For the love of Ferns!

When we moved out to the country we bought a Cape Cod house with a wrap around porch and I have always adored wrap around porches! They just remind me of lazy Sundays; porch swinging, lemonade sipping, fire fly gazing, fern hanging, flag swaying, book reading kinda days.

Whenever you see pictures of Cape Cods in the summer time, they are usually pictured with beautiful hanging baskets or ferns hanging all around the porch so I wanted to do the same here. I had never had ferns before and I knew we'd need a few if I wanted to hang them around the entire porch but I wanted to pick something that was fairly easy to care for and that would last from May - October. We get crazy winds here in the spring so I didn't really think something with blooms would be the best way to go so I went with the illustrious fern!

So when I decided to go with ferns I had no clue what I was doing regarding care for them but I wanted them to last so I did some research and found what worked for me and our climate. Our house faces true North so they get indirect sunlight most of the day.

I water them daily when it's hot outside. On cooler days I may skip a day or two, but I don't sweat it if I am going to be gone for the day and miss watering. For the most part, during the warm summer months, they get watered daily. When I water, I soak them. I water them until water is pouring over the sides and through the hole in the bottom of the basket.

To keep the leaves a dark green and to help them grow really large and full, I give them a bath in a bucket of Epsom Salt once a month or so. I take a Lowe's bucket (or you can use a cooler) and I fill it with water and add Epsom Salt (ratio is 2 tablespoons to 1 gallon of water). Then, I take the fern and submerge it until the water flows over the plastic basket the fern sits in. I let it soak for about 6 hours (sometimes more). I usually do 1 fern a day until they've all been soaked and then do it again in another month or so.

I swear by this method! My ferns are gorgeous all summer long and through the fall! I hope you give it a try and that it works out well for you!!

Thanks for reading and stopping by for a visit! Let me know if you try this and how it works for you!

Onto porch sittin' I go! :)
Brenda

Chicken Salad

Who doesn't love chicken salad!!!? Well, I guess vegetarians don't BUT I do!

My husband and I are doing what we like to call "The Chicken Challenge" for the summer. We were eating out WAY TOO MUCH this past winter/spring so summer came along at the perfect time because we LOVE to grill out on summer nights. We don't eat that much red meat and are trying to lose weight and eat healthier so we are doing The Chicken Challenge this summer to see how many different ways we can enjoy chicken! Just for the record, I could very EASILY be a vegetarian and have been leaning that way over the past year so I will be looking for some great meatless options this summer, too, if anyone has any they want to share. 

So, this is my version of chicken salad. Everyone makes it a little different; some like it smooth, chunky, with nuts or without, etc. You can omit the nuts and fruit if you'd like and it would still be just as yummy!

Check out my recipe below:

1 lb cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup mayo
3 tbls minced sweet onion
3tbls finely chopped celery
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 tbls brown sugar (yep - brown sugar) :)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I toast mine first)
1 cup diced grapes (green or red - whatever suits your fancy)
dash of salt
dash of pepper

To prepare:

Cook your chicken however you'd like (boil, grill, roast, etc). We grill ours because I think it gives it more flavor but you can do whatever you'd like.

After the chicken is cooked and cooled, you can cut it up however you'd like. It depends how we are going to eat it - if we are eating it in a salad with a fork, I dice my chicken. If it's going on sandwiches I chop it in my food processor. Do whatever you'd like!!

Toss chicken in a bowl when done.

Next, mince your onion and finely chop your celery. I use a food processor for both. Toss in the bowl with the chicken.

Now, add your brown sugar and garlic powder to the bowl of ingredients.

If you are adding grapes and/or pecans, add them here. I toast my pecans on the stove top and rough chop them and I cut my grapes in half. Then, toss in the bowl!

You can omit either of these ingredients though if you'd like.

Next, add your mayo.

You are almost done!

Now, add salt & pepper to taste!

Mix it all up and add to bread, crackers or eat on a bed of lettuce and simply enjoy!

Hope you love it as much as my family does!

Ciao,
Brenda