Community Gardens!!!!

I'm back!! Sorry for the hiatus! But I'm very excited to be back, and to be sharing my new community garden with you.

The neighborhood I live in recently voted to turn what is supposed to be a hotel site into some community gardens. Needless to say I jumped on the chance to get a plot! So I paid my $25 and they gave me my very own rented 5' x 10' piece of land

New garden plot! :)

Its a little late in the season to do seed planting, so I bought a few tomato, pepper, cucumber and watermelon plants today just to get it started.  I'm looking forward to it getting started...

Any thoughts on something fun and new to plant? I'd love to do some dwarf popcorn but i'm just not sure if there is enough room....

Its a little sparse right now....

I'm really excited to grow this summer crop.... but I really can't wait to use it in the fall to plant garlic :)

How are your spring/summer gardens going?

Update on the Birds

Well, I got my computer back, thank goodness!!!! :) I will start posting the ideas I've had while the computer was sick...

But i wanted to get you the bird updates.. they have left the nest. The last one flew away on Friday. I can't lie, I was sad to see them go... I am very happy all 5 grew up and were able to fly away, but sad they're gone. Here are the last few photos of them

They were so cute when they opened their eyes.

It seemed a bit cramped in the nest...I mean I love my sisters, but I am not sure I'd want to be THAT close to them :)

They are a few days old here 

I got dive bombed by daddy bird trying to get a few of these pictures, he was very protective ;) 

Sadly, the last photo of the birdies, they flew off the next day

Computer in ICU

Just wanted to check in and let you know I haven't abandoned ship. My trusty sidekick computer is currently in the Apple ICU having a new graphics card installed. I should be back late this week and have lots to share about the birds & most exciting of all the brand new community garden plots going in across the street from me!!

I hope you have a wonderful week in the garden in the meantime!

Birdies Have Hatched!

Baby birdies hatched today!! what a cute little bunch!

Can You Ever Have Too Much Thyme?

I was recently at the Colonial Farmers Market and ran across some Golden Lime Thyme (say it out-loud, its kind of fun). How could I resist, it smelled amazing and I had never seen it before! So I am now growing "Lime Thyme" (Thymus x. citriodorus sp) in my garden!

Golden Lime Thyme

This got me wondering about Thyme, a very commonly used herb. How many different types are there? How many are used for culinary purposes? I thought I'd share a few little interesting facts that I found

There are over 350 species of thyme....who knew? Increasing this number are the various hybrids as well. Thyme as obvious culinary uses, but it is also used for medicinal purposes and even edible landscaping as ground cover or shrubs. When looking for culinary thyme there are two families to focus on for the best flavor

T. vulgaris:  Common Thyme
              * Grows to about 12-18" tall,  can be used as a shrub
              * Common Thyme will have gnarled woody stems
              * Dark Green or Grey-Green Leaves
    A few plants in this category are:
              * English Thyme
              * English Wedgwood Thyme
              * French Thyme

English Thyme at the Nursery 

T. x citriodours:  Lemon Thyme
               * Grows 10-12" tall 
               * Bright Green Lemon scented leaves 

Cutting of Lime Thyme 

Make sure to plant any thyme in freely draining soil and full sun. They are often hardy and can over winter as long as temperatures don't drop below 14F. They should also be protected from high chilly winds. 


So the best part of growing any new herb is using it in the kitchen.... I am thinking I am going to try and make a citrus chicken marinate or citrus lime vinaigrette.... so stayed tuned for a recipe or two (hopefully)


Do you have a favorite type of Thyme? How many different types do you grow??