A Hello Katie Garden

Last month, when I had a little extra time on my hands with spring break, I went a little "gung-ho" on  gardening. In fact, I even signed up for the rewards program at my local hardware/nursery store. I don't really have much of a green thumb. As evidence of this, last year I eventually let the garden I featured in my Garden to Bowl post wither away and die. But I am back and, if a dare say so myself, better than ever for round two of Hello Katie's garden!

Now this garden isn't by any means a big garden; it's really just an herb box and some potted plants (our soil is horrible here), but it is just the right size for me. The garden mostly features herbs which saves a lot of money on frequent trips to the grocery store to buy those little packets of herbs for $2.99 every time I make a recipe.  So take a gander at my garden below to see what I am growing this year.

The first thing that I always keep in my garden is basil because I love Italian food and I love fresh Mozzarella to which basil is the perfect sidekick.

With basil you can make yummy Caprese sandwiches like the one I made here:

Or you can chiffonade the basil and use it as a tasty garnish for pasta or pizza like the chicken pizza I made last night here:

Next, I am trying for the first time to grow strawberries. As you can see, I have my first strawberry ready to go, but I am hoping that others follow suit! What am I going to do with only one strawberry? My husband and I will have to divide it between us!

Mint is another thing that I love to grow because it can be used in two of my favorites things: desserts and mint juleps.

Below is an example of the miracle that is the mint julep, just in time for the Kentucky Derby today!

Last of all I have some other herbs that I frequently use for cooking in my garden. It's so nice to just run (I mean walk) to the backyard with a pair of scissors and get exactly what I need. I tried to pick things that frequently come up in the recipes I use. These include:

Thyme

Parsley

Chive

Well, that concludes the "tour" of my garden. So far so good. Everything is nice and green and growing as opposed to dying. I have my fingers crossed that my green thumb can make this garden last through summer and beyond. I hope to feature at least a few recipes for things that I make in the coming months with the spoils of my garden!

Linking Up With: Motivational Monday