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Beautiful flowerbeds and baskets on the yard

Out. Of. Control.

But at least this year my brother didn’t kill most of my vegetable while we were on vacation.

Ok, fine, to be fair it was the frost that decimated a lot of my vines. And this year that late snow did a fine job trying, and suceeding, with a lot again.

And I guess a few dead plants comes with the territory of cheap free labor.

But you didn’t see my front lawn that he didn’t mow. Anyone would take one look at it and think “now those people are away on vacation.”

Beautiful flowerbeds and baskets, lots of hard work into landscaping but a lawn that went to weeds?

That just SCREAMS people on vacation with a brother who didn’t mow the dang lawn, so rob me please.

On to happier things, such as my cauliflower! I had a mediocre success rate, 4 out of the 6 planted bolted, dang it. But we enjoyed the two that grew. And lucky for me, the rabbit still loves to eat the bolted cauliflowers, every single speck, so she gets treats out of the deal.

close up of harvesting a cauliflower

My daughter is actually eating the other side.

I really hope it was cleaner than the side facing me.

little girl holding and looking down the newly harvest cauliflower

I have potatoes and are they ever delicious! I was surprised at how large some of them are, there was a nice mix of sizes.

harvesting a potato in the yard

This was from the front of the hill of one plant.

red pail with mix sizes of harvested potatoes


And this, this delicious salad was made from a mix of red and russets and was incredibly tasty. Maybe even more so because I grew the potatoes myself. And with avocados…mmm!

Recipe coming very soon!

burger with salad made from a mix of red and russets with avocado in a plate

Pumpkins, which are so completely different from the ones I grew last year. These are not “vining” out as much as I would like, they are more squat like a zucchini. I am running out of room and I don’t like that they are on the dirt, I am having to prop them up and keep them from getting rotten spots.

small round pumpkin on the soil

Ew. I think this is from the rain…then heat…then too much rain….then heat again. From what I have read, inconsistent water and heat levels crackle your tomatoes.

I still have lots of green ones a’ comin’…here’s hoping they turn out better than this!

crackled piece of tomato

I truly hope my neighbors like zucchini….because I have about 4-5 plants going and most are starting to gear up to produce.

two pieces of growing zucchini

I also have a few other things on the back burner to try…beet leaf Perishke (please, don’t ask me how to phonetically spell that out for you, I just know how to say it) which is baked dough stuffed with cottage cheese, but my family’s version is dough wrapped around juicy beet leaf stems then wrapping the dough with a beet leaf, then baking.

Then smothering it in a dill cream sauce.

Yup.

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Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

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