Tag: Burpee Home Garden

Happy New Year 2020: A Look Back To 2019

Happy New Year’s from my house to yours!

2019 was in “interesting” year at my house.

The Good

It had lots of excitement, like being picked as one of Burpee Home Gardens 2019 Gardeners of the Year!

I tried a bunch of new plants in the garden.

We took some wonderful vacations.

But, most exciting was proudly watching my twin boys graduate from college–Go Hokies and Go Blue!!

I’ll be playing catch up writing about all these experiences this winter as the garden goes into hibernation for a few months!

The Bad

But all things don’t always go smoothly and aren’t all great. I kept up with the blog as best as I could this year, but as I mentioned earlier, I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in March. That took much longer to deal with than I expected, but I am looking forward to putting this behind me. I feel really lucky that it was caught early, but I still had to endure a lumpectomy, radiation, physical therapy and now hormone therapy (but no chemo, phew). I also feel really lucky to have had my family and so many friends, near and far, around me. All your help, positive messages and meals were invaluable!

I did panic a bit over how I was going to be the July BHG 2019 Gardener of the Month and undergo cancer treatment. But in reality, that push to keep me in the garden proved to be so helpful. Keeping active despite everything else going on really helped keep me distracted and maintain a positive outlook. That peacefulness and excitement I feel working outside in the garden, gave my mind and body some time to heal from the demands of treatment. Maybe things weren’t ideal this year (or less ideal than usual), but with help from my husband and my very trusted landscaper who listened carefully to all my instructions, I was able to keep up with the gardens and enjoy bloom and harvest time.

There’s a lot of evidence that working in a garden, or just enjoying nature, works wonders for the healing process. I have to agree.

We also sadly said goodbye to our Daisy in October at the very old age of 16. She’s been with us since the boys were in 1st grade, so her absence is greatly felt. Miss you, pretty girl ❤️❤️

So after all that, here’s hoping that 2020 will be a wonderful, healthy and happy one for all of us ❤️❤️

Looking forward to getting back to writing!

One more thing–Here’s my PSA–get your yearly mammograms, they save lives! Also, check out the National Air Quality Assessment map to see if unbeknownst to you, you’re sitting under a toxic cloud from nearby industry. My community fought back and we got the ethylene oxide spewing Sterigenics closed! Visit Stop Sterigenics for more information.

How Are the Burpee 2020 New Varieties Doing Mid-Summer?

Despite the weather and “other issues”, I think it’s turning into a pretty good garden year.

Happy Sweet 16 Daisy! ❤️🐾🐾❤️

I really enjoyed getting the 2020 Burpee New Varieties in May (“Yay, My Burpee Home Garden Plants Have Arrived“), and they are looking fabulous! Definitely loving the summer heat that has finally arrived.

How are they doing?

The sweet peppers have tons of flowers and look healthy and strong. The Yellow Mardi Gras Fun Series F1 Snack Pepper already has a large pepper ready to start changing colors. I can see the first hints of yellow.

The Roulette F1 Sweet Pepper, a “sweet habanero with lots of flavor”, has 2 little peppers and lots of flowers for more to come. I don’t usually use much heat in my food so I’m excited to try these mild, but flavorful peppers. I will definitely find a tasty recipe to use them in! Any suggestions?

The Grand Slam F1 Slicer Tomato, described as a “great slicer tomato, ideal for containers; determinate variety”, is liking the grow bag I planted it in. It’s growing in a nice, tidy compact shape that I would expect from a determinate variety, and has plenty of flowers and green tomatoes. I did put a cage around it for support since it looks like it’ll be a heavy producer.

The days to harvest for this variety is 74 days, so just a little later to ripen than the Early Girl Bush (68 days) that is growing near it. She never disappoints with the first tasty tomatoes of the season. Ready to pick the first one! What should make with it? Maybe it’ll be an ALT (avocado, lettuce and tomato) sandwich so I can savor the freshness.

When I pick what varieties to grow, I do like to stagger the days to maturity a little bit so everything doesn’t arrive at once. But I also like to err on the early side to make the most off the shorter growing season here in the midwest.

I’ve been intrigued by the Redarling F1 Brussel Sprout (reddish purple, flavorful sprouts).

I’ve never grown brussel sprouts before and so far so good. There was a bit of cabbageworm damage on it and the nearby cabbages, but I think it’s ok. I’ve been searching for the little worms to pick off, but haven’t seen them yet. They are sneaky little things. I may have to resort to dusting this year with some Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, which is one of the safest, natural ways to kill off the caterpillars. I do have this issue every year with the cabbage and kohlrabi, so next year may try some companion planting of thyme and sage to repel the damaging worms.  Who doesn’t like more herbs in their garden?

The only Burpee plant not doing well was the Lemon Drop Squash that the rabbits unfortunately got to. Would love to try it again, but this time behind the safety of a rabbit fence. Who wouldn’t love to have little lemon sized yellow squashes?

So far so good, can’t wait to start tasting them! Hopefully they taste as good as they look.

Here’s some more photos of the birthday pup!

 

It’s July! Time to Celebrate Being One of Burpee Home Gardens Gardeners of the Month

It’s July and it’s my turn to be featured on the Burpee Home Gardens blog and Instagram site as one of their 2019 Monthly Gardeners of the Year. You can see the announcement in my previous post, Burpee Home Garden 2019 Gardeners of the Month-I’m July! Still so exciting! I’ve loved seeing all the other gardener’s experiences and sharing mine. Check out the Burpee HG blog post about me on their website and you can follow them on Instagram at @BurpeeHG. So much gardening fun there! Of course you can also follow me on Instagram at @StephiGardens.

I’ve copied the blog post below, but I encourage you to check out the other monthly gardeners’ write-ups on the Burpee HG website. It’s quite an interesting cross section of gardeners. I’ve enjoyed following them all on Instagram.

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Gardener of the Month: July 2019

Burpee  Edible Gardening Team Members

 The Casual Gardener – @stephigardens

“Casual doesn’t mean not caring!”

July’s Gardener of the Month is a great inspiration to those who don’t always have as much time to spend in the garden as they wish they could. @Stephigardens says she knows her limits as to what she can take care of, so she keeps things on the smaller side. She loves planning and trying new things each year. She also shares what she learns each year through her blog (StephiGardens.com). Her goal is to inspire people to “try new things, explore the amazing outdoors and not worry about doing everything perfectly.”

What inspired you to start gardening?
My mom has probably been my biggest inspiration and resource for all things outdoors. My grandparents and parents always had flowers and vegetables growing in their backyards, and as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved plants and nature. So it was natural that I’d create my own garden space for vegetables, flowers, and as a bonus provide a sanctuary for pollinators and birds. I love sitting on the patio enjoying the flowers, the days’ harvests or watching an array of birds come to the feeders in my suburban backyard. Without my garden, I would be one very unhappy suburbanite.

Describe your garden:
I have a fairly traditional suburban yard and I recently had a friend describe my garden as “a pleasing riot of color and shape”. I grow what brings me joy. I love splashes of color, am fascinated by the textures of plants, and love fresh vegetables. One “rule” is that my garden will always have vegetables and marigolds.

Do you cook? What’s your favorite dish to make with your harvest?
I have always loved to cook. My favorite dishes highlighting my garden harvests are stir-fries, either as a simple vegetable side dish like sautéed radishes with balsamic vinegar or as a main dish with chicken or shrimp with an oriental flair. I go in the garden, see what’s ripe, and stir it up! It’s always different.

Some other favorite recipes:
http://stephigardens.com/cucumbers-mid-summer

This is a freezer slaw recipe I got from a friend when I mentioned I had a lot of cabbage one year. http://stephigardens.com/freezer-slaw

Another is a great Squash or Tomato Au Gratin-perfect for those late summer days when these veggies are abundant. http://stephigardens.com/zucchini-and-squash-mid-summer

Do you have any other hobbies?
Lots of them! I enjoy reading, cooking, traveling and needlepoint (nature prints of course). I’m also an avid outdoors person, enjoying birdwatching (have 203 on my lifetime list), hiking, kayaking and biking.

Favorite veggie?
I love growing garlic. Cucumbers and zucchini come in a close second, but in reality anything fresh from the garden is amazing (except kale, I’ve decided I really don’t like kale).

Any pets?
A Westie named Daisy, who loves green peppers fresh from my garden! https://stephigardens.com/little-white-pepper-thief

If you could describe yourself as a color, what color would you be and why?
Not really a description of myself as a color, but my favorite color is yellow. It reminds me of sunshine and warmth, something missing a lot of the year in the Midwest. I find it really cheerful and have always tried to paint a room yellow in the places I’ve lived, and even had a yellow car. You’ll also find yellow flowers in my garden.

Anything else you’d like to share?
Having a Midwestern garden means a very short growing season. We need to pack a lot into a few months so every day is an exciting adventure outdoors!

At Burpee Home Gardens, we’ve heard from many of our Midwestern gardeners (and others!) that have had a late start to the summer gardening season because of the rain. You can still have a successful July and beyond! If you’re looking for advice or help with your garden or any of your plants, visit us at www.burpeehomegardens.com/GardenHelp/.

Back From Vacation

May is probably not the best time to take a vacation, but this was a big year in the Stephi Gardens household. My twin boys graduated from college, thankfully, 2 weeks apart! In celebration, we planned a family trip with all three kids, which if you have older kids you know is no small feat. Off to Norway we went, thanks to IcelandAir who had an amazing airfare sale last fall. It was beautiful, and we had a great family time.

  • ‎⁨Nærøyfjord⁩, ⁨Undredal⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
  • Kjosfossen, ‎⁨Myrdal⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
  • Bryggen, Norway
  • Stockfish, cod
  • fiskasuppe

But, in the heart of planting and growing season, my garden couldn’t be left unattended. So in addition to a pet sitter for Daisy, I hired a friend’s daughter to be my garden sitter to be sure everything was going to be ok when I got back. Her family has an amazing backyard garden, so I knew it would be in good hands.

How did everything look? Great, except for a few things the rabbits got at 🙁 The sugar snap peas and radishes have been thrilled with the cool, wet weather we’ve been having.

The Burpee Home Gardens 2020 new plants have been doing really well. All the Mardi Gras Fun Series F1 Snack Peppers are showing flower buds, the Grand Slam F1 Slicer Tomato is flowering and growing nicely in a tomato bag and the Redarling F1 Brussel Sprout is growing tall.

But much to my great disappointment, the Lemon Drop Squash got clipped by a pesky rabbit, who also munched on the kohlrabi leaves for dessert.

I was so looking forward to these little lemon sized squashes. I’ll be looking for them for next year’s garden.

What else is of interest? After not having a great harvest from the leek starter plants last year, I decided to try them from seeds. The American Flag leek seeds (Botanical Interests) are growing like gangbusters and will need to be thinned soon. Luckily, elsewhere in the garden I had some stragglers overwinter from last year’s harvest, so along with garden fresh spinach, I’m making my favorite Shrimp, Leek and Spinach Pasta for dinner tonight.

Are you having dinner from the garden yet?

Yay! My Burpee Home Garden Plants Have Arrived

One of the perks of being named one of Burpee Home Gardens 2019 Gardener’s of the Year is that I was going to receive a box containing some of their 2020 New Varieties. I have been anxiously awaiting its delivery, but glad it didn’t come any sooner than this week. For many of us, spring was really late and they’d be sitting in the house or my mini greenhouse waiting to be planteed.

But yesterday they arrived! I couldn’t have been more excited opening the door to this box of goodies. It’s like Christmas for gardeners 🙂

I’ve never ordered “plant” plants before, so I was curious how they’d arrive. I’ve ordered bare root perennials, but not actual potted plants. They were just fine, healthy and no worse for the wear. Inside the box were 9 plants, each wrapped in their own safe packaging. Again, like Christmas.

My box contained:

These are all some of my favorite vegetables, so very excited and honestly a little nervous, to be gifted this amazing vegetable care package. Can I get them to grow well? What is going to be the year’s garden pest? Can I keep the rabbits and my pup who loves peppers away from the plants (Little White Pepper Thief)? Who knows, that’s the fun!

I put them outside with the rest of the plants last night to get hardened off since for once it wasn’t going to be unseasonably cold overnight. Sooner they’re in the ground, sooner I’ll have my first harvest!

I already had my spots picked out for them and in the ground they went today with my other recent purchases from the local nursery. I actually think it’s going to be the perfect temperature the next few days to allow the plants to get established.

It’s going to be a pepper party in the garden with these colorful Mardi Gras Snack Peppers!

I’m still trying to decide if I need to protect the Lemon Drop Squash from the squash vine borer.

It’s not in the same bed that had the squash vine borer attack last year, but it is kind of close. I have a couple of weeks to think about it, but I think I’ll put some traps out and then use the aluminum foil approach to protect the stem just in case. I have netting, but  squash vine borers spend the winter in the soil near their recently infected plants and that just would trap any adults inside the netting instead of out. I am going to net the squash in the other raised bed where I have the rest of the squash and zucchini plants growing on a trellis.

I’ll keep you posted on the plants progress throughout the summer!

btw, the University of Minnesota Extension is a great resource for SVB infection.

Looking for these plants in your neighborhood? Check out this retailer list from Burpee Home Gardens 

Are you trying anything new this year?

 

(Note: While I received these plants as a gift from Burpee Home Garden, all opinions and reviews are a reflection of my own unbiased experience)

Burpee Home Garden 2019 Gardeners of the Month-I’m July!

Yep, that’s me! Last fall on Instagram, Burpee Home Gardens asked gardeners to enter themselves or a friend to be one of BHG’s 2019 Gardeners of the Month. I shamelessly submitted my name with the following description:

“I would love to be one of your featured gardeners. I may not have the most perfect garden, but it’s immensely fun to see what’s going on out there in the yard, to see what has worked well this year, and think about what I might try next year. Check out my blog and see what’s going on in my suburban yard!”

I didn’t really think I’d get picked since there are so many exceptional, passionate gardeners out there. Then much to my surprise, or rather shock, I got the following message by to me Instagram inbox:

“We apologize for the delay, but we have good news! You’ve been selected as one of Burpee Home Gardens’ 2019 Gardeners of the Year! What does this mean? Either you submitted yourself or a friend submitted you to be featured on our account! We think you’re great and will feature you on the following month: July 2019. As a gift for being such an awesome gardener, we’d like to send you an exclusive plant sample box of our new varieties for 2020! Please reply with an address to which we can ship the box. (You won’t receive these until early summer, but we need to confirm you on our list now.) Congrats again, and we look forward to showing our followers how amazing you are! 🌱😁”

Wow, wow, wow!!! How exciting is this?

Burpee Early Girl Tomato

Announcement from the Burpeehg instagram site last week:
“Get ready to be inspired!! We are so excited to shine a spotlight on these talented and unique gardeners during each month of 2019! From a new gardener to a garden coach, from an apartment garden to multiple garden plots, from 100 followers to thousands of followers — all of these gardeners have something incredible to share!”

Now the pressure is on. What am I going to grow this year? What new things do I want to try? How will I compare to the other gardeners? What unexpected things are going to happen this year? What, what what…

One thing I do know, is that people garden for all different kinds of reasons and no one really has a perfect garden. I grow what makes me happy and I love writing about it. The good and the bad. That’s real life. I hope some of what I experience encourages someone else to try their hand at growing something, or just getting outside to appreciate nature.

Can’t wait to follow Burpee and Burpee Home Gardens as they highlight all these gardeners this year.  Watch for me in July on their Instagram site and blog. I’ll be sure to let you know when I’m featured 😉