2018 GARDENER'S IDEA BOOK
Your Garden, Your Way
Your garden is a true reflection of who you are. From the flowers you love to display to the vegetables you love to cook, the garden is a great chance to get personal. Maybe you want to celebrate your heritage by growing the ingredients that your grandparents cherished abroad, maybe you'd like to have ingredients you can't find at a grocery store, or maybe you'd like to have some unique cut flowers around your house. Whatever it is, your garden can grow it.
Things to Consider
Practice Practical Planting
Think about the herbs, fruits and vegetables you use the most. Wouldn't it be easier and more cost effective to run out to your garden and pick your favorite herbs than driving to the grocery store every time you need them?
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Work on Companion Planting
Certain plants can benefit from each other's presence, while some just shouldn't be planted together.
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Grow Those Hard-To-Get Ingredients
Say you took a trip to South America and fell in love with a dish that used culantro (no, not cilantro). Culantro is a leafy herb that's widely used in South American, Caribbean, and Mexican cuisine, but is hard to find in your average American grocery store. Why not grow it yourself and recreate that wonderful travel experience in your own home!
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How Do You Use Your Yard?
Are you a griller? Are you a florist extraordinaire? Are you the neighborhood garden party host? With a little garden planning, you can give yourself a head start, beautify your space, and impress your guests with ease.
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Welcome to Vinh's Garden
As a Vietnamese-American, Vinh loves to cook what she describes as Vietnamese-American fusion. A dish of Vietnamese squash with shrimp on grilled french bread is a favorite. She has discovered that certain Vietnamese ingredients like the squash just aren't available fresh at the local grocery or market. ​
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Her solution: grow the ingredients herself. In the process, she's found that raising everything from her own herbs and veggies to her own chickens lends to fresher, better tasting food.
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In her raised beds, Vinh mixes edible plants with ornamental varieties that beautify the garden and in many cases benefit the plants by bringing in pollinators, leading to bigger, healthier crops. And she always has a vase full of beautiful cut flowers from the garden.
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Vinh loves to entertain in her back yard and host garden to table dinners. Take a look at tonight's menu below.
Cocktail Hour
lemongrass ginger mule
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Dinner
muop huong and shrimp crostini
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tia to (red perilla) wrapped beef rolls
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venison medallions with
red currant jelly and grilled romaine
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fragrant rice
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vietnamese cucumber salad
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Dessert
lemon and fresh blueberry
mini cheesecakes
