February Lilies, Wine & Chocolate

I just wrote about how much I enjoyed that big bunch of tulips back in January, and then along came FedEx two Saturdays ago with another familiar brown box from Stargazer Barn! I could hardly wait to get this one open to see what was inside.

Lilies this time, and though they were still in bud, I had grown this particular lily in my own garden once upon a time and knew how beautiful they would be. I remember when I bought my bulbs in 2005, 'Starfighter' was advertised to be an improved version of the famous 'Stargazer', undoubtedly the most beloved of all Oriental lilies.

The Carolina sphinx moths (Manduca sexta - the ones whose larvae are hell-
bent on destroying your prize tomatoes) loved my 'Starfighter' lilies as much
as I did. They visited the lilies at dusk when they were in bloom. (2006)

One of the improvements of 'Starfighter' over 'Stargazer' was said to be extended vase life. Now that it's been nearly two weeks since the lilies arrived from Stargazer Barn, I can tell you that the vase life is pretty astounding for a cut flower, especially for one that traveled some 2,500 miles or so to get to my house.

Stargazer Barn ships overnight so your flowers arrive as fresh as possible.

The original 'Stargazer' lily was bred back in 1974 on the very ground where Stargazer Barn is now located. That was a pretty memorable year for me too, as I was 16 for most of it and graduated from high school that spring. (Yep, that's me, grinning and clutching my diploma as we left the gymnasium on graduation day.)

I cut about an inch off the end of the stems of the 'Starfighter' lilies and put them in water in the provided galvanized French-style vase, along with the flower food powder that came with it.

There was also some Bear grass included, if I wanted to jazz up the bouquet a little bit. An informational card showed a couple different ways to use it and I chose to loop mine all fancy-like.

The lilies came wrapped in floral paper and were tied with this red
burlap "ribbon." I know it was included because it matched the lilies, but
it was also pretty much perfect for my kitchen color scheme too. Bonus!

As I said, the flowers were in bud when they arrived, but it didn't take them long before they began to open. As each opened, their intoxicating fragrance got more intense and it reminded me of how wonderful it always is to be walking through the garden in summer and catch a whiff of my own lilies.

Photo from Dick Taylor

These 'Starfighter' lilies are part of the Stargazer White Collection, which includes not only a dozen stems of the lilies, but a bar of that yummy Dick Taylor craft chocolate. This time it was Madagascar, which was dark chocolate with a hint of molasses, orange and raisin. (How do they do that?) This particular variety has won several awards, including being a  2015 International Chocolate World Final Bronze winner.

But that wasn't all! Also included was a bottle of Stargazer Barn's own 2014 Chardonnay. It's also won its own awards, including most recently, a Silver Medal in the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

I admit to not knowing a whole lot about wine, other than I know what I like and what I don't. I don't like a dry wine at all. I prefer white and those that are on the fruity, sweet side, but not too sweet. This one was good, and I say "was," because it didn't take too many evenings before it was gone.

This was really a special gift package and with Valentine's Day right around the corner, if you act quickly, you could send this anywhere in the lower 48 in time for it to arrive on Saturday. They don't charge extra for Saturday delivery and like I said, standard delivery is overnight. (No Sunday or Monday deliveries.)

 
Here's a code for Free Delivery: yummy. I'm not sure when that code expires, but I know it's good for this Saturday's delivery if you get your order in quickly. Not only that, the Stargazer White Collection is on sale right now for $79.99.

I counted the number of flower buds in this bouquet and there are 30 all together. They have continually opened up over the course of the last 12 days and only just today, I snipped off two of the earliest to open. There are still a few that are just now opening, which makes for an amazingly long-lasting fresh cut bouquet of American Grown flowers.

The entire first floor of our house smells like summer and the huge blooms are just so gorgeous that I stop to look at them every time I walk by. Thank you, Stargazer Barn, for this beautiful gift.

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I received the Stargazer White Collection from Stargazer Barn free of charge. No other compensation was given and I'm happy to share these beautiful flowers with you. Perhaps they will be something you might want to send to someone else or enjoy in your own home.

A Gift of Tulips in Winter

It was the coldest day of the year so far (23°F, with a low of 1° overnight) in mid-January, when our doorbell rang. Our house faces west and it was windy, so you can imagine the blast of cold air that greeted me as I opened the door to receive a box from the FedEx delivery man.

I knew when I saw the box that what was inside it was going to be like a breath of spring - just what I needed.

TULIPS!

These flowers were packed very well, with a zip-tie around the flowers
and through the box so they wouldn't move around during shipment.

I'd met the folks from Stargazer Barn when I was at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm in Arkansas last May during the 5th Annual Garden2Blog event. They provided oodles of gorgeous fresh blooms for our Field to Vase Dinner we had at the farm on our last night there. It was a magical evening...

One of the best things about the event was getting to wear flower crowns.
Here, I'm with my co-writer and best bud, Jenny Peterson.

Stargazer Barns is a California-based grower of fresh-cut flowers, which ships throughout the U.S. Most of our cut flowers in this country come from South America, but in recent years, American growers are taking back as much of the industry as they can by raising awareness that we can and do grow gorgeous flowers right here in our own country.

The Slow Flower movement has Debra Prinzing to thank for getting the ball rolling, with her publication of both The 50 Mile Bouquet and Slow Flowers (2012 & 2013, St. Lynn's Press). I encourage you to read Debra's explanation of what "slow flowers" means.

Now that you have an idea of the goal and purpose of buying American Grown flowers, just take a look at the flowers I got - 24 'Ile de France' long-stemmed tulips - complete with a galvanized French-style vase, three Tulip Perfume fragrances, along with a bar of Dick Taylor craft chocolate!

This is how the tulips looked when they arrived. In just a couple of days
they opened up, and lasted more than a week.

These are what you get when you order the Sensory Seduction Collection. The flowers are beautiful enough, but with the other items it makes for a really special gift.

Stargazer Barn grows their own flowers in Humboldt County, California, and the other two gifts in the collection are also Humboldt County businesses. I love how they've collaborated to create an All-American gift package.

 

The chocolate bar is almost too pretty to eat! Almost...

'Lemon Sugar', 'Mandarin Peony', and 'Coconut' spray bottled scents
come packaged in their own ribbon-tied box.

Stargazer Barn is certified by Veriflora™, a third-party organization which uses a strict set of standards to govern sustainable growing conditions, protection of local ecosystems, energy efficiency, waste management as well as worker wages and conditions.

There are many other options for sending a gift of flowers (and more), and through March 1, 2016, you can use the promotion code flowerhouse to receive 15% off your order (excluding tax and shipping).

I'll be back in a few days to share more luscious flowers and gifts from Stargazer Barn, but for now, enjoy the spring cheer of these tulips!

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I received the Sensory Seduction Collection from Stargazer Barns free of charge. No other compensation was given and I'm happy to share these beautiful flowers with you. Perhaps they will be something you might want to send to someone else or enjoy in your own home.

A Pecan Pie Story

Mimi and me in 2011
Photo by Annie Haven

Several years ago, I was having a conversation with Mimi San Pedro, COO of Hortus, Ltd., P. Allen Smith's company. It was a few weeks prior to one of my Garden2Blog visits to Allen's Moss Mountain Farm, and the conversation veered in the direction of pecan pie, as most conversations do. I mean, who doesn't love pecan pie? It's always in the forefront of our thoughts and eventually we're going to talk about it. We can't help it.

Now I am not a pie eater in general, but if you put a Dutch apple or pecan pie in front of me, I'm a happy girl.

Mimi described Allen's pecan pie to me and I was already drooling, and I secretly hoped he would serve it when I was there. Okay, maybe it wasn't so secretly and I might have just said, "Can we please have Allen's pecan pie when I'm there?" 

"M-m-m-m... pie!"
Photo via Hortus, Ltd.

Well, how about that - a few weeks later when we had one of our meals at the farm, THERE WAS THE PIE. Of course, I just KNEW we were having that pie specifically for ME, right? (The truth is, all visitors get it for lunch when they take the farm tour.) 

This is The Pie.

Take my word for it - make this and you will throw out all your other pecan pie recipes. Even if you don't particularly like pecan pie, you might just like this one. So. Good.

Pecan Buttermilk Pie

Click on image to enlarge

 



Allen's Pecan Buttermilk Pie is featured in his wonderful cookbook, Seasonal Recipes From the Garden. This is my go-to cookbook if I want to make something new and be assured that it will taste good. 

Enjoy!



 
*Recipe reprinted here with permission. Link for Allen's book is my Amazon affiliate link.

Get "Happy" at Moss Mountain Farm

There will be more to come about what we did, but for now, let's get happy with the Garden2Blog bunch at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm near Little Rock, Arkansas!

YouTube video:  Pharrell Williams Happy Gardeners #G2B14

Yes, it was that much fun.

Want to win?

Want to win a prize package of gifts from some of the Garden2Blog sponsors?  Just go to Allen's Facebook page, "Like" it, and then leave a comment there saying, "Kylee and Marge sent me."  (Marge is Allen's cat that he rescued seven years ago.)  :-)  Do it by Friday, because that's the day they choose a winner! Good luck!

Garden2Blog Sponsors:

Bonnie Plants

Jobe's Organics

Laguna

Proven Winners

Le Creuset

Flexzilla

Troy-Bilt

Little Rock Convention & Visitor's Bureau

Hubbard Life

United Solutions

Sun Valley Group

US Foods

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My transportation, food, and hotel accommodations were provided by Hortus, Ltd. and P. Allen Smith.

The Best Toffee In the World

No one loves toffee more than I do.  It's my favorite candy in the whole wide world.  I've tried toffee in so many places that I've lost track and that includes several foreign countries.  I like most toffees that I've had, but there's only one that I truly love.

I encountered Lambrecht's Gourmet Toffee in April 2011, when I attended the first Garden2Blog event, hosted by P. Allen Smith at his Moss Mountain Farm just outside Little Rock, Arkansas.  He put us up in the Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock and one of the perks of the five-star historical hotel is that they put 3-ounce bags of Lambrecht's Toffee on your pillow each night.

Now I got excited when I saw that it was toffee, but then I ate some.  It was the most incredible toffee I've ever eaten.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I know it's the world's best, because there's no possible way it could be improved upon.  It has a crumble-crunch that almost melts in your mouth, and it doesn't stick to your teeth like some toffees do.  And the chocolate isn't waxy at all - just milk chocolate that melts as soon as it hits your tongue.

Last year, I didn't get to go to Garden2Blog and I tried to get some of those who did, to feel sorry for me.  Not because I wasn't going to be there for all the fun (which I certainly wanted to be, too), but because I was going to miss out on the toffee that I love so much.  And you know what?  A couple of packages of it showed up in the mail.  Now those are true friends, that will share Lambrecht's Toffee with you.  I'm not that good of a friend.  I won't share it.  LOL.

Next week, I get to experience Garden2Blog, The Capital and  Lambrecht's again. I'm going to try to find the toffee there in one of the local businesses so I can take some home with me. 

And then I'm going to hide it.

Garden2Blog 2014: Return to Little Rock!

Boy, do I feel blessed.  Or lucky.  Or both.  In 2011, I got to visit someone who became one of my favorite people, who lives in a house on a property that most of us just dream about.  It was the very first Garden2Blog, held at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm just outside Little Rock, Arkansas.

Garden2Blog 2011

Twenty (give or take) garden bloggers from around the country spent two days touring private gardens and whooping it up at Allen's farm, all the while learning great stuff about plants and gardening and garden products.  We garden bloggers enjoyed each others' company too, because you know when that many people who enjoy the same thing get together, all kinds of shenanigans are sure to happen.  Some people call it networking.  Whatevs.

Then the next year came along and lo and behold, I got to go again!  About half the bloggers in 2012 had been there the year before and half of them were first-time attendees.  Just when I thought it couldn't be as fun as it was the first time, it was even more so.  And this time we didn't have a tornado breathing down our necks.  We had the best time.  Again.

Garden2Blog 2012   

I was pretty sure I'd had all the fun I was going to get to have at Moss Mountain Farm those two years, but guess what?  I got invited back this year!  In about ten days, I'll be heading to Little Rock again and you can bet I'll be cherishing every moment I spend there, because for SURE this will be the last time, I just know it.  And boy am I grateful for what I know will be a third charming time.

The festivities have actually already begun.  Two weeks ago, we were sent a package from one of the event's sponsors - Jobe's Organics - and we were instructed to use the materials to plant a container and video the process.  We got a plastic container, some Jobe's Organic potting soil, some Jobe's Organic fertilizer, and a $10 gift card to either Lowe's or Home Depot to help buy plants for the container.  Mine was from Lowe's, since that's the closer store to me.

Now videos and I are not the best of friends.  You don't really see me in too many videos on this blog or elsewhere, do you?  Some people are good at them and actually love doing them (*waves at Shawna*), but I'm sort of uncomfortable with them.  This one was actually kind of fun though, because I got this idea of showing, not telling.  So without further ado, here's my 1:23 video:



I did it in one take, which is a good thing, because I would have hated to have to put those plants back in their pots and the potting soil back in the bag and do it all again.


Some potting tips:

• Make sure your pot has a hole for drainage in the bottom.  I had Romie drill one in the bottom of this pot because it didn't already have one.  You can use a container with no drainage hole, but you have to be really careful about overwatering if you do that.
• This potting soil didn't already have fertilizer added to it, so I put the proper amount in it (according to package directions) before adding the plants.
• The old formula of Thriller + Filler + Spiller still works well.  I used Juncus grass as my thriller (something tall), Dahlia 'Pooh' as my filler (medium height), and Nemesia Sunsatia® Lemon as my spiller (something to spill out over the side).  All three plants like pretty much the same light and moisture, so watering will be easy to manage.
• Because containers dry out faster than in-ground plantings, keep an eye on them, especially during hot and dry weather.  Don't forget that wind can dry out plantings faster, too.  And when you water, do it thoroughly, until the water runs out the bottom.  Let the top inch or so dry out before watering again. Most plants don't like to be sopping wet all the time.
• Since you're watering the containers often and water runs out, the fertilizer may need to be replaced every so often, depending on what kind you use.  Some potting soils have extended release fertilizers but the Jobe's I used is organic, unlike those other ones that last for three months or so.  Organic is good.
• If any of your plants start looking sad as the season draws to an end, take those out and replace them with something new that goes with your theme. By that time, the garden centers may have some good deals on some suitable replacement plants, and you'll have a whole new look to your container!

I mentioned a theme, didn't I?  My theme for my container in the video was to plant something for the hummingbirds.  They're drawn to red, which the dahlia provides and I added a hummingbird feeder in red and yellow colors that echo the flowers.  We'll see if the hummers find it!

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As I said, the planter, soil, fertilizer, and a $10 Lowe's gift card were provided by Jobe's Organics and the container video project was part of the P. Allen Smith Garden2Blog 2014 experience.  I paid the amount over $10 needed to buy the plants and the hummingbird feeder.

Lettuce Wraps a la Le Creuset

When I attended the Garden2Blog event last spring at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm outside Little Rock, Arkansas, one of the sponsors was Le Creuset.  Each attendee was allowed to choose one item from their catalog to try out after we returned home.  Prior to this, I'd not owned a single piece of Le Creuset cookware, but I'd kind of drooled over the wok.

I love Asian food, so the wok seemed like the best choice to me.  I've used it quite a few times since I got it and yes, it's ridiculously heavy, but I have to say that I actually like that about it.  With the bottom being small in relation to the rest of the pan, the weight is a stabilizing factor as I stir-fry in it. Not only that, because it's enameled cast iron, you can use a lower setting on your stove to maintain a specific level of heat.  I chose red, because that's my favorite color.

Ooh, pretty!

Last night, I decided to get ambitious and make some lettuce wraps, P.F. Chang's style.  I looked up recipes online and what I came up with for mine was a combination of several versions I found, improvising when I didn't have exactly what the recipe called for.  No matter - the result was something that we both LOVED, in fact, Romie loved it so much, he ate three of them.

Here's the recipe - my version of a conglomeration of several:

Lettuce Wraps

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts
1 small can mushroom pieces
1 small chopped onion
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
4 -5 leaves iceberg or Romaine lettuce


Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lime juice concentrate
1/8 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon garlic powder


Stir Fry Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce together and whisk well.  Set aside.

• Cut the chicken breasts into small cubes about the size of game dice. Prepare the mushrooms and water chestnuts by dicing those, and mince the fresh garlic.

Hard neck garlic 'Music' is from last summer's garden

• Mix the stir fry sauce in a small bowl so it's ready when you need it.


• Put 3 Tablespoons oil in the wok and turn heat on high. Add the chicken and sauté it. If there's any liquid from the chicken, drain it off.  Add the onions, garlic, water chestnuts, and mushrooms, stir, then add the stir fry sauce and sauté for several minutes.

• Take each leaf of lettuce and put several tablespoons of chicken mixture in the middle, fold each end in, then roll it up lengthwise.


• You can dip the lettuce wraps in the dipping sauce, or you can just pour it over the wraps on a plate and eat with a fork.

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Thank you to P. Allen Smith and Hortus, Ltd. for the opportunity to attend Garden2Blog, where all expenses were paid, as well as to Le Creuset for the free wok.

Kale Chips: There's a First Time for Everything

I don't even remember where I heard about kale chips, and it was only a couple of years ago. The first time I saw kale growing in a garden was on a garden tour somewhere and it was that frilly type called dinosaur or Lacinato kale. Gorgeous plants, they were, and I didn't really care if I liked kale or not, I wanted to grow it in my garden.

Burgundy okra bloom

There have been other times when I grew vegetables for the pure pleasure of seeing the beautiful plants, with no intention of eating their fruits. Take okra, for example. One year I grew purple/red veggies and those burgundy okra plants were handsome things! Not just the leaves either; their flowers were like ivory hibiscus, giving evidence to their genetics. But I never ate a single okra.

Then somewhere along the garden path, someone mentioned kale chips. Chips? As in potato chips? Hmmm... I was told they were delicious and why, for goodness sake, would anyone pay their expensive price in the store when you can easily grow your own kale and make them yourself?  Well, alrighty then.

This spring, I decided it was the year I would grow kale and make those chips. I knew you could do them in the oven, but from what I'd read, they're much better done in a dehydrator. Maybe I'd just try them in the oven first, to see if I liked them.

Garden2Blog 2012 group photo courtesy of P. Allen Smith & Hortus, Ltd.

 
In May, I attended the Garden2Blog event in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the home of P. Allen Smith. It was my second time to attend G2B and I knew there would all kinds of shenanigans and merriment going on. Sponsors are generally very creative in the way that they introduce their products to the attendees and this year would prove to be no different than last.

QR Code for
Our Little Acre

Bonnie Plants was also in their second year there and having long been a Bonnie Plants customer, I was glad to see this. So what did they have in store for us this year? They incorporated social media with a scavenger hunt. We were to search among the rows of the one-acre vegetable and fruit garden for signs that had a QR (Quick Response) Code on them, scan it with our smart phone and tweet the message that came up. The message would tell us what prize we won. And there were good ones, too - t-shirts, caps, a garden apron, a garden hod, and a dehydrator, just to name a few.

Just part of Allen's one-acre vegetable and fruit garden

When I saw the dehydrator, I thought to myself, "That would be really cool to win that, since I want to grow kale and make chips." Soon, we were turned loose in the garden and though it took me a little while, I found one of the designated signs and ran to get it. My cell phone's battery was nearly dead and my reception at Moss Mountain Farm was dismal, to say the least, but I scanned it, the message appeared and I HAD WON THE DEHYDRATOR! I jumped up and down and was so darn happy; I nearly acted like one of those crazy people on The Price is Right.

When I got home, I planted my kale ('Red Russian') and in spite of the heinously hot and dry late spring and summer we've had, the kale grew and a couple of weeks ago I harvested it for the first. I'm organic here, so the kale suffered some effects from insects who apparently like the stuff, but it was good enough for us. Those insect holes don't have a whole lot of taste anyway.

Now it was time to put the dehydrator to use. It was a Nesco FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker and ooh! I could make jerky if I wanted to, too! But first, the kale chips.

I cut the leaves, brought them in and washed them, and laid them out to dry on a cloth towel. I cut some of the larger leaves into smaller pieces, then coated them with a recipe I found online:

1 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 t. salt

I spread the coated kale out evenly over three of the trays, about three leaves deep. They were loosely layered so that the air could get between them. I plugged in the unit and set the temperature at 135° F. for one hour. I then reduced the temperature to 115° F for two more hours and just like that, they were done.

Romie tasted them first, with some trepidation, but at first bite his eyes it up and he said, "Mmm, these are good!" I asked him to describe the flavor and he had a hard time doing that and said I'd just have to try them myself. I did, and immediately LOVED the texture. It's a very fine, crispy crunch that almost melts in your mouth. Eating these 'Red Russian' kale chips was almost like eating air.

Kale chips!

As far as the taste was concerned, it was hard to describe. I liked it while I was eating it, but the aftertaste reminded me of tea. I don't like tea. So Romie gets to eat this batch of kale chips all by himself. I don't think that will take too long, since they're so light. I'd like to make some more, but make them with more seasonings to give them a little more flavor. I also think the dinosaur kale would make better chips because it has thicker leaves.

I have other plans for the dehydrator, too. We grow grapes, but this is a no-grape year, due to the hot weather and no rain. I'd wanted to do my own raisins, and I still might, but I'll have to buy the grapes to do those. It was so easy using the dehydrator, I'm going to find all kinds of things to do in it.

Thank you, Bonnie Plants! This was one great gift!








*My travel, most accommodations, and most meals were provided by Hortus, Ltd. and P. Allen Smith for my attendance at Garden2Blog. I received sponsor samples and other products at no charge as a result of my attendance. All opinions stated here by me are my own and were not solicited.

Garden2Blog GrowBox™ Fun With P. Allen Smith

When I was in Little Rock, Arkansas, last month, attending the second annual Garden2Blog event, hosted by P. Allen Smith, the other bloggers and I were introduced to a number of gardening products. Some, we were familiar with, and others were new to some of us.

Allen and Ken McDowell explain how The GrowBox™ works to
Garden2Blog attendees.

One of the products which I was familiar with - The GrowBox™ - was demonstrated to us. My past experience with doing container gardening with products such as this was limited to The EarthBox®. The company that produces The GrowBox™ is owned by two individuals who helped develop The EarthBox®, so they have some similar features, but differ in others.

One of the biggest differences is in how the water level is maintained. With The GrowBox™, water is added through an opening in the side of the box instead of through a portal in the top. Secondly, the waterproof cover of The GrowBox™ is open around the edges, to allow rain water to run into the container.  The GrowBox™ costs slightly less.

 In this short video, Allen and I highlight some of the features of The GrowBox™:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I have two GrowBoxes (both sent to me free of charge - one last fall and one following Garden2Blog) and I've planted one of them with two indeterminate tomato plants by Bonnie Plants, also one of the companies present at Garden2Blog. I purchased the Bonnie tomato plants - one 'Better Boy' and one 'Bonnie's Favorite' - and planted them a few weeks ago. They're in bloom at the moment, but no tomatoes yet.

The second GrowBox™ will be planted tomorrow with cucumber seedlings that I started in the ground a few weeks ago and zucchini. Yes, zucchini and cucumbers can be grown together because they don't cross-pollinate. The GrowBox™ will hold three plants of each, according to their growing recommendations.

It will be interesting to see which cucumbers do better. Historically, I've not had great success growing cucumbers in the ground for some reason. I expect that the cukes will do better in The GrowBox™.  I like that the zucchini won't take up much space doing those this way, too. With our garden growing ever more shady each year, the sunny spots are premium garden space for growing veggies and I can use that space for other things like green beans, edamame, and kale.

Watch for progress reports on how my GrowBox™ veggies are doing throughout the summer!

Photo by Mimi San Pedro

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I was invited to attend the Garden2Blog Event by P. Allen Smith and Associates/Hortus, Ltd., free of charge. My airfare, lodging and meals were provided (with some exceptions) by them, and I was the recipient of some free sponsor products. Any opinions expressed on this blog in this post and any subsequent posts about my experiences at Garden2Blog or products associated with them are my own, as always.