Usually every year we put lots of flats of annual flowers around our yard. Begonias, impatiens, Gerber daisies, and all sorts of geraniums. Many time we spend over well over $300 on flowers. With this economy I told my wife that we weren't going to do that this year. We are planting veggies.
I'm having a great year with helping lots of Metro Detroit first time home buyers find great bargain homes. But.....Detroit's economy is very rocky right now with GM and Chrysler on the bankruptcy time table. So many auto workers, construction workers, and suppliers are on the ropes. I honestly don't know where the economy will go. I don't know what the Metro Detroit real estate market will be like next spring. What next year will bring. It has never been like this. You can't bank on making the same money you did this year next year.
So I told my wife that instead of flowers we were going to plant vegetables in the flower beds. ( I love my wife she goes along with most of my ideas no matter what) I kind of got this idea from some of the ethnic clients I have. They plant their vegetables everywhere. Front yard, back yard, in between the bushes, on the sides of the house. Everywhere!
Over the last two weekends I have planted over 20 tomato plants, lots of onions, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and even a few peas. I am pretty excited about our change this year. My wife is Italian and a great cook. So she won't have to buy tomatoes to can for spaghetti sauce this year. 
And we will have lots of tomatoes and cucumbers for
- the tomato and cucumber salad she makes
- bruschetta
- tomato and cream cheese on bagels
I have even thought about what I will do with the excess! I think I am going to have my wife type up the recipes for me. Then I am going to laminate them with all my contact info, websites, blogs, and business card on the back side of the recipe. Then I am going to put the ingredients in a gift bag and deliver them to my clients, friends, and neighbors.
Somehow I think I planted way too many tomatoes but that is the gardener in me. My wife and I are always addicted to buy one more different plant. I think we have about 6 different types of tomatoes, and about 10 different types of peppers. I even have tomato plants in the big pots that usually overflow with flowers.
Alright everybody I need ideas and recipes from active rain on what else I can do with my future harvest.
But we are looking forward to harvest time. I just looked out the door and they haven't grown a bit since I looked out 5 minutes ago. Gotta go.... I have to rapid gro everything right now.
Have a great night
Russ Ravary Your Metro Detroit real estate
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