I’ve always loved spending time in the garden. My mom kept a gorgeous garden at the house I grew up in, and over the years I have had the pleasure of attending lots of garden talks with her. I was so excited when the Husband and I bought our house – I couldn’t wait to start my own garden. But as many good intentions as I may have had over the years, my garden just never really took shape. Until this year.
Since the early spring, I found myself searching images of English gardens on Pinterest, reading plant catalogues from my favourite nurseries, and planning how I might change my garden. And once planting weather arrived, I’ve spent more time than ever planting, weeding, and tending to my garden. And I’m loving every minute of it. So much so that I even skipped the gym on Monday just to spend more time gardening (although who wouldn’t want to spend time amongst these beauties??)
This year, I’ve even found space for a little veggie garden behind my back flower bed (this was obtained through a mis-guided attempt to “trim out” the dead branches of a cedar hedge – we ended up taking out the hedge, putting in a fence, and tripling the size of the back flower bed).
Yup . . . roses, kale, pepper, and melons all planted amongst each other . . . not the most conventional, BUT, I am hoping the roses will grow and provide a nice cover to the fence. And I let the kids pick what plants they wanted . . . so we have kale, and peppers, and melons. And tomatoes. Lots and lots of tomatoes . . .
Anyway, in my nightly searching on Pinterest, I came across the Audrey Hepburn quote above, and my obsession with gardening this year started to make a bit more sense . . . At at time in my life when I’m filled with more hope and excitement for the future, it’s no wonder I’ve been loving my garden.
The other upside to all this gardening has been how it’s gotten me excited about cooking again. With all the craziness of the kids’ end of year stuff, I’ve been relying on staple recipes that I know I can make quickly and that I know the kids will eat (quickly). This year, thanks to the coach, I discovered Richter’s Herbs, and purchased from them an awesome selection of herbs which I now have growing on my back porch.
Every morning, the kids and I go out to water our herbs . . . but also to cut some to add to the salad I make for my lunch each morning. These herbs have been put to good use in our dinners lately too! Earlier this week I made a wicked pesto sauce that I served with pasta for dinner, and last on Friday I made a crowd-please app for a pre-party I had at my house. It’s the easiest app you could ever make, takes literally 5 minutes to prepare if not less, and everyone seems to love it . . . here’s my take on it:
Easy Peasy Goat Cheese App
Ingredients
- soft goat cheese (I used a smaller quantity for this, but you can use as much or as little as you’d like)
- 1 shallott or a few green onions
- chives
- ground black pepper
- red pepper flakes
- olive oil
Directions
- Place your goat cheese in a small serving bowl or dish that fits the size of goat cheese that you’re using.
- If you’re using green onions, wash and peel the outer layer and then finely slice the white and green part of the onion. If I use a small amount of goat cheese, I might use 2 or 3 green onions. If I’m using a larger amount, I’d double that and use 4-6.
- Sprinkle pepper and red pepper flakes over the cheese.
- Pour olive oil over the cheese so that it pools in the bottom of the bowl around the cheese.
- Keep in the fridge until about 30 minutes before you plan to serve it – then take it out and let it warm up a bit. Serve with crackers or sliced baguette.
nancyhotson 
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