I’ll admit it – with all the rain we’ve had in Atlanta this summer, my plants are struggling. The herbs are doing fine, but the veggies are struggling to produce good fruit. The one plant that seems to be doing far better than others is my cucumber plant. I’ve had one large, delicious cuke already with about four more on the way. I’m not particularly sure why it’s been this successful, but I’m going to share what I’ve done in this post as part of my summer garden series. Continue reading →

When I was a little girl, I would play in my backyard and have the smells of fresh, wild mint accompany me as I climbed the fence into my neighbor’s yard. I remember my parents thinking it was something of a nuisance, but I always thought it was wonderful.

As I grew older, I discovered more uses for this herb than just pleasant smells (although mint candles, soaps, lotions and shampoos are still my favorite) such as in teas, salads, and sauces for lamb. It’s no surprise, then, that I decided to grow mint in my own garden, and that it’s now the focus of this next post in my summer garden series. Continue reading →

Lettuce is a key part of a garden, in my opinion – it lets you have fresh salads often which is an easy way to eat up all the other yummy vegetables grown in the garden. Most types of lettuce offer a variety of nutrients, and aren’t difficult to grow. I’m going to focus on how to grow, harvest, and use lettuce in this newest post in the summer garden series.  Continue reading →

Last summer, I grew mostly herbs, and a few peppers. This year, after hearing how easy and fruitful squash and zucchini are to grow, I decided to add them to the mix. This post is the latest in my summer garden series, and I’m going to share with you how to grow, care for and harvest squash in a container. Continue reading →

The hydrangeas are in full bloom all across Atlanta. The Atlant Botanical Gardens have some gorgeous ones in a variety of colors. I snapped these while I was there for their Cocktails in the Gardens event a couple of weeks ago:

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Spicy, delicious jalapeños are the focus of my latest post in the Summer Garden Series, and they go perfectly with the Guacamole recipe I shared in my post about growing cilantro in a container.

Last year, the jalapeños from my container garden were the hottest I’d ever had. So, naturally, I decided to plant even more this year! In addition to being a wonderful way to add both heat and flavor to lots of dishes, I’ve found jalapeños very easy to grow in my balcony garden with great results. Continue reading →

This is the latest post in my summer garden series that will focus on growing, harvesting, and drying basil, and on various uses for the herb.

Basil is one of my favorite herbs and has been easy for me to grow on my balcony garden for the past two seasons. Fresh basil is an incredibly useful ingredient in many foods, as well as in household items like homemade soaps.  Continue reading →