By Coletta Teske | Content provided by Ideal Home Garden

Summer is one of the busiest times in the garden. During these warm months, a gardener will be kept busy mowing the lawn, planting vegetables, pruning shrubs and starting a host of new gardening projects. Summer is the time to freshen up the garden, pay careful attention to maintenance and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Mulching, Composting and Watering

After the spring cleaning in the garden has been finished, it's time to give flowerbeds a fresh, new look. Start by trimming the edges of flowerbeds. If the flowerbeds are not lined with an edging, give the grass a sharp edge to help define the flowerbeds. If there is edging, trim the grass so that it is not growing up along the edging.

White chocolate mixed berry bread pudding

Chef Jared Danks, the program director for the Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts programs at Culinard in Birmingham, makes a white chocolate mixed berry bread pudding.

Ingredients

4 oz. berries

1 oz unsalter butter (melted)

12 oz white bread (day-old)

1 qt heavy cream

5 oz (3 ea) eggs

13 oz granulated sugar

1/2 fl oz vanilla extract

4 oz white chocolate

Directions

Use the portion of the butter to thoroughly coat a 2-inch (5 cm) deep hotel pan. Reserve the remaining butter.

Tear the bread into chunks and place in a large bowl. Pour the cream over the bread and set aside until soft.

Beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and thick. Add the vanilla, the remaining melted butter and the berries.