My Daughter's Graduation Party!

This past Saturday was my daughter graduation party. Our place was to small so my ex brother in law said we could have it at his place which is about an hour away. I am so thankful that my ex in laws still consider me family.

This past week was on very long week for me. Tuesday my daughter had her graduation. Before the ceremony we had a cookout here at the house for everyone that showed up. The people that were here is my mom, my ex father in law, my son, both of my girls, my sons girlfriend, my boyfriend and I. That was one real long day with people here from 11am to about 8pm.

Then Friday I had shopping to do in the morning. Then I went to see my boyfriend for his lunch. Then I took my daughter to my ex brother in laws house.  After that I had to pick my boyfriend up from work. We got home about 5pm and had dinner.

Then Saturday was the party it started at 3pm. We got there at 2pm. It was all of my ex in laws there. The whole day turned out great. I thought it was going to rain but we had a few sprinkles here and there. They cooked out and everyone brought side dishes. My ex brother in law has a little farm he has horses, chicken and dogs. There was about seven dogs at the house Saturday. They played horseshoes and they had a bee bee gun to target shoot. Everyone was talking and had a real good time getting caught up with what was happening.

I couldn't have asked for a better day for my daughter. She had a great time Saturday. She is spending a week with her brother then a week with her sister.

Charlotte Nelson's Hosta Collection

The past couple of years I have given you an online tour of Charlotte Nelson's straw bale garden. (I will get to that.) Everyone who has read about her knows that her gardening methods are amazing. To see what she can grow on some straw bales is very impressive to me. This week I am planning to show some photos I took on a recent visit to her garden. First I will share something I found out during my visit that doesn't have to do with vegetables. Besides being a great vegetable gardener, Charlotte has a passion for collecting hostas.

Each year, she collects the Hosta of the Year and plants it among the other hostas in her shade garden. It's a beautiful place and I think such a great idea to add annually to her hosta collection.

I was particularly interested because I have a mostly shady yard and I am always wondering what to plant there. Charlotte recommends hostas and I will have to agree with her that it is a perfect fit for a shady spot.

I wish I had gotten the names of her hostas but I didn't do that. I would have loved to be able to say, "This is the plant of the year," but she has so many and I am afraid I will mix up the names.

I think it is such a great idea to collect plants like this. It is so interesting to see what will come out next year. I never had a clue that there was a plant of the year. I do love hostas, too, with their deep green and sometimes variegated foliage.

Charlotte has them lining her shady spots and I am sure the area will become even more lush with the showy plants growing to their full size.

I do know that deer love hostas and consider them tasty treats. Charlotte surrounds her hostas with fences to protect from the deer.

Tomorrow, I will have photos from Charlotte's 2011 straw bale garden.

American Idol!

There are only three contests this week. I can't believe it is almost over. They each had to sing three songs this week. I did miss the first songs for Scotty and Lauren. I am really sorry.

There was 95 million votes this week. 

Haley's first song " What Is and What Should Never Be" by Led Zeppelin. She did an awesome job on this song. She also had fun singing it. Her dad was on stage with here playing the guitar.

The second songs that they sang were pick out by Jimmy.

Scotty sang "Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not" by Thompson Square. He was playing his guitar and he did an awesome performance. I really liked that song for him.

Lauren sang "If I Die Young" by Perry. She had a good performance not one of her best ones. This did show her voice really good.

Haley sang " Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac. This was another awesome performance. She hit the notes just like Stevie Nicks. I really loved this one.

The third songs the judges picked.

Scotty sang " She Believes In Me"  by Kenny Rogers. This was another one of his awesome performances. I really liked this song for him.

Lauren sang " I Hope You Dance" by Lee ann Womack.  This performance was alright. She did do a good job with the song.

Haley sang " You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette. Another awesome performance by her. She had a really great time with this song on stage.

The judges picked someone from each round that they thought was a winner.
Round one went to Haley.
Round two went to Scotty.
Round three went to Lauren.

Beyounce was the mentor this week.

Guest singers were Il Volo and Italian group. Nichole Scherwwzner with 50 cent.

Haley is from Wheeling Illinois.
Scotty is from Garner Texas.
Lauren is from Georgia and Tennessee border.

When Scotty was back home singing on stage Josh Turner surprised him and came up on stage and they sang together.

The Top Two are Lauren and Scotty.
Eliminated was Haley.

Next week is going to start on Tuesday night and on Wednesday will be the finale.

Low-Fat Cheesecake

Ingredients
9 whole low-fat cinnamon graham crackers, broken in half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cooking spray
2 8-ounce packages Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
2 8-ounce packages fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 large eggs plus 3 egg whites
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Assorted toppings


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until crumbled. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and the butter; pulse until moistened. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil to prevent leaks. Coat the inside of the pan with cooking spray and press the crumbs onto the bottom. Bake until browned, about 8 minutes. Let cool, about 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, beat both cream cheeses and the sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 5 minutes, then beat in the sour cream on low. Lightly whisk the 3 egg whites in a bowl, then add to the cheese mixture along with the 2 whole eggs, flour, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Pour over the crust.


Place the cheesecake in a roasting pan and add enough warm water to come one-quarter of the way up the sides of the springform. Bake until the cake is set but the center still jiggles, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Turn off the oven; keep the cheesecake inside with the door closed for 20 minutes.


Remove the cake from the water bath and transfer to a rack. Run a knife around the edge, then cool completely. Chill until firm, at least 8 hours. Top as desired.


SOURCE

Tomatoes: Determinate or Indeterminate?

When I attended my recent gardening class, one of the questions someone asked was how to raise great tomatoes. One of the tips given was to first know if you have determinate or indeterminate tomatoes. I had no clue about this. I had never heard that term and I thought a tomato plant was a tomato plant and that the variety might be different, but I didn't know the plants were different.

If you have a determinate, or bush tomato you just let it grow without pruning until it reaches maturity. Determinate tomatoes grow to a certain size and for a certain amount of time and just run their course. A good example of determinate tomatoes are patio tomatoes like Celebrity.

Indeterminate tomatoes are true vines and will grow as long as you pull off the "suckers" that grow between the limbs and they can grow until the weather becomes cool. You should only have about two main shoots that grow very tall. They will also put out fruit clusters as they grow. If they have too many vines on one plant, the fruit will be small. The indeterminate plants will put more into developing the vine than the fruit if you don't pick off the suckers or new vine growths. At least that is the way I understand it.

Up to this point I had always just pulled the suckers from all my tomato plants, but now I am checking to see which are determinate and indeterminate and my "sucker-picking" will depend on that.

I didn't know that my Celebrity tomatoes were determinate before I started the seeds but I probably would not have grown them for the garden. At least I know that my bed with those plants will just be bushy and I will stake it well and not worry about the suckers.

The other two varieties I have in the garden that are determinate are Romas and Green Zebras. I will let them grow as bushy as they want, too.

The rest of my plants are indeterminate, my red heirlooms, Jubilee, Kellogg Breakfast, German Strawberry, Big Rainbow, Purple Calabash will all need to have the suckers trimmed or plucked.

Trimming them is easy. Just look for the new growth between the main stem and the branches and pull it off while small. Below is a drawing I made to show how to pick off the suckers. The little growth shown below, between the stem and branches is the sucker.

Just pick it off or trim it with scissors, being careful not to cut the main stem, branches or the fruit clusters. I hope this helps. I am going to work hard at making sure my plants are properly identified and cared for in a way to give me the highest yield. I think knowing what kind of plant I have is the first step in knowing how to care for them.

My Revue on Garth Brooks Box Set!

I decided to do a revue about this box set today. My boyfriend and I found this at a thrift store for five dollars. I couldn't believe it when he showed it to me. He asked me if I would like to have it and I said yes. So he got it for me and all the cd's are in perfect condition the box is in great condition.

This box set is The Limited Series. This has all of Garth Brooks first six cd's in it. They are Garth Brooks, No Fences, Ropin the Wind, The Chase, In Pieces and Fresh Horses. These are all great albums by him. I love his music.

I have seen Garth Brooks in concert and he does a great performance. He is all over the stage so all the fans can see him. I remember watching a concert on t.v. he rigged a cord so he could go up in the air and go swinging above the audience. He also has a light show for some of his songs too. When I went to see him in concert I has my son with me and it was indoors. My son was about six years old and he was so excited to go and see Garth Brooks. He got so scared when Garth sang The Thunder Rolls.

I am going to write a little about each c.d. of how I like each one.

Garth Brooks- This is the first album and there are a few songs that are good on this one. The ones I really like are If Tomorrow Never Comes, Everytime That it Rains, Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old and The Dance.

No Fences- The second album and the songs I like are The Thunder Rolls, Two Of A Kind Working On A Full House, Friends In Low Places, Wild Horses and Unanswered Prayers.

Ropin the Wind- This is the third album and the songs I like are Rodeo, Burning Bridges, Papa Loves Mama, Shameless and The River.

The Chase is the fourth album and the songs I like are- We Shall Be Free, Walking After Midnight and Learning to Live Again.

In Pieces is the fifth album and the songs I like are- Standing outside the Fire, American Honky Tonk Bar Association, Ain't Going Down Until The Sun Comes Up, The Red Strokes, Callin Baton Rouge, The Cowboy Song.

Fresh Horses is the sixth album and the songs I like are- Cowboys and Angels, The Change, The Beaches Of Cheyenne and She's Every Woman.

Garth Brooks has a way of his own to get his fans to really like his music. Some of his music he writes himself and some of it he don't. If you are collecting Garth Brooks music this is a box set you should have. His music is great.

I am going to leave you with a video. I just would like to know what you have to say about Garth Brooks.

My garden: the nickel tour

This week has been so crazy. My husband had minor surgery today and there was a little bit of garden work and English peas to shell. I have been so busy, I only have time to take you on the nickel tour.

It is beginning to look like a summer garden. We still don't have it fully mulched, but we are making some progress.

 

We have a higher fence, at left for our cucumbers. We did have to fill in a few bare spaces but I am hoping the higher fence will keep the cukes off the ground.

Cabbages are beginning to head. We sprayed them with BT and are hoping to keep the worms at bay.

Carrots! We actually have fingerling carrots. They look and taste wonderful. We do need to let them grow a bit larger. These are our best carrots ever.

We fertilized and pulled dirt up around our corn after we saw this photo. The corn looks top-heavy and hopefully we can keep it growing straight and tall.

Pole beans. It is filling in and running up the bamboo poles. I love the way they look.

We still have lettuce. Some of it is flowering but that is a good thing because we want to attract bees and good insects.

Pepper blooms ...

On our sweet pepper row. We have the sweet peppers caged. The hot peppers still need the cages.

I love shallots but I really don't know when to harvest them.

Our squash looks wonderful. We have been trying to protect it from bugs using BT and we have been handpicking squash bug eggs.

The yellow squash are setting fruit.

The zucchini, too.

Our tomato beds look good but we will be working on a staking system soon.

And our beefmasters have some nice tomatoes already.

That's the quick tour -- maybe worth a nickel.