THE BEST THERE IS

You haven't lived until you've tasted Fried Green Tomatoes !

I don't wait for my tomatoes to get ripe, just big. That's about the time I get a craving for my favorite fried green tomato dish.

This is the recipe I use, straight from Sipsey Peavey, Whistle Stop Cafe, Whistle Stop, Alabama which was made famous by Fannie Flagg's FRIED GREEN TOMATOES :

3 tbs. bacon grease

4 tomatoes-green, firm, sliced ( thick )

2 eggs, beaten
flour
salt
pepper

Heat bacon grease in a heavy frying pan ( cast iron is best ) . Dip tomato slices in egg and then in bread crumbs or cornmeal. Slowly fry until golden brown on both sides. Place tomatoes on plate. Stir in one tablespoon flour for every tablespoon grease in pan , blend well and add one cup warm milk. Stir constantly. Pour over fried green tomatoes. Add salt and pepper until you like it. The best there is !

For those of you watching your cholesterol, you can substitute olive oil but it won't taste as good. I once saw Dolly Parton on the Johnnie Carson show talking about how she loved bacon grease and would have her cook make a batch of bacon. She picked the bacon out of the grease and poured the grease in a bowl and proceeded to dip her biscuit in it. The cook almost died of
shock ! You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.

T.G.I.F. y'all !

CHICAGO'S COOL GLOBES: HOT IDEAS FOR A COOLER PLANET

An art event that compares to Chicago's " Cows on Parade " in 1999 has opened along the lakefront with more than 120 five-foot globes created by celebrated artists and school children as well.

While viewing the globes I discovered quite a few had to do with gardens :

PLANT A GARDEN

There are 2,000 seed packets enveloping this globe as it rises like a flower from a terra cotta style pot filled with live plants. " Gardens absorb carbon dioxide, reduce the amount of energy from the sun that is retained by paved surfances and slows rainwater flow into storm-sewer systems. They also actively tend the earth and tune in to its changes. "

PLANT A TREE

" Every person needs 10 trees every day to absorb carbon dioxide. "

WATER EFFICIENCY

This globe was created by fellow artist and neighbor Ginny Sykes. She states that " the globe symbolizes water temperatures with various colored Mosaic tiles, the darker being cooler, the lighter being warmer. Arrows signify wind currents and faucets, humans ability to regulate water consumption. The warming of the globe is shown by a fiery danger element creeping from the antarctic. "

Not only is the exhibit delightful, it's very educational as well and it seems that the public is thrilled with it . I hope to be able to see many of the globes this summer.

I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT, AND DAY

Ducky Weather
These ducks were actually fishing in a goldfish pond
when I snapped their picture

Rainy days are rare in June but this one is the rainiest in almost a decade. It's working hard to make up the May deficit and the ground is totally saturated.

Too wet to work. The ground is absolutely saturated beyond the point of planting . Wonderful ! That gives me a whole day to catch up on paperwork and housework, two chores landscape designers fall behind on.

I know my garden has grown a foot but of course that means the weeds have too. Oh, well, it won't be long before the sun is out and we'll be back outdoors doing all the garden chores .

Meanwhile, I'm humming that Eddie Rabbit tune.....Love a rainy night, love a rainy night
puts a song in this heart of mine, puts a smile on my face every time...ooh-ooh ..."

A BAD CASE OF THE ' EPATOOZIES'

Dwarf Japanese Azalea

It's probably clear to most of my readers by now that I'm addicted to Rhododendrons and Azaleas. I bought the little one above at an end of the year sale and it was in very sad condition. Down South when someone or something is sick and we don't know with what, we call it a case of the " epatoozies" , which is what this azalea had.

I gave it extra attention when planting it but it still looked rather sad this Spring. Azaleas and Rhodos like a combination of peat moss, leaf mold, new top soil and horse manure, which I added in generous amounts.

For extra insurance, I doctored it with a dose of " Marine Cusine ", an organic fertilizer composed of fish that I think is very good. All of a sudden last week the above blooms appeared for the first time !

The Japanese azalea blooms later than the early Spring ones and is not affected by late April freezes. In addition, it is very low growing, almost like a ground cover.

It still has a lot of catching up to do on the leaf development but the fact that it bloomed so well the first season is a good indication that it's well on it's way to recovery.

MIXING IT UP

Wood Hyacinth

Bishop's Hat and Variegated Gooseneck Loosestrife

Arrowood Viburnum

Pinks

Iris

In a recent post I complained that my garden was too blue. It was just the lull between late Spring and early Summer. In the past few weeks the above flowers appeared shortly thereafter -yellows, pinks, variegated, white and purple. How soon we forget what's underneath the earth until the flowers make their annual appearance.

My garden is a pleasing balance now and I'm very happy with it. I realize that I tend to buy plants that colonize and need to be divided or if they become too rampant, eradicated. Blackeyed Susan is a case in point. They are so lovely and bloom for so long, but they tend to spread.

Other evidence of my colonizing faves :

Siberian Bell Flower . I love it's beautiful pink bell flowers but it spreads rather quickly and I'm always thinning them out.

Daylilies. They're great, bloom a long time, but have to be watchful of them taking over.

Cranesbill geranium, a spring blooming favorite, but again, I have to monitor them as well.

My daughter gave me some goodneck loosestrife from her garden with the warning that it spreads. It was so pretty I just had to have it.