Seed Swap

It's that time of year again when we begin to lay out the seed packets and plan the gardens. My inspiration for our gardens comes from the English Cottage Country style. I absolutely love the organized chaos it embodies.

We have two main edible gardens:

1. A vegetable garden with raised, wooden beds that is fenced in with wooden pickets and lined with an assortment of herbs and perennial flowers.

2. An herb garden that is divided into three, one-third-of-a-pie shapes that have a mix of annual and perennial herbs.

There is of course the assortment of flowering bushes throughout the yard as well as 6 blueberry bushes.

Not only am I lucky to have a husband that likes to garden from seed, I ALSO have friends that like to as well! This past weekend my friend, Lauren, came to visit and we had a morning seed swap over coffee and ginger muffins (recipe at the end)!

It is so easy to go overboard when ordering seeds. Depending on what you order, the seed packets can have anywhere from 20 - 100 seeds in them. If you're like me/us and you order 10-20 types of seeds, that equals way more plants than you have the space to grow. That is where the beauty of the seed swap comes in. Both individuals can order a variety and then share a few seeds of this and a few seeds of that. Seeds usually last one to two years...sometimes a little longer...depending on the variety, but I like to plant seeds that are no more than one to two years old.

Cigar box that I use to store my seeds packets

Ginger Muffins

2 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseeds (I use a small coffee grinder to grind them into a powder)
6 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup finely minced fresh ginger (peel removed)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
zest from one lemon
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nondairy, butter (I use the Earth Balance brand)
1 cup soy milk
juice from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins.

In a food processor, blend the ground flaxseed and water together until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency.

In a small saucepan, combine the ginger, 1/2 cup sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts and is thoroughly combined with the ginger. This takes only a few minutes. Set aside to cool and then add the lemon zest.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the non-dairy butter until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until combined. Add the flax mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk and lemon juice until combined. Add the combined dry ingredients and ginger-sugar mixture and stir just until blended.

Spoon into tins and bake for about 20 minutes.