Amy from Allentown, PA is the winner of the Sam’s Club Sunny Days Snack Pack. Congratulations Amy!

Often when I’m out in the garden I need a little something to tide me over until the weeding is done. Since Meadowwood Garden is not close to the house this meant stopping what I was doing, entering the house without tracking dirt all over, rummaging through the kitchen, etc. In other words, it was a bit of a pain in the rear.

Thanks to the fine folks at General Mills I finally have the solution to my garden snacking needs — Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars! Talk about a perfect snack for the situation — they are individually wrapped, easy to carry, taste great and they really seem to hit the spot. This is one of those times where you say to yourself, “Now why didn’t I think of that before?”

Would you like to try Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars for yourself? Meadowwood Garden is giving away a Sam’s Club Sunny Days Snack Pack to one lucky reader!

Contest Details:

One lucky Meadowwood Garden reader will receive a Sam’s Club Sunny Days Snack Pack. The Snack Pack includes a stock-up sized package of the Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars and a $25 gift card that you can use at Sam’s Club.

To win your Sam’s Club Sunny Days Snack Pack:

Leave a comment below telling us the favorite vegetable you grow in your garden. If you don’t have a garden tell us your favorite vegetable that you buy locally.

Contest Rules:

1. Deadline for comments is midnight eastern time Monday, July 5, 2010.  US Residents 18 years or older only please.  One entry per person.  Void where prohibited.
2. On July 6, 2010 I will draw one random winner from all eligible comments.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply with a shipping address, phone number and consent to post their first name, city and state.
3. Once the winner is verified and has provided the requested info I will post their name to the top of this post. In the event the winner does not respond in time I will draw another random winner and repeat the process.

Good luck everyone!

Note: This is a sponsored post.  General Mills, through MyBlogSpark,  provided me with information, product samples and gift cards. They are providing and fulfilling the snack pack prize.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Win a Sam’s Club Sunny Days Snack Pack!

The first year of Meadowwood Garden I was consumed by this desire to have “perfect” garden conditions for my vegetable plants. Every day after setting out the transplants I diligently watered them. The transplants began to grow so I watered some more to give them an extra boost. Rain or shine, in sickness or health for the first three weeks I literally watered the garden every day.

About 3 weeks after transplanting some of the plants began to wilt. Figuring they weren’t getting enough water, I stepped up the watering program once again! But that didn’t seem to help — the plants wilted even more, leaves turned yellow and the whole garden was a soggy mess.

Soon I came to my senses, did some research and found out that I was literally drowning my garden by severely overwatering. I cut back on the water, the plants all perked up and the first year of Meadowwood garden turned out to be a resounding success.

If you are new to vegetable gardening you might be surprised that overwatering a garden is probably easier to do than underwatering it, as the story above illustrates. Watering a garden isn’t an exact science — it is something that yo get a feel for over time as you do it.

Signs That Your Garden is Overwatered:

Wilting plants — especially if they have yellow leaves probably mean too much water. (On the other hand, a wilted plant with brown leaves usually means not enough water.)

Dropped leaves — another sign of too much water, especially if they were drooping and/or yellow before they fell off the plant.

Rotting roots — Rotting or stunted roots usually indicate too much water.

Mold or algae around the base of the plants is a good indication of too much water.

Tips to Avoid Overwatering:

A good rule of thumb is that a garden needs one inch of water per week.

Feel the top of the soil before you water — if it is damp you don’t need to water.

Use a quality rain gauge or other measuring device to assist in measuring how much water your garden is getting.

Watch the plants for signs of overwatering and cut back immediately if you see them.

Use a timer if you use an area sprinkler.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Signs You are Overwatering the Garden

This is getting unbelievable! Since the last article about groundhogs a few days ago I have trapped and relocated the following critters:

• 1 Groundhog (diseased — disposed of see below)
• 3 Raccoons!

Trapping 5 animals seems like a lot of activity so early in the year. I’m wondering if it is a sign of things to come…

Usually the animals appear to be in very good health, but the groundhog I caught yesterday definitely had some issues. About half of her hair was missing due to some sort of mange or something on her rear and tail. It looked she had undergone a groundhog bikini wax that went a little too far. (Brings up a disturbing visual doesn’t it?)

EDIT: Because I wasn’t sure what was wrong with this particular animal I made the decision to dispose of it rather than potentially spread disease or have the animal suffer from whatever was wrong with it. I want to thank the reader who pointed out that I had not made this clear in the original article.

Seeing a diseased animal so close to the house concerns me. As mentioned in the comments I’m redoubling my efforts in that particular area to assess the health of the rest of the groundhogs. I’m also going to ask my local Veterinarian about what sort of diseases, if any, could potentially be transferred to myself or to Zoe my German Shepherd.

The Havehart traps are getting a bit beat up. One has ceased to function. Another is almost not working. Both are in the workshop awaiting a quick adjustment.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Varmint Season is in Full Swing — Update

My theory that the early gardener gets the groundhog has paid off — look what was in the live trap this morning! Hello Mr. Groundhog! This healthy specimen was released where he won’t bother anyone.

Groundhog Problems

For the past couple years there has been somewhat of a groundhog problem at Meadowwood (Meadowwood is the entire property, Meadowwood Garden is just the vegetable garden…). One or more families have taken up residence in the woods next to the house. There are several holes under the shed there, and just last week I found a large colony of holes further down the treeline.

Two years ago one enterprising fellow even dug a hole under the back deck directly at the back door! And late last year another hole appeared under the front porch. Basically these little furry creatures are getting a little too close for comfort!

I’ve been asked why I don’t just let the little critters live wherever they want. A couple reasons come to mind: property damage and disease. A good example of the former is the hole I found under the front porch. As rain enters this hole it will erode the den and eventually could lead to a collapse of my entire front porch! Same with the holes under the shed.

As for disease, I’m mostly concerned about rabies or diseases Zoe can contract from feces, such as heartworms. Last year a groundhog ran straight at me! A couple that I’ve trapped were mangy and looked very unhealthy, so one never knows what they could be a carrier for.

The Plan this Year

One of the problems with groundhogs is where there are one, there are many! They are very fertile and have large litters. Once the babies grow up they tend to move to an area close by and dig their own burrows. This leads to more damage, etc.

Over the past two years I have trapped about 15 groundhogs total (and about as many raccoons — which are another story!). In spite of my efforts they keep getting closer and closer to the house — and that is simply not an acceptable place for them to be. So this year I decided to trap early, and trap often. My idea is to trap as many as possible just as they wake up from winter hibernation and before they have a chance to breed.

How to Trap Groundhogs

This has turned out to be the easy part. I purchased a live trap a couple years ago — they are made of wire and are easy to set up (you can see it in the photo above). Turns out groundhogs like apples, so for bait I buy old apples from the grocery store. Cut the apple in half, place it in the trap, put the trap next to a hole and usually the next morning you will have something in it.

As the season wears on they seem to become wary of the traps. When that happens I stop placing them for a week or so and often as soon as I start up again I will get one or two.

At some point I want to write-up a more extensive post about how to control these furry fellows. Until then I will keep everyone updated as to my eradication efforts!

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

First Groundhog of the Season

Two new vegetable varieties were chosen as part of the 2010 All-America Selections Trials. “Cajun Belle” Pepper and “Shiny Boy” Watermelon join the growing list of AAS Winners. If you are looking for interesting, dependable new varieties to try out this year you might want to give one or both a look.

“Cajun Belle” Pepper

Cajun Belle Pepper

There’s Cajun flavor in this southern belle. Peppers are both sweet and savory. The fruit look like small bell peppers about 2” x 3” with 3 or 4 lobes. Early to mature, look for mature green peppers 60 days after transplanting into your garden. When left on the plant, fruit will change color from green to scarlet and finish red, filled with vitamin C. ‘Cajun Belle’ plants produce a high yield of peppers due to vigor and excellent fruit set. Compact plants are two feet tall and wide, a perfect stature for containers. When grown at AAS Trial grounds, ‘Cajun Belle’ showed no disease problems. ‘Cajun Belle’ was bred by Grow Star L.L.C. and seed companies can purchase seed from PanAmerican Seed Company. Gardeners will be able to purchase seed or plants from their favorite retailer.

How to Grow

Sow seed indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost date. Use sterile soilless media, water completely, then allow to drain. Place seed on top of media, cover lightly. Maintain 65-70ºF media temperature until seed germinates usually 5 to 10 days. Grow on using warm temperatures, 65ºF. Peppers are native to tropical America so maintain warm temperatures for maximum growth.

“Shiny Boy” Watermelon

Shiny Boy Watermelon

In a taste test against comparisons, ‘Shiny Boy’ won! Judges favored the sweet tropical flavor and crisp texture. A red fleshed melon with dark seeds; this globe-shaped melon weighed about 20 pounds, some larger. The hybrid plants are vigorous; vines can grow up to 12 feet. ‘Shiny Boy’ can be grown vertically so that a large yard for a vegetable garden is not needed. Judges noted a high yield and generally healthy plants, tolerant of severe weather. It is an art form to determine when melons are ripe for harvest but plan to check plants in about 75 days from transplanting for mature fruit. ‘Shiny Boy’ is earlier than other varieties. This AAS Winner can be grown successfully in any geographic region with warm summer growing conditions. It was bred by Known-You Seed Company.

How to Grow

In northern areas, sow seed 4 weeks prior to last frost date. Sow seed directly into peat pots filled with soil-less mix that has been well-watered and allowed to drain. Cover with media and maintain 75°F. Wrap in plastic to maintain uniform moisture. Germination will occur in 7 to 14 days. Keep warm, transplant after soil and air temperatures warm or protect from cool night temperatures. In areas with long growing seasons, seed may be sown directly into prepared garden soil.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

2010 All-America Vegetable Selections

Last year Tomato Growers Supply sent a bonus packet of Giant Belgium Tomato seeds with my order. Free things are good, and free seeds are even better in my book! I started a couple seeds, transplanted them into the garden and quickly forgot about them as the season wore on.

Fast forward to later in the growing season. I noticed large tomatoes set on the two Giant Belgium plants. Large might be an understatement — HUGE is probably much more descriptive… Some of the fruits ended up being as big as a small plate!

Giant Belgium is a pink beefsteak-type tomato. It ripens from a pale green to yellow to pink beginning at the blossom end. I found out quickly if you wait until the entire fruit is pink it will be overripe. Pick the fruits when the shoulders at the stem end are still a bit green and yellow and they should be perfect.

What makes Giant Belgium my new favorite tomato? The taste! It is low in acid yet retains a smooth tomato taste. There is a fruity component to the flavor — the best I could come up with to describe it is a melon-like taste. It is subtle, yet noticeable.

The fruits are almost 100% “meat” too! The seed cavities are very small so there isn’t a lot of liquid and “gunk” when you slice it up.

And slice it up I did! I quickly fell into a routine of picking one Giant Belgium and slicing it up for lunch. With fruits averaging well over 1 pound each, the tomato ended up being the ENTIRE lunch more often than not! A dash of salt and I was one happy camper!

If you want to try Giant Belgium yourself there are a couple things you should be aware of. The skin is extremely thin, so delicate handling is a must. I quickly learned to pick the Giant Belgium’s last so they would be at the very top of the basket. Also, they are slow to ripen. Once the fruit grows to size it takes several days for it to fully ripen up — more often than not it became an exercise in patience as I watched the pink color slowly work up the fruits. Last, as mentioned before, if you wait until the entire fruit is pink it will be mushy and overripe.

That’s the scoop on my new favorite tomato! I’m interested in your experiences with this outstanding tomato. Has anyone tried to make wine with it?

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Giant Belgium — My New Favorite Tomato!

My good friend Pam at PurrfectPlay has teamed up with three other green-friendly businesses to offer a school fund raising option called EcoSimpleFundraising. They offer environmentally-friendly sustainable products you will love integrating into your everyday life.

If you are looking for a unique fund raising option please visit EcoSimpleFundraising today!

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

EcoSimpleFundraising Offers Green School Fund Raising

About a week ago I ran a red light downtown while picking up my brother. This wasn’t a case of it being a close call or anything like that – I sailed through a light that had probably been solid red for a minute! I had no idea it happened until my brother shrieked, “RED LIGHT!” at the top of his lungs as I sailed through the intersection without looking.

The story gets better. I had borrowed my mother’s brand-new Jeep for the trip downtown. The Jeep has something like 600 miles on it – literally brand-spanking-new and boy is she proud of it! That Jeep almost gets treated better than I did when I was a child!

Now, my poor driving is legendary in my family. It started with an accident and a couple speeding tickets when I was younger. To this day when we go somewhere as a family everyone volunteers to drive just so I won’t.

For the past several months I’ve been lobbying hard to convince them that I’m a better driver now. It is true – I don’t speed, don’t take risks and drive defensively like they teach you at driving school. There have been no tickets or incidents of any kind for the past decade or so.

So you can understand if I tried to forget the incident ever happened. My brother might have nightmares for years, but I’m fine with it. Nobody was hurt, the Jeep is good as new and life goes on.

Today I got a phone call from Mom, and she was laughing so hard she was crying.

“Hey Speed Racer, I just saw the funniest video I have ever seen in my life!” she exclaimed.

Speed Racer?!? What is that all about?

“What is in the video?” I asked even though I had a sneaking suspicion where the call was headed.

“I got this letter in the mail from the city that referred me to their website. I just watched my brand-new Jeep go flying through a red light downtown without even pausing. At the end it even zoomed in on my license plate. It was hysterical!”

My face turned red. No point in trying to hide it. “I guess I missed that light when I borrowed the Jeep last week,” I explained sheepishly. “So how much is this costing me?”

At this point I think Mom was watching the video again because she could barely talk through sobs of laughter. “The ticket was $95. No points or anything.”

Sigh. “I’ll be over this week to pick up the paperwork so I can pay it. I’m really sorry.”

More laughing. “I already paid it online,” she said, “We’ll settle up later Speed Racer – it was worth $95 to see your ‘excellent’ driving skills in action!”

Running a red light is no joke, but apparently being filmed doing so in a borrowed Jeep is!

I won’t live this down for years…

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

The Entertainment Value of Running a Red Light

Winner’s List:

AmandaSue from Mosinee, WI

Congrats AmandsSue!  Thank you for your interest in Meadowwood Garden and Wanchai Ferry.

Sometimes I crave Chinese food, but where I live there isn’t a place to get it nearby.  When the opportunity came along to try out these Wanchai Ferry frozen entrees I was like, “Sign me up!”  I’m glad I did too, because now I know how to satisfy that craving whenever it hits.

Each Wanchai Ferry frozen entrée has all the ingredients needed to prepare a great-tasting, complete Chinese meal for 2 in only 14 minutes! They come in five delicious flavors including Orange Chicken, Shrimp Lo Mein, Spicy Garlic Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken and Sweet & Spicy Shrimp. Additionally, all of the entrees have no added MSG!

I received the Orange Chicken flavor to try.  The instructions were easy to follow and in less than 15 minutes I was eating a rather tasty meal!  Keep in mind that I am the world’s worst cook, so if the meal turned out OK for me it certainly will for anyone else!

If you want to try Wanchai Ferry yourself there is a $1.50 off coupon available at www.wanchaiferry.com! For meal tips to enhance your Wanchai Ferry frozen entrée check out their website at: http://www.wanchaiferry.com/MealTips.aspx.

Contest Details:

The folks at Wanchai Ferry are giving one lucky Meadowwood Garden reader the opportunity to receive the “Stay at Home” prize pack pictured at the top of this post.  It includes two coupons and some great Asian inspired rice bowls, chopsticks and bamboo placemats.

Here is how to win your Wanchai Ferry Prize package:

1. Leave a comment below answering the question: What Wanchai Ferry flavor will you try if you win? (Flavors are listed above.)
2. Deadline for comments is midnight eastern time Monday, September 7.  US Residents 18 years or older only please.  One entry per person.  Void where prohibited.
3. On September 8 I will draw one random winner from all eligible comments.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply with a shipping address and consent to post their first name, city and state.
4. Once the winner is verified and has provided the requested info I will post their name to the top of this post.

Good luck everyone!

Note: This is a sponsored post.  Wanchai Ferry provided the information, samples and prize package.  Thank you Wanchai Ferry!

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Win a Wanchai Ferry Prize Package!

Winner’s List:

Molly from Citrus Heights, CA

Braden from Phoenix, AZ

Congrats to the winners!  Thank you for your interest in Meadowwood Garden and Yoplait.

Looking for a frozen treat idea that won’t slow you down?  Surprisingly, the delicious taste of Yoplait Whips! can also be enjoyed as a frozen treat! Simply place your favorite Whips! yogurt cup in the freezer overnight and you will have a chilled yogurt indulgence that you don’t have to get from the ice-cream truck or at the parlor So this summer, before you hit the beach, park or your own backyard, don’t forget to stock your freezer with Yoplait Whips! (We suggest removing the Yoplait Whips! from the freezer for 5-10 minutes before enjoying).

Yoplait Whips! are currently available in a variety of delectable flavors Strawberry Mist, Chocolate, Key Lime Pie, Orange Crème, Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Burst, Peaches ‘N Cream and Raspberry Mousse. Also, try Yoplait Whips! newest flavor Vanilla Creme which just hit store shelves!

Ever since I stopped eating ice cream I’ve been looking for a substitute.  I tried out frozen Yoplait Whips! and immediately had one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this before?” moments!  I like the simplicity of it and the controlled portion size.  In fact, there is a frozen Raspberry Mousse Yoplait Whips! in the freezer that will be my reward for finishing up this post!

Want to try Yoplait Whips! yourself?  Here is a coupon to save $0.60 when you purchase three cups of any Yoplait Whips! Flavor: Click here to download.

Contest Details:

The fine folks at Yoplait have generously offered to send the gift bag pictured at the top of this post to two lucky readers of Meadowwood Garden!  Here is how to win your own Yoplait Whips! gift bag:

1. Leave a comment below answering the question: What is your favorite Yoplait Whips! flavor? (Hint: flavors are listed above.)
2. Deadline for comments is Sunday, August 30.  US Residents only please.  One Entry per person.
3. On August 31 I will draw two random winners from all eligible comments.  Winners will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply with a shipping address and consent to post their first name, city and state.
4. Once both winners are verified and have provided the requested info I will post the winner’s names to the top of this post.

Good luck everyone!

Note: This is a sponsored post.  Yoplait provided the information, samples and gift bags.  The review is mine – and yes, there really is a Yoplait Whips! in my freezer!  Thank you Yoplait!

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Win a Yoplait Whips! Gift Bag!