So it’s May here in Cincinnati, otherwise known as zone 6, and everything in my garden and yard is starting to bloom.  It’s such a beautiful time of the year when plants are such a beautiful spring-green.  The rain has been good this season, thus far.  Here’s what’s happening in my yard.  Having luck in your yard this year? 

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Cilantro.  This gorgeous cilantro has taken root and is spreading quickly.  Good thing, because I’ll need at least a cup of this cilantro this evening for a homemade salsa I’m making.  It makes salsa and Pico de Gallo come to life with freshness.

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Parsley.  I haven’t had a chance to plant this outside yet as I’ve only had it a few days, but it looks great sitting in my kitchen windowsill.  I’d let it grow there all season, but I want it to expand.  I’m going to need a lot more than this to make Italian dishes all summer long. 

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Annabelle Hydrangeas.  These will definitely be the sweetheart of my yard when they are in bloom.  They produce enormous white flowers that are between 8-12″ wide!  They also produce lots of flowers.  Perfect if you like having vases of flowers around your house (like I do.)

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Backyard.  The perfect place to be.  I love it here.  I don’t like that all the grass is worn off under the tire swing, but you try keeping 17 neighbor kids out of your yard.  I surrendered.  They have fun, so what’s a little rough spot in your lawn at the end of the day?  There are bigger fish to fry than that.

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Flowering Cherry Blossom Tree.  I planted this about a month ago.  It accepted its chosen location very well, but I am concerned about some of the leaves…note the top right leaf has tiny holes in it, which appears to be from pests.  I will spray it with organic pest killer this weekend. 

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Dwarf Anjou Pear Tree.  Another freshly planted tree, about a month into the ground.  I cannot wait for fresh fruit! 

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Dwarf Granny Smith Apple Tree.   Planted about a month ago, it’s doing a great job of getting rooted in place.  The fruit trees will be treated organically, of course.

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Dwarf Granny Smith Apple Tree.  Up until about four days ago, I thought this tree was dead.  It has been in the ground for over a month without even a sign of life.  Luckily, I waited before I decided to pull it out of the ground.  Four days ago, I noticed these little stubs.  It’s a beautiful thing!

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Inside of composter.  Okay, brace yourself on this one.  This is the inside of my composter.  You’ll find things like a huge tree root system, coffee grounds, celery, salad, leaves, etc.  This will take almost a year to break down and turn into soil.  But think of the organic material I’ll have for next year, and all the garbage I’ll be saving from the landfills. 

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Earth Machine Composter.  This is the what the composter looks like, tucked back into the corner of my yard.  It blends right in behind a pine tree.  Best of all, I’m helping save the Earth.  Love that!

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Bartlett Pear Tree.   It won’t produce fruit this year, but when it does…yum!  Nothing like eating fruit right from the tree when it’s still warm from the sun.

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Rows of  lettuces.  This is new this year, a raised vegetable bed.  These were all planted this past Saturday from seed, and I took these pictures on Thursday evening.  Less than seven days, and they are sprouting already. 

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Raised vegetable bed.  I’m so excited to add this bed to my yard this year.  Because my yard is filled with bunnies and squirrels, growing veggies on the ground in the traditional method is pure hassle.  A raised bed is a great way to keep out pests , to assure your soil is completely organic, and it spares your back when bending over when gardening.  I have rows of designer lettuces, spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes in this bed.

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Stargazer lilies.  These were planted as bulbs, and have been in the ground for about five weeks now.  These will produce sensational Stargazer lilies throughout the summer.  Perfect for cutting and putting in vases around the house.  Gorgeous in bouquets.   Each stem will produce at least a half dozen huge flowers. 

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Rosemary.  Rosemary just screams “put me on some roasted potatoes!”  This herb will spread out and become a wonderful addition to my Mediterranean meals I make this summer.

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Garden Salsa Peppers.  The first peppers are emerging from the baby flower pods.  Last year my garden salsa pepper plant produced tons of peppers.  If they keep on producing abundantly, I have no problems making salsa every weekend!  Bring it!

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Dill.  Okay, so she’s not prettiest girl at the dance.  Dill is not a very attractive herb.  It grows eratically and in awkward shapes.  But, there’s nothing like fresh dill.  It’s superb in dips, in salads, on seafood, and on my infamous cucumber sandwiches.  Delicious when you mix it with lettuces in your salad.

Start the day off healthy with an apple smoothie.  You’ve tried all the berry flavored smoothies before, but apples bring a new taste to your blender.  Perfect with homemade apple cinnamon muffins. 

Serving contains 232 calories, 1 gram of fat and 15 grams of protein.

* 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
* 8 ounces nonfat milk
* 2 tablespoon frozen apple juice concentrate
* dash ground cinnamon
* 1/2 whole green apple – seeded and cut in pieces
* 2 or 3 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Makes one 12-ounce serving.

For more great recipes like this, check out Mr. Breakfast. 

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You may also like these blog posts:

  Blueberry Cheese Cake Smoothie

  Peach Blackberry Smoothie

According to the Journal of Nutrition, eating a small square of dark chocolate a few times a week will reduce your risk of a heart attack.  According to the results of the research, 20 grams of dark chocolate per week, or 6.7 grams three times per week, is ideal.  Research subjects who ate this amount had significantly lower blood pressure levels of C-reactive protein.  Because of dark chocolate’s richness, you can satisfy your sweet tooth with much less chocolate than a milk or white chocolate, for example. 

Backyard dinner dates….one of my very favorite things!  You don’t need to find a sitter for the kids and spend a ton of money in order to have a dinner date with your man….or entire family. Create a beautiful place in your yard or on your balcony to dine outside.  I created my secret spot under a huge tree in my yard, and designed a seating area, lined with Brassfield Chips (pebble ground cover seen above.)

Beautiful linens/tablecloths can create so many different looks.  The picture above happens to be a Saturday morning breakfast date with the newspaper and fresh papaya juice (coffee being brewed).  It’s a beautiful way to start the day or end an evening.

A backyard dinner date just takes creativity.  It can be breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner; the backyard dates are especially beneficial when you feel like you haven’t been on a real date in 100 years.  Create a romantic dinner for two (don’t forget candles), or serve dinner for the entire family there.   Have coffee and bagels in the morning, or gourmet cheeses and a bottle of wine in the evening.

Get creative and surprise your guy with a backyard dinner date.

   Let your voice be heard.  Vote for your favorites, such as Supernatural Botanicals Bath and Body and Park + Vine in Cincinnati, in VegNews Magazine’s 2009 VeggieAwards.  You can win great prizes! 

Let your voice be heard here. 

This is a look at my backyard garden today.  My purple hydrangea from the Farmers Market this past Saturday still looks great today, Thursday.  I change the water in the vase every other day, and add sweet lemon thyme to the vase, free floating.  It’s such a great look for clear vases.  Tender young green leaf lettuce is in full bloom.  My Roma tomatoes have their first bud, a single tiny green ball.  The Tabasco pepper plant has tiny little yellow peppers budding everywhere.  (editorial note….these peppers are as hot as fire!)  Very young Jalapenos, two single stubby peppers emerging out, in the past few days.  Cayenne peppers are green, and will turn red if you leave them on the vine long enough.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7drx7gwO0Ww

Health up your salad.  Instead of reaching for the croutons, which can contain a high butter and fat content, reach for whole wheat crackers.  Just crumble over a fantastic salad and get the benefits of whole wheat and fiber, along with great taste with half the calories.

Scenes from my day today at two farmers markets in Cincinnati; Hyde Park Farmer’s market and Findlay Market.

You are going to have to come up with new ingredient combinations if you want to make a smoothie interesting.  We’ve all been making smoothies for years, so it takes something special to really make one stand out. 

Try this on for size…a Blueberry Cheesecake Smoothie.  Fantastic with pastries or coffee cake in the morning, or as a dessert after dinner. 

Recipe:

1/2 cup milk (low fat)

3 oz.  PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup blueberries

2 Tbsp.  plus 1-1/2 tsp. sugar or honey 

1/2 cup ice cubes

BLEND  First 4 ingredients in blender until smooth.

ADD  Ice; blend until thickened. Serve immediately