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Baton Rouge Garden Fest 2018 – A Family Friendly Day of Fun

June 3, 2018 by Baton Rouge Family Fun

With summer break just around the corner, now is the time to start planning for fun outdoor excursions and enjoying the bounty of locally grown goodness our Louisiana climate offers.  One such event is Baton Rouge Garden Fest at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at the Burden Center on Essen at I-10. The Botanic Gardens are the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Baton Rouge Garden Fest

Baton Rouge Garden Fest

Garden Fest is a family-friendly festival in the middle of Baton Rouge, enjoy an early morning of omelets provided by the Louisiana Egg Commission, fresh Bloody Mary samples by Mason’s Grill, fun hayrides for kids and adults alike, educational programs, Bayou Goulas petting zoo, Touch-A-Tractor and it’s summer so… water slides! There will be vegetable tastings, plant advice, and answers to your burning plant questions. Geaux Cuban, Kona Ice, and City Gelato vendors will be present for lunch, snacks, and a refreshing dessert!

Baton Rouge Garden Fest

Tickets are $5 for ages 4 and up and free for ages 3 and below, we hope to see you there! Please bring your swimsuits and beach towels for a mini-vacation right here in the heart of Baton Rouge! 

Baton Rouge Garden Fest

WHEN: Saturday, June 16, 2018 – 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
WHERE: LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, 4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
TICKETS: Admission is at the door for $5 per person and free for children ages 3 and under.

Be sure to follow LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens on Instagram and  Facebook and enter our giveaway for tickets on the Baton Rouge Moms Facebook and Instagram pages!

 

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Filed Under: Baton Rouge Resources, Education, Family Friendly Baton Rouge, Gardening, Giveaways & Freebies, Parks / Rec Tagged With: Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Blogger, Baton Rouge Food, baton rouge gardening, Baton Rouge Moms, Garden Fest, LSU Ag Center

A Beginner’s Container Garden

June 24, 2014 by Maggie

I want to start this post by coming clean to you all. I am NOT a gardener. I was not born with a green thumb like my parents and grandparents. As a matter of fact, if there is a such thing as a “black” thumb, that’s what I was blessed with. I have committed more plant murder than I care to speak of and I’m just thankful that it’s not a punishable offense.

But….

I am determined to grow my own organic, GMO and Pesticide-FREE produce so I keep trying – and I’m actually getting better at it!

 

 
My Garden

Five months ago I took charge of my health and nutrition by totally cleaning up my diet so this year, more than ever before, I’m dedicated to making this gardening thing work for me. I just love the idea of walking into my back yard and picking fresh lettuce for a salad or tomatoes for fresh salsa (along with the cilantro to spice it up). There is something very gratifying about creating your own food and knowing exactly what’s in it and where it comes from. Once I have a handle on small plants, there is no doubt in my mind that i will start planting trees for my grand-kids, I’ve been browsing a great site called The Tree Center and reccomend it to anyone interested in gardeing.

I started small this year with a container garden because I’m not quit ready for a “big-girl” garden just yet – you know the kind where you have to prepare the ground, make sure your soil is fertile enough and build perfect rows. I’ll be honest, I’m nervous just typing that.

My garden consists of two large planter boxes, that my very handy husband to built for me, and flower pots that we already owned (and were free). To prepare my containers for planting, I bought foam peanuts to add to the bottom of each then topped them with Organic potting soil. Yes Organic soil is more pricey than regular potting soil, but remember that I’m wanting my garden to yield 100% organic produce.

After adding a corner bench in between the two planters boxes, this 
set up also doubles as a cozy seating area for our patio

For the actual plants, I purchased 100% Organic seeds from Louisiana Nursery and used seed starter trays to grow them. After a few weeks, I transplanted them into my prepared containers.

Two months later and this is what my garden looks like today. It consists of mostly herbs and lettuce (which are super easy to grow and take care of), heirloom tomatoes, beets, carrots and eggplant.

Top Left: Mint, Top Right: Basil
Bottom Left: Parsley, Bottom Right Malabar or Climbing Spinach
 
Tomatoes – you can’t see it but there are 2 tomato babies on there
 

I still have SO much to learn to perfect it but it’s coming along and the important thing is – I’m trying! For that I am proud. I’m also proud to teach my girls that determination does pay off and guess what…they actually love tending the garden with me.

Who knows, maybe my parents’ and grandparents’ green thumbs were passed on to them and they’ll teach me a thing or two.

Growing a Vegetable Garden

Filed Under: At Home, Gardening, Health Tagged With: Gardening, louisiana gardening

Grow a Salsa Garden – Homemade Salsa Recipe

June 17, 2014 by Tiany Davis

Growing a Vegetable Garden

If you planned on planting a vegetable garden this year and think you’ve missed your planting window… think again! One of the great benefits of living in Louisiana is our extended summer weather. Technically, summer hasn’t started yet but the days are already long and hot — ideal conditions for growing a garden. Plus the pests that plague gardens in spring are less of a problem late in the season.

Vegetable Garden veggies

If this is your first garden, you might want to try a container garden or a raised bed garden where you can easily control soil and watering. Our favorite place to plant our salad and salsa fixings is in a raised bed surrounding our Crepe Myrtle. Lady bugs love Crepe Myrtles, our cucumbers use the tree as a trellis and the lady bugs take care of the veggies. Perfect vegetable garden harmony!

Growing a summer vegetable garden with kids

This year my oldest son has taken over our veggie garden care and our veggies are thriving! Don’t let growing a garden scare you, you don’t have to start your garden from seeds, get plants from friends or purchase plants at your local nursery. If organic veggies are a must for you, you can purchase organic plants online. Whatever you do, get the kids involved, they will love to see the “fruits” of their labor.

Growing a Salsa Garden

Grow your own salsa garden

Nothing tastes as good as homemade salsa, think of how impressed your guests will be when you offer them a homegrown, homemade salsa at your next summer gathering. 

  1. tomato-stakingChoose your container – choose a container with good drainage: 4 pots, a window box, large round container or a raised 3 x 3 box container, add potting soil and place in a spot with plenty of sun.
  2. Pick your plants – Cilantro, onions or chives, cherry or regular tomato and peppers. Have stakes on hand for your tomatoes, you can purchase a wire stake or use tree branches or sticks.
  3. Plant – Place the tomato in the center of the pot with the pepper, Cilantro and chives on the edge. Fill in around each with potting soil and tamp down the soil.

Homemade Salsa
2014-06-17 21:19:48
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Ingredients
  1. 3 cups chopped tomatoes peeled (you can also use whole canned if not using home grown)
  2. 1/2 onion roughly chopped
  3. bunch of cilantro - 1/4 cup minced
  4. 4 teaspoons chopped jalapeno pepper
  5. 2 tablespoons fresh lime
  6. salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Roughly chop the tomato, onion, cilantro and pepper and place in a food processor or a blender.
  2. Give the mixture a quick few chops in your mixer to your preferred consistency.
  3. For a chunky salsa, pulse in the food processor or blender.
Baton Rouge Family Fun https://batonrougefamilyfun.com/
 If you want to grow a vegetable garden this summer, get diggin’! You’ll be glad you did when you’re picking your own ingredients for a fresh homemade salad or salsa.

Filed Under: Food, Gardening, Quick & Easy Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: louisiana gardening, Recipe, salsa, salsa garden, salsa recipe, vegetable garden

How does your garden grow?

June 7, 2014 by Guest Contributor

A story about letting your soul shine & maybe eating your veggies…

I sit at the table and stare at my plate. It is covered in rice, gravy, pork-chops. You know the plate of a good ole “south of I-10” kind of girl. To combat that, I drag myself into the my gym clothes and hit the pavement. I work out purely so I can eat whatever I want and, at the bare minimum, stay one size. Lately the part of the yard where the garden used to be started mocking me.

When I met my Ben, in his backyard was this ten by ten patch of dirt. From the street you could see the tips of sugar cane growing. Who grows sugar cane in their back yard? Ben, Ben grows sugar cane. This made me happy. After the sugarcane came heads of cabbage, bigger than I had ever seen. We made copy cat PF Chang wraps, and with the last harvest of our winter crops came Sneauxmaggedon of 2014 in Baton Rouge. It was during the cold the garden was ready for a new crop and a soil turning. It was certainly too cold do so. So it sat. It sat for months…till Sunday. 

I woke up on the wrong side of bed Sunday. Just one of those moods. I had a bad case of the “don’t wants.” I had a bad attitude. I was tired. I couldn’t tell you why, I just was in a mood. I went outside with the soul intention of  letting the dogs out. That garden stared at me as if saying, “Yeah, I know. Today is not my best day either. Want to turn it around for me?” So I did what any rational 30 something would do. I started digging. I could hear myself saying in Dory voice, “Just keep digging, just keep digging.” I was in a bad mood, but I couldn’t let that garden go down like this.  

I would dig a hole and then dig another. I would replace the dirt from one hole with the dirt from another. I didn’t know how to turn soil, but this seemed like I good start. Before I knew it, the over-grown garden was ready for it’s crop. I had in turn gotten the best work-out of my life. My legs were burning. My shoulders on fire.  

I kept going. I could feel my soul shining. I looked up what seeds I could plant. So I planted. I made a giant herb garden in an old palette. I planted melons, corn, beans. I transplanted my lone tomato plant. I painted some garden markers. Then I moved pavers that were discarded and made a path to the middle of the garden. I felt accomplished. I felt sweat dripping down my back. My legs were covered with dirt and mud. My manicure was destroyed. But I turned that garden around. I made it something more than a patch of dirt. It was about the time that the rain started pouring down that Allman Brothers started playing on my iPod, “Soulshine.” 

I walked in and did what any other person in this society would do. I documented my success with a happy caption mistake. 

how does your garden grow

What my caption was supposed to say was “Soil Turned…Seeds Sown…Ice on Back.” When I read the caption later as I was instagram stalking everyone else, I thought, “I love this little bit of serendipitous miss-type.” If there was a lesson in any of this I took this away; good day or bad, right side of the bed or not, you have to keep digging till you find the awesome. You have to do what makes your soulshine. 

soulshine

“People don’t mind. We all feel this way sometimes. You got to let your soulshine. Shine to the break of day.”

 

Filed Under: Food, Gardening, Home, Women Tagged With: Gardening, Moms, soul searching, Women

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