What are you eating from your garden today?

Thank you Rose for your tip re: Acid Mix by Down to Earth. I think I have to find the largest plant stock to start with. Or else use little plants and maybe wait 3+ years to get any blueberries as I read that somewhere. And I'll keep reading

hi llamma

we bought our blue berry plants from Home depot....we bought three differnt types....they say you should have at least two differnt types to help with polination....the first two cost about 6 bucks......the first small guy flowered but we didnt get any real berries from him to eat....i think he is an early type..there were some tiny, tiny berries on there at one time but never got to the point to eat them....the middle plant gave only small amounts but the berries were huge the third guy we spent like 20 bucks to get him and he is producing a lot more...he was not as big as he is right now..but he was a bit bigger then the others when we got him....he is even a bigger plant now with tons of new growth...the new growth will be the berries for next year



hugs

rose

we harvested and ate corn last night for dinner!!

we made home made spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes we harvested yesterday, herbs, onion and garlic all from our gardens!....its such a great feeling to once again eat from the garden went from the garden to our plate....hubby...trying to make a joke...cause i said...*this dinner is from the garden except for the meat*....and he said....*how about the pasta?* i said...*well if we had a big enough garden we could grow the wheat and make our own pasta* the kids said...*we need our own chickens too*....my little guy said...*yes...cause we made our own butter* (the kids, daddy and I made butter last week by shaking cream until it turned to butter...it was yummy!)....we are having a blast this summer....we all continue to learn so much and it has been worth every hour and penny we have put into the gardens this year!...what joy as a mom to watch my children plant and harvest food, help prepare it with me and enjoy it together at the dinner table

here is the corn



our tomatoes for the sauce



oregano and basil

Thank you ALL for the compliments...I've done nothing but brag to my co-workers of how my veggies taste so much better then what's at the store. Very thrilled to have my veggies growing in the backyard 4-real!!!

rose, your corn looks oh so yummy, pass me a plate ((please)). I never seen the actual oregano and basil plant, so that's great to see before I actually grow some eventually, yours look great! I might tackle growing some blue berries one day, not sure. Yours look awesome!

What am I eating today? Cucumbers....my God, the cucumbers! Spring was great for salads. Summer was ok for beans and tomatoes. But, have I mentioned the cucumbers? They just keep coming and coming and coming. I am giving them away and people are starting to tell me they aren't too fond of cucumbers and were just being polite....lol.

6 cucumber plants in MM have basically fed the neighborhood.

another dinner of a little of this and a little of that



add some onion, garlic, chicken and some sweet rice....yummy!




we also canned two more QT's of pickles


hugs

rose

My harvest is doing good today, despite my health set-back that kept me from my gardens for 2 weeks.



Above: From my community garden rows I got 4 New England Pie Pumpkins (1 is huge), dk green Sugar Baby watermelon (2.5 lbs and very sweet), assorted tomatoes, 1 light green Lunga Bianca zuke, 1 yellow squash and 2 Bushy cukes.





Above: From my SFG I got Assorted tomatoes, 4 eggplants (Gretel and Caspers), 2 sweet Feherozon Dwarf peppers and 1 Jalapeno, 1 turnip, some bush beans, 1 red Super Red 80 cabbage, Burpless and Lemon cukes and assorted carrots including a couple of tiny White Satins (they didn't do well for me), Lil Fingers and Nantes.

I'm very pleased and will be roasting tomatoes for the freezer today since its cooler (in the 60s today), and some turnip, zuke, carrots and potatoes as a veggie dish for supper tonite for the family.



I've been very content with my bounty this year. Wishing you all the same.

we are having squash tonight!

some really pretty tom's and a hand full of beans

before i cook the squash i wanted to find out if anyone knows what the one in the middle is?....i believe its a volunteer unless i picked it to early i planted butter cup which is the first one to the left....the third one is an acorn....i have no idea what the middle one is.....



hugs

rose

quiltbea

i hope you are feeling better (hugs).....sorry to hear you were sick for so long.....your harvest is wonderful! .....are you going to make pie with the pumpkins?....do you know if pumpkin can be frozen?.....we have a few growing too and one that is huge....i want to save them....never grew a pumpkin before so not sure how to do that.....

hugs

rose

Bea and Rose the pics are lovely. My dills were made using the packaged Mrs. Wages mix and I think even the compost pile will reject them. I need to find a good from scratch recipe for dills, my from scratch bread and butters were great according to my neighbors. Salsa is flowing heavily here and it is a hit for tailgating on saturdays that is made from the Mrs. Wages medium mix and is very good.

I know nobody asked me, but I thought I'd share anyway that all the bugs are delicious.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:

I know nobody asked me, but I thought I'd share anyway that all the bugs are delicious.

I see you've trained him well to make your MM for you. Good vermiculite hauler! Does he do as well with the peat? He probably makes the compost/fertilizer for you out of the bugs. Now THAT is the way to recycle the pests!

GG

Awesome harvest and meals prepared...Keep up the awesomeness in your gardens guys--well done & looks all so yummy!!!

Goosegirl wrote:

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:

I know nobody asked me, but I thought I'd share anyway that all the bugs are delicious.

I see you've trained him well to make your MM for you. Good vermiculite hauler! Does he do as well with the peat? He probably makes the compost/fertilizer for you out of the bugs. Now THAT is the way to recycle the pests!

GG

Briefly, he likes to bury himself as the garden dries out a bit. I have seen as many as three of them pop out when I water. I never knew toads did this. Every time they start to stir in the MM, I think I'm going to see a mole pop up or something. Then, it's just this harmless little toad. Imagine my shock when a mole does pop out?! I am getting used to the toads.

We picked our pumpkins tonight because tomorrow night it is supposed to get down to 35 degrees. Wednesday night is 31. I will cover my tomatoes and peas for sure but the rest may have to be done.

We are still getting cucs, beans and lots of tomatoes.



I'm waiting to dig carrots until we have a frost or two to see if the carrots really do get sweeter.

we are eating lots of summer squash, winter squash, corn, beans, tomatoes, carrots and herbs.....

harvested a bunch of lemon cucumbers and made 2 more Qts of pickles

does anyone find that the cucumbers are a bit more pale color then a yellow....or did i wait to long or pick them to early?...they taste great still.....





the kids and hubby picked a bunch of blackberries and we made more jam



hubby and the kids also harvested a bunch of sunflower seeds!!



hugs

rose

At this point, I'm picking pole beans every day. Yesterday, I froze 2 pounds. I usually get at least 1 or 2 cukes a day, as well. Still picking basil, and waiting anxiously for my brussel sprouts. Now if I can only stop the squirrels from burying their nuts in my carrots and beets!

I got one tasty, ripe tomato from my ramapo plant, which for some reason just hasn't done as well as my others. But boy was it good. I made this Caprese-like salad last night from it using fresh mozzarella, basil from the garden, olive oil, and a touch of sherry vinegar:

Moswell, that salad looks wonderful.



For the first time in my life, I ate Swiss Chard this morning for breakfast. Well, really brunch would be more like it. I boiled the tough stems first and then parboiled the leaves till soft. Then drained, set aside and added evoo and garlic to the skillet. Toasted it slightly, added back the chard and some salt and pepper. Cooked a few more minutes and served with a splash of red wine vinegar. Very good and the neon chard was so pretty. We do like spinach, so it's not a far leap to enjoy the chard. I don't know why I waited all summer to taste it. I guess it was that little kid in me that kept saying no, don't put it in your mouth, lol.

Tonight for dinner we had these red and green bell peppers, green onions, thyme, rosemary, and a little mint sauteed with an onion and potato from the store and used as a filling in omelets. Great!

everything looks and sounds so yummy!!

Denese congrats on the feezing of the beans!....its such a good feeling to be able to put some harvest away for the winter

stripes....we want to grow swiss chard next year.....good to know it kinda like spinach....does it taste like collard greens then?.....im not a fan of spinach cooked...but my hubby is and he really enjoyed our collard greens.....its grown well here....i just clip a few large leaves off and it keep coming all summer long from one plant....does the swiss chard grow like that?.....clip a few at a time and it keeps growing?

Mos.....love that salad....its one of favorites too!!
Debbie your peppers have such a deep color....wow...so pretty!



hugs

rose

FG, yes, chard grows like that, as does kale. I have had clippings for several months from both of those. It kept me and a friend fully supplied from six plants of each.

Chard does indeed grow that way. I've had it all summer, clipped it, then never cooked it. (Bad I know, tossed on the compost pile). It has a peppery after taste and a rather different taste than spinach. You don't get that sticky feel on your teeth like you do after eating spinach. I've never eaten collard greens, so I can't say how they compare. I would grow 2-4 squares next year if you have the room and give it a try. If I remember right, Mel says 4 to a square. I have 4 sq. and when two are cut back, two more are able to be harvested. Like spinach, when cooked, it turns into nothing. To feed 4 people, you'd need a plastic grocery bag full. It's a super food, so I am especially happy to have it. This last time, I picked it and then put the stems into a cup of water on the counter. They stayed very nice for two days when I finally worked up my courage to eat it. I plan on trying to grow it in containers and use artificial light (or natural if I find a place) this winter to keep it going.



When I was a kid, I never did like cooked spinach. I think it was because mom used canned spinach and it tasted like the can. Today, I take baby spinach leaves and either steam them and serve with some red wine vinegar and salt and pepper at the table or I stir fry with evoo, garlic and s&p at the end and vinegar at the table. No, they aren't as tasty as a good ear of corn, but they are good in their own way. What I've discovered is that as I age, my taste buds have changed too. I also am able to try things I would have never eaten before, like the chard. It only took all summer and a lot of talking to myself, lol.

stripesmom wrote:
What I've discovered is that as I age, my taste buds have changed too. I also am able to try things I would have never eaten before, like the chard. It only took all summer and a lot of talking to myself, lol.

I agree! I used to hate tomatoes, but I grew four different types this year. The combination of the flavor of fresh-from-the-garden vegetables plus older (read: fewer) taste buds as I age means I'm able to enjoy many more things than I did as a kid! LOL - I can remember sitting for hours at the dinner table trying to finish off homemade mac and cheese one night when my mom got adventurous (normally we got Kraft mac and cheese) - now I'd kill for the homemade stuff.

I can remember sitting for hours at the dinner table trying to finish off homemade mac and cheese one night when my mom got adventurous (normally we got Kraft mac and cheese) - now I'd kill for the homemade stuff.

How true! I did the exact same thing when I was a kid. Mom would make me set there till I ate, whatever it was. I remember setting there for 5 hours one night, refusing to eat my pork chop. Finally, I ate it to be able to go to bed. It wasn't that I didn't like pork chops, I was just stubborn.



And yes, I sure wish I could eat my mother's cooking one more time.