It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought. ~James Douglas, Down Shoe Lane

After the last few weeks chock full of gardening with a whole lot of love and sweat and dirt, those long hours in the early morning sun out front (we live without access to a yard so we really do our research and expend a lot of energy and research on our container gardens. After a few trips to home depot for really cheap herbs and veggies, some errands to a box store for some colorful containers to plant in, and the like, our current container garden is looking pretty great. I'm worried about the heat we've had and what it will do to my freshly planted bucket of herbs, but I figure if farmers are planting their crops in the sun, we aren't too far off from the arrangement, aside from our fruits and veggies and recently added herbs being on our our downstairs neighbor;s bay window. My green thumb has been diligent with rising at 6:30am to water the roof, again to pull some things in, such as the herbs for a little bit, (if necessary - they just went out today), and to to then head down to our rode bushes, azalea bush, a jack o lantern pumpkin in a 5 gallon bucket, perennial shasta daisies which I'm desperately trying to revive from the scorchers we've had lately, marigolds and roman candlesticks, and a few other pretty flowers and a large lavender plant that needs to be split as there are several plants outgrowing its tiny basket yet to go in...somewhere :)

I have pictures of the 'roof deck' - Are you ready for this urban farming? :) And please, if you have any tips to pass along, this is the first spring/summer I've gone beyond strawberries and tomatoes. SO far everything looks good, though soon we may have to stake one of the zucchini branch leaf for some added support for the buds arriving. Without further ado (drum roll anyone?) The almost completed 'roof deck.'

This was how the project began: a mishmash of potting soil, containers, water, water, and water, some nutrient food, prepping the containers for drainage holes, assessing which veggies and fruits could go into which pots, and of course, running out of potting soil. Eh. You do what you can in a few hours, pack it up, and if you're anything like me, you run out to Home Depot and the WalMart, whose garden center is closing BTW so the soil and what's left is SUPER cheap.

Patio & Lemon Bay Tomatoes

Champion Tomatoes, Zucchini and Cucumber, and three varieties of Peppers - Green, Yellow, and Red

Yellow Squash, Cantaloupe, a large Strawberry plant, and a wee baby strawberry plant.






More pictures to come of our patio/stoop container garden and the newest addition to our 'roof deck' - a delicious bucket of fresh herbs.Our patio is progressing nicely aside from our perennials having just wilted, not from neglect as I have been going Poppa Bear on this garden, but more we think just the humidity and the shriveling heat. I'm hoping they come back. Some of our marigolds have and there are buds on the Shasta Daisies. My fingers are crossed and I do welcome any gardening fertilization, nutrient, and any other advice anyone may have. Bring it on in the comment section.

Salmon with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce, Red Pepper Basmati Rice, Summer Squash and Zucchini

We recently subscribed to Cooking Light magazine and when I came across a variation of this dish, I decided to try it out. Am I ever glad I did - it is simple, light, and mouthwatering. The original recipe called for Arctic Char and coconut jasmine rice, but since I'm a real rebel, I used salmon, made some basmati rice and sauteed summer vegetables. 

For the cilantro-yogurt sauce, combine 1/2 cup of 2% Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup of finely chopped and peeled cucumber, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, the juice of one lime, and a bit of salt. Chill.

 Bring 1 cup of basmati rice, a dash of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red peppers to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Dice one red bell pepper and set aside; once the rice has finished cooking, mix this pepper into the rice and stir before plating.

While the rice cooks, heat a smidge of olive oil in a medium sized frying pan. Add garlic, salt and pepper in a  and toss 1 sliced summer squash and 1 sliced zucchini, stirring  frequently. Heat a large frying pan and add the salmon fillets, seasoned with salt, pepper, and the juice of 1 lime each. I squeezed the remainder of the limes into my vegetables just for fun.

After dishing the fish, vegetables, and rice with diced bell pepper, spoon the cilantro-yogurt sauce on the fish and rice. Serve and devour.

Apple and Sage Pork Chops

This photo and recipe come from McCormick, the American food company specializing in spices. My Librarian and I stumbled upon a few of these pre-packaged meal spice packs while cruising through the supermarket one night. Generally the spices we use are fresh, save for a few dry spices we buy at one of the markets, but this recipe card really intrigued us, not least of all because the pork looked absolutely divine. These things come with a recipe card that you can keep handy for future dishes and the pre-measured spices necessary for the dish on said card. We figured what the hell, right?

The package included 1 1/2 teaspoons of Rubbed Sage, 1 teaspoon of Minced Garlic, 1 teaspoon of Thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of ground All-Spice, and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. There were a few things we would need to add so we made a note of the things we had at home, that which we would need to grab, and headed over to the meat section to select our boneless pork chops.

Later that week, we were ready. Per the instructions, we mixed 1 tablespoon of flour with the entire spice packet and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl. The recipe asks you to sprinkle - honey, I don't really sprinkle - so I took each of my 4 pork chops and lightly dredged into the mixture.

In a large skillet, I cooked the pork chops on medium heat until browned on both sides and promptly removed and put them on a plate tented with foil. Next, 1 medium thinly sliced onion was cooked for about 3 minutes (or until tender), followed by 2 thinly sliced red apples. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally, stir in 1/2 cup of apple juice, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and the rest of the seasoned flour until well mixed. Return the pork chops and any collected juices to the pan and bring it all to a boil. Reduce to low, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until done.

We served with a side of apple mashed potatoes and it was delightful.