Gardening Hyper Drive - A to Z Fail

I will definitely have to create my posts for the A to Z Challenge ahead of time next year. My gardening has completely taken up my time so that I haven't had much or any time for the challenge or anything else for that matter.

Here are a few things I've been doing this month.

Sowing seeds and potting up seedlings as I try to keep them from drowning in all the rain we've had lately. Moving all of them back and forth, in and out of the sun and rain.

Digging a trench to help with flooding on the patio although in the end, it didn't help that much. Still trying to figure out how to keep it from flooding.

Fun watching my Sweet Potato slips growing.

Transplanting into their containers.

And so much more gardening that's happened and so much more to go! Trying to get my patio garden beautified by Thursday for a lovely family BBQ.

I'll keep you posted, hopefully more frequently as to how my garden grows!

Morgan Dragonwillow is a poet, foodie, and urban gardener (zone 7b) using a pen, shovel, and ladle to create a better world. 

You can also find her on Google+

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Life Lessons and Recipes - G is for Gardening and Grilling

I have dabbled in veggie gardening over the years but I never did more than 4 to 12 plants in a summer. Either I didn't have the space or I didn't have the time or mostly, the thought of doing it wrong kept my projects small. I didn't even start gardening on my own until my 30's and that is when I recognized I had a problem, my anxiety went through the roof.

Lots and lots of seedlings (only half are showing) in my, fast becoming, patio nursery.

Luckily I didn't let it stop me, though it has taken years for me to really explore gardening and see how much I can grow. This year I have probably over done it, I now have over 100 seedlings and I am beginning to wonder if I am going to have enough room for all of them on my patio and in the community garden.

Potatoes, tomatoes, sugar snaps, fava beans, cucumber seedlings

Of course another part of me is so excited by all of the happy seedlings I have (though not all have survived) and that I am now beginning to plant them into their final growing place (containers, raised garden beds, and community garden plot).

I'm looking forward to the future recipes and yummy fresh fruits and veggies.

What's growing in your veggie garden?

Life Lesson: Pushing through the anxiety brings much satisfaction later. Things don't have to be perfect for them to be lovely.


We grilled over a camp fire recently and I was amazed by the deliciously smoky flavor. We grilled squash, bell pepper, hamburgers and hot dogs. If you haven't grilled over camp fire coals I highly recommend it.

Recipe

Potatoes cooked in the campfire coals.

Prep

Peel and slice potatoes and onions. (about one large potato per piece of foil and a few slices of onion)
Place them in a large piece of foil (about 12 to 18 inches long)
add slabs of butter
Add salt and pepper, close up foil around potatoes, add another piece of foil around the whole thing for double protection from tears while in the coals.

I place near the coals but not in them. If the coals are very hot this works perfectly especially if there is a metal fire ring around it which adds to the heat.

Depending on how hot the fire is, it should take about 20 to 30 minutes to cook fully. To check if done... Carefully take one of the foil packs of potatoes out of the coals and open. Check with a fork for tenderness. If not quite done, reseal foil and place back near coals. Enjoy!

What's your favorite campfire recipe?



Check out the other bloggers participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge.

Morgan Dragonwillow is a writing rebel, foodie, urban gardener, recovering perfectionist, poet & author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of  #OctPoWriMo You can find her writing and dancing into a wild and juicy life at Playing with Words. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.

You can also find her on Google+

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Seed Swap and the GardenChat group

I attended #GardenChat for the first time on Monday night. Unfortunately I only caught the last few minutes but it was enough for me to know that I want to attend again next week. They seem to be a lovely group of gardeners from various backgrounds that are helpful and generous with their gardening advise.

One of the participants that I met, Amy Hill @MHenryMitchell, was inspired by the chat about tomatoes and has decided to do a Seed Swap. This is something new for me but if you've been following along you know I've been trying to find gardeners that would like to exchange seeds, not because I'm lacking in seed (although there is still a lot that I want), because I went a little overboard on buying seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and want to share them with others.

Red Worms, Seedlings, Oh My!

You never have enough good quality healthy soil when urban gardening. To make matters worse, I live in Georgia and if you know anything about Georgia it is almost all red clay. I had to do something or I was going to be throwing away money every year on soil and soil amendments for my veggie garden. I decided to start a red worm composting bin but it seemed I could only get them through the mail.

Growing Seedlings and Fear of Gardening

I used to be afraid of gardening, of putting plants in the wrong spot, of just not being able to do it right. Yes I know there are wrong ways of gardening that will give you low yields of fruits and vegetables but it isn't the end of the world, at least it shouldn't be.

Gardening in the Kitchen

I began planting seeds in my kitchen this past week to begin my intensive journey of urban gardening. The whole counter was taken up by seed packets, large clear containers (as my mini greenhouses), and soil just about everywhere because we all know I can't do anything in a tidy fashion. I have heard it is the creative personality type that things tend to explode all over the place.

Using What Is On Hand

I often have to use what I already have for my projects and this time was no different. I had a big bag of unopened potting soil from last year but it wasn't fine enough for my itty bitty baby seedlings to sprout through.

What could I do, what could I do?