Coffee, Knitting, Gardening--A Perfect Morning

A perfect morning begins on my greenhouse sunporch with coffee, kitties, and knitting.

This is my potting bench--handmade by my husband about 9 years ago. Sometimes it is covered with potting soil, pots and seeds. Sometimes it is nice and freshly cleaned with a candle lit. Today I'm planting more seeds and transplanting some seedlings into the garden.

This plant was a birthday present four years ago--it loves its little corner on the greenhouse and grows quite healthy.

 After coffee and knitting, I'll have a little breakfast and head on out to the garden with Minnie--she loves to follow me out there and hang around, like she's guarding me. 

I have no deck right now as it's being torn up and replaced--that will be nice! 

Minnie is sharpening her claws and getting ready to defend me against any predators.

Predators may include the little yellow cat next door, Simba, who is trying to live with us!

I'm sewing more seeds into the garden and doing a little weeding. After that, I'm picking some lettuces for dinner later.

A pot of Mesclun lettuces

 I'm also picking bunches of lemon thyme to make my Lemon Lemon-Thyme Squares. Everybody loves them, and they don't last long! I'll probably make them today and again on Wednesday to take to our Fourth of July family party the next day.

This year I've planted several varieties of tomatoes including Early Girl, Big Boy, Sweet 100, Roma, and an interesting purple heirloom variety. I can't wait to see how that turns out. 

Lots of tomato plants growing

All around the tomatoes I plant starts and seeds of basil--a companion plant to the tomato. All summer long, tomato and basil appear at every dinner. I also make things like a refrigerated ball jar pasta sauce--it features a mason jar with chopped fresh tomato, chopped fresh basil, a clove of garlic minced, a couple splashes olive oil, and chunks of mozzarella cheese. Make it in the morning, stick it in the fridge, and that night make a big pot of pasta, and toss the cold sauce right into the hot cooked pasta. Yum!

Baby basils

Walking around the garden makes me think of all these recipes and ideas--it's like having the best source of food right outside your back door.

My favorite squash is spaghetti squash--it's delicious without all the carbs! This year I've also planted eggplant, cucumber and zucchini--I think there are lots of amazing vegetarian meals coming in July and August! It's amazing how you can get something for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert from the garden.
 

Flowering thyme bed

Now it's time to finish up because this afternoon I'm going to sew some pages for my art journal, go use a coupon at the craft store to get a roll of stabilizer and some embroidery threads, and plan our meals for the week. Busy!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Grow