Seed Library

  Hello guys, sorry for the lack of posts, crazy memorial week.  So, during the week, we went to a seed library.  Those of you who haven't been to a seed library, it's a place where you can get free seeds for exchanging however many seeds at any time you want for however many varieties of seeds you want to grow.  Some of the seed varieties that I have gotten from my local seed library are: golden beets, black prince tomato, green zebra tomato, and others.  This is a chance to get heirloom seeds you've been looking for, or even seeds you didn't know about.  I know this is the place I find new varieties of seeds and seeds I dearly want.  When going to a seed library, the seeds range from, amaranth to zinnias.  I highly recommend you to go to your local seed library to grab and donate some seeds!  I know I would appreciate it and so would other gardeners.  Happy Gardening!

Homemade Mayonnaise

When having a craving for mayo or anything else that does well with mayonnaise, and you don't have, this is easy to make!

Magically Fast and Easy Homemade Mayo

Ingredients
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch salt
1 cup oil

Method
Add all to a bowl. Let the oil rise to the top. Place immersion blender at bottom of jar and turn on. As the mayo emulsifies, slowly rise the immersion blender out of the jar and pulse a few times until the whole mixture is thick and creamy.

Keep refrigerated and use within 2 weeks. May be flavored by adding chopped herbs, spices, or citrus zest.

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I love this recipe personally, it always is  a pleaser!  When you forget to get some mayonnaise it's always really easy!

Broccoli Sprouts

  I have sprouted some romanesco broccoli seeds.  Broccoli isn't just easy to grow and germinate but also the sprouts are super beneficial for your health!
First of all they are beneficial for these reasons:
1. Increased vitality, energy and vigor from the large amount of enzymes in the little sprouts.
2. Its powerful antioxidants help fight free radicals and aging.
3.  It has 10 to 100 times more enzymes than fruits and vegetables when eaten within the first seven days of being sprouted.

4. It also has powerful antioxidants which help fight free radicals and aging.

5. The minerals and nutrients are easily absorbed into the body.

While there are many excellent sprouts, there is a specific reason why I grow them myself organic broccoli sprouts.  What broccoli sprouts offer is sulforaphane, a powerful anti-cancer compound that helps fight and reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Here are my broccoli sprouts that hopefully will seed later on!

Chilacayote Squash Sprouts

  You might take a look at the title and say, what is a chilacayote squash, well it's a squash that looks similar to a watermelon and tastes like and can be prepared like a pumpkin.  I did a seed trade, not too long ago and we traded rosemary seeds for some chilacayote seeds.  The chilacayote, is in fact a semi-rare plant.  You don't stumble across it as common as you would say, a pumpkin.  When she offered the seeds for my rosemary seeds, I of course was super excited, everyday I would be waiting for the seeds to come in the mail.  Once I got them, I immediately planted them, it took about five to six days to germinate.  I was purposly procrastinating my posts so that when you guys see the post, you would be as excited as I would.  As you can tell, germination, isn't a problem for me, with the right conditions, it can be really easy and be germinated fast.  

   Chilacayote Sprout

Aloe Vera Splitting

  So as you guys know from my last post I have some new plants.  One of those plants is Aloe Vera, my favorite.  I bought it for three dollars and it came with some "pups" smaller plants forming near the larger plant.  I bought this plant because I knew that you could separate the pup plants from the mother plant and get more plants.  As you can tell from the picture there are three pups and what you cant't see are the three in the back.

So what I did was uproot the plant, which personally works for me.  Grabbed each of the pups from their base and gently but forcefully pulled it away from the mother.  Even if they don't have any roots when splitting, do not worry!  It will soon grow roots and turn into a healthy plant!  

As you can tell, I have six plants some larger than others.  I am hoping that every single one of the pups will grow to be healthy plants.  Also, if you have an Aloe Vera ready to be split and have split them, they make great gifts for young and old alike.  I gave one recently to a family member and she just adored it!  These will make perfect gifts!