but you can stick a scallion in a glass of water and watch it sprout roots. You can grow some lettuce or herbs under a grow light. Or, you can start collecting seed catalogs and make a list of plants to grow in the spring. You can…

  • Sprouts Is Bankrupting Me

    Sprouts Is Bankrupting Me

    This past week I was off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It wasn’t quite as satisfying a staycation as the one I had in August. I had dreams about work from Friday night right on through, frustrating dreams in which nothing was going right. But it was still relaxing and peaceful. I got some things done…

  • Growing Green Beans in Zone 7b

    Growing Green Beans in Zone 7b

    When I was young, green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were one of the few vegetables I would eat. I enjoyed when my mom would assign me the task of snapping off the ends. Today, while my kids wouldn’t eat them when they were little, now as teens they like them. And I’ve grown a respectable amount…

  • Growing Basil in Zone 7b

    Growing Basil in Zone 7b

    Basil is easy to grow and so great to have on hand fresh! I bought “Emily” basil seeds way back when I first started gardening. And that’s mostly what I’ve grown ever since. Emily is a variety of classic Genovese basil. Start basil inside in early March. Sprinkle a few seeds per plastic cup filled…

  • Closing Time

    Closing Time

    This was a catch-up, clean-out, clean-up, fix-up, and shut-down kind of weekend. Tom did the fixing up: unclogging sink drains, setting up the new dehumidifier, and attempting to fix the back screen door. The kids and I cleaned up: the bathrooms, the kitchen, changing sheets, the cat box, and more. The garden moved a bit…

  • Growing Carrots in Zone 7b

    Growing Carrots in Zone 7b

    I love carrots. I don’t get tired of them. I like them raw, in salads, roasted in a savory way, roasted in a sweet way. Soon as I get some more growing space I will be sure to grow more of them. The timing is tricky though with this cool-weather-loving crop. You need to get…

  • Home Is Where the Plants Are

    Home Is Where the Plants Are

    Soooo happy to be home from Arizona! I took a red-eye home on Saturday, leaving AZ at 11:45 pm and arriving in Philly at 7 am. The flight felt surreal, the quiet and the dark; I would nod off for a bit, then jerk awake. There was a period of turbulence that was a little…