Beginner's Luck in the Garden

So, I am willing to admit that I am not the most "consistent" blogger-type.  I just don't have time.  :)  But this is still fun and from time to time I will certainly check in and detail some fun recipes and happenings in our household.

This summer has been very busy with weddings, short trips, outdoor concerts, the city pool, one VERY short camping trip with Luke (we high-tailed it out of there the minute the sun came up), and "playing" in our first vegetable garden.  It's been hugely successful in our first year and you'll find us beaming nightly at our huge carrots, squash, ripe tomatoes, and our peppers that are finally coming around.   Oh, and the onions- those have been eye-opening delicious and Luke loves pulling them out of the ground.

Here's some picks that summarize some of the fun in the garden.  I'm also doing some fun meal-planning around what's been harvested in the garden so stay tuned for some pictures here too.  Since we've last talked, the Moore's have also gone organic.  We are strictly ingesting organic meats and produce and pleased to say that I think we've been spending much less money on groceries.  It seems our options dwindle when one goes organic, which means our diet is rich in lean, sustainable protein product, fantastic fruits and vegetables (some from our garden), and healthy dairy.  We went this direction after falling into a food documentary called Food Inc.  If you haven't seen it, watch it.  We also have stopped eating out and when we do, we choose restaurants that feature local fair.  There are a few really good restaurants out there that have gone this direction in Boise.... 36th Street Bistro, The Noshery, Fork, and Bitter Creek to name a few.  It's been really great to get back to basics- and it's been great on the pocket book too.

 Luke's eating strawberries and showing off the huge squash we just harvested.

 Sam and Luke listen to Ben talk about pulling carrots.

 OK, yes, more strawberries.  It's the first place Luke runs every day after we get home.

 Benny's hops.  We'll be harvesting them and turning them over to his brother for his home brew.

 Neat pictures of some of our flowers and moss.  Honeybees have been very happy this summer. :)

Ben worked all last summer on our garden.  He created two tiers of garden beds with stone blocks, mixed in some good soil, babied the lawn and really put a lot of sweat into the back yard.  This year was the first year we planted anything and even transplanted quite a bit of plants from Ben's parent's yard from Bend.  Everything has done well.  Ben is not a newcomer to gardening, so we certainly have a green thumb on our side.  It's really about finding the time to keep it all maintained.

More to come soon!