Brunch, Garden, Mass, and H-Mart

The day started with a cozy brunch at home. I’ve mentioned before on Fridays we have Pizza Friday.

I always order my pizza from a local Italian market. They always use fresh ingredients and cook the pizza using a wood-burning oven. It’s the best fresh pizza I’ve ever had! 😋

You get an 11″ pizza with unlimited toppings for just $12! Great deal! I always order the meat lovers pizza with artichoke as an extra topping.

For brunch on the weekends, I like to have my favorite tea with a slice of my leftover pizza with a fried egg and honey drizzle on top. I put on my jazz playlist and just enjoy the vibes.

Last Saturday, I introduced my pizza brunch recreation to Travis and he was amazed at how delicious the leftover pizza tasted with fried egg.

“Yo! This is REALLY good!” he exclaimed. “How did you come up with this?” 😲🍕

A little work in the garden

We did a little work in the garden. I planted another sugar baby watermelon start, and Zaya (5) wanted to plant a cosmos flower seed in her little baby pot. 🥹🌸

This makes two sugar baby watermelon starts we are growing in the garden.

Zhen (13) chose the mini watermelon to grow because she LOVES watermelon. 🍉

I’m a little nervous about having enough space for the watermelon to vine, but I’ve been researching ways to grow vertically, so I think we can make it work! 🤞🏾😁

Mr. Toad back again

And while I was tending to the patio garden, my little toad friend was hopping behind me. 😄🐸 It’s so cute because I often see this toad pop out when I am working in the garden.

It seems he was on his way to the garden section of our peppers and tomatoes. Lol 😅 That was perfect because some bugs have been hanging around the plants. 🪲

Mass and a quick stop at H-Mart

Later in the afternoon, we went to the Saturday vigil Mass.

Since Travis works six days a week, we have found going to Saturday Mass is a little easier on him. That way he can sleep in and fully rest on Sundays.

After Mass, we stopped by H-Mart to get lo mein noodles and a few other ingredients. I had a craving for homemade chicken lo mein and I wanted to cook it for dinner.

The kids LOVE H-Mart! 😍 Every time we go, they always want to get ramyun and snacks. This time, they found K-Pop Demon Hunters snacks, so of course, we had to get it! 😂🫶🏾

I love H-Mart because they sell so many varieties of noodles, rice, kimchi, and other unique foods that you can’t find at American supermarkets.

The kids wanted to check out the toy section (obviously lol), and they wanted us to buy something.

I told them to save up their allowance money so we can come back and they can buy the toy they really want to get. 🤓💡

Before leaving H-Mart, we played a game of Toy House—the claw machine game.

We didn’t win anything (does anyone ever win these games? 😏 lol), but it was still fun trying. 😊

💜 XO

Even the public library has seeds 😲🌿

The library offers a seed catalog, so I couldn’t pass it up! 😂

Midsummer seed order

Getting the garden ready for fall crops!

Toad pool

Such a funny surprise—a toad swimming in our rainwater bucket. 🐸💦

Even the public library has seeds 😲🌿

I went to the library to drop off my returns, and I discovered they offer a seed catalog! 😲🥳

So naturally, I grabbed a few seed packets to add to my midsummer seed order. 😆🌿

The seed packets I chose were Chinese giant sweet pepper, okra, cilantro, and parsley.

I know it might be a little too late to start the Chinese giant sweet peppers, but I’m going to try planting a couple of seeds.

The other day, I accidentally spilled some of my cilantro seeds, so that’s why I grabbed another pack.

I went ahead and planted the pepper and okra seeds in seed trays. Then, I added some cilantro and parsley seeds to the herb pots I currently have growing.

Just making the most of this growing season! 😁🌿

💜 XO

Midsummer seed order

Getting the garden ready for fall crops!

Toad pool

Such a funny surprise—a toad swimming in our rainwater bucket. 🐸💦

Low energy day, so let’s make pancakes!

Just a chill day of low-energy activities.

It's been an up&down kind of week, but #Friday delivered #moments that helped turn it around: 

1. Woke up to a big #thunderstorm at 5am / caught up with a good #nap hearing gentle #rainfall toward evening.

2. It's been a #creative week in the #kitchen, clearing out random freezer #leftovers to make room for fresh #garden surplus. 

3. And I spoke up about accommodations needed to better communicate with a #health provider. 

#ThreeGoodThings #3goodthings #tbi #ptsd #urbangarden #neurodiversity

Midsummer seed order

My midsummer seed order has arrived, and I am excited! I took advantage of MIGardener’s 20% off sale because the deals were really good. I was impressed with how quickly I received my order, too! 😁🌿

I love watching their YouTube channel. I have learned so much about gardening and growing food within a year’s time all thanks to Luke, owner of MIGardener!

The seeds I bought

Parisian carrots, purple carrots, midori soybeans, painted pony beans, flor de mayo beans, light red kidney beans, midnight black turtle beans, Charleston Wakefield cabbage, gold rush wax bush beans, sugar beets, peach melba nasturium, and Tom Thumb dwarf pea.

This time I focused on foods we can grow in our grow bags and get started end of June.

We also wanted to try crops we haven’t grown before such as sugar beets, painted pony bush beans, and midori bush soybeans.

It’s all a learning journey

Last year, when I did a late summer seed order, I bought fall crops such as lettuce, green onions, spinach, carrots, bok choy, and collard greens.

The problem with that was I planted the seeds too late in the growing season, so we didn’t have a fall harvest. 😕

It was a learning experience for me, though, so I wasn’t mad about it. It taught me how and when to plant seeds for a fall harvest.

And I still have a bunch of seeds from last year’s order, so I am ready to plant our fall crops on time this year! 😁

💜 XO

P.S.—here are our new garden blooms so far and the new herb shelves Travis built for me. 😊

Toad pool

Such a funny surprise—a toad swimming in our rainwater bucket. 🐸💦

Low energy day, so let’s make pancakes!

Just a chill day of low-energy activities.

New blooms in the garden

The garden is showing signs of new life.

Toad pool

Every summer, we get quite a few toads in our garden beds.

In the middle of summer, if you go on a night walk in my neighborhood, you can find a bunch of toads hopping about the sidewalks and in the grass.

You actually have to watch where you step sometimes because you could accidentally step on a toad! 🐸

Toads help the garden

I always love it when I find toads in the garden because they help keep some of the pests away.

So far, I’ve counted five toads living in our garden—three in the front garden and two in the back patio garden.

Sometimes I will find a toad hiding near one of my fairy houses with its body halfway snug in a little mound of dirt.

Collecting rainwater

We keep a five-gallon bucket in the garden to collect rainwater. I like to water the garden with the stored rainwater, especially on really hot days.

It’s not much, but at least it’s a little something for the plants when it’s time to water them again.

Mr. Toad swimming in the rain bucket 🐸💦

Mj (24) found one of the toads swimming in our rainwater bucket.

It was such a funny surprise. At first, we thought the toad was in distress, but he was perfectly fine. 🐸😆

Although I do think maybe it was hard for the toad to hop out since the bucket was a little deep for him.

But then again, I don’t know if toads can jump that high. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I gently scooped the toad out of the rain bucket and safely placed him back in the garden.

Making a toad pool

So, Zaya (5) had an idea to make the toads a toad pool in the garden.

We repurposed a small, clear storage box, and Zaya collected rocks, sticks, and leaves to put in the box. Then, she filled it up with a little water.

We haven’t seen any toads chilling in the toad pool yet 😂, but I did see a couple of Sparrows take some sips of water from the box. 🐦

I like to imagine maybe at night when we’re sleeping, a toad hops in the pool for a quick dip. 🐸😄

Next week, we’re supposed to have excessive heat in the high 90s. 🥵 Perhaps Zaya’s little toad pool can be helpful for our garden toads…and the birds.

💜 XO

Low energy day, so let’s make pancakes!

Just a chill day of low-energy activities.

New blooms in the garden

The garden is showing signs of new life.

New herb plant shelves

My husband built the cutest herb plant shelves for our patio garden. 😍🪴