Rotten Tomatoes

That is the smell at my house right now...

Be grateful there is no picture.  We have eaten, picked, canned, pickled, frozen, and LOVED this garden to DEATH but the summer garden is SO done and it needs to be pulled out.  Unfortunately we have been so busy with work and life that it just hasn't happened yet.  Matt and I can barely look outside right now without being overcome with guilt.  I have plenty of fun plans for our winter garden, but they have to wait until that old summer garden is tilled under.  This is the LEAST appealing part of gardening, getting in there with the moldy, old veggies and weeds and destroying everything we spent hours putting together.  I can't wait for the lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, and carrots of the winter garden...if only I can convince Matt to do all the hard stuff so that I can get on with the fun planting of seeds!  Meanwhile, all I hear in my head these days is this old nursery rhyme...

"A man of words and not of deeds,

Is like a garden full of weeds."

I know, I know, an awful mantra...we have GOT to get out there this weekend!

Preserving the Garden - Canning and Pickling!

This is just a picture of one batch of canning!  I have been a busy bee for the last few weekends trying to preserve some of our garden bounty for this winter.  The canned tomatoes are great for spaghetti sauce later, and the pickled okra are great gifts for Christmas.  Pickled okra is great as an appetizer (it tastes like a dill pickle, only better) and it is also great in Bloody Marys.  It is just tons of work to get all that picked, washed, in jars, and then canned.  Especially since the okra is horrible stuff to pick.  It gives me an itchy rash if any part of the plant touches my skin, so I have to suit up to pick it and then hop in the shower right after being out in the rows.  I hope to be done with all the canning by next weekend.  Okra is easy to pickle though, once it is picked and washed. 

Pickled Okra (makes about 4 pint jars)

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

1/3 cup salt

2 tsp dill or dill seeds

4 cloves of garlic

3 1/2 lbs small whole okra pods

1.  Prepare jars and lids in boiling water to sterilize. (I run my jars through the dishwasher, high heat, and I put my lids in boiling water in a saucepan where I leave them until I am ready to fish them out and use them.

2.  Put dill, garlic, and okra into sterilized jars.

3.  In a saucepan combine water, vinegar, and salt.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt.  Reduce heat to low but don't take off heat.

4.  Ladle hot liquid into prepared jars.  Put a sterilized lid on each jar and place jar upside down (inversion method of canning)

5.  When jars are cooled turn them right side up and test the lid to see if they are sealed.  There should be no resistance in the lid.  (The boiling liquid causes the lid to seal).  If the jars aren't sealed (sometimes they just don't seal) then place them in a pot of boiling water (enough water to cover the top of the jars) for 15 minutes. 

Wait at least one week before eating the pickles in order for them to "cure."  But if you leave them sealed, they can be stored in the pantry for up to one year. 

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Saturday Dinner Menu
Okra Frittata
Green Salad with Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
Chips and Homemade Salsa

Frittata (I make this in a cast iron skillet, but you can use any skillet that is oven proof)
Olive oil for pan
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
About 2 cups chopped okra
Salt & Pepper
Feta or other cheese

1.  Beat eggs and milk together, then pour into oiled skillet over medium heat.
2.  Promptly add vegetables and stir evenly into egg mixture.  Add cheese.  Cook on low without stirring until eggs are mostly set, then transfer to oven and broil 2-4 min., until lightly golden on top.  Cool to set before serving.

Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing
1 package of dry buttermilk Ranch dressing (made according to pkg directions)
2 tomatillos, chopped up
1/2 bunch of cilantro (just rinse and put in, stems and all) (I used the other half in the salsa)
Juice of 1 lime
1 can minced jalapenos
1 garlic clove

1.  Combine in food processor (or blender), and blend until smooth.  Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Friday Dinner Menu
Hamburgers
Zucchini Casserole
Summer Salad (same recipe as Monday)

Zucchini Casserole
7 cups finely diced zucchini
1 cup EACH, chopped onion, celery, and carrot
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 package chicken stuffing mix

1.  Parboil veggies.  Melt butter and toss with stuffing mix and seasoning packet.
2.  Mix soup and sour cream with drained veggies. 
3.  Place 1/2 of stuffing mix in bottom of 13x9 baking dish.  Spoon all of veggie mix over stuffing and top with remaining stuffing mix.
4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Thursday Dinner Menu
Tortellini with Pesto
Steamed Sweet Corn
Watermelon and Cantelope Salad

Pesto (Makes about 1 cup)
4 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts (optional, but I add them)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt

1.  Combine first 4 ingredients in food processor (or blender).  Blend until paste forms, stopping often to add basil.  Add cheese and salt.  Blend until smooth.
2.  Add to hot, drained  pasta or can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. (I usually double this and save some pesto for other things.  It also freezes well.)

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Wednesday Dinner Menu
Grilled Salmon
CousCous with Swiss Chard and Beans
Artichokes with Mayonnaise to dip

Cous Cous with Swiss Chard and Beans
Box of Cous Cous, make as directed on box (You can substitute white rice for cous cous)
1 lb. Swiss chard, center stems removed (You can substitute spinach or kale for the chard)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 can white kidney beans, drained
Salt & Pepper

1.  In a large skillet bring Swiss chard and 1 inch water to a boil.  Cover and cook for 5 min.  Drain.  Place in serving bowl. 
2.  In same pan, heat oil and saute onion and garlic.  Add vinegar, basil, honey, mustard, beans, salt and pepper.
3.  Toss all together with chard in serving bowl and serve over prepared cous cous.

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Tuesday Dinner Menu
Chinese Chicken Salad
Steamed Yellow Squash
Sliced Tomatoes with Feta (drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar)

Chinese Chicken Salad
1 head of cabbage, shredded
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used the leftovers from Monday's dinner), cooked and sliced
2 packages of original Top Ramen noodles, crush dry noodles, discard seasoning packets
olive oil
Rice Vinegar
Garlic salt
Salt and Pepper

1.  Combine cabbage, chicken and noodles.  Drizzle olive oil, vinegar and seasonings to taste.

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

Monday Dinner Menu
Potato and Green Bean Chicken (I used our Adirondack Blue Potatoes and our fresh green beans)
Summer Salad
Beer Bread

Potato and Green Bean Chicken
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 large potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups fresh whole green beans
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1.  Heat oil in skillet.  Add chicken and cook for 10 min. or until it's well browned on both sides.  Remove and set aside.  Increase heat to high.  Stir broth, wine, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, rosemary, thyme, potatoes, and green beans into skillet.  Heat to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
2.  Return chicken to skillet and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 12 min. or until everything is cooked through.

Summer Salad
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 Armenian cucumbers, sliced thin,
1 red onion, sliced thin
Italian dressing (I used Good Seasoning mix packets to make my own)

1.  Let the cucumbers and onion sit in the dressing for at least 1 hour prior to adding tomatoes and serving.

Beer Bread
3 cups flour (I use wheat flour)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 bottle beer (I use a stout beer like Hangar 24's Orange Wheat)

1.  Mix together and put into a buttered loaf pan.
2.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Using that Garden - A week of recipes

"One cannot

think well,

love well,

sleep well,

if one has not dined well."

-Virginia Woolf

(from A Room of One's Own)

I want to share how we have been using the bounty of our garden.  You have to get creative when you have such a lot of food that needs to get picked and used each week.  It has been so much fun to try to eat from our garden and to only have to buy things that we really can't make or grow ourselves.  I am going to try to post our menu and recipes each day this week.

Sunday Dinner Menu 
Summer Vegetable Pasta
Bruschetta and French Baguette
Watermelon

Summer Vegetable Pasta
1 lb. corkscrew pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
3 zucchini (about 1 lb), thinly sliced
4 ears corn, kernels cut off
6 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt & Pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

1.  Cook pasta in salted boiling water.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water in the pot.
2.  In a small skillet heat 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, and breadcrumbs.  Cook about 1 min. and remove from heat.
3.  In the pasta pot, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil.  Add the remaining garlic, cook.  Add the zucchini and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 min.  Stir in the corn, cooked pasta, and reserved pasta water.  Add 1 cup cheese, salt, pepper.  Toss.
4.  Stir in remaining cheese, basil. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of pasta. 

Bruschetta
4 tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt & Pepper
1 baguette (crusty French bread), sliced 1 inch thick
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced in half
3 Tbsp olive oil

1.  Mix the tomatoes and basil together and season with salt and pepper.
2.  Place bread on baking sheet and broil in oven for 2-7 minutes, turning once.
3.  Rub garlic clove over one side of toasted bread and brush with olive oil.
4.  Drain the tomato-basil mixture and spoon it over each slice of bread.

The Garden - Full Bloom

"Who loves a garden

still his Eden keeps."

-A.B. Alcott

We have been so busy weeding, picking, canning, pickling, and EATING our garden.  What a wonderful endeavor this has been for our little family.  This has really been a lot of work this summer, but the truth is, we have had more fun doing this together.  Our garden...in pictures.

Basil and Dill

My flower garden!  Zinnias, Cosmos, Dahlias, and Bells of Ireland

Tomatoes and Sunflowers!  Corn in the background, and our owl (Nigel the Night Owl)'s box up high

Melons!  Canary, Cantelope, and Watermelons

Our cucumbers are growing UP this year as we tried trellising them.  This turned out to be a brilliant idea!  We have pickling cucumbers, regular burpless cucumbers, and Armenian cucumbers.

The trellising cucumbers and moonlight sunflowers.

Tomatoes!  First few rows are Ace tomatoes, then a row of yellow Lemon Boys, a row of Stuffer Tomatoes, and a row of Heirloom Cherekee Purple.

Our view from the back porch swing.

Zucchini for sale...or free

Zucchini is a weird plant. One day it is a little plant, the next day you are drowning in some serious squash! We love to eat zucchini and yellow squash, but it gets old fast when you are trying to eat bucketfuls a day. I think that our neighbors are avoiding driving by our house because we flag them down with bags of zucchini. They are so kind that they have made zucchini bread out of some and have SENT IT BACK TO US! Yikes.

PLEASE SEND ME SOME ZUCCHINI OR SQUASH RECIPIES! Because already this week I pureed it and put it into a mac n cheese casserole, I steamed it, I stuffed it, I fried it, and Matt BBQed it. I came across this Barefoot Contessa recipe for Zucchini Cakes (think crab cakes...not chocolate cakes) and it was really good...oh yeah, so I also "caked" it. In the hopes that if I share, you will share... here it is!

Zucchini Cakes

Grate 2 large zucchini

Mix in 2 Tbsp grated red onion

2 beaten eggs

8-10 Tbsps flour (depending on how wet the zucchini is)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix well

Coat frying pan with olive oil or butter

Heaping tablespoons of batter onto griddle (like pancakes)

About 2 min on each side

Eat warm!

Harvesting Carrots!

Our Rainbow Carrots are here! Yellow, red, and orange, they all still taste like a carrot.

We ate the first of them this week. They taste even better than they look, which is good because like most things in our garden, there will soon be more carrots to eat then I will know what to do with. Any ideas?

The Garden

What we have been spending every waking moment on...in pictures.

Growing a garden is such a labor of love. We are excited to see what each new day of sunshine brings. The most amazing thing is watching the seeds slowly push the dirt away and GROW. As we walk the rows, we celebrate every new leaf. But the best part of working the garden is the HOURS of quiet togetherness that Matt and I get. This is the season of the garden when it is just waking and you can keep track of each new leaf, each little bud. Soon it will be too busy to take note of...the full bloom of production. But now the work is plentiful, the hands are again sore and calloused, and the garden (unique every year) starts to take shape. How blessed we are to have room to plant and grow!

"To forget how to dig the earth

and to tend the soil

is to forget ourselves."

-Mahatma Gandi

Lettuce is coming out of our EARS

Our winter garden was a fun experiment this year. We have never grown lettuce before and yet that is probably the one veggie that we buy weekly, year-round. So we thought...why not give it a try! It has been the most awesome thing! In fact, we have been leaving lettuce on our neighbor's doorsteps and having salads everyday for the past three weeks. These are some prolific plants! You can see the greenhouse Matt made for all of our seeds off to the side. He is so handy to have around! Our seeds are busy growing and getting ready for the rows behind them! Busy and fun days of planting ahead of us!

Reaping What You Sow

The seeds have been planted. The rows have been pulled. The summer garden has begun again!

When we ordered seeds a few months ago, we may have gone a little bit overboard.

We pulled the rows just in time for the rain. Now we just have to wait...