Tag Archives: vegetables

Jun9

Happily-Ever-After Dreams, Maybe For 100 Years

Posted on June 9, 2026 by deannagreensandgardenart

I still dream, daydream that is. Where queens rule, and men, well, they take good care to love us queens and princesses just as we are. I still have visions of a backyard writing atelier, some would call it a studio or “She Shed”. Afternoon teas and evening dinners savored on the patio well into nightfall. Alongside would be beautiful flower gardens, a prolific kitchen garden, a beautiful rooster and chickens plucking the unwanted bugs, with time enough to put up the herbs, vegetables, and fruits at harvest as provisions through the winter. We aren’t talking acres and acres, just in my own smalltown backyard, allowing every space to be productive. For someone who had a 1300-square foot screenhouse/greenhouse, you would think a backyard plot would be manageable. Other unforeseeable events and the physical limitations of an autoimmune disorder have almost swallowed my dreams. Those dreams are resurfacing as I witness the inflammation go down in my body when I eat 5 or 6 vegetables a day. Happily-ever-after dreams can come true.

“Though the darkness close, even the night will blossom as the rose.” ~ John Masefield, “Growing Old” poem

In April of this year Roo was reunited with Kanga. Queen Camilla brought to the United States a Roo made especially for Winnie the Pooh’s 100-year anniversary to be reunited with Kanga. As the Smithsonian Museum story goes “During the British royal family’s state visit to the United States this week, Queen Camilla made a detour from the political events and state dinners to visit the New York Public Library, where she attended a literary celebration and quietly accomplished something that has been waiting to happen for nearly 90 years: she reunited Winnie-the-Pooh with a dear friend. The original stuffed animals that inspired A.A. Milne’s beloved books, including Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, and Kanga, have lived in a display case at the library since 1987, after spending decades on a tour of the United States beginning in the 1940s, having originally been given to Milne’s son Christopher Robin as gifts between 1921 and the late 1920s. But one member of the group had been missing since the 1930s: little Roo, Kanga’s baby, lost in an apple orchard and never recovered. Camilla’s gift was a lovingly recreated replica of Roo, crafted by Merrythought, England’s oldest surviving teddy bear manufacturer, using an original Kanga and Roo found in the company’s own archives as a reference.” Fictional characters reunite in happily-ever-after fashion. This isn’t just limited to storybook fables.

Another 100-year old anniversary is the famous Route 66. So many celebrations are taking place along the highway for its centennial year. My husband and I recently viewed the Route 66 display at the Missouri History Museum located in Forest Park. Outside were parked vintage classic cars we loved viewing. In my book Strewn Words in The Stew Volume 1, I wrote a short story called “Two Hungry Hearts And Soup For All”, where the setting of the story is along Route 66 while two college undergrads embark on an adventurous summer social experiment. Parts of the story are based on my true experiences. Much like the characters in the old fable “Stone Soup”, these two main characters are looking for the good in people. Are there still people with heart? You will have to read my story to know what the main characters find out. I see these other happily-ever-after dreams happen around me. Watch out world. More are coming.

May16

A Storm and the Berries Brewin’

Posted on May 16, 2026 by deannagreensandgardenart

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This Saturday morning, I awake to thunder echoing in the distance. A mild spring storm is welcomed. We need the rain. Dean and I have hopes to move the perennials outdoors sometime today. This is late for us as we usually have our green friends moved from the basement into their natural environment by the first of May. Busy weekends and a springtime cold virus have Dean putting off most of the heavy lifting. I managed to get the wrought-iron tower for the herb pots put onto the back deck. This is the first year for our new back deck. The pots await fresh herbs planted in them. Another project for this upcoming week. The lightning and thunder have been intense for a few minutes but have settled down enough for Dean to get our parlor palm and huge terra cotta saucer planter filled with heart-leaf philodendron and arrowhead plant in front pebble patio area. The back deck has the planter with the blooming lantana and the smaller pot of Kingston fern graced on it now. The remaining plants will be transported outside tomorrow. The rain showers continue off and on this May morn. Garden berries and vegetables benefit. In between raindrops there is time to bake and write. A large loaf of banana bread went into the oven and bakes while my writing commences. Another writing project underway. Meanwhile, here is a poem I wrote two years ago about the much anticipated ripen berries for the summer season.

Sweet Berry Kisses

Off to the blueberry bushes and blackberry brambles I am sent,

into the strawberry patch squishing overripe berries between my toes.

A painter’s palette smeared like rouge onto my cheeks

and all phalanges match my berry-stained face, lips, and tongue.

These delicious delectables satisfy my tummy’s rumbles

while the morning’s sun seals the sweet berry kisses to my lips.

Picking berries, berries, and more berries is my morning chore,

so, most make their way into Auntie’s heavy handled shiny bucket.

Pies, crisps, cobblers, buckles, and biscuits smothered with berry jams,

these Auntie anticipations as she twiddles her thumbs awaiting.

Down the garden path Auntie comes with a rabbit behind and bees a buzzing,

to lend a hand at picking plump berries into her long-handled metal pan.

Before noon into her kitchen baking oozing, finger-licking berry hand pies;

Oh, these juicy jewels create the sweetest berry kisses to my lips.

Jul18

Garden Envy

Posted on July 18, 2020 by deannagreensandgardenart

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6th Street House Decked For The 4th of July

Governor's Mansion in Colonial Williamsburg

I can be a little green with envy about gardens. Pun intended. Garden envy. Any gardener out there can relate. When I walk the streets of my town or thumb through a magazine I love looking at neighborhood gardens, the trees, flowers, veggies, and pots. Our neighbors are creative with their plant, container, and cute garden art selections. The most impressive are these moss baskets placed atop tall wooden posts. Baby’s breath, impatiens, possibly geraniums cascade from holes inside the moss lining as well overflow from the top. Dean and I plan to put in three of these planter poles and baskets in the new mulched terrace in the side yard next spring. The flowers can be admired from our living room and bedroom windows as well as from the front and back yards.

While on vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia Dean and I visited the site of the oldest governor’s mansion. Of course, the mansion, grounds buildings, and gardens are replicas. We came across a colonial garden that captured my gaze for a few minutes. I took this photo before we moved on with the tour. The garden was not big, but big enough to yield a family a good share of food supply through the winter months. All the rows neat and tidy. Herbs in one patch; corn, vining beans or peas, squash and pumpkins create the 3-sisters in another patch; tomatoes and pepper plants caged, with flowering zinnias and marigolds surround. So I am impressed to recreate a colonial-style garden for the next growing year. I need to gather some books on colonial gardens to read over the winter months. So what have you seen in a yard or garden that you would like to try for next year? Or are you up to your eyeballs in zucchini and tomatoes right now to even think about next year’s garden like my friends Elizabeth and Gary in Festus, Missouri? Take pride and you have grower’s bragging rights! Happy gardening everyone!!!

Oct5

Garden Remedies

Posted on October 5, 2019 by deannagreensandgardenart

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I love the life and sustainability that an organic garden brings. Health, wellness, goodness, and beauty prevail! As the autumn mornings get crisper, my herbs and tomatoes still produce. My garden plants will thrive until old man frost appears. Deanna Greens and Garden Art has been existence for over 7 years now. Some of Dean and I’s dreams have come true. The love of the earth and gardening came alive in me. “It takes some presumption to cut into the earth and to reshape and redefine – to alter the natural course of things, to commit to having planted a seed, to start a path with no idea, really, where it will lead,” writes Dominique Browning. More dreams opened up. This author continues “Gardening has to be as much about contemplation as it is about tilling and toiling. Mental toiling, perhaps…turning things over, quietly thinking, in a place that gives you a peaceful corner for just a moment or two.” Gardening has brought a peace to my heart. And “It dawned on me: I had tended that garden in great, lavish, loving strokes. It had given me quiet, steady, demanding, and undemanding seasons of pleasure. I took care of the garden, then the garden took care of me.” ~ Dominique Browning.

My garden has taken care of heart matters as well as health matters. I received the most interesting report from my eye physician this week. He said he could tell I eat lots of green, leafy veggies by the photo taken of the inside of my eyes. Doc says my peepers are in excellent health, just the lens are getting older with age. A stronger lens for my glasses are ordered. According to https://yoursightmatters.com/greens-such-as-kale-good-for-eyesight/ “Green, leafy vegetables, such as kale and spinach, are good for eyesight and preventing age-related eye diseases, including cataracts and macular degeneration. Greens contain cartenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which promote vision and the health of the retina.” Whatever I do not grow, I buy organic wherever able. Just eating as much leafy greens and veggies as possible, which means adding to the smoothies and omelets, using veggie-based pasta and riced cauliflower, and spooning fresh and dried herbs into my recipes. Yes, my garden sustains me.

German-Style Beef Roast, Beets, & Noodles

Mar28

First Sowing

Posted on March 28, 2019 by deannagreensandgardenart

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I put on my rain boots anticipating a muddy walk to the greenhouse at Boone Hollow Farm. Sure enough the storms we received earlier in the week produced quite a bit of rain, and the creek beds were full. Dean and I parked near the barn, gathered our gardening gear, jumped across the rain-filled ditch, and walked up the hill to our 9-month greenhouse/screenhouse. We had not been there all winter season as it was too frigid cold for 3 solid months, a true Missouri winter like I remember years past. And unlike last year where it drug on for 5 months!

Spring has arrived in Missouri! The frogs croak and birds tweet in harmony making an evening song of peace! What a welcome greeting to Dean and I! I love gardening. Not the exact science-type gardening. Care-free and whimsical like. There is work involved, but less so with a bed of organic soil inside the screenhouse side of our structure. We pulled old tomato vines and prepped the soil. It turned up nicely, loose but a little dry. We had enough snow and winter rains to keep the soil moist even without being in direct exposure. We watered the soil with the rain/snow water from our barrel just outside the structure. And then the first sowing. We made 11 rows altogether. I sowed 8 rows of greens seeds. My favorite, arugula, and then various lettuces. We are trying a oriental variety this year. The other 3 rows are beets. My first stab at growing these, too. As an apprentice with EarthDance Farms, I learned to love this root vegetable, greens and all.

Next weekend the herbs will be sown as well as zinnias, forget-me-nots, black-eye susans, and wildflowers at the farm along with the cottage gardens. The evening drive back from the greenhouse was lovely, a longer drive to the cottage than our other house. We will make every trip to the countryside count. Savoring the frog and bird chorus, smelling the blossoms along the strolls at Boone Hollow Farm, and harvesting delicious organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers for our dinner table. And we trust our God and Mother Nature for plenty to share!

Apr8

April? No Fooling?

Posted on April 8, 2018 by deannagreensandgardenart

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April 8, today is my youngest grandson, Eli’s birthday! A big eight-year old! I cannot remember what the temps were that day. Dean and I were engaged, making plans for our July wedding, and visited Rachel and our new grandson, Eli at the hospital. Another miracle baby, conception and the life he lived inside his mother. God has a plan for his life. A mighty good one indeed.

What did the pastor talk about today? “Faith…the evidence of things not seen…” The weather has been up and down, up and down for weeks now. The spring equinox came, but little evidence is seen. The daffodils bring their burst of yellows more than the sun does these April days. Wild violets creep between autumn remnants, and the stifled buds keep closed. A tinge of green appears in some of the trees. But snow in the forecast once again today! We need some more sunny, warm days for the plant life to sing “hallelujah”. I cannot wait.

I am so behind on the garden. It has been too cold, or too wet to get to the greenhouse even in the Jeep. Last year we had arugula coming up by late March. Yesterday was a sunny, but crisp Saturday. We worked clearing brush at Boone Hollow Farm after the temps got above freezing. And we dumped some more organic soil in the vegetable and herb bed, worked it in. Maybe next week, we can sow our leaf lettuce, peas, and beets? Faith … I can almost taste those roasted beets fresh from the oven!

Jan10

Red Geraniums

Posted on January 10, 2016 by deannagreensandgardenart

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This time of year the work day is eased into analyzing aggregate reports, research on other wellness programs, event planning, and networking for the year. I like the slower pace which last about 4 – 6 weeks in December into January. It is when I finally have the employee wellness events booked on the calendar. Yes, forecasting at least 9 months ahead. It is much like a teacher and his/hers curriculum planning during the summer for the next school year. It will be another busy year at St. Louis County, the busyness starting next week with several meetings and a health fair.

Much the same as with the farmer, his/hers planning for the spring and autumn crops is done during the frigid cold months. My father was a tree farmer, and the winter was filled with book work and ordering of a new stock of plant liners. My siblings and I would plant 100’s of plant saplings through the spring; lots of hoeing, weeding, and watering in the summer; and autumn a few more plantings and prepping the pines for the holiday harvest.

I cannot say Deanna Greens And Garden Art has quite the planning of a full-time farmer. The greenhouse is a hobby of Dean and I’s while we work full-time. Our part-time organic herb and vegetable growing is fragrantly and deliciously rewarding while the beautiful geranium blossoms are pleasing to the eyes. During Dean and I’s Nashville mini-vacation in December, we toured the Belle Meade Plantation. Each room in the historic house was festively decorated with period Christmas ware, with the kitchen set in the 20’s. The kitchen is my favorite room. And there set a terra cotta pot of red geraniums in the windowsill, again another favorite of mine. A vintage flower.

The subzero wind chill has me hibernating today. I wanted snow, but not this frigid cold stuff. God forgives my absence in church, and He knows my severe allergy to the cold. Early morn I went outdoors in my pjs, robe, socks, and slippers to let our Labrador into the fenced yard, not realizing just how cold it had gotten over night. It dropped 30 degrees in less than 12 hours. My joints have been screaming about it since 7:00am. The daily antihistamine did not take much of an edge off the symptoms, so I took an extra dosage this afternoon. Drinking lots of hot herbal tea while I watch cooking and gardening shows, write, and read …

“RED GERANIUMS”

Life did not bring me silken gowns,
Nor jewels for my hair,
Nor signs of gabled foreign towns
In distant countries fair,
But I can glimpse, beyond my pane, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.

The brambled cares of everyday,
The tiny humdrum things,
May bind my feet when they would stray,
But still my heart has wings
While red geraniums are bloomed against my window glass,
And low above my green-sweet hill the gypsy wind-clouds pass.

And if my dreamings ne’er come true,
The brightest and the best,
But leave me lone my journey through,
I’ll set my heart at rest,
And thank God for home-sweet things, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.

by Martha Haskell Clark

Apr30

Soup du Jour

Posted on April 30, 2014 by deannagreensandgardenart

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The enticing aroma of homemade soup filled my kitchen and home on several occasions those chilly days of winter, with Chicken Noodle-Vegetable and Italian Stone Soup the most frequent two. A big pot of soup goes a long way with just Dean and I, and always plenty if we have company for lunch or dinner. Spring finally arrived this month of April, but yesterday the air turned cold as the day progressed with more rain. With the cold dampness, soup was in order for dinner. Soup du jour was Roasted Red Potato and Cauliflower with Leeks & Garlic. A warm pot of all organic, plant-based ingredients even the stock. Yes, a vegetarian recipe. And organic tastes better. It is what I had in the kitchen. Accompanied was toasted ham & cheddar on fresh rye bread I picked up at a St. Louis local Bosnian bakery. Please feel free to try my soup recipe placed on the What A Dish Recipes page found on this WordPress blog. Bon appetit!

Mar24

A Half Plate Of Veggies

Posted on March 24, 2014 by deannagreensandgardenart

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A half plate of veggies, a quarter plate of protein, and the last quarter plate are the carbs at lunch and dinner every day should not be an issue. It can be if the time and food budget is tight. So what is a person to do if the doctor or dietician advises this? So, I am that person and I have begun watching my carbs and protein counts and having that 1/2 plate of veggies at every lunch and every dinner. BTW ~ Everyone’s plate should look like the illustrated. ~ And my 2 snacks a day need to be a carb with a protein every time. My recent blood work shows I am no longer in the pre-diabetes category, but diabetes category. I have 3 months to take off some weight and have my glucose levels below that 100 threshold or I am placed on oral meds. I have to be a good girl for my sake, take care of myself! So my creative juices begin to flow and a practical plan begins. I am a wellness coordinator, look after employee wellness programs at my full-time job. I will be a wellness guru when it is all over. Singer Dale Watson says, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you always got.” So here are the 5 major changes I have made …
First, I have had my ah-ha moment, reality check, whatever you want to call it. I am a diabetic! If I keep on this same road I have been on, I will be diabetic the rest of my life. Who wants that? Not me! I started back to Weight Watchers before the holidays and have that support group. Though Weight Watchers is a great weight management program, the Points Plus system treats fruits equally with vegetables. Fruit has a high sugar content, so I need to treat it as a carbohydrate with the diabetic exchange program. Now that the half plate of veggies illustration is stuck in my head, that visual is what I live by today and everyday the rest of my life.
2nd change, I am daily using a booklet my doctor gave me as well as go online to http://www.calorieking.com for my carb counts. Those winter time pick-me ups like hot cocoa, chai latte, or a pumpkin muffie brought me over the threshold from pre-diabetic to diabetic, I am sure. One hot chocolate from your friendly neighborhood Panera Bread or Quik Trip is over 50 grams of carbs, more than I am to have at one meal setting! I have to “weigh” the immediate gratification to the overall outcome. Believe me, the sweet hot drink is not worth it!
3rd change, herbal tea is my everyday fall to beverage when water is not satisfying my thirst. Soda, diet or sugar-loaded are not good for anyone. Beer and wine are reserved for special occasions like the cocoa and latte. This week Stash coconut mango oolong tea is awesome hot or iced. There are so many other teas to try, of course unsweetened. Many have medicinal purposes as well.
4th change, the dollars I am saving each week from no hot or cold beverage runs I apply to my gardening habit, with this year’s focus on more vegetables and herbs. If I can freeze or dehydrate a supply of vegetables and herbs for the next winter, I will be that much more ahead budget wise. I will literally reap what I sow.
I have upped the ante from my 10-minute 4-3-2-1 fitness routine I started in January as my New Year’s resolution. So the 5th change is if I do not get a 30-minute walk in during the day or gardening is not part of my weekday evening, I will exercise with a swim at the Center of Clayton indoor pool or a DVD exercise tape at home before the day is over. I cannot afford any more excuses for lack of exercise.
I will share recipes for my half plate of veggies in the What A Dish page on this blog. Please share yours!

Feb26

Are You A Locavore?

Posted on February 26, 2013 by deannagreensandgardenart

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Are you a locavore? Congratulations, if you! Others may be asking, “what is a locavore?” Here is the paraphrased dictionary definition to this 3-year old word: One who eats local foods whenever possible, typically foods grown, raised, and produced within the consumer’s 100-mile radius. I am a locavore. And whenever possible I shop local for most of my other consumer needs. So what are the top 5 reasons to buy local foods and goods? #1 You boost the local economy. #2 You know the integrity of the product you are buying, if you know the farmer or producer. #3 With most foods, you will have a longer shelf life. #4 With herbs, vegetables, and fruits, you know the produce was harvested within a day or two for better nutritional value, not weeks or months ago. #5 You have encouraged “green practices” with less fuel usage with less travel of the product.
For me, it is all about the food! One of my many passwords is “arugula4me”. Each time I enter this password, it reminds of the fresh arugula that will come from Deanna Greens And Garden Art 1/4 acre plot at Boone Hollow Farm in a few short days. I am salivating just writing about it! Dean loves the way the word “arruugulaa” rolls off my tongue, the only time I sound like I am from Italy. Do you have a farmers’ market in your neighborhood? What do you buy from your local farmer(s)?