Giving Dad What He Really Wants

It's Father's Day Weekend! The ever-present question on everyone's mind is WHAT do we get Dad? My husband is extremely difficult to buy for, mostly because he isn't a very needful person and what he does want or need he just buys. So this year, I really tried to think outside of the box. I thought about my husband's current position in life: He's very busy with a high-stress job. He's wound tight and doesn't typically allow himself to cut loose. When he is at home, he's bombarded with the need for attention from our son. So, with that in mind what does he need? How about a "Guys Only Night"? I know how much I enjoy the nights I disappear with a few hours with my girlfriends, and he always does something special with our little boy on the nights I'm away. So, I thought he may enjoy this as well.

To make things even easier, I was accepted into the "McCormick's Grill Mates, Grill Ambassador Hosted Party" campaign through Crowdtap. They sent me an awesome kit full of everything I would need for a perfect cookout: Montreal Steak Seasoning, Molasses Bacon Seasoning, Brown Sugar & Bourbon BBQ Sauce, Spiced Brandy Marinade and Memphis BBQ Pit Dry Rub.

I got a hold of my husband's closest friends and told them I was hosting a "Guys Only" cookout at my house the weekend of June 9th. No wives, no kids, no need to bring anything...just the guys & their appetites.

To get prepared I spent all week cleaning up the garage and carport so the guys would have a place to hang out. I made sure the dart board had fresh batteries, that there was plenty of relaxed seating, ash trays available (even though we're non-smokers) and I stocked the garage fridge with beer, rum and Southern Comfort. I also bought stuff for mixers and put my blender next to the fridge. I also bought my son a TON of sparklers, snap-pops, snakes and other "kid friendly" fireworks to keep him busy while my husband was enjoying his friends.

The day before the party I started prepping the food. I premade all the hamburger patties. Half of them were seasoned with McCormick's Montreal Steak and the other half were seasoned with the Molasses Bacon seasoning. I added cooked, crumbled bacon to the Molasses Bacon burgers!

Aiden helped out by prepping the Spiced Brandy marinade and pouring it over the chicken breasts. We reserved some of the marinade to brush onto the chicken breasts to help caramelize the goodness!

We covered the pork chops with the Molasses Bacon seasoning. These were the bomb, the flavor really saturated the entire chop. I believe these chops have become a new family favorite!

I liberally coated pork ribs with the Memphis BBQ Pit dry rub. These were the first thing to fix the day of the party. We let them smoke for approximately 6 hrs over charcoal and Hickory Chips. They were the first thing to come off the grill so we could start grilling the rest of the food. While the rest of the food cooked, the ribs disappeared! Along with the Beer Cheese Dip* they made a wonderful appetizer!

The day of the party, I explained to my son that he could be a part of the gathering until after we ate, and then he & I would be going inside for the duration of the evening because the party really was just for "Dads Only". He did a fantastic job of keeping himself occupied with the little fireworks and we really didn't hear much of a peep from him.

I explained to the guys as they showed up that I was hosting a McCormick's sponsored party, and if they wanted to eat they had to be willing to have their photos taken. With the smell of all the food cooking, no one refused my request!!

Right after eating, the guys broke out their guitars and held a mini jam-session there in our carport. It was nice to listen to the music and see everyone relaxed and having a good time. The little guy & I quietly slipped into the background and went inside for a bath & a movie. I'm not sure what all else went on in my garage that night. I don't even know what time the party wound down. I do know there was no more beer of food left the next morning!

The best part of all though, was my husband giving me genuine thanks for all the hard work I put in to providing him with a fun night. He told me that he feels lucky to have a wife who truly understands him and that no other wife he knows would have thrown this type of party "just for the guys". What he doesn't realize, is how thankful *I* am for all the hard work he does to provide for us every day. He's an amazing husband and father who truly deserved to cut loose for once!

Happy Fathers Day to all you other amazing Dads out there! May there be beer & grilled food in your future!


*Beer Cheese Dip Recipe, originally shared from www.tipjunkie.com
2 - 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 pkg dry ranch mix
1/3 C Beer
2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese

With an electric mixer, combine first 3 ingredients. Stir in shredded cheddar cheese and let set up in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve with pretzels, crackers or bread!

New Swim Suits from Old Navy & Crowdtap

Once again, I received a great opportunity to get out with Seester and gear up for the summer thanks to Old Navy and Crowdtap! I was so excited when I was accepted into the Old Navy Bathing Suit Sample Share through Crowdtap. If you're not a member of Crowdtap, you're missing out on a lot of cool opportunities! As a stay-at-home Mom I have to keep close tabs on my budget and the opportunities to try out free gear and earn points to cash in on awesome gift cards are always present on Crowdtap!

As soon as I received my gift card for TWO free swim suits I posted a photo on to Seester's Facebook page and asked her if she needed a new suit!

With my 6 year old son in tow, we met at our favorite little restaurant, The Sunshine Cafe, for a nice breakfast and then headed to Old Navy.

We headed to the swimsuit section to make our picks. We were momentarily mesmerized by the walls of flip-flops. (Amanda more so than me! lol)

 Unfortunately, I think we waited too long to make our trip. The suits had been picked through so our options were limited. I wear a size XS - S and there were VERY limited options. I had originally had my heart set on this adorable red polka dotted one-piece. Unfortunately it was out of stock. The only one-piece in my size was a cute little yellow polka-dotted suit with a little keyhole on the chest. The keyhole is what ruined it for me. I have a very tiny surgery scar, but the keyhole framed the scar drawing attention to it. So, it was a no-go. My second choice was the pink sweetheart bottoms paired with the pink halter top. However, the bottoms were completely sold out and the top was only available in larger sizes. My 3rd choice was a very hot orange 2-pc with cute little O-Ring details, however once again it was only available in the larger sizes. I found a lot of cute tops & bottoms in my size, but not matching sets! (I would find a top in my size, but no bottoms that matched and vice versa) I did eventually settle for a very cute black halter top and black string bikini bottom. It was very flattering and very cute!

Amanda is a size M, and therefore had a lot more options! She tried on a cute turquoise 1-pc bandeau suit, the 2-pc pink suit and the white & black crocheted 2-pc. Of course, she looked amazing in all 3 suits! She wound up choosing the white & black crocheted 2-pc.

As we were trying them on, my 6 year old son was a real trooper, playing photographer with my new Sony Cybershot. THEN disaster struck, he laid the camera down while we were trying on suits. It hadn't been out of his hand for more than 2 minutes, unfortunately a dishonest person saw the opportunity and picked up the camera. A sales associate for Old Navy who was near us, realized what happened. There was only one other person anywhere near us and the sales associate asked the woman if she had seen the camera. The woman said "No" and quickly fled the store. So, my camera was gone along with all of our photos. Talk about disheartening and putting a major damper on the entire trip. However, I talked it over with my sister and we agreed to try on the suits all over again to try & "recreate" the experience, taking photos with our phones. We were able to get some shots, but they're obviously not of the same quality as with my real camera.

All in all, the day had it's ups and downs. There's nothing I can do to retrieve the camera, however we both did get new suits out of it! Best of all, we had a good day together. SO, now I am saving up my Crowdtap points until I get enough to cash in for Amazon gift cards to replace the stolen Cybershot camera.

Celebrating a milestone with Madagascar 3!

Like a smack up side the head I realize that my sweet little “baby” has just finished his first year of school. In seemingly no time at all he has went from a shy, nervous toddler who was clinging to my leg & crying…. to this outgoing man of the world who doesn’t even allow me to walk him into the building! Look out first grade, because Aiden’s coming and he means business! But seriously, from start to finish Kindergarten has meant big changes for both of us. I was left floundering, trying to find something to do with all my spare time. (Thus Retro Mama was born!) We were both very sad to be separated but it was growth that we both needed.

Obviously I’m very proud of how well he’s done and so we decided to have an “End of School Party” with his best friend, Quinton. Luckily for me, Q’s Mom is one of my dearest friends. Around the same time as I was starting to plan his party I received an opportunity from Crowdtap* to host a Madagascar 3 party! What perfect timing!!

Last week I received my “Digital Party Kit”. Included was a movie poster, a recipe to make Marty’s Zebra Cake, printable masks, face paint instructions, a printable “Pin the Tail on Gloria”, print & cut decorations and a lot of fun Madagascar 3 activity pages. I used the kit & my imagination to make a great party!

To get the party started I called up Q’s Mom and said, “HEY! I’m going to throw a party…at your house…AND you’re invited!” She started laughing and said, “Sure whatever!” She has a very large yard with an awesome play set so the kids have more room outside to play. She & I decided on Sunday, May 21, 2012 at 1:00pm for our party.

SETTING THE STAGE:
We went with more of a Circus theme so most of our decorations were in bright red & yellow.
~For a snack I filled a large red & white bowl with popcorn. I also made a zebra stripe cake** (which turned out SO awesome) and decorated it with an icing “Circus Afro” that Marty the Zebra wears in the movie.

~I created “Madagascar Swag Bags” full of Madagascar & Circus themed items:

~I cut out small pictures of the circus animals from the movie, attached them to bright orange cardstock and made themed labels for the water bottles.

~Using the animal patterns from the digital party decoration kit, I made a garland from bright yellow card stock and cut out the word “Party” and attached it between the animal silhouettes. I then attached them to a bright red tablecloth.
~We used the “Pin the tail on Gloria” as a decoration and then later used it to play the game.
~We have the original Madagascar on DVD, so we had it playing as we started our party.



THE PARTY:
I’m not sure who liked the cake better, the kids or “Ahmi” (Q’s grandmother). Regardless, we were all excited! Despite our best efforts to maintain control, the boys sort of went their own direction. We got in a short game of “Pin the tail on Gloria” but it took a great deal of coaxing to get them to do it. (Apparently they had other plans…. for the party I planned?!?)
*Retro Mama Fact: There is one thing certain about little boys: they are kinetic…. always in motion and not always with direction or purpose. This fact is greatly accentuated after they’ve eaten cake and ginormous pixie sticks!

So, as I was saying despite our best efforts the boys just took the party over and did their own thing, running blindly on their sugar-high. Q has an awesome inflatable ball that is large enough to play in. (Think child-sized hamster ball.) They rolled around the yard in this ball for most of the afternoon. At one point they were both in the ball and had it jetting across the back yard. It’s amazing what a couple little boys can do when they cooperate with each other!

WRAP UP
Four hours later we finally convinced the boys that we had as much fun as we could possibly handle. Despite their resistance and with promises to take them to see Madagascar 3 in the theater, we shut down the party. My son prattled on about the party to his Dad all evening, detailing out every fun thing he did. That night after a long bath, my “Big 1^st Grader” was sound asleep within moments of being tucked in.

In my opinion? I would call this an epic success!

*Do you want to join Crowdtap, where brands collaborate with consumers? You get to influence top brands while receiving great opportunities such as hosting parties and sample shares. You can follow this link to get started! Happy Tapping! http://bit.ly/jfj6nJ

** Do you want to know how to make a zebra striped cake? It’s super easy! Grab your favorite white cake mix. Split the batter equally in two bowls. Add 3 TBS of cocoa powder to one of the bowls and mix well. Using a greased & floured round cake pan, add 3 heaping TBS of white batter to the center of the pan. Add 3 TBS of chocolate batter to the very center of the white batter. Keep repeating this pattern until you’ve used all your batter. The result will look like concentric circles. Carefully move your pan to the oven & bake! When you cut your cake the zebra layers will appear!

Just for Mom....

Last week's post was about how I reduce stress in my home by taking care of my family. Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom (aka SAHM) is a full-time job. It never ends, there are no Union-Mandated breaks or vacation days. This places a lot of pressure on me. Sometimes, I feel like I'm losing my identity. However, at my core I am STILL Ande! The fun-loving girl with an attitude who tries to be pretty and loves clothes and shoes.

It's important to feed your inner-self and maintain who you are. Thanks to Old Navy and Crowdtap I was able to take a day just "for me" and receive some free pampering! Through Crowdtap.com I joined the Old Navy Style Council where I get to try new styles at no charge for myself. Recently I received two free coupons for a free dress: one for me and one for a friend! There really weren't any restrictions on which dresses we could choose.

SO, I called up Amanda (my usual partner in crime) and we set off for the Terre Haute, IN Old Navy! We picked the right day for dress shopping. We arrived shortly after the store opened and they were just unboxing their entire new shipment of dresses! We literally had tons of styles, colors and patterns to choose from. We hooked up with a store associate named Tori and told her about what we were doing. She took my camera & started snapping shots & trading out dresses for us. We had a blast!! There was run-way modeling, dancing and just having fun in general! The best part was having the freedom to not bother looking at the price tags because we KNEW the dresses were free!



We tried on some that were great, and some that were not. I really liked this blue polka-dot number until I remembered my sister's scary Mrs. Beasley doll and I realized that I looked JUST LIKE Mrs. Beasley!! So, that one had to go away immediately!

Amanda had a tendency to gravitate towards the sundresses and maxi's. She has a great curvy shape so the maxi's were very flattering for her. However, the sundresses weren't really flattering on either of us. The blue maxi looked fabulous on her. She has a great tan and bright blue eyes. The dress really complimented all of her best features. I'm small and almost shapeless so I needed something to ADD curves. I wound up opting for the Wrap Dress in "Black Jack". When I put this dress on, I literally felt like it was made for me. The bias-cut gives the look of a tapered waist and accentuates the bust line.

Not only did we have a great day together that involved two new (FREE) dresses, but we both left with several bags of new clothes! The day of shopping was just what we both needed!

Don't worry...I got it!

Stress: n - mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension.

Life has a lot of stresses and a lot of different types of stress. My husband has a very stressful job. As for my son, while very intelligent, he deals with a lot of social anxiety and becomes very stressed at school. What does this have to do with me? Well, as a Stay-At-Home Mom one of my responsibilities is to maintain a happy household. Sure, I get stressed too! However, I feel like it's my duty to keep the stress levels in the house as low as possible. Think about it…the word “Home” should invoke a warm fuzzy feeling of security. It should never cause your blood pressure to rise!

First and foremost: We have a strict rule of no raised voices in the house. (Exceptions are only made for peals of laughter!) Yelling and screaming in anger results in nothing but hurt feelings and wounded pride, followed by bouts of guilt. There is a zero-tolerance policy for aggressive and erratic behavior. The interior of our home is a sacred, safe place and will always be treated as such. There is great security in knowing that once you cross our threshold there is no judgment, condescension or anger. Only love, acceptance and respect.

Moving on!! One of the primary ways to keep my family relaxed and happy is to keep the house clean and organized. A dark, cluttered and dirty living space creates a heavy atmosphere where no one is truly comfortable. Digging through piles stacked around the house to find an item adds unnecessary frustration. If the dining table is covered as a “catch-all” family meals cannot be enjoyed there. (And I believe family meals are a great way to connect with your family, which will reduce stress!)

The art of Feng Shui is a good tool to use in creating a comfortable living space. Here is a great site to help you declutter and open up living spaces.  http://www.ehow.com/how_4471856_feng-shui-house.html

Another way I help lower my family’s level of stress is to take care of their basic needs. For me, part of the responsibility of staying home is to make sure my family’s needs are met and to make sure my husband has minimal responsibility and stress at home. His long hours are enough to keep him on edge. I’m not going to dump more on him as soon as he walks through the door. When he’s at home I want him to relax and unwind. The same goes for the little guy when he gets home from school. Instead of instantly doing chores, swinging in the back yard for 30 minutes can do a lot to clear a little boy’s head and improve his spirit. Allowing the boys to unwind creates a more harmonious atmosphere for everyone.

I have my designated “jobs” and I make sure they are done completely so the responsibility doesn’t fall on someone else.  Sure, my son has the responsibility of picking up after himself and doing chores. However, he doesn’t have to worry about whether or not he has clean clothes to wear. He doesn’t have to worry about whether or not there will be a hot meal on the table. My husband doesn’t have to worry about whether or not the bills need paid or creating time in his hectic morning to pack his own lunch...My Motto? "Don't worry...I got it!"

Sometimes I like to do a little extra to perk up my household. Celebrations always create a light-hearted atmosphere. A celebration shouldn’t be reserved for a birthday or holiday. I try to create 1 or 2 “mini-celebrations” a month. The mini-celebrations not only create a light environment, but they make the recipient feel special. Sometimes that extra bit of recognition gives them the boost they need. When my son graduated from preschool I made him a Sponge Bob cake and his grandmas stopped by and we had a “Graduation Party”. I spent less than $5 on party supplies: A bright green disposable tablecloth, napkins & dinnerware along with a Sponge Bob Mylar Balloon.

Aiden's Preschool Graduation Cake!

If my husband is having a rough week I will make one of his favorite meals along with a “special dessert”. If it’s a really bad day I’ll make him an Oatmeal Pie, which is very time-consuming. He knows it is not an easy dish to prepare and seeing the big deep-dish pie on the kitchen table always lifts his mood.

Celebrating Aiden losing his first tooth!

I’ve also jumped on the bandwagon of “cake pops”. They are ridiculously easy to make and SO much fun! Not to mention they are a delicious bite-sized treat. They can be crafted into virtually any shape to fit the occasion. My son lost his first tooth this week. So, to celebrate I made him a batch of tooth-shaped cake pops. Based on the hugs, kisses and “thank-you Mommy!” I received… I think they were a hit! From the moment he saw them his mood was instantly lifted. You see? We really do celebrate virtually everything in this house!

Yes, there are and will always be external factors to stress out my family. I cannot make my husband’s job any easier and I cannot make school a fun place for my son. However, I can make their home-life happy enough that at least they have something to look forward to at the end of the day.




Do you want to make fun & festive cake pops? Here’s the easy recipe!

Cake Pops
Yields approximately 30 pops, more or less depending on how big they are.

·        Bake 1 cake according to package directions.

·        Allow the cake to cool & crumble it into a large mixing bowl.

·        Add approximately half a can of store-bought frosting and mix together until your concoction becomes a large ball of dough. (it should be a semi-stiff dough, too much frosting and the “pop” won’t stick together)

o       Flavor ideas: Strawberry cake mixed with Strawberry frosting…Chocolate Cake mixed with Chocolate Frosting….yellow cake mixed with vanilla frosting…there are a ton of possibilities, be creative!

·        Form the dough into small balls and insert a pretzel, lollipop or popsicle stick.

o       OR sculpt them into simple shapes...again be creative! Easter is coming up; an Egg shaped cake pop would be easy and adorable!

·        Put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes to chill and dip them in melted white chocolate or colored candy melts. Add sprinkles, decorate or just leave them plain!

Just For Fun...oh yea & I'm Smarterer than You!!

Being a stay-at-home wife and mother has it's challenges. There are the drudgery's of day to day house work. The incessant  need for attention from your family, who by the way, is ALWAYS hungry!! Sometimes we want to leave and escape for an hour but we cannot. SO, the best we can do is to find ways to escape indoors.

I like to go out on our sun-porch, shut the main door and curl up with the dog, a cup of coffee and a book. However, that is only for relaxation.

 I also have a fierce competitive side that needs to be fed. At one time this "monster" was fed in school, college and then at my high-demand job, through sports or among my social circles. Now I am my own co-worker and my social circle is a 6 year old boy and a dog! SO, I turn to the Internet to feed my competitive nature and have a lot of fun in the process. As it turns out, there are a lot of rewards for feeding this beast.

I am involved with three rewards-based sites. They offer incentives such as gift cards and samples for your contribution to their sites. However, you get out of it what you put into it. That's why I will never join more than 3 at a time. The most recent site I joined is BzzAgent.com. So far I have received two campaign opportunities through BzzAgent.com. One of them is PERFECT for feeding my inner "Competition Monster". It was an introduction to a fun trivia site called "Smarterer". There are no rewards for being a member of Smarterer other than seeing your name on the Leader-board and smashing your competition by showing them you are "smarterer" than they are in a huge range of topics. Did you know I am an expert in both chocolate AND basic math??? True story my friends! At least according to http://smarterer.com/ !! After taking the tests and getting your score you can then post your trivia results to Facebook or Twitter to brag about your awesomeness! Have fun & stay sane!!!!

Retro Mama Vs The Jalapenos....

DISCLAIMER: I live in central Indiana. What I do may not be appropriate for your particular region or climate. For best results, check your hardiness zone for planting dates on the back of the seed packets.

Grandpa Hill with 3 of the little ones.

So, the warm temps we’ve been experiencing have us all dreaming of the impending Spring. This time of year always has me thinking about my garden. I love the time I spend tending and harvesting the fresh vegetables with my family. It reminds me of summers spent with my Dad in his garden and putting up the produce with my Mom. You’ve never had a pickle until you’ve eaten one of Mama Hills freshly canned spears!! The old man still maintains a large garden and keeps all of his grand-kids involved with the tending of it. From running the tiller to picking vegetables, the kids are learning a valuable skill and bonding with their grandpa. My little one helped pick and then can a batch of green beans last summer. You’ve never seen someone so proud at the dinner table as when we share a jar of  “his” beans!

Stock photo of a bucket garden.

For me, stepping out the back door on a summer evening to grab a fat, warm, ripe tomato is truly one of life’s simple joys!  I love knowing that the vegetables my family eats are guaranteed completely organic. Not to mention the money saved on side dishes, condiments and sauces that are made after harvest. If you don’t have enough yard space for even a small garden you can easily have a bucket-garden. Due to construction last summer we couldn’t have our full garden. Instead we planted tomatoes and peppers in large 5 gallon buckets and left them to grow on our back patio. (For Cayuga locals, Palucci’s Pizza Express sells buckets of the perfect size for $2 each!) http://www.facebook.com/PaluccisPizza

So, the first question I always have is: What do I want from my garden? My first response is always: for the jalapenos to grow this year. Just ONCE I would like a successful jalapeno season! My three realistic choices are always zucchini, green beans and tomatoes. They are versatile in a variety of recipes, or stand alone as sides. They’re also easy to “put up” for future use. There is nothing quite as satisfying as green beans that taste garden-fresh in January!  We also make and freeze our own pizza and spaghetti sauce. Don’t be intimidated by “canning” or “putting up” your garden’s bounty. We will cover all of that this summer. I will also be available for any questions! Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a lot of specialty items such as a pressure cooker for everything. The only thing I use my pressure cooker for is canning green beans and jams. All the rest: pickles, sauces, corn, zucchini (sliced & shredded), pie fruit, peppers (if they would ever grow) etc I freeze or use the Water Bath Method. BUT I am getting ahead of myself. We’ll return to this topic in a few months!

Late February to early March is when I start planning and planting. (YES…planting) When we first started our garden journey I would go to the greenhouse in the Spring and purchase my plants and drop them in the ground. Voila..easy…but kind of expensive if you think about it. I can buy an entire packet of seeds for under $1. Also, greenhouses tend to use a lot of pesticides and fertilizer, which makes me uneasy. Plants like corn, melons, zucchini, eggplant and green beans do perfectly fine and have a long growing season if they are planted directly in the ground from seed. I usually put them in the ground in early to mid May. I just wait until we are beyond any chance of frost and the soil is starting to warm up. They grow quickly in rich, moist soil. However, jalapenos, tomatoes and broccoli I start indoors to make sure they have a good, solid season. For these I like to start at least 6 weeks before they will go into the garden. The broccoli can be started 7 – 8 weeks prior to planting. It can also survive and thrive in cooler temps. If maintained you will be eating fresh broccoli from late spring to mid-fall. (and will have plenty to put up for winter) Just make sure to cut the florets before they bloom.

To get your crops started indoors is quite simple. You can buy the indoor starter kits OR make your own! FYI, the starter kits can be reused. The first year we did this, my son and I used Dixie cups, a cookie sheet and saran wrap and it worked just fine. However, we now have grown and expanded to plastic planting cells that have their own tray and a clear plastic hood. I reuse the same ones annually.

Items needed:

• Growing vessel such as cell packs or Dixie cups. Also, a flat tray to put them in. Make sure your cell is at least 2” wide and a minimum of 2” deep. If you use a Dixie cup, poke a few tiny holes in the bottom for drainage.
• Clear plastic cover to act as a “greenhouse” for the seeds. You can use plastic wrap or plastic bags.
• Potting Soil
• Seed packets
• Colored toothpicks to mark what you’re growing. (E.g. red toothpicks in the tomatoes, green in the broccoli, etc) Otherwise, expect to be confused.
• A light source. I have a bay window in my kitchen, any sunny window will do (although not TOO bright to burn the seedlings) I suppose you    could use an artificial light source, but I won’t guarantee the results!

What to do?

• Fill your cells or Dixie cups almost to the top with fresh soil.
• Place them in the large tray. (To catch excess water)
• Plant your seeds at the depth determined by the back of your seed packet. MARK YOUR CELL!!!!! Otherwise you will end up with Cherry Tomatoes growing in your flowerbed. (YES…. this happened last summer!)
• Water but do not drown your little seeds
• Cover with the clear plastic hood and place in a warm location that has indirect minimal sunlight. I keep my seeds covered until after they germinate. Once they are a decent size I remove the clear plastic hood. (It works like a little green house.) Check the seed packet for info on each plant’s germination rules.
• Once the seedlings sprout, remove the hood/clear plastic and place them in a sunny location. (Not too bright…you don’t want to burn them!) Be sure to keep the soil moist and to rotate the tray once a day so both sides of the tray grow evenly.
• Once we are past danger of frost and the soil is starting to warm, till your garden and acclimate your plants to the outdoors by taking them outside during the day for a week. Then, plant them! Review the seed packets to see how far apart they should be planted.

My Father-in-law and son tilling our garden in 2010.

What’s going on at Retro Mama’s place this year?

• Corn: Well, we won’t be planting corn. Corn requires a lot of growing space. You have to plant a ton of it to get enough to even mess with. My parents have a huge garden so I usually pilfer all my fresh corn from them. (shhh….) Sometimes I will even hit the farmers market and buy a bunch of it to put up for winter. But grow it myself? Nah…. my minimal space is too valuable.
• Tomatoes: I intend to plant 10 - 15 Romas, 2 Cherry and 2 Beef Steak tomato plants. I use the Romas for making pizza and spaghetti sauce. They are very “meaty” with less wasted pulp and they have a deep rich flavor that makes them the perfect candidate. The Beef Steak and Cherry tomatoes are great to eat fresh, but I really don’t do anything with them once summer is over. Sometimes I will use leftover Beef Steaks in my sauces, just so they don’t go to waste but that’s not their primary purpose in life.
• Zucchini: I always put in two plants. One plant produces enough zucchini to be more than sufficient for my family to eat fresh all summer long and have plenty to put up for recipes and bread later. HOWEVER, zucchini gets lonely. A single plant doesn’t produce well and sometimes dies early. Trust me…just plant two…
• Broccoli: I’m putting in about 5 plants. As long as we keep cutting the florets we always have more than enough to eat fresh and put up enough to last us all winter long. In my experience, the more we cut the broccoli the better it grows. We tend to have produce well into the fall after everything else is brown and dead.
• Green Beans: I’ll plant 4 or 5 long rows. They take up the majority of my garden space. I “can” the majority of them. FYI, they’re not a great candidate for bucket gardens. Like the broccoli, if I continue to pick them I have fresh beans for most of the summer and into the early fall. A lot of other gardeners have told me they typically get one or two harvests and then they die off. (Maybe the beans just feel sorry for me because of the wretched jalapenos???)
• Jalapenos: Oh the bane of my existence, the flippin’ jalapenos!!! EVERY year I plant them, every year they yield minimal results. While the rest of the garden flourishes in its glorious bounty the jalapenos stubbornly refuse to yield anything more than a pepper or two. The hateful little peppers are never more than a couple inches long. Sometimes I feel like they are mocking me and the efforts I put forth. Yet, my husband and I love them…. both fresh and canned so I try and try again! I’m just not ready to admit to defeat. This year I’m going to put in 5 plants and see how they do.  If it is another epic fail, I may have to raise the white flag to those wretched peppers….