Horse Feed Trough as "Granny Garden"



Hi Everyone, What in the world is this? A Horse Feed Trough turned into a "Granny Garden"? What is a "Granny Garden"? Well, I happen to have two bad knees and find it difficult to garden in a traditional garden, so I found this horses feed trough at the Tractor Store and decided to plant a garden in it! I named it my "Granny Garden", as, after all, I am a grandmother and I won't have to bend or squat to garden!




It came with two drainage holes in the heavy poly but I added rocks (here I have just started to add a layer, so water wouldn't be standing on the plant roots.)



I added some good soil. It is ten inches deep....hopefully that is deep enough. This is all an experiment for me. I could stand as I worked, which was so much better than down on knees, or bending and stooping.

It is all planted now. I bought a bush tomato and a patio tomato for the right hand side with a basil plant and on the left, you see a zucchini plant with a trellis for it to run on and behind it is a pepper plant. I planted arugula lettuce in the front soil and 2 bush beans and 2 pea plants. This will probably be way too much for the space, but we shall see what happens. I can always transplant something out of it into a big pot.

II

Spring Delights...Bantan eggs and Strawberries

My friend, Helen, gave me two dozen beautiful little Bantan hen eggs. They are about 1/2 the size of regular eggs. They are not only so cute, but delicious. You just have to use twice as many!

Here is a comparison of the two kinds of eggs. She also grew the most delicious and gorgeous strawberries ever, and gave me a container already cleaned, sliced and with a little sugar sprinkled over them. They were so delicious. Strawberries are one of Florida's best crops and they are quite famous. So we ate Strawberry Shortcake with whipped cream. Ummmmm!

Spring in Florida...The Gold Tree



Add caption

Hi Everyone, Here I am again trying to blog and it is a mess! The above "add caption" can not be gotten rid of no matter how many times I try to delete it. So just ignore it and we will go forward as best we can. The above photo is showing how beautiful our weather is now...it is just perfect. The beautiful "Gold Tree" is in full bloom and is just stunning. Look how blue the sky is and you can see the sun is brightly shinning. While I was taking these pictures, a beautiful cardinal was singing in a near by Cypress tree. It is a gorgeous day! I hope you enjoy the photos of the Gold Tree. After the blooms are gone, it will then get full of leaves.

This tree is a native to Paraguay, I believe and it grows about 25 feet tall and has a pretty curved grayish trunk.It makes a great specimen tree.

I loved the tree reflected in the windows. The little red blooms you see are from a bougainvillea behind the Gold Tree.

Spring-like Florida days and blooms

Hi Everyone, 
It sure feels like and looks like a beautiful Spring day in Florida. With temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, it is a picture perfect day and we have lovely breezes blowing, too. There are more people here in our little town than I have ever seen! I would say that most are here to escape the snow in all the other states. I heard it said that Florida is the only state not to have snow! The Farmer's almanac says, though, that parts of Florida will yet get two freezes. We will see how that plays out, but I seriously doubt that South Florida will be affected. I sure do hope this lovely sunny weather stays here.

I am not sure of the name of this plant; I planted it last summer and it is doing so well now and is full of blooms.

The bees are loving the Mexican Heather. They are working the little flowers; there was one in there somewhere but I am not sure I got it in the photo.

I had another photo of some yellow flowers, but my blog post is still not working right, so it accidentally got deleted when I was trying to enlarge it. I will try to show more tomorrow. I still am about fed up with the way blogger is working. Are you having problems like I am? If I click on a photo and the size chart pops up, then I click on large the whole things turns blue and if you try to open it, it deletes. Any suggestions out there?
Hope you enjoyed this bit of sunshine in some of those bad, snowy areas.

Yummy Yogurt Jello Pie

Margaret's Yummy Yogurt Jello Pie

My sweet neighbor, Margaret, brought over a delicious Key Lime pie last night. As you can see 2 pieces are missing and let me tell you; I am ready for another piece with tea in just a minute! She said it is an easy pie to make and I think it is something I will make often, because it is a light dessert and often I need a quick and easy recipe that is tasty and doesn't have too much fat in it.

You can make it with sugar free ingredients, as well, but I don't do sugar free or artificial sugar. For me, it has to be real or nothing. Anyway, below is the recipe.

Yogurt Jello Pie
1   3ounce box any flavor jello
1/4 cup hot water
2   6counce containers any non-fat fruit flavored yogurt
1    8ounce container of lite cool whip

1  graham cracker pie crust.
Dissolve jello in water, mix in yogurt and then fold in Cool Whip.
Spoon into crust.

That is all! You will love it. I plan to double the recipe and make a crust in a 9 x 13 pan and use strawberry flavors , topping with more whipped cream and fresh strawberries for my church quilt group.

Ahhh...Warm weather!

Hi Everyone,
It is now about 80 degrees and we are expecting a high today of 82. I love it! I've heard that when you move to Florida from another state, your blood "thins out" so you become acclimated to warm weather. Then when it does get cold, you freeze, even if it doesn't seem cold to your Northern friends. There must be a grain of truth to that because at 60 degrees, we put on flannel shirts and jackets. At 80, we are back in short sleeves and happy as larks!

Speaking of larks, yesterday when it warmed up, the birds on  this 5 and 1/2 acres were singin like crazy. I heard cardinals, mockingbirds, wookpeckers and doves to name a few. It is such a happy day to hear birds singing and see them enjoying themselves.

Below is a new Elephant Ear in my garden. It is really starting to grow. The droplets of water look nice, too.

The rose bushes have enjoyed the cooler temps, though and are blooming nicely. Roses do well in Florida, even though it is warmer, but when we get cooler temps and lots of rain, they put on a show!

Broccoli and Cabbage





Oh Dear, I am still having all kinds of trouble blogging since they changed some things on posting photos. Maybe eventually, I will work it out! Anyway here are a couple of photos from my little winter garden. I have been harvesting broccoli and when you pick some, more comes up on sprouts. It is so good! The original head was all together on this plant, but after cutting it, then sprouts appear with more broccoli tips. I adore broccoli...I suppose it is my favorite veg.

The cabbages are doing great, too. I haven't harvested one yet, but this one is about ready. Fresh Cole Slaw sounds really good. I got a new recipe this Fall for Spagetti Cole Slaw that is sooooo good. You grate about a cup of cabbage and mix it with about 6 ounces of cooked and drained Spagetti. Add some chopped onion and green pepper, a Tablespoon full of sugar or more to taste and then use Marsetta slaw dressing to moisten the whole. Oh, it is delicious! I took some to a Pot Luck at church and it went well, with everyone wanting the recipe.

The weather here in Florida is much improved today. The rain has quit and the temperature has gone up to 70, with tomorrow to be a high of 81. Yes! I love bright sunny days. It certainly elevates one's mood.
Hope you have a nice weekend, that all the snow is melting if you got some, and that your winter garden is also doing well.