The latest issue of Homestead Gardens Inspirations magazine is naturally one of my favorites because it features my co-blogger Rita Calvert on “Pizza on the Grill” and I was there, too, with “Less Lawn, More Life.” So check ’em out!
For more summer fun there’s “How to Make the Perfect Herbal Cocktail,” which prompts me to recommend a very hot and very fun book on the subject – it’s the Drunken Botanist by best-selling author Amy Stewart. Amy’s a gardener and loves plants, of course, but she also loves a good time with “The World’s Great Drinks” and has made several journeys to actual cocktail conferences to learn more about drinks and the plants that are used to create them.
Then there was the hard work of trying the recipes herself – so she could share them with us, of course: Amy’s favorite garden-themed drink recipes.
Then just for fun (and to help promote the book; let’s be honest) she had her tiny side garden in Eureka, California transformed into a cocktail garden, shown above and below.
Amy also 
shows off the “before” photos and tells the story of the garden’s creation in two installments: Cocktail Garden and More Cocktail Garden. Those stories are on the popular blog GardenRant that (full disclosure) Amy and I co-founded with two others back in 2006. Hard to believe it’s been that long but hey, it’s still fun.
Amy also offers tips on growing a cocktail garden.
It’s no surprise that DIY cocktails are becoming so popular. Like home- or locally-grown food, we know the ingredients, and they couldn’t be fresher.