HealthyMamaHappyBaby: Our Fall Garden

We have had so much fun gardening this year. It has far exceeded my expectations. I had dreamed about doing this with Arabella even before she was born.

Let me make clear that I don't have any gardening experience. Let me take that back, my mom had a garden but all I remember about it was having to weed as punishment and taking the stinky compost up the hill (compost won't stink if you do the right mixture of things). I am hoping if I teach Arabella as we go and I don't force her to help, she will grow a love for gardening.

I had my hubby put these plots together, filled them with 3/4 organic soil and 1/4 organic cow manure. Bought organic seeds or plants and planted what I thought might work. Some things didn't work like yellow squash seeds in mid summer heat but many other things did.

This sandbox in one of the plots was the BEST idea ever! Arabella would help me plant for a bit but then was ready for something different. She would then dig in the sandbox while I did fun things like weed and mix the compost. : ) Side note- I put compost on the plants about twice month.

We had tons of basil. I would make at least 2 batches of my Posey Pesto (you can find the recipe on here) a week. Basil has many antimicrobial properties. It is called Holy Basil because of how it fights off flu and colds. I think this is one of the reasons we didn't get sick all summer.

I planted these eggplant seeds last spring. It took all summer to grow the plant but now all the sudden, we are getting lots of eggplant. I slice them on the round about 1/4 inch thick, sprinkle lots of salt on them. Let them sit to drawl out the acid. After about 30-60 minutes, take a paper towel and blot the excess liquid off. I then roast them with olive oil in the oven for 30 minutes on 375. Delish!

I tried to plant flowers in with the veggies to make it visually stimulating for Arabella. Well, I love flowers too. These are trumpet flowers.

I bought this celery plant from Turkey Hill Farm last spring. It lasted though summer and has grown and grown. I think they are the best farm around. Their produce is amazing and they definitely practice what they preach (all natural and organic). I put it in everything to add flavor and even put it in my green smoothies for added nutrients.

I also bought my tomato plants from Turkey Hill. They produced so many tomatoes! We could pick every day. Have plenty for salads and Arabella's full tummy of her favorite food.

I let Arabella plant some of her seeds where she wanted. She planted some in her sandbox and it grew! She had three sunflowers grow right in the middle of her sandbox! I was going to make a cover for it but I couldn't destroy her flower that was growing out of pure love.