Garden Wedding

Over Labor Day I was able to attend the wedding of my little sister's best friend at the Idaho Botanical Gardens. It was like a beautiful dream.

The happy couple had their ceremony in the English Gardens. Besides being very hot, it was a touching thing to witness.

Noelle made a beautiful Maid of Honor.

The following are photos I took as we toured the gardens, in between the ceremony and reception.

The covered pergolas were impressive. I would love to see them when all the climbing wisteria vines are in bloom!

 This was called the Rose Garden.

 

I loved these purple penstemon type flowers.I have only seen them in red.

The bridges, arbors, and gazebos added to the ambiance.

The big shady trees in this area made for lush shade plantings of hostas and heucheras.

We found the wedding party taking photos and went over to watch and hug the bride.

Loved the style of the photos with the suspenders and sunglasses!
 

 

It was a treat to be with all my sisters, and the bride may as well have been a sister, she was with our family so much! They met in kindergarten and would still call each other best friends. 

We may have taken a silly one of our own.

Then on to the reception! The colors were blue and coral, so pretty together!

The centerpieces were terrariums, and the doilies were actually my grandmother's!

Noelle made the darling backdrop for the gift table with strips of fabric and lace.

The bridal flowers... ahhh, the bridal flowers. They were amazing. I absolutely loved the succulents mixed in with the peach and coral flowers. The different textures made them look so romantic. 

The lace around the bride's bouquet was actually a section of the mother-of-the-bride's wedding dress!

We thoroughly enjoyed the night eating, dancing, and watching the festivities (while the other three dad's watched all the kids!!!). If I could do it all over again I may have chosen the Idaho Botanical Garden for my reception... Gorgeous!

Butternut Squash Stew

With some butternut squash ready for harvest in the garden, I did some searching for a good recipe and discovered a gem!

Mel's Kitchen Cafe never disappoints. See her recipe and pretty pictures here. I forgot the spinach the first time around, but never fear, we made it again! In fact, twice in one week, which is saying something around here. My kids scarfed it both times, and my mom and sisters loved it too! I hear it's good with brown rice in place of quinoa, too. Yum!

Fall Planting + Grandma's Garden

The front end of my garden was feeling really bare, so I took my mother-in-law's advice and tried planting a fall garden for the first time! I am really excited about it. 

She planted at the end of July and says that is ideal for good development before the frosts come. I did it the second week of August because that's how long it took me to decide, find the seeds, and get them in the ground! We planted broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and peas again. I am so excited about these cool season veggies because they just don't last long enough in the spring!

As I was writing this I went out and checked the garden and there are pea and lettuce seedlings! Aaahh, the miracle of life never ceases to amaze me!

I took some pictures of her garden while we were visiting Grandma a few weeks ago. She has the same feeling that I do, that gardening is therapeutic and good for the soul!

Cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, lettuces, cabbages, chard, cantaloupe... they make a pretty display in this square foot type planting.

Two sizes of pear trees. She is good at thinning them and they are getting big and juicy!

Maddie knew where to look for her favorite treat--red raspberries!

Maddie's favorite thing to do at Grandma's is hang in her maple tree in the front yard.

Ella wanted to try it too.

Even Mike couldn't resist the easy-to-climb branches! Fun memories. 

Freezing Green Beans

We have green beans coming out our ears.  After sharing them with lots of neighbors and eating them multiple times a week, I decided it was time to save some for later. Since I don't have a pressure canner, and prefer the freshest produce possible, freezing was the best option.

Obviously, the first step is to wash and trim your green beans. 

Then you need to blanch them in boiling water. Most sources say 3 minutes is enough to stop harmful enzymes that would alter them during the freezing process.

Next step is an ice bath to stop the cooking process and keep them nice and fresh. I then laid them out to dry on a towel.

Flash freezing on a cookie sheet helps the beans freeze separately instead of all stuck together.

Lastly, I put them in smaller portions and sealed them as tight as I could. This may seem like a lot of steps, but it's worth the fresh garden produce put away for another day!

Tall as a Beanstalk

 

The sunflowers are blooming, the sunflowers are blooming! I am just so excited!

We tried a different brand of seed this year, and they just keep growing and growing and growing. Last year's were shorter with bigger heads, but I kind of like this year's that remind me of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The cornstalks are also a source of excitement... the tassels are browning, so we tried a few for dinner. They weren't quite ready, but I didn't want to miss the window like I almost did last year!

We also ate our first broccoli grown ourselves... I am still trying to figure out the right timing. The head seemed too small a few days ago, but when I picked it, it was almost ready to flower. It tasted great, but I am learning by trial and error!