'Home grown' green onions

A couple of weeks ago, I saw something on Pinterest about regrowing green onions...so I figured what the heck, I'd give it a try.  

I'd bought a bunch for some recipe, but only used a little bit from the top end.  So the instructions said just to put the bottom ends in water, and they'll grow. 

Before...

And after.  It freaking worked. 

And now I understand why they are sold chopped and with rubber bands!  The stalks are crazy and going everywhere.  I've changed the water a couple of times, just when it starts to look a little murky.  I'm not sure that I'll be able to keep them for ever, but at least maybe I won't have to buy green onions quite as often!

Extreme Makeover - Deck Addition

Over Memorial Day weekend, we were finally home for the first weekend in more than a month.  With all of the weddings and events this spring, we've been going non-stop.  But finally, we had some time to get some overdo chores done around the house.  First, we stained the deck.  This was a bit of a miserable project because of both the heat and the number of edges and corners on our privacy walls.  Our awesome neighbor let us borrow this rockin' tool that helped tremendously with the spindles - it was a bit messy for the user but made painting each one of those little buggers so much easier.  It's like kitchen tongs, with sponges on each side that you dip in the stain and just slide it down the spindle.  Amazing. 

I wish I would have taken before shots of the deck...it was so bad.  It looks like brand new wood now with just a coat of stain!  While waiting for the deck to dry, we went to Home Depot to get some more greenery and flowers.  Our herb garden is growing so well - everything is really doing great - but we wanted some other plants and flowers to make the space a little more homey feeling.

We put lavender in the middle of these beautiful pink annuals.  And I'll give credit where credit is due - husband very proudly picked these out and they do look great.  The pink is going to be gorgeous with the color of the pot when the flowers grow out a little.  It's been a couple of weeks and they're really growing beautifully.


Remember when I bought this stand back in February?



We did a few other little additions to the deck.  We changed the latch on the door, and love it now - it used to be one of those tiny, find in public restroom, slide locks that hardly would reach and was all rusted.  Now we have a fancy black one that we love - it is great when something so small makes such a difference.  We have been talking about putting a hose back there as well - the spigot is on the wall just beyond the privacy wall on the left, where our ac unit is.  We got this fancy curly one that our neighbors also have - they love it and when we saw it on the shelves, we figured why not!  We mounted it just on the other side of where the stairs are, and it sure makes watering all of our new plants (and washing the dog) easier!

We did some rearranging too.  The table was long ways right smack in the middle.  It was really un-exciting and uninviting.  So we pushed it over to the side of the deck, so you can better overlook the grassy common area.  We moved the 2 black chairs and small table to the corner near the house - you can kind of see them in this photo.  Also, bringing out our enormous red umbrella helped too.  The new layout gives so much more space to walk around, and the 2 black chairs are just saying 'drink your coffee right here!'

We've already sat out on the deck a couple of times, and really are enjoying the new layout and beautiful plants around.  It's kind of hard to see in the above photo, but we also hung all of the herb boxes over the edge.  It feels like a real, official outdoor living space!  And just in time for the warm summer nights full of fancy drinks, grilling, rose wines and friends. 



Let them grow!

This past Friday, our office spent the afternoon volunteering with Spring for Alexandria.  This was our second year participating - last year we cleaned, painted, and did yard work for a girls home in Alexandria. This year we got to go to the local animal shelter!  What a beautiful facility.  I was extremely impressed by the size of the building and the number of animals they had there.  We painted a couple of the rooms and weeded the entire play area.  The dogs were so cute - several lab and beagle mixes.  I would say the cats and rabbits were cute too...but I generally don't go for them so it's hard to judge.  I was really quite proud of myself for not wanting to adopt one all of the pups.

After lunch down at the Square on King Street with the other volunteers and a few errands, I made it back home.  It was time to do some work on projects of my own.  The previous Sunday, husband and I went to Home Depot and Merrifield's, our local nursery.  We stocked up on some containers, potting soil, and herbs.  We got all of our plants at Merrifields because the ones at Home Depot just looked pathetic.  Half of their plants were dead - I don't understand how that's supposed to make me want to buy plants there...anyway...

This is the 3rd year that we are planting herbs.  I love it - it's so nice to have them growing on your back deck!  We don't really have a yard, just a small one in the front, so we have to do everything on containers on the deck.  We branched out a little this year with some new additions.  I have parsley, both a new plant and one I'm hopeful about from last year, basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, mint and cilantro.

Also this year we added dill, chives, and cherry tomatoes.  I'm very excited to have them all planted.  I have the 2 tomato plants in one container, mint on it's own, the parsley together, and the cilantro in a pot inside. 

 I've already used them on 2 separate occasions - the cilantro for tacos the night we got it and the basil and oregano for roasted veggies tonight.  While the upfront cost can be a little high, over the summer we'll save significantly being able to just walk outside and pick what we need rather than spending a couple of dollars on a bunch at the store and not using it all.  And I find that I'll use fresh herbs all summer, on all kinds of things, and try different combinations that I wouldn't if I had to plan and buy them when I am doing my grocery shopping.  

Now for my next trick - figure out how to keep them alive during the winter.  I tried putting them in the garage but that failed miserably....

Do you grow anything during the summer?  If so, what?  

And are you able to keep them alive (or bring them back after) the winter?  What's your secret?