You Can Eat The Flowers?

My Dill-ee-yo

My herbs have done great this year....except for the parsley. One cut of that and it was done. Otherwise, I've gotten a lot of use out of my herb section. My dill, in particular, has been great. But as the summer has gone on, it has gotten taller and less like what we see in the grocery store. Recently, all that was left is long stems and a pretty array of small yellow flowers.

Tonight I wanted to use dill for a tomato, cucumber, feta cheese salad. But could I use the flowers? After a little research, apparently I can. In fact, you can eat a lot of flowers. Here's a link: Edible Flowers List

And the recipe for that salad:
2 Tomatoes, diced
1 Large Cucumber, diced
2/3 cup Feta Cheese
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 tablespoons fresh dill
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and chill in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes before serving.

About Our Garden...

The Garden June 30th, 2008

The Garden May 27th, 2008

Because our backyard is not very big and completely landscaped when we moved in, I had to resort to planting all of our garden in pots....very large pots for vegetables and fruits; and small pots for the herbs. Not only does it save in space, but I can move the plants around the backyard to maximize sunlight exposure. Last year I started fairly small; a couple tomato plants, two bell pepper plants, yellow squash, and basil. We had a very dry summer which greatly hampered the tomato and bell pepper plants. But the basil and squash did great....as long as I watered the heck out of them.

So this year, I went bigger. Bigger in the size of the garden and the pots I put it in. I also used exclusively potting mix from Merrifield Garden Center rather than any organic soil or dirt. When using pots, ALWAYS use potting mix. Potting mix is best for containers as it's lighter, doesn't compact as soil does, drains better, and allows more air to get to the roots. I also made sure there were enough holes in the bottom of the pots for proper drainage.

The list of things I planted is to the right. I was really curious to see if I could grow okra and cantaloupe. So far so good. We've received a lot of rain this year along with some constant warm temps. I planted much of the garden in late-April and things really took off around the first of June. I've maintained a watering schedule of every-other day. Also, I "feed" the garden every two weeks. Food for food? That's right. The plants need a lot of nutrients aside from the H2O and sunlight. Nitrogen and Phosphorous are the biggies (I'll explain some other time). I found that Miracle-Gro tomato food has been great the two years I've used the product.
Hopefully this gives you a quick introduction to the "Left Thumbs" garden. As time goes on, I'll "dig" deeper into particular plants and how I take care of them.

Our Blog's Germination...

I figure most of my friends are tired of getting garden updates and pictures from me the past few months. So I thought a blog would be a good way to provide updates to people...if they care.

Let's start with me. I fully disclaim that I am not a professional gardener. I'm just a TV cameraman with an itch to grow my own produce. I do not own a horticulture degree and certainly wouldn't consider myself an expert on the art of growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs. But maybe I can provide some tips I've found useful in my backyard, a couple tasty recipes, and hopefully create a forum for others to bounce ideas off each other.

P.S. In case you were wondering, the blog picture is a baby "Ambrosia" cantaloupe in my garden.