Strange Weather with the first Tomato!

Crazy weather is happening everywhere! 

What happened to April showers bring May flowers?

In this wonderful month of May, we have gone from 90 degree weather to the 50's with rain, hail, thunder and lightning!

 I made a mad dash in my flip flops to save some tomato's and other flowers and plants on Sunday. The hail was in full force. I guess it is the closest thing to snow my California backyard garden will ever see! 

I lost 3 Tomato plants, they were simply pummeled by hail! I suppose it is a small thing to lose. But to me sad, starting plants from seed and taking care of them for a couple of months before they are ready for the big kid garden is alot of time and love. Good thing I plan ahead and always double the amount of seeds I start, just in case! Here are some of the pictures I took in my mad dash! They are a little rough, I was trying to protect my camera from the hail!

Russian Persimmon Tomato's

Part of my garden

Lettuce Bed & Chard

Onion, Dill & Herbs

The upside, I may not have seen the first Tomato growing on the vine had I not rushed to save my plants from the hail!

Exciting........ 

Even if my hubby kinda shook his head with a little sly smile murmuring, Crazy Woman! He was kind enough to toss me a towel to dry off, since I now looked like a drowned crazy woman!

Here it is! My first Tomato! It is a Yellow Pear Tomato! 

Yellow Pear Tomato

How are your Tomato's growing?

What Tomato's are you growing?

Happy Gardening Friends!!!

Crazy cold meets hot warm Soup!

The Weather!!!

In my wonderful part of Cali, the weather has been crazy insane. Unable to decide if we get 70 degrees and sunny, or cold sideways rain with wind blowing up to 50 miles per hour. Needless to say, we now have flooding streets and overflowing creeks. The good thing about all this rain, is that my rain barrels are overflowing and the garden is thoroughly watered!

With weather like this, all we need is SOUP!

My latest soup Chicken Gnocchi  with Kale.

I love this soup and it is so easy to make.

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts (cooked and chopped)

4 cups of Chicken Broth

2 Cups Half & Half

2 Celery Stalks

2 Garlic Cloves (from the garden)

2 Carrots (from the garden)

1/2 medium Yellow Onion

1 1/2 cups of Kale (from the garden)

Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Thyme (from the garden)

Salt & Pepper

16-18 ounces Potato Gnocchi (you can make from scratch)

Directions:

Saute the onions,garlic,carrots,celery in olive oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.

Next add chicken, half & half, chicken stock, salt, pepper and thyme.

Heat to boiling and then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 3-4 minutes.

Then simmer the soup for 10 minutes.

Add chopped Kale and cook for an additional 2 minutes until Kale is wilted.

Heat to boiling and then serve!

Such a yummy soup for a cold night.

We had some Garlic Bread with our soup. The bread is so good dipped into the soup.

Enjoy!

What soups do you love making on cold winter nights?

Spring is almost here, again!!!

Happy Eating!!!