I Pledge Allegiance to My Garden

I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend! I am visiting my Dad. I took the bus from Seattle to Gig Harbor and as such am sticking with the no spend July challenge in choosing to ride the bus instead of driving my car. A very affordable option - free! We have been entertained as all get out just staying put at home - watching movies on DVDs we already have, garden work, tasks around the house, evening bonfires, and watching the surrounding neighbors fireworks. There have been some pretty spectacular displays.

We have also been cooking all our meals from scratch so we have found no need to go out to eat. Our meals have been wonderful, including fresh salads from the garden each day. This is monumental for us. It is fun to see my Dad so excited eating produce he has grown himself. Really, what is more American than that!? I am convinced we can all be farmers in our own backyards. Very little effort is involved in growing salad greens.

It has been harvest time at my Dad's. His raised bed is to the brim with lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and tomatoes. The tomatoes are not ready yet but the salad greens are. I cut quite a bit of lettuce, washed it, and tossed it with some of our sugar snap peas and a few non-native ingredients like an avocado and bell peppers. I added in some crumbled feta and a lovely chive, parmesan vinaigrette. Tonight we are going to have another home grown salad, barbecued flank steak, a cucumber salad, roasted potatoes, and kale sauteed with garlic and olive oil. I am very thankful for this time with my Dad, for the beautiful weather, and for a wonderful country to call home. Happy 4th of July!