Raised Bed Garden 2025

This was the year of the butterfly in my yard. Huge yellow, orange and black ones flying around every day. It was hard to get a good picture, but this little guy took his time at the zinnia and allowed me to get pretty close. He's a little beaten up and was a brighter yellow, this pic made everything a little paler.

I was excited to finally get a few beets:@) And learned you need to plant more than you think you do, and expect to let them grow for most of the season to get to any decent size. For some reason I thought they'd be ready to eat in June, not so much. I did enjoy adding the beet greens to salads throughout the summer though. Ma says they would sauté them and eat them like spinach when she was a kid. I hope to try that next year. Note for myself: 3/9/25 planted spinach, beets, and radish seeds.

All of these pics are from throughout the summer, so plants are various sizes. If you look closely, there is a black butterfly on one of the bottom zinnias. 

Tomatoes didn't get as tall this year, and a strong wind bent most of the vines over. As previously mentioned, they were a good three weeks later to ripen than last year. In addition to what you see there were planters of string beans and I had a good spring for radishes. Fall radishes, some turnips and another attempt at beets are growing now.

I've never planted Alyssum before, tried it in the strawberry planter. It grew well and I was amused at the way the white was dominant in spring, and by end of season it was mostly purple. 

Cherry tomatoes on this side, they grew well and I ended up with plenty to share:@) Cucumbers and zucchini were strong for a couple weeks, but made early departures. 

Peppers are starting to turn colors now.

Labor Day Weekend garden... Those crazy tall light purple flowers are Cosmos. The pack of seeds said they'd grow 2' tall-yea x 4. They got so tall I couldn't even dead head the flowers. New cement bird bath, clean and simple look, I love it:@) Coleus on the near end was -very- happy this year. 

Overall, it was another good year for the Pig In Mud garden:@) And as always, it gave me lots to think about for next year. My biggest challenge: The township forced us to use their trash cans now, I can only get so much into it (instead of throwing two bags on the curb as I've done forever). I have a feeling I'll be scaling back quite a bit. Especially the tomatoes. My coworkers are already disappointed... Oh well, we will see. 

I hope you all had a great summer!

Have a Happy Day:@)

Frozen Crushed Tomatoes -Small Batch Preserving The Garden

As the garden winds down and the season comes to an end the tomatoes start to look a little worse for wear. One way to try to use them up is to make some *simple* Frozen Crushed Tomatoes. The key here is it’s just an idea to eliminate waste and nothing too fancy. We can make as few or as many as we'd like or have. The excess liquid can be cooked out on the stove, or if you’d like, in a slow cooker. I used the stove because it goes a lot faster. My son adds some basil. I just made tomatoes, they can be used for spaghetti sauce, chili, soup, or stews. 

As a point of reference, I used four large tomatoes, cooked them for 1 hour and 15 minutes. This gave me about 1/2 C of crushed. Yep, preserving is a labor of love folks:@)

It was another good tomato year from the raised bed garden, although they did ripen almost three weeks later than last year. At this point I’m beginning to pull plants and clean things up.

My Preserving Pinterest Board HERE.

My DIY Barbie Pinterest Board HERE.

Frozen Crushed Tomatoes

• Wash and core tomatoes. Cut into quarters. Pushing the seeds out is always a nice idea, I didn't. Same with the skins, I left them on, just used the whole tomato. *Next time I'll run my thumbs through them to remove most of the seeds.
• Pulse about 6-8 times in food processor or chop with a knife. 
• Add a pinch of salt, bring to boil. Reduce to medium low, stir occasionally so they don't scorch or burn, and cook until reduced and liquid has evaporated. This will take time, plan this project for when you are home for a few hours.
• Cool, place in freezer bags or cups, label, and freeze.

🍅Let's use up what the garden gifts us,

and Have a Happy Day:@)

Fall & Football Tiered Tray

It's football season folks! Popping in with my Fall and Philadelphia Eagles Football Tiered Tray. I picked up a new white rectangular tray from Aldi. It has lots of room for decorations and I love it on my oblong table! Topped it with cute items gathered at various stores over the years, a crafted thing here and there...

And yep, a sign that says "Eagles Fans Only"-ha. 

Here's hoping it's a great season:@)

***GO BIRDS***

Have a Happy Day🏈🏈🏈

 

Have a Happy Day:@)

Memorial Day Weekend

 Thank You to all who have served!

Everyone here at Pig In Mud...

Wishes you a nice Memorial Day Weekend!

Inspirational Friday

 

Have a great weekend:@)

Philadelphia Phillies Items at Dollar Tree

Popping in to let everyone know that my local Dollar Tree has Phillies items. Never saw MLB there before, it's pretty cool:@) Very similar to the NFL line-up they get every year... Several cups to choose from, plastic logo plates and popcorn/chip bowls:

Chip clips with a magnet:

And while not Phillies...

These Thunder Sticks would be great fun at the game:@)

Grab it when you see it and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Inspirational Friday

Have a great weekend:@)

Inspirational Friday

 

Have a great weekend:@)