Mrs. ONG here.

Well, I was going to wait until official strawberry season (here in Zone 6) to post the recipe but seeing that it’s forecasted to be summery here this Easter weekend, I present:

Strawberry –Goat Cheese Bruschetta

This is an adaptation of a recipe originally printed in Better Homes & Gardens magazine

This is my favorite kind of recipe—it’s super easy to prepare (really it’s more assembling than cooking), it’s delicious, it’s a crowd pleaser and it’s good looking, too!

Ingredients:
1 8-oz baguette
1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 4-oz log goat cheese/chevre
1 ½ cups sliced strawberries*
½ cup arugula, optional (although I love arugula, I don’t use it in this recipe)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh thyme leaves

Preparation:
1.    Heat broiler. Halve baguette length-wise. Place cut sides up on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Brush the cut sides with olive oil. Broil 3-4 inches from heat source, for 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted.
2.    Slice goat cheese and divide among toasts. Top with sliced strawberries. Return to broiler for an additional 2-3 minutes, until cheese and berries soften. Remove from broiler, top with arugula, if using. Drizzle with additional olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme. Cut into pieces and ENJOY. Makes 4 servings.

Perfect on the deck or patio, with drink in hand!

*whenever possible, try to use organic strawberries as they are high on the list of fruits and vegetables that carry the highest level of pesticides: http://www.foodnews.org/

A change of direction for today’s entry. Mr. Negative has taken the day off and his sidekick, Mr. It’s All Good, will take a shot at this blogging thing.    

In light of yet another pounding rainstorm and subsequent flooding, I am going to think happy thoughts and focus on that. And since I have forgotten how to write in full sentences and in paragraph form (be happy you get capitalization), here are my thoughts for the day:

I can’t wait to pick fresh strawberries out on my own deck and have my wife turn them into strawberry and goat cheese bruschetta. It is KILLER and I beg you to try it.

I can’t wait to see the Peony buds covered in ants. I honestly enjoy the buds more than the flowers. To quote Carly Simon and Heinz Ketchup – it’s the anticipation.

I can’t wait to take my first shovel full of self made compost. It’s been a long time coming.

I can’t wait for the boxes to arrive with everything I ordered on-line in the Winter. I purposely try to forget to enhance the surprise … OK I’m lying … everything ordered has already been added to my monstrous Excel spreadsheet.

I can’t wait to cut my lawn for the first time – if only for that cut grass smell and to be able to add the cut grass to the compost bins.

I can’t wait to change my mind on every plant’s location.

I can’t wait to use the hummingbird feeder my wife got me for Christmas.

I can’t wait to work outside all day, get a head rush whenever I bend over, realize I have Poison Ivy, have filthy fingernails, and then take a shower.

I can’t wait to take a trip to the nursery during lunch and locate a few new plants I know nothing about. Then google said plants when I get back to work to see if they will work for me. If they work, then obsess where they will go, how many do I need and when I will purchase them.

I can’t wait to deadhead the daylillies religiously each day.  

I can’t wait for my daughter to view the blooming flowers from the playroom and then ask me if she can go outside and smell them.

I can’t wait for my son to be terrified of the bees and try to sell him on why they are beneficial and our friends

I can’t wait to re-read “The Well Tended Perennial Garden” for the 97th time.

I can’t wait to scour all of the stores for the summer sales for all of their dying plants and then attempt to revive them.

I can’t wait for the ornamental grasses to take shape and lend that structure/texture to the beds.

I can’t wait to divide even more perennials in the late summer and squeeze them in wherever I can find room. 

I can’t wait to document all that goes on in the gardens and share it with you.

I can’t wait to get additional comments from all of you. The comments to date have way exceeded what I thought I would ever get and I promise you they are all read and added to my memory bank.

Thank you.                         

Check out the guest post I wrote at digthedirt.com:

http://www.digthedirt.com/contributions/2751-Why-Gardening-Kind-Sir-

This site is phenomenal and I’ve only scratched the surface of everything there.  

Enjoyed watching my daughter at dance class – although she could use some more practice. 

Garage door fixed – still amazed at my ability to do so … not exactly Mr Fix-it.

All perennials cut back and all showing signs of growth – still excites me each Spring.

All dead wood on shrubs trimmed and again all the usual suspects showing signs of growth.

Not panicking this year knowing which shrubs leaf out late.

Played baseball in the yard/mud with my son – we really need to tweak his swing a bit.

Put my landscape design hat on and jotted down some changes to be made. Really need some more spring blooming shrubs and some more evergreen-ness everywhere.

Cried at the poorly draining lawn.

Figured out where the new River Birch trees will go.

Figured out where new compost bins will go.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I’ve got three shrubs I plan on cutting down almost to the ground before any new growth emerges and would love to hear your successes or failures with these in the past:

Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’ – planted a few of these three years ago and they have been phenomenal to date. I actually like the foliage more than the flowers. Just out of curiosity, I must admit, I’d like to cut them way back just to see what happens. I’ve read in a number of places that this should still result in a decent sized shrub and I am hoping the foliage will be an even more vivid color.

Spirea ‘Anthony Waterer’ – I’ve had these for close to 4 years now in front of my back deck so they are in a prominent summer time location. The little bastards need some rejuvenation so I’m ready to scalp them. If the results are not as positive as I hope for, I am thinking about moving them to a new location. If so, would love to know what you would suggest in their place? The location is full sun, southern facing and of course, the usual acidic clay soil.

Althea ‘Lavender Chiffon’ – This was purchased on a whim at the Home Depot two summers ago and it has yet to really do much. I haven’t pruned it a bit and put it in full sun in a somewhat unprotected area. Again, thinking about cutting it back a lot this Spring to test the results. The deer seem to have nibbled it a bit so don’t know if that will be an issue.

As always, thank you for all of your comments and feedback. I promise you they have all been added to the master Excel document I’ve been working on for the past 5 years. One of these days this masterpiece (I kid) will be revealed in a big ass ceremony.

Thank you rain, enough already
Just praying the trees will hold steady
I’ve got the shop vac
Getting my yard back
Then will have time for a pedi

Stop the conference calls
Need to transplant a holly
That equals good times 

Hello all. Mrs. ON Gardener here. Maybe in most households, women are more often the gardeners and flower-tenders than men. But not in mine, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m so lucky that I get to enjoy colorful, lush perennial gardens around the perimeter of my home, parrot tulip bouquets on my desk in spring, herbs and vegetables plucked steps from the dinner table in summer and red-berried branches to gaze upon outside the window in fall, all without having to get dirty or mingle with any critters.
This season brings the promise of new and exciting things around here. I can’t wait for strawberries and lettuce, a full cutting garden (I’m really excited about this one) and hopefully lots of hummingbirds flocking to our new feeder. I’ll be following Mr. ONG right along with you, and plan to step in once in a while with a recipe or two (strawberry and goat cheese bruschetta, anyone?) and lots of photos.
Thanks for reading along so far. We both spend our days inside in an office building and I’m well aware that given the opportunity he’d much rather be gardening full time. Until then, I’m so happy he can share his obsessive neurotic-ness with all of us.

This is the year I finally admit to myself that:

1)I will not have the time to prepare the soil properly to grow fruits/vegetables.
2)I will not have the time to take the proper precautions to prevent the deer from eating said fruits/vegetables.
3)I really like fruits/vegetables.

So let’s do this … in containers!

Wave your hands in the aiiiirrr … like you just don’t caaaaaaare.

Sorry about that.

My wife bought me a book for Christmas that opened my eyes to what can be grown in containers that can actually be eaten. That book would be:

http://www.amazon.com/McGee-Stuckeys-Bountiful-Container-Vegetables/dp/0761116230

I am super psyched to try it out on the deck this year and maybe, just maybe, the kids will actually start eating fruits and vegetables as a result. The orders are in and here is a summary of what is on tap this year (starting small for year one):

Quinault strawberries
Patriot blueberries (cause NJ is the blueberry capital … holla)
Bush Blue Lake beans
Melody Hybrid spinach
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
Salad Bowl lettuce
Red Salad Bowl lettuce
Dwarf Blue Curled Vates kale

In addition, will have the usual herbs in containers (basil, thyme, rosemary, flat leaved parsley) and yet to be determined tomatoes. The tomatoes are TBD because soon will make a visit to this local landmark to pick them up in person:

http://www.chileplants.com/

Would love to hear any feedback on successes and failures you’ve had with fruits/vegetables in containers and any specific advice on the ones I’ve listed above.

One last note, this may be a dumb idea but in honor of the arrival of college basketball’s March Madness, I am going to set up a bracket of 64 perennials matched up against each other with one ultimate winner. Each “match-up” will take place in a poll I’ll set up on my blog page with the winner determined by the number of votes. More to come on this … and oh yeah … be on the look out for a guest post by Mrs ONG … you will like her more than me but please don’t broadcast that.

Namaste