Harvest: single bean 😖 (like always) and Greek oregano Flowers: mini zinnia and hibiscus

In yesterday's Q&A, Dianna asked, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺?" And while we definitely talked about Parsley recipes, we also covered some fun facts about Parsley that I wanted to share with everyone! 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝗽, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼: - 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗵 is a Middle Eastern salad, typically made with a buttload of parsley + cucumbers, tomatoes, mint, wheat grain, lemon juice, and olive oil. I've even made it with chickpeas & quinoa before in place of the wheat grain. Super delish and fresh in the summer! - Another fave is 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶, an Argentinian sauce made from (you guessed it, a lot of parsley 🤣) + vinegar, olive oil, and other herbs that pairs beautifully with veggies (like roasted potatoes), or steak 😋 - Cindy said she loves putting parsley in soups and stews and over fresh-baked fish - Faye said she is obsessed with parsley and grows it any chance she gets! (Ok, just kidding, she most definitely did not say that 🤣) And because I just KNOW you were dying for some parsley trivia today... Here are some fun facts you can share at your next dinner party 😉 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 Meaning it has a 2-year lifecycle. It grows lots of leaves in the first year, then flowers and goes to seed in the second year. Which means it's a great herb to start a new succession planting of each year. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 🦋 Parsley is a primary food source for Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Look out for bright green & black striped caterpillars about mid-summer. (3rd photo) 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗳 (𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻) 𝘃𝘀. 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗳: - Flat is my personal fave. It has a much stronger, more robust flavor. - Curly has a milder taste. And I personally find it a little more annoying to chop. (Don't tell it I said that). But it makes a pretty garnish and is great for adding texture/depth to a flower bed design.  𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘁 That garnish isn’t just there for looks 😉. Parsley is rich in chlorophyll, which acts as a natural deodorizer. Chewing a sprig after dinner doesn't just make you look like a bunny; it actually works better than most mints, which usually just mask smelly breath.

How many of you have seen planting calendars for USDA Hardiness Zones that tell you when to plant? Like, "𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘦 8 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳!" Or, "𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘦 5." Well, I hate to break it to ya, but your USDA Hardiness Zone doesn't actually tell you much about your growing season or when you should plant things. In fact, people in the exact same zone can experience wildly different summer temperatures, rainfall, humidity, frost dates, and growing seasons. Just take a look at the USDA Hardiness Zone map I attached below. I put pins on the map for Oregon, Texas, and North Carolina. If we handed gardeners in all three locations the exact same planting calendar just because they're all in Zone 8... My spidey senses tell me at least one of them would have some less-than-ideal results. Agree? So if our USDA zone can't tell us 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁, what 𝘤𝘢𝘯 it tell us? It actually gives us one very valuable piece of information: 👉 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮. This is especially useful when choosing perennial crops (plants that live for more than two years) because it helps you determine whether a plant can survive your winters and how much winter protection it may need. But as far as telling you when to plant your vegetable garden? It's basically useless 🤣 So now if you're thinking... "𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗗𝗢 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁?!" I got you. To answer that question, we want to look at things like: - Your average first and last frost - Your average first and last hard freeze - Choosing crops based on their preferred growing season - How to read the "days to maturity" number on the back of the seed packet (and how to use it to your advantage). - Microclimates within your own garden - And season extenders that can help you keep growing longer I covered allll of this (and more) in the 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 I hosted last month. And if you missed it, the workshop replay + the 𝟵-𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 are both waiting for you inside the DIY Gardening Academy.

My fall seeds are sprouting! And I may or may not get unreasonably excited when I have new seedling babies! Anyone else feel that way?? I feel like it's the equivalent of puppy or kitten photos, but for gardeners 🤣 Bonus points if you add a photo of your fall seedlings!

I took my basil plants down by a third today, and I am making pesto, basil vinegar, and basil salt!