In light of garden season I thought a vegetable recipe would be fun!

Steamed Whole Artichoke

1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups of water 1 whole artichoke 1/4 cup melted butter Put the olive oil and water in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, prepare artichoke by cutting off the stems close to the base. Pull off the tough, lower petals. Cut off the top inch of the artichoke. Trim off the thorny tips of the otter petals with kitchen shears. Place the artichoke in the simmering pot bottom up. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Artichoke is done when a knife inserted in the base meets no resistance. To eat, pull off leaves, and dip in the melted butter. Scrape off the tender part of the leaves with your front teeth. When you reach the center, remove the prickly purple leaves and the fluffy thistle layer that covers the disc shaped and delicious artichoke heart. (I forget this step and we keep looking at it like where is the heart. It was under the hairy part =) My son Aaron even liked it and ate like 10 leaves

Garden Time

Garden time has arrived! I am lucky enough to have friends with a open area that i can use for gardening, however I know what its like to have no space to do so. I cam across a really fun article that thought that i would share for my friends without space or who are always on the go.

Container Gardens!

1st Establish it. Use anything that hold soil as a container-Terra-cotta or plastic pots, window boxes, concrete planters, even hanging baskets, just make sure that they have holes in the bottom for the watter to drain out. Also try to stay away from dark colored planters as they tend to get very hot in the summer which causes the roots to dry out.

2nd Get Growing! Choose containers large enough to hold your plants. For example tomatoes need a deep 5 gallon pot. There is a web site called all-about-planters.com that can answer questions about sizes of pots. Before filling a container cover the bottom with a coffee filter or a broken clay pot to allow water to drain without losing your soil. Container plants need more frequent watering than ones in the ground, so water once a day in the summer or more frequently if the soil feels dry. Keep watering until water runs from the bottom. If the sun requires full sunlight rotate the container throughout the day.

3rd Add water and light. Different plants need different amounts of water and light, so if you decide to group several together make sure they have the same requirements.

Because container gardens grow close together, they are at a grater risk of disease. Remove dead foliage and watch for signs of fungus and pests. If you suspect disease there is a product at Lowe's called garden safe fungicide that kills fungus, mites and insects. Or a more natural and probably less expensive remedy is to soak a bar of soap in two cups of water overnight. After removing the bar, put the mixture in a spray bottle with a 1/4 cup of corn oil, shake and spray to infected leaves.

-Article found in the All you magazine April 2011

Early spring is the best time to plant Lettuce, Carrots, Peas, Broccoli, Spinach and Beets!