Some of these are relatively inexpensive, and some are investments. If it's an investment, it's something I genuinely love and think is essential in your kitchen! I've tried to keep many of them "affordable" even though, if you can spare the money, I'm a firm believer in spending a bit more for higher quality and having your items last longer! {Full disclosure: these links are affiliate links, but I 100% support and love these products and wouldn't recommend them otherwise!}

1. Silicon Spatula
   You really can't go wrong with a silicon spatula! I could dive deep into differing types, but for now I'll stick with a pretty Le Creuset Spatula that I love to use at home! I use this for sauces, pastas, spreading things, and (in a pinch) flipping things!
2. Wooden Spoon
   A wooden spoon is absolutely essential for making soups and scraping flavor off the sides of pots! I didn't realize this until I started making so many soups, and then quickly deemed my wooden spoon my favorite kitchen utensil!
3. Cast iron frying pan
   A cast iron frying pan will last you a lifetime - so if you can, buy a really good one. Treat it well! I use mine to make pancakes, sauces, fry fish, cook chicken, and pretty much everything else you can do in a frying or sauce pan!
4. Cuisinart Food Processor
   OK, this is the one real splurge on this list, but I SWEAR IT IS THE BEST THING EVER! And it's actually only $99 right now! I use my food processor more than any appliance in the kitchen! You can use it as a blender or a mixer, grate cheese and veggies in a flash, chop veggies instantly, and do so much more! LIKE MAKE NUT BUTTERS! I actually make my pie dough in a food processor, and it takes about 45 seconds. It's ridiculously easy. If you ever have to grate a ton of cheese, the shredding attachment is your best friend (and time-saver).
5. Box grater
   Not only is this essential if you eat a lot of cheese (like I do!), but also for grating ingredients like ginger (for everything!), carrots (carrot cake!), zucchini (zucchini fritters!), etc. I have this exact grater and absolutely love it. It's worth the few extra dollars for a sturdy one!
6. Good quality knife
   You need to have at least one good knife, preferably a big one and a small one. Most people would recommend a chef's knife for the big knife - I'm personally more of a Santoku fan. I just find it easier to cut with - choose what you like! This is another area you can spend more to invest in a quality knife, but either way: make sure you keep it sharp!
7. Good quality saucepan with fitted lid
   This is my favorite pot in my entire kitchen. I use it to bake bread, cook pasta, small batches of soup, sauces, caramel - it's by far the most-used pot I own. This one also comes with a lifetime warranty and a tight-fitting lid (essential for bread baking!).
8. Cutting board
   This is a given, but can be easily overlooked! I love my wooden cutting boards, but if I had to only have ONE cutting board I'd choose plastic for sanitizing reasons. Plastic is much easier to clean and sanitize (for example, after you cut chicken and before you cut veggies), and doesn't require any upkeep.
9. 8x8 pyrex baking dish
   This is a multi purpose dish for baking brownies, cakes, casseroles, roasting small batches of veggies or nuts, etc. With a lid, it's so easy to cover and pop in the fridge for leftovers!
10. Large baking sheet
    This isn't just for bakers! I use my baking sheets to keep things warm in the oven (like pancakes or fish) while I finish the rest of the batch, I roast vegetables, toast nuts (for nut butters!), let bread rise, etc. It's easy to get cheap baking sheets, but they're cheap for a reason: you'll have cookies with burnt bottoms and they'll become misshapen very quickly. Get a good one {make sure it will fit in your oven, too!}!

Honorable mentions: mixing bowls, stand mixer, immersion blender, whisk, locking tongs.

Alright! Once you have everything on this list - LET ME KNOW! I spent so much time trimming this list down, I could make you ten more! Happy cooking!

The post Ten Essentials for Your First Kitchen is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

There are a lot of opportunities to get stressed out about holiday preparations; however, there are equally as many ways to AVOID a stressful season! Whether you're hosting a huge holiday party, or just having an intimate family dinner, there are so many things to prepare, and ways to make your life easier. Whether it's having everything organised in an orderly fashion, or having a repair firm like John's Appliance Company on file ready to fix any of your appliances at the click of a finger! Bed Bath & Beyond's Holiday Your Way has a ton of helpful tips to get you through whatever holiday plans you have. From gift and decorating ideas, to Holiday Recipes and Holiday Entertaining, their tutorials and videos are a great resource. I'm a huge fan of Bed Bath & Beyond (who DOESN'T love having all of your favorite kitchen and household goodies in one convenient location?), so was really excited to partner with them for this post! Furthermore, if, like me, you love kitchen gadgets, then be sure to check out some of the amazing product reviews from BuyersImpact.co.uk (click here for their website).

Obviously I'm most interested in the cooking aspect of the holidays, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite tools to make holiday (and everyday) cooking more managable. Ready for my favorites? Here we go!

1. Cuisinart Food Processor. You all know I love my food processor for making nut butters, but I also use it for all sorts of food prep. You can grate cheese in an instant, chop anything, make whipped cream (!!), and PIE CRUST! This summer, for our wedding, my Mom and family cranked out 60 pie crusts in an afternoon using my food processor. Yes, my famly is magical and wonderful, but so is the food processor. I honestly can't imagine not having one!

2. Good Grips Cookie Scoops. I used to think this was a silly kitchen accessory, until I got one. GAME CHANGER. Not only does making perfectly domed, equally-sized cookies become easier, it becomes faster and cleaner! No more messy hands with dough under your fingernails (gross). Simply for the ease of making your cookies one uniform size, this is a kitchen necessity!

3. A Cookie Press. Okay, I'll admit that I don't actually have one of these, but I SO WISH I DID! My Mom had one when I was a kid (and probably still does...), and I remember it being one of my FAVORITE kitchen toys. It's basically a fool-proof way to make beautiful cookies. Cookie maker for dummies, right? Right. And for smarties. But seriously: a cookie press is so much fun and your kids will LOVE making pretty treats. Get one. Also watch Bed Bath & Beyond's awesome video on using a cookie press!

4. Cuisinart Immersion Blender. What. A. Gift. Derek got me one of these for Christmas last year and it is AWESOME! When you're faced with making a bunch of different dishes all at once, an immersion blender can be really handy: rather than having to wash out a regular blender, you can just detach the end, rinse, and use it again! It's my go-to for mashed potatoes, great for whipped cream, and a necessity for a creamy soup.

5. KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The mother of all kitchen appliances, in my mind. The posibilities here are endless! I use my mixer for everything: kneading bread, whipping cream (this seems to be something I use all sorts of appliances for...), mixing up cookies, cakes, etc. It's pretty darn handy! Also, a fabulous gift. I got one for Christmas a few years ago and it seriously changed my cooking: I can get so much more done, with so much less effort! Plus: THE COLORS! Ooh the colors. So much fun.

What are YOUR essentials for holiday preparations? Anything you can't live without in your kitchen? Leave me a comment if you have any tips and tricks I'm all about learning new techniques!

The post Holiday Your Way Tips is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

I've been asked a lot why I decided to write about nut butters. As I journey further into food blogging, I'm learning more and more about how to make an income as a blogger. Youtube videos are also great for cooking, you can learn a lot, and also you can even get some videos about cooking and learning songs for children which is great such as KLS. Creating an actual product, like a cookbook, was something I knew I'd have to try eventually - so why wait? Without having the huge following of Joy the Baker or The Pioneer Woman (YET), publishing a "The Kitchen Paper Cookbook" might not be very successful. I knew I had to go niche. After blogging about chocolate almond butter, and seeing that post go CRAZY on pinterest and other places, I knew people were interested in nut butters.

Convinced already? These two buttons will direct you to two ways to buy the book, if you're tired of reading this post already! For more previews, keep reading!

While I'm a fan of butter, sugar, flour, gluten, meat, dairy, and pretty much anything that I'm allowed to eat, I see more and more people refining their diets to be paleo, slow-carb, low-carb, gluten free, dairy free, etc. One thing most of these diets have in common: they allow nuts. Nut butters are gaining popularity as people discover that peanut butter isn't the only way to make a sandwich.

Once I decided on nut butters, I decided I wanted to go one step further: how do you USE a nut butter, other than on toast, a spoon, or in a sandwich? So I decided to include a creative recipe for each nut butter, on how to turn it into something more exciting than a spread. This step took quite a bit of experimenting, as recipes failed, weren't quite right, or were too darn good and disappeared (into my belly) before I could take a picture!

My favorite part about this book is that it's really just a catalyst for your imagination to run wild with nut butters. Almost anything is interchangeable, perhaps with a few little tweaks here and there. If you love the idea of Chai Cashew Butter, but you don't like cashews, make it with almonds! Maybe you want to make the Birthday Cake Cashew Butter Truffles with the Chocolate Bourbon Hazelnut butter instead - you CAN. I basically made a list of types of nuts, and types of flavors/spices, then picked out combinations that sounded good to me. You could do the same and come up with anything that sounds good to you - if you can make one nut butter, you can make ANY nut butter.

There are multiple ways for you to get your hands on a copy of my book! You can buy a hard copy either from Amazon, OR you can download a PDF version of the e-book! The content is exactly the same, so don't worry about missing out either way.

Thanks so much to my friends and family who have not only encouraged me through the (laborious) process of writing a cookbook, but also helped me edit, taste-test, get the word out, and make this book happen! I'm so grateful for all of you! Now - go leave a glowing review on Amazon! 🙂

The post Nut Butters: Twenty Nut Butter Recipes and Creative Ways to Use Them is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

I had decent success with my overly-ambitious first year of planting vegetables, but I came away wishing I had thought it through a bit better.

• When should I plant each specific plant?
• Where should I plant each plant? Shade? Sun? Greenhouse?
• What am I going to want to use the most of?
• What kind of maintenance does each plant need?
• When should I move seedlings from the greenhouse to the garden?

I approached all of these questions a bit too lazily last year, and am sure I could have maximized my garden had I taken the appropriate care in planning. For gardens that need additional care, utilizing a service like Garden-R Garden Maintenance in Sydney can help to turn your garden into a fantastic outdoor living space. I'm gearing up to start things in the greenhouse this week (!!) so I thought I'd share my thoughts and tools for planning this year. How to plan a garden, here we go!

1. Do your research. What zone are you in? When are your first and last frost dates? What kind of plants grow well in your climate? What kind of sunlight do you get on your property? Finding out the answers to these questions will make moving forward much easier.
• The National Garden Association can help you determine your zone, and give you all sorts of useful information for understanding what it means!
2. Decide what you want to grow. Do you want to grow vegetables? Will you use vegetables? If so, which ones? Would you rather just grow flowers? Do you want a mix of both? Another thing to consider when choosing plants is what is there intended purpose, some plants can help with natural soundproofing which is ideal if you live in a house that has other houses either side of your property, not only can plants be used for soundproofing but they can also offer visible privacy if you're overlooked. The last thing to consider is how much time will you need to spend gardening throughout the year, each plant, flower and vegetable has specific requirements as far as caring for them is concerned, so if you have a limited time that you can spend in the garden each week, month etc then you won't want to choose any that need alot of care.
• I like to browse at Burpee Gardening to see what kinds of seeds I can get. I just got my order of seeds in last week!
3. Decide what is practical to grow. What will grow in your climate? Do you have the right amount of sun on your property?
• Again, Burpee Gardening is a great resource to determine what kind of climate, sun requirements, timing, etc. each plant will need.
4. Map your space: Draw a diagram of your property, including all fixed structures (house, Wooden Sheds, garage), and locate areas in which you could possibly plant things. It will be useful in this step to designate which areas have full sun, partial sun, or shade. Assign the plants you've decided to grow to a specific spot on your property, so you know where each will go and that you have enough room for everything.
• I do this on paper, but there are online tools (like this Better Homes & Gardens garden mapping app!) to help you get the job done, too.
5. Mark your calendar. Figure out when you should be planting each species you've decided to grow, and don't forget to plant them!
• My FAVORITE tool! Sprout Robot will tell you exactly when you should be planting each plant inside/outside, depending on your zip code. I love it!

Other helpful resources:

• The American Horticultural Society has an abundance of information about all things gardening!
• Companion Planting: Did you know certain plants help each other grow?
• Pinterest! I'm still working on beefing up my garden board, but there are SO many wonderful garden boards and pins to peruse!
• Your local extension. Most universities have an extension system you can call, or visit, to get information about gardening in your area. Check your local university to see if they offer any helpful gardening services!

The post How to Plan a Garden is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

]]> https://thekitchenpaper.com/how-to-plan-a-garden/feed/ 3 https://thekitchenpaper.com/augustseptember-garden-update/ https://thekitchenpaper.com/augustseptember-garden-update/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:00:50 +0000 http://www.bakebreak.com/?p=1771 I missed the boat for the August garden update... My bad. But here I am with an early September update just for you! This will probably be my last update of the year - but maybe we'll be going strong in October and I'll feel motivated to keep updating. We'll see! Things have definitely picked...

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]]>

I missed the boat for the August garden update... My bad. But here I am with an early September update just for you! This will probably be my last update of the year - but maybe we'll be going strong in October and I'll feel motivated to keep updating. We'll see!

Things have definitely picked up, or are on the verge of picking up.



Tomatoes are going crazy. They aren't necessarily ripening yet, but when they do we'll be eating caprese salad morning, noon, and night! Our cherry tomato plant is the only one that has ripened at all, producing 6-10 ripe tomatoes each week. It is FLOURISHING though - growing like a weed! The others all have green tomatoes on them, and we're anxiously awaiting their arrival to tomato-hood.



The herbs are doing great, although they're not as huge as I wish they were! I suppose that's what I get for starting everything from seed, and then being impatient and picking them often. I'm soon going to move one basil plant, and one rosemary plant, into large pots to keep in the greenhouse all winter. Hopefully they'll continue growing and be huge by next summer!



Our bell peppers are starting to produce also! Not quite ready for harvesting yet, but each plant has 5-8 little peppers on it that are growing alarmingly fast. Woohoo!



I used our one little (well, not so little) jalapeño the other day, and there are five more growing quickly! Can somebody say "jalapeño poppers"?

Carrots are getting big, hopefully another few weeks and they'll be ready!

The swiss chard I planted in the middle of July is looking ready for harvesting - hopefully it will grow for another month or so!



I harvested some of the beets (in the same day I used tomatoes, beets, basil, and zucchini from the garden! YES!), and made beet chips. They were pretty little, but delicious! I even got Derek to eat them - which is a serious success. I threw the beet greens into a stir fry later that night.



My zucchini are FINALLY growing to full size! Some of them are still dwarves, but I'm getting about one full-sized zucchini each week. I'm psyched about it, and have some delicious zucchini recipes to share eventually.

Everything else is fairly uneventful, but still producing a bit. I've learned a LOT from the last few months of gardening, and hopefully will be a much more effective gardener next year. I'm really excited to see how long I can keep some plants producing in the greenhouse as the weather gets cooler here.

That's it for this brief update - better late (and little) than never (and nothing!), right?

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]]> https://thekitchenpaper.com/augustseptember-garden-update/feed/ 3 https://thekitchenpaper.com/july-garden-update/ https://thekitchenpaper.com/july-garden-update/#comments Mon, 30 Jul 2012 03:34:17 +0000 http://www.bakebreak.com/?p=1700 Who else is glued to the TV now that the Olympics are one? Yep, me too. If I'm not at work, or outside running or on the bike: I'm watching the Olympics. Needless to say, my kitchen is a disaster, laundry needs to be done, and you fine folks are being ignored. My bad! July...

The post July Garden Update is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

]]> Who else is glued to the TV now that the Olympics are one? Yep, me too. If I'm not at work, or outside running or on the bike: I'm watching the Olympics. Needless to say, my kitchen is a disaster, laundry needs to be done, and you fine folks are being ignored. My bad! July is quickly concluding, so I need to keep my work on updating each month about the garden! First, a few pictures from life in the last month:




Since my last garden update, we have received dirt for our beds, and planted many things outside! Some of this didn't actually happen until two weekends ago... but it's better late than never, right? I finally planted a variety of things out in the long planters along the front of the house, and those seem to be doing really well. I also have planted a bunch of flowers (poppies and petunias!), which I'm really excited about! They'll be super late bloomers, and hopefully will actually bloom, but I'm just eager to have some pretty flowers!

I've definitely learned a lot already about what to do better next year: what to start early, or later, in the greenhouse, to be more on top of getting things outside, etc. Being so busy really let the garden fall behind! Luckily things keep growing! The only issue I'm really having is ants! Ugh! They're eating the leaves on my beets, as well as some other plants... and I'm not really sure what to do about them. Admittedly, I have not looked into the issue at all.

• Arugula: The arugula has been one of my best growers! I've been eating it a lot with eggs (on a bagel with cream cheese!), and sticking it in various dishes for some greens. I never thought I liked arugula, but I'm actually really enjoying it!
• Basil: We should have basil coming out of our ears soon. I have four plants of one variety (started from seed) that are going very well, except for the fact that something likes to munch on the lower leaves. Hmph. I have another variety that I bought as tiny sprouts, then promptly picked too much from... I've been nursing two plants from that batch back to life, and they are finally gaining steam! I also planted five more plants out front, but they have yet to even sprout yet. I'm thinking I should have started them in small containers first, but I'll give them another week to make an appearance!



• Beets: The beets are going strong! I was a bit neglegent and left them in a tray in the greenhouse until last weekend - I think they would have enjoyed a bit more space. Now they're outside in one of the raised beds, hopefully getting enough sun, but definitely enjoying the room! I'm tempted to plant some more, but since Derek doesn't like beets... hmph.



• Carrots: The carrots I started in a tray in the greenhouse may be at their max size: I think the tray is limiting how much more they can grow. I planted three more rows outside in the front, which have sprouted nicely, and another row in one of the planters: we will have carrots!
• Chard: I planted two short rows of chard in the front, and they are already coming up and looking nice! I'm going to be rolling in greens!
• Chives: Still not even attending to them, and they're ABUNDANT.
• Cilantro: Fail. The seeds sent up weak sprouts, and started getting some leaves, but something has munched on those now! I'm going to have to start over here, I think.
• Jalapeños: MY FAVORITE PLANT! I'm so excited about our (one) little jalapeño! I'm hoping this plant will start producing a lot more, but right now I'm just so excited to see our one growing! I think this plant might enjoy a bit more space, so I'm considering moving it to a larger container.



• Lemon Balm: Like a weed! Not doing anything here, and we have more than I know what to do with!
• Mint: I'm LOVING having mint around! We've been eating a lot of cold rice noodles with a peanut sauce, which is incredible with fresh mint leaves. Also, water (which I already love in abundance) is even more fun with mint sprigs in it!
• Onions: Again, I think these feel constrained by the tray they're in... I planted some new ones outside, but am afraid to transplant these in case they are too fragile!
• Parsley: Going strong!
• Peas: We have peas! Not tons and tons, but I go out and eat a few from the vine each week... and I've planted a few more in the front to climb up our trellis.
• Peppers: I finally stopped neglecting these babies and stuck them out front, where there is more sun, and they will have more room. They are also pretty close to the house, so the warmth from the house should help! They're getting bigger already and look like they're about to produce something!



• Rosemary: Alive, looks like rosemary, but is still pretty small... I'm not sure if this is normal or not.
• Spinach: I gave up on the long-stem spinach: it looked funny and some of it bolted. I finally found NORMAL spinach seeds, so planted a bunch in a planter out back. Hopefully they'll be quick and start producing asap!
• Strawberries: Healthy (I think?) and outside, but not producing a darn thing!
• Tomatoes: SO EXCITING! One of the plants is HEAVY with green tomatoes (like... 30?), and they're getting bigger by the day! I think I even spotted one starting to turn red today! One other has a few small ones, and the other two have a lot of flowers: we're hoping they'll all be successful! One of the plants is significantly yellow, which we are hoping we can remedy with a bit more TLC. We also did a little bit of pruning to encourage more fruit production - something we're not entirely sure about, but thought we'd give it a go!



• Yellow Summer Squash: I'm convinced these weren't polinated early enough, due to being in the greenhouse. They would form little squash (like 1" long), then nothing would happen. I finally pulled the three up (I had transplanted them into a planter), and planted three new seeds. They're already sprouted nicely, and starting to make leaves! Hopefully they'll have enough time to produce something! We'll see.
• Zucchini: Same story as the yellow summer squash, except that the zucchini would get to be about 4" long, then stop growing. I'm still trying to help them along, and assisting in pollination (where are the bees!?!?).
  

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  ]]> https://thekitchenpaper.com/july-garden-update/feed/ 4 https://thekitchenpaper.com/how-to-spice-organization/ https://thekitchenpaper.com/how-to-spice-organization/#comments Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:36:07 +0000 http://www.bakebreak.com/?p=1633 I do not consider myself to be a particularly "tidy" person. In fact, I don't really consider myself to be a tidy person at all. I'm left-handed, what do you expect? As I kid I was known for having a ridiculously messy room, to the despair of my parents. It didn't matter how many times...

  The post How to: Spice Organization is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

  ]]> I do not consider myself to be a particularly "tidy" person. In fact, I don't really consider myself to be a tidy person at all. I'm left-handed, what do you expect? As I kid I was known for having a ridiculously messy room, to the despair of my parents. It didn't matter how many times I cleaned it, or how determined I was (I really WANTED it to be clean!), it would be messy again in no time. In order to get my ears peirced, in fourth grade, I had to promise to keep my room clean for SIX MONTHS. Straight. No breaks. My mom would check, every day, to make sure it was clean, nothing strewn across the floor or flowing out of drawers.

  That was not an easy six months.

  It's a testament to how badly I wanted to have my ears pierced that I made it through - and no surprise that the very next day it was a mess again. You'd think, as my parents did, I would have learned a new habit in six months! Ha! Fooled them, didn't I?

  

  While I am severely untidy, I do like for things to be organized. Yes, there is a difference. At least in my (messy) brain. Organization saves time. Organization makes it easy to find things. So does leaving clothes folded on the floor, rather than put away in the drawers, but that is another problem to tackle. One place I do insist on having tidy and organized is my kitchen. While budgetary constraints have kept me from buying every organizer available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (and believe me, I would if I could), there are some things I simply HAVE to have. Among these things: organized spices.

  

  When we moved into our new house (which we are LOVING, by the way!) in April, I knew something would have to be done with the spices. We had no convenient place, no hanging spice rack, and no abundance of storage in the kitchen to make it easy. Our spices were living in a Lululemon bag under the chopping block. Gross. Additionally, we had multiple bottles and bags of the same spice (why? WHY!?).

  

  I decided the most convenient place to store them would be on the fridge, in little magnetic containers! Thank you Pinterest! WIN. I ordered some small, airtight, metal containers, bought some magnetic tape and a pen to write on plastic - and that was it! These containers can be bought here, and are highly recommended!

  

  You can get pens and magnetic strips/tape at any craft store that carries glitter. By that I mean, any legitimate craft store.

  

  This couldn't be easier. I started by organizing (see? organizing!) my spices. I'll admit that my OCD tendencies made me do this alphabetically.

  

  I then worked, spice by spice, consolidating into my NEW containers! Each new tin was labeled, and then stuck with a hefty strip of magnetic tape. Some of these spices get heavy, so a large strip is definitely necessary. On lighter spices (oregano, basil, etc.) I got away with smaller swatches of magnetic tape.

  

  Fill 'em up, stick 'em on the fridge: you're good to go! The best part of this operation? Well, besides having organized spices, this was really inexpensive! Not to mention it is so much cheaper to buy spices in the bulk section anyways, so having consistent containers is a must!

  

  The one inconsistency was that I kept "nice" spices separate. Anything from Penzey's, for example, is still in it's original jar. Other than that, everything is on the fridge, and really easy to access! I'm very much enjoying this new method, versus our old "bag o' spices."

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  ]]> https://thekitchenpaper.com/how-to-spice-organization/feed/ 33 https://thekitchenpaper.com/june-garden-update/ https://thekitchenpaper.com/june-garden-update/#comments Sun, 17 Jun 2012 22:27:06 +0000 http://www.bakebreak.com/?p=1561 Many of you have been asking for garden updates, and I keep meaning to do it and then getting SO excited that things are growing and changing that I haven't felt like I could make one that was up to date! Oh well, here I am biting the bullet for you as I realize that...

  The post June Garden Update is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

  ]]> Many of you have been asking for garden updates, and I keep meaning to do it and then getting SO excited that things are growing and changing that I haven't felt like I could make one that was up to date! Oh well, here I am biting the bullet for you as I realize that these plants will continue to grow all summer... awesome! I'm still feeling like a super-dork for loving my plants like babies, but it really is gratifying to see things flourish when I know they started out as mere seeds! I'll admit that sometimes I shun the few plants I bought already started from the nursery - I'm not feeling nearly as attached to them since it feels like I took a shortcut! I mean, if you did as much research as I did into topics like commercial hydroponics and read guides on how to look after plants, then taking care of them is something you would priorities. Plus, growing them from scratch and looking after them is an achievement in itself.

  Nevertheless, I will be excited when my nursery-bought tomato plants, strawberries, and jalapeños start producing!

  

  Everything has been in the greenhouse up until recently. I moved the peas outside a few weeks ago, but everything else has been waiting for us to build some raised beds. The weather has been warm here (75 F), so I've been leaving the top half of the door open on the greenhouse to keep the temperature down, and to let the bees in. It really is amazing to see the greenhouse coming along so nicely. Hopefully, this may inspire you to think about using something like Cultivar greenhouses yourself for your own gardening efforts. We finally built the raised beds almost two weeks ago now, but have been trying to find time to get soil! We're too busy! Yesterday we finally tried, and discovered our vehicular situation isn't adequate for the amount of dirt we need, so we're having two yards of soil/compost mix delivered tomorrow. Then we'll get to planting!

  I'm worried that they are too much in the shade, as the leaves on the trees around our house are now blocking a lot of sunlight. Oh well - hopefully some things make it through!

  Here is the FULL rundown - you asked, and you shall receive! Excuse the over-exposed photos, I have little patience doing anything with the plants besides actually taking care of them!

  • Arugula: The arugula is ready! We need to start eating salads more often, otherwise we might be swimming in greens this summer.
    

    

  • Basil: I had a starter from the nursery, which is struggling, but those that I started from seed are flourishing! I thinned them down to four in one pot, then separated them each into their own pot. I will probably soon plant three of those outside in the ground. I can't wait to have an overabundance of basil (pesto, anyone?).
    
  • Beets: The beets are my pride and joy! They were the first to really look like anything, and now I just want to eat the greens - even though I know the roots aren't ready. These need to be transplanted outside, at which point I will probably plant another row of seeds.
    
  • Carrots: I'M SO EXCITED about the carrots! They are looking strong and wonderful, and hopefully most of them are purple (I bought a rainbow pack of seeds) - how cool would a purple carrot cake be?
  • Chives: I have more chives (none of which I actually planted) than I could ever imagine. Anyone have a good use for POUNDS of chives?
  • Cilantro: I also had a starter of cilantro, which promptly died. I started some from seed a few weeks ago and it appears to be doing well, although not to the point where I can harvest any yet.
  • Jalapeños: I bought this plant from Home Depot and am REALLY hoping to get a lot of jalapenos! I know they like warm weather, so I am thinking about just keeping them in the greenhouse all summer - it gets quite warm in there!
  • Lemon Balm: This was already established in our planters out front - I didn't have to do a thing but weed around it! I'm having fun mashing this into fizzy drinks!
  • Mint: The mint was HUGE and looking awesome, until I left it for one hot day in a small pot in the greenhouse. It wilted hardcore, and got gross. I re-potted it and watered it heavily, and now is growing like a weed again! I had to trim quite a bit of it off, but it is growing fast enough that I don't think it will be a problem.
    
  • Onions: I have no clue what I'm doing here. I guess that statement really applies to anything I'm growing, but especially onions. They have long shoots sticking up, but it's a mystery to me if anything is going on down under.
  • Parsley: Awesome! I'm finding all sorts of uses for parsley I never though necessary - and it grows fantastically!
  • Peas: Peas, peas, peas. I planted two varieties of peas in the greenhouse, both of which grew at astronomical rates. One kind promptly started shriveling up at the bottom (the leaves dried and turned a creamy color), and I have no pronounced them dead. I transplanted the others outside a few weeks ago, and have since felt like I botched a lobotomy.
    
    They look alright, but are starting to have the same shriveling on their lower leaves. I'm not sure they'll make it... but I know I have a lot of time so I'll just plant some more. Anyone have any experience with this? See the picture below for more of a close up... I think they're getting plenty of water, but maybe they need a lot more than everything else?
    
  • Peppers: I'll admit, I've been neglecting these. They are in small pots and definitely feeling crowded - I need to get these in the ground ASAP.
    
  • Rosemary: Again, I'll admit to neglecting the rosemary. It's doing fine, but is in a tiny little pot and I haven't thinned as much as I should. I plan to re-pot soon.
  • Spinach: I didn't realize I had bought "tall standing" spinach, so we have some HUGE (by huge I mean tall) spinach plants. They're producing like crazy, which means we no longer need to buy our 10 lb bag of spinach at Costco every few weeks! I'll probably buy some seeds for "normal" spinach as soon as I get a chance.
    
  • Strawberries: We just bought two little plants yesterday, a woods (shade) variety which will hopefully thrive in our shady yard.
  • Tomatoes: We bought three (edit: now four!) different varieties of tomatoes, already established, and plan to locate them in the front of the house where the planters get the most light. They might make the move this afternoon!
  • Yellow Summer Squash: They're forming! I love watching the squash form from little beads under the flowers - they just keep growing! These yellow squash are growing much more slowly than the zucchini, but I should also keep in mind that I planted them at least two weeks later.
    
  • Zucchini: AWESOME. I go check on them multiple times a day because they grow SO fast. I swear, I could sit and watch them grow and actually SEE it happening. I have two that are almost ready to eat, and you can see one below that is getting pretty big too!
    

  I hope I haven't forgotten anything (anyone?) - I'll try to do updates on the garden each month this summer! When we went to get dirt yesterday, we picked up a lot more seed packets (vegetables and some flowers this time, too!), so we'll be planting a lot more in the next week or so. You'll definitely be seeing more recipes with fresh food from the garden, and perhaps pictures will sneak into those posts too!

  The post June Garden Update is from The Kitchen Paper. Click over to see it on The Kitchen Paper!

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