Category Archives: Ozarks Travel Examiner

travel through the Ozarks platteau in 5 states.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD) October 2010

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Patsy Bell | Comments Off

The Drive-By Garden is really Veterans Memorial Garden

Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers share what is currently blooming in the garden.

I am not home to share my garden with you. But I am in the Ozarks. In Branson MO USA there is a garden that most of us can only see as we drive by. Parking is hard to find. But yesterday (GBBD), I found a parking spot and walked up to the Veterans Memorial Garden.

Ben Kimel is the garden keeper. He keeps the garden blooming and colorful early spring to late fall.

You can't read this sign as you drive through the intersection.

The garden is a pie slice shape on a steep Ozarks terrain.

There is always something in bloom, like these daylilies.

There is whimsical garden art like this giraffe

a patriotic butterfly

perennials and annuals are mixed with shrubs and a few roses.

I will have more details and information about this bright, bold garden and the garden keeper very soon.

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Posted in Ozarks Travel Examiner

Three for Thursday

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Patsy Bell | 1 comment

Three for Thursday,
Cindy, From My Corner of Katy sponsors Three for Thursday every week, and the nice thing about this meme is that you can choose whatever three things you want.

Tuxcedo, Confetti, Red Velvet

3 cupcakes. Why do people love Red Velvet cup cakes and cakes? It is such a favorite at The Cup.

Three containers of coffee

3 coffee containers. btw, what is the point of decaf in the morning? I am drinking coffee at Holiday Inn Express

Lovely aren't they?

I would tell you if I knew what they are. Do you know?

OK, just to wrap it up,

3 Cup cakes, coffee, flowers. Enjoy!

For a good time in Springfield MO click here.

1 Comment

Posted in Go Away, Ozarks Travel Examiner, Traveling

Tagged Three for Thursday

Cute as a Baby Bell

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Patsy Bell | Comments Off

Bright and crisp

These little peppers are crisp and sweet. I ate the first ripe pepper right in the garden. I’m growing a few chilies and several different mild or bell peppers. These mini bell pepper plants are compact and heavy producers. Baby bells are a good choice for growing in containers.

There are truly a rainbow of colors for bell peppers. Try something new, like Baby Bells, beautiful in the garden and tasty in recipes. The green peppers are not as sweet and sometimes more bitter than the red, yellow or orange peppers. Bell peppers are at their sweetest when allowed to ripen on the plant in full sun.

Red peppers also have twice the vitamin C content of green peppers. Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamins C and A. One raw pepper provides more vitamin C than one cup of orange juice.

Red Baby Bells

The red and yellow baby bell peppers are beautiful together on an antipasto plate or in a big summer salad. This pepper seed is easy to find in several catalogs.

I got my seed at Renee’s Garden. I like that both the red and yellow peppers came in one seed pack. After all, how many pepper plants does a home gardener need?

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Posted in Herb Everything, Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, Ozarks Travel Examiner, Product reviews

Tagged baby bells, bell peppers, crunchy, Red, sweet peppers, yellow

I’m headed to the Yucatan

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Patsy Bell | 2 comments

Books

I’m headed to the Yucatan with author Margot Berwin in her first novel, Hothouse Flower. The book is an ficticious journey for the reader and the writer. Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire is just plain fun.

The rainforest is home to some of the most exotic and deadly flowers

So, grab a cool drink, this paperback and enjoy a fun summer read.

Margot Berwin creates an adventure and horticultural myth about 9 flowers from her dreams and intuition. We get to go with her on an adventure of exotic plants, romance, travel and spirit animals that takes us from New York to the Yucatan peninsula.

Costa Maya is a fishing village where “the villagers are of Mayan Indian descent with the usual smattering of expatriate alcoholics, criminals, and students slumming it on the beaches between semesters.”

I’m giving away a copy of Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire, written by Margot Berwin.

Email me by August 18, the drawing will be August 19. I’ll contact the winner for an address and send it to the publisher who will mail your copy of Hot House Flower.

To enter the random drawing for a free copy of this book, send me an email: Patsy64068@yahoo.com. Tell what flower you think is romantic. For example, I might write “I think the For-Get-Me-Not is a romantic flower.” One entry per person please.

My review is coming in October. But I want you to read this book now because it’s a great summer read.

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire written by Margot Berwin
Category: Fiction – Literary
Format: Trade Paperback, 304 pages
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-0-307-39054-7 (0-307-39054-3)

Growing orchids may be easier than you think.

Garden writers, horticulture bloggers and coaches, keep in mind – It’s fiction and it’s fun.

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Posted in Ozarks Travel Examiner, Product reviews

Tagged Desire, fiction, Hothouse Flower, Margot Berwin, Nine Plants

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2010

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Patsy Bell | 2 comments

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2010

Reluctant bloomers

It’s “slim pickins” in the garden as my grandmother used to say. But I have the random daffodil returning for a repeat performance this year. Most of the little sunny dafs are holding out for blue skies and warmer weather. Some grape hyacinth and crocus are waiting in the wings for spring days filled with sunshine and birdsong.

This single plant has more than a dozen buds waiting to bloom.

I’m taking these photos for Bloom Day but most of these bulbs will have come and gone between Bloom Days.

There are early bloomers protected by the old trees, but the ones out in the yard are waiting, waiting, like me.

Daffodils protected by the tree and in full sun.

The earliest daffodils are leading the bulb bloom.

I’m sort of a homeless blogger this week as I get a new site up and running. These things always take more time than you think (like weeding and watering.)

Most of all I wanted to share this volunteer parsley. I’ve never had parsley that is indeed it’s true self; a biennial. I let last years second year parsley reseed. The plant was enormous, growing three or four times larger than my little “annual parsley.” The reseeded parsley is weeks ahead of the plants I am patiently waiting to sprout from seed. This year, I soaked the seed for 24 hours be for planting in the seed tray.

This is my herb growing tip of the month: Drain the soaked seed on a coffee filter. Seeds won’t stick to the filter like they do to paper towels.

Parsley and chives are up and growing before other herbs.

coffee filters are better than paper towels.

Seeds drained on coffee filters do not stick to the filter.

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Posted in Herbs in the garden, Ozarks Travel Examiner

Tagged Bloom Day, daffodils, March Time to start seeds., parsley

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2010

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Patsy Bell | 4 comments

I decided to be a little more consistant with Bloom Day postings this year, hence this flowerless January post. Flowerless is OK. One of my favorite cakes is a flourless chocolate cake. But I digress.

The only flowers that are blooming in my home are in the seed catalogs. One thing I did notice this holiday season is that bromeliads were used at a couple of malls and a restaurant instead of the traditional poinsettia.

One plant that I do not think of when I think about bromeliads is the pineapple.

It’s obviously a bromeliad when you see a pineapple growing. But I rarely see a pineapple as a plant.

It’s as if the seed catalog industry hasn’t heard about global warming. They keep putting out paper catalogs with astonishing frequency.

Wish I could say Let’s make a deal.
You only send one catalog a year. And I, knowing that, will keep this one catalog all year.

Richters Herbs – Medicinal, Culinary, Aromatic – Plants & Seeds. The Canadian nursery offering an extensive selection of culinary, medicinal, and aromatic herbs.

I keep Richters catalog all year, frequently referring to it as a valuable reference tool. www.richters.com

Or, Better Yet, just put the catalog online. That’s how I order my plants and seeds. So you do know I am smart enough to find you online.

Renee’s Garden seed catalog is only on line. She doesn’t even print a paper catalog. www.reneesgarden.com

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Posted in Ozarks Travel Examiner

Tagged Uncategorized

Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Patsy Bell | 2 comments

Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times (Paperback)

Jim W. Wilson (Author), Walter Chandoha (Photographer).

Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times by Jim Wilson shows us practical ways to save time, energy and money in our own back yard.

Even before we get to the Table of Consents, Jim Wilson lays down some common since rules in Health and Safety First. If this is the only page you read it will keep you in the garden and out of the first aide kit.

In plane terms, the book is about the science of gardening combined with hands on experience. Plus, every gardeners delima of too many squash is at last resolved by the kid friendly pizza squash solution.

I had the pleasure of reading the book cover to cover. If you just came from a buying frenzy at a spring plant sale, it’s good to know you can read the book in the I-need-to-know-now order, each chapter being a complete lesson or topic.

Chapter 6 is a every thing you need to know about a particular vegetable. Chapter 7 focuses on fruit and chapter 8 is about growing herbs – often neglected in the home garden. Then there is a quick overview of organic gardening practices.

The 10^th and final chapter is about helping ourselves and our neighbors. Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times encourages us to share what we know and share what we grow.

This book is a clear and simple guide for beginning gardeners. It is also a gentle remider to the more experienced gardener that there is alway something new to learn in our back yard.

Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times (Paperback)

Jim W. Wilson (Author), Walter Chandoha (Photographer).

Details: Paperback: 192 pages Publisher: Creative Homeowner; First edition (December 7, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 1580114717 ISBN-13: 978-1580114714

Review by Patsy Bell Hobson

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Posted in Ozarks Travel Examiner

Tagged Uncategorized

First new "Must have" vegetable of 2010

Posted on December 27, 2009 by Patsy Bell | 1 comment

“a work of art, this Italian heirloom is almost too beautiful to eat — but it begs to be savored. Each gorgeous head is a sprightly, light green spiral of cone-shaped florets, with a delectably mild flavor and a texture more akin to cauliflower than broccoli.”

from: The Cook’s Garden

Not really new, since it is an heirloom vegetable. Usually, broccoli is not successful in my hot Missouri zone 6 garden. (It bolts at the first sign of summer.) But I will try it and tell you about my success (or lack there of.)

after all, I was successful with Renee’s Garden Pak Choi, Baby, “Green Fortune.”

I try something new every year. Renee has challenged me to grow things that have never been successful in this hot, humid climate. Like nasturtiums, sweet peas and Pak Choi.

I especially like To order, click variety name. To view description and growing information click on “How to Plant & Grow”. The videos give me confidence to try new varieties.

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Posted in Ozarks Travel Examiner

Tagged Uncategorized