Spring has Sprung: Gardening Baby Steps

by Danielle S April 2, 2014

written by Danielle S April 2, 2014

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gro-ables for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now that spring has sprung, I've started to see lots of pictures of friends on social media talking about their gardening adventures. Meanwhile I'm just sitting here wishing I knew how to grow herbs for cooking. I'm definitely a city girl when it comes to gardening and keeping plants alive. It doesn't help that I am not a fan of getting dirty.

So, when I was offered the chance to try out the new Miracle-Gro's new product, Gro-ables I was all for it. Gro-ables are geared towards those new to gardening. They guarantee that the product will grow as long as you follow the directions. While I think that flowers are pretty, I was very excited to know that they're focusing on edible herbs and vegetables.

I'll be trying out the Basil Seed Pod and I can't wait to use it in my favorite homemade basil tomato soup recipe soon. You can check out Jenny Steffen's original recipe here, but here's my adapted version.

Tomato Basil Soup

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

1 – 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup of heavy cream (I'll use half and half this time)

3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned

parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute – being careful not to burn the garlic. Add a little to create a rue. Add the crushed tomatoes w/ juice. Add the diced tomatoes and juice. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.

To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil. Use an immersion blender to blend everything together.

Still not convinced? Check out their video here and stay tuned for my updates.