Kelly Trepp, Author

Coming off of my post about growing your own garden, I thought I might share some quick and easy recipes for sides or appetizers that I make frequently with fresh veggies from my garden. Garden Fresh Pesto Basil is always a strong herb in my garden; no matter how much I plant, we always end up with a bush taller than me. It's a good thing we like pesto! The above picture is of whole wheat rotini noodles with pan seared chicken, garden fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and pesto made from the recipe that follows. 3 cups packed fresh basil leaves 4 cloves garlic 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I add extra cheese liberally, it's kind of my thing) 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup slivered almonds 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (also picked from the garden) Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, I prefer the Magic Bullet , and blend until smooth. I love tossing this pesto with rotini because the ridges of the pasta pick up the creamy sauce quite nicely. Spicy ...

Just over two years ago now, I became obsessed with reading Martha Stewart Living magazine. I'm talking obsessed. I started tearing out pages and leaving copies all over the house to the point that FI needed to have an intervention. One of the greatest ideas Martha ever gave me was to grow my own garden. FI and I have a townhouse with minimal yard space, and when it really comes down to it, I'm kind of lazy and wanted to do as little work as possible. Sound like you? PERFECT! Keep reading! FI and I decided that our best option with our limited space was a raised garden bed . We purchased a 6'x4'x1' garden bed and went to work. We filled it with a mix of Miracle Grow Garden Soil and regular old top soil as directed on the back of the Miracle Grow bag. We purchased a rake, a hoe, some gloves for getting dirty, some seeds and a professional greenhouse plant starter kit . I drew a grid of my garden on a piece of paper to plan out what seeds needed to be planted where ...