It’s 5 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I’m happy to say that I’ve just clipped fresh herbs from my balcony garden to use in preparing dinner — parsley, sage, rosemary and, yes, thyme.

And I’d say the holiday arrives just in the nick of time, since the forecast has temps dipping precipitously tonight and I’m not sure the garden will last past the next few days.

As I’ve got more preparation to do in the kitchen, I just wanted to briefly share with you some of the ways the garden has contributed to my holiday table:

• My parsley, which is looking a little like a hanging plant, will be incorporated into southern-style cornbread dressing (we don’t do stuffing); tomorrow’s turkey will also be garnished with lots of parsley (seen on the right in first photo — opposite nasturtium)
• I made chive butter earlier this week; I also used chopped chives in two appetizers made ahead and frozen for a cocktail gathering late tonight (the second photo shows the chives with Greek oregano in the background)
• Rosemary and thyme (of the lemon variety) will season the brine the turkey soaks in tonight; both herbs will also go into the cornbread dressing; and, the thyme will add spice to steamy popovers that will accompany dinner (the rosemary and lemon thyme are peeking out from behind the flowering(!) nasturtium in the third photo)

Oh, and I’m not overlooking those nasturtium flowers… Their yellow and orange blossoms will make a nice contrast used decoratively against the white of the coconut cake we’ll have for dessert.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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A SWEET SURPRISE: It’s been a blast writing this blog for the past seven months. I so enjoy sharing my garden experiences, and I also love reading about the gardening adventures of other bloggers.

But, as most bloggers will tell you, it’s very difficult to gauge which posts visitors will find useful, and — dare I dream — engaging (smile). So I was incredibly honored when Jo, a fellow blogger from across the pond, nominated me for a Best Blog award. Her blog, The Good Life, is also a favorite of mine. Thank you, Jo!

Along with accepting this award came the responsibility to pay it forward and select 15 other great blogs to introduce you to… So, without further ado, here are the 15 blogs I’ve chosen to receive the Best Blog award:

1. Bay Area Tendrils
2. Garden Girl
3. Moj Vrt
4. The Obsessive Gardener
5. Greenish Thumb
6. Organic Allotment
7. Joel the Urban Gardener
8. Pam’s English Cottage Garden
9. Jackie’s Secret Garden
10. Frugilegus
11. Seven Oaks
12. Nest and Sparkle
13. Gardening With Miss Daisy
14. The 6×8 Garden
15. Kaseys Korner

So, congratulations to the blogs above! To accept the award, all each blogger has to do is post a link to the blog that awarded them (this one), and pass the award on to 15 other great garden blogs and post those links, as well. (Don’t forget to leave a comment letting your picks know they’ve been chosen.)

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Speaking of sweet surprises, I have to say that I was pretty astonished to find the most popular posts on this blog seem to be ones that chronicle my adventures with sweet potato vine!

Remember, I grew my own from a potato placed on the windowsill and I bought some lovely chartreuse ornamental ones to showcase in my summer balcony garden.

I thought it was only fitting, then, to show you what I dug up when I removed the dead ornamental sweet potato vines from that garden to make way for the cold-tolerant plants. Drum roll please…

Beneath their roots, I unearthed miniature sweet potatoes!

And no, I won’t be serving them for dinner (smile).

Happy Thanksgiving!