Authors in Bloom Blog Hop!
Welcome to the First Annual Authors in Bloom Spring Blog Hop! It’s that time of year again when the sun comes back to shine, the birds begin to sing and the flowers burst with the color of life! It’s a time where we forget about getting more Facebook likes in order to focus on what’s really important. To celebrate this momentous occasion—okay, momentous may be a STRONG word, but not for us gardeners, it isn’t!—some of my author friends and I are sharing our favorite gardening tips and spring fresh recipes. 
How great is that? It’s like a having a gardening encyclopedia and cookbook in one! LOVE it. But more than gardening know-how and gourmet delights, you’ll receive over 70 chances to win stuff from this shop! Woohoo! I don’t know about you, but I love anything FREE. So hard to come by these days, isn’t it? My garden-inspired giveaway for this hop includes a wax melter for your fragrance tarts (a Cilantro Clementine tart included), Vera Bradley napkins and matching pencils, sugar scrub by Deep Steep (grapefruit & bergamot scented ~ mmmm….), custom-seed saving packets, a garden “help” booklet, adorable little “cauliflower” poodle figurine from Enesco and more! ($55 value, plant & plate shown in photo not included) 
Now to my gardening tip: If you’re like most gardeners, tomatoes are on your list of must-grow or must-try. And who can blame you? Rich, ripe, ruby-red tomatoes are not only delicious fresh, but the key ingredient to the infamous “red sauce” ~ a recipe handed down through Italian generations like Blue Bloods hand down silver spoons and Southern folk’s dish out middle names. Italian by injection is what I am and red sauce is something I’m working to master. :) So how do you grow these bad boys without spots, blemishes and cracks? Epsom salts and eggshells. Yep! Go ahead and start them from seeds indoors and then, when you transplant them into the ground, add a crushed eggshell and a tablespoon of Epsom salt mixed into the soil around your sproutling. No more spots! (a.k.a blossom-end rot.) Got cracks? (We’ve all got problems, I know.) Watch that water schedule, because cracks are due to uneven watering–something awfully hard to prevent in Florida. Just when you have the automatic timer attached to the hose attached to the sprinkler head which is positioned just so all figured out—WHAM! Mother Nature blasts you with a good soaking. She calls it a sense of humor. I call it bad timing. 
But like I said, we’ve all got problems. And I like to look at my relationship with Mother Nature as a challenge rather than a curse. Helps me keep the stress levels down, if you know what I mean. So what do you say? Aren’t these tomatoes gorgeous? Willing to give it a try? For more gardening tips & fresh recipes, visit my garden blog at BloominThyme! (You’ll find the template for my custom seed-saving packets there, too!) Now, for the really important stuff: to enter my giveaway, you have more than one opportunity. You can leave a comment here, follow me on Twitter (make sure I know it’s you by giving me a mention along with the Authors in Bloom blog hop, ie. *Authors in Bloom rock!* @DianneVenetta), “like” my author page on facebook and fan me on Goodreads ~ be sure to leave a message regarding the same! For all you gardeners out there, here are a couple of more ways to enter: you can subscribe to my garden blog: BloominThyme and like it’s facebook page. How’s that for increasing the odds? Six chances to win PLUS a whole heck of a lot of garden fun! Phew, that’s a lot of entries per person. Did I mention I like free stuff? I like giving it away, too. :) And if you’re a bloomin’ warrior, or if you’ve already done any of the above, please let me know in the comment section of this post and you’ll get credited for the extra entries. (No penalties allowed here.) So what are you waiting for? Grab the phrase below and hop on to the next author—you’ll find the entire crew listed in the linky list below. (You may have to check the blog section of their website.) Remember: to be eligible for the grand prize, you must visit each and every site—but you have 10 days to do so! Line 1: Springtime is the season of blossoms. Line 2: Buds burst open, leaves unfurl, Line 3: and young flowers mature into gorgeous blooms. And as a reminder, if you have any questions how this hop works, especially how to win the grand prize, get full details here: Authors in Bloom Spring Blog Hop. While you’re here check out my novels! JENNIFER’S GARDEN recently received 4 1/2 stars from RT Book Reviews… Available for $2.99 on both your kindle & nook. :)
Hi Diane,
So excited to be participating in the blog hop with you! While I enjoy my gardem, I love to cook…so I shared a Spring-inspired recipe on my blog!
Happy Monday!
Your gardening tips are pretty neat! I’m new to gardening (starting with small steps haha). Please enter me for the giveaway! Thanks :-)
Loved your gardening tips!
I have never heard of the Epsom salt tip to help tomatoes! Thanks for sharing it!
I’m a bloomin warrior!!
Great prizes and this is an amazing hop! I live in Pa so I have to wait a bit before I can start gardening :) I’m had my hubby build me a closed in area this year so my kids can’t step on my stuff…. and pick last year they kept picking my tomatoes lol!
brandon_savannah@yahoo.com
I love Authors in Bloom!
There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes! I have a tip about Bees on my blog–do you know how very important bees are for a successful garden? Hope everyone has fun on the bloghop!
Hello all and thanks for the kind words about my tomato tip (it really does work!). Gardening is a joy but even moreso when your bounty is beautiful as opposed to blotched. :( Ick
And thanks, Diana! Yes—bees are so VERY important. In fact, I just learned we have a beekeeper in my neighborhood that rents his bees to area orange grove owners and the like (blueberry, etc.). They lease the bees to be sure they have good pollination for their crops. The bees can travel many miles in the course of a day doing just this–working!
How does he make sure all of his bees come home at night?
Apparently they’re habitual little creatures and fly home to their familiar hive every night. (So he says!) Sounds awfully comfy cozy to me… :)
Hi Dianne! I am learning so much! I am so glad I found you and all of the others! Thank you!
I follow:
Twitter : @MelCamino5
FB: Mel Bourn
Goodreads: Mel Bourn
as well as on the Bloominthyme blog and Fb.
Thanks for all the amazing information.
Mel
Thanks for stopping by! I’m logging ALL your entries…. :) And I’m glad the information is helpful — and you have TONS more where that came from as you tour ALL the authors. Have FUN!
I just planted some chocolate cherry tomatoes!! Can’t wait to see what happens!
Wow…. I’ve never heard of chocolate cherry tomatoes—but they sure as heck sound like something I’d like!! Keep me posted on how it goes and I’ll blog about it on BloominThyme :)
And I’ve entered you in the drawing for my garden goody basket! Thanks for stopping by ~
The Blog Hop has been soooo much fun so far! I’m enjoying finding each line to the story as well as discovering new authors. I already follow you on Twitter, I already like your FB page, just discovered your BloominThyme FB page, already a fan on GoodReads and already subscribe to your BloominThyme newsletter. I read each post in hopes my black thumb will turn green. :-)
LOL!! It will, Sam! Just give it some time. And thanks for all the follows ~ you are definitely a Bloomin’ Warrior held in the highest regard.
Please count me in for your giveaway! Great tips – thanks!
You’re in! :) Happy hopping!
I liked your FB page and I am a fan on Goodreads. I don’t have a Twitter account. This is fun!!
thanks for the tips! I wish i had a green thumb! i am a fan on GR
Thanks for stopping by! Check the “garden coaching” section on my BloominThyme blog and you may be surprised at how easy gardening can be. It’s all about knowing the tricks!
Enjoy the rest of your hop!
Thanks for the gardening tips and the chance to win!
I’ve used Epsom salt before but not eggshells. I will definitely give that a try this year. Thanks for the giveaway :)
I love Authors in Bloom. It is like finding a garden of new books.
Thanks for the chance to win.
WIsh you all luck with the drawing AND your garden endeavors ~ spring is a wonderful time of year to be outside and who doesn’t like to experiment?!?!
What an awesome hop! Thank you!! ;)
Twitter follower: LuvToRead09
Liked both facebook pages: Shadow Kohler
Fan and Friend on goodreads: Shadow Kohler
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks for the giveaway.
Hi Dianne,
Just stopped by to say thank you for hosting the Blog Hop and all the work you’ve done.
Thanks, Nina — it was great fun for me and I hope you as well!
Thanks for the gardening tips. No wonder my tomatoes don’t grow to look beautiful.
Thanks for the Authors in Bloom giveaway
Tomatoes are a bit fussy, but I think I’ve got their number now! Check my blog BloominThyme.com for details!
Thanks roar at the Authors in Bloom blog hop. I always bought the starter plants but think I will try the seeds and your trick next time.
Hi… I leave the gardening to my husband. He’s really good at it. I unfortunately have a brown thumb.
:)