I wanted to share how things have been looking in our garden lately. In general how they’ve been looking is “mostly covered in weeds”, but we’ve been out there on our knees a lot, waging war against unwanted plant life, and things are looking pretty good for the moment. The “real” plants are also starting to get a little more assertive and growing up, so it’s starting to look more like a garden and less like a jungle with a cute little fence around it. You can check out how the garden looked a few months ago to get a picture of how things are progressing.
We’ve had unlimited lettuce and a good amount of peas come into our life so far; the zucchini deluge is just about to start, and as soon as I find some better swiss chard recipes (ideas, anyone?) I’ll be bringing those guys in as well. Tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers all seem to be on great track, and the herbs are looking pretty happy to be alive. As are Rachel and I.
How are your gardens looking? Anything exciting or challenging? Any new plants you’re excited about?
Today I also bought some young blueberry bushes that I’m going to try in containers (since we won’t live in this apartment forever and I’d like to take them with me). That should be a fun adventure as well.
Here’s the state of the garden, June 2012:
The first of about fifteen thousand zucchini
My darling tomatillos, making every effort to become an unstoppable gangly tree of the little green globes.
Tomatoes that we grew inside from seed, looking great!
One of several basil plants that are getting pretty awesome.
Some Japanese eggplant we got at the market.
Chard! What do I do with it??
And our unstoppable bed of unlimited lettuce.
Green beans, looking classy
The garden looks great! I like the comment about the “first of about fifteen thousand zucchini”..I can relate. Last year I couldn’t keep up with them; this year, I culled to a few plants to hopefully make keeping up a bit easier.
Chard tastes like beets. I did a quick saute (stems first to soften, then add the leaves) with a olive oil and a pinch of salt. I liked it, the wife was not a big fan (she also doesn’t like beets).
So cool!
I don’t know if I’m actually that excited about zucchini for eating, I just feel really accomplished when we can bring in large amounts of things from the garden. I’ll come up with more recipes I guess.
Zucchini isn’t so bad to eat. Here are some of the ways we like to eat it:
Grilled Zucchini Corn Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2011/07/grilled-zucchini-corn-salad-with-cilantro-lime-vinaigrette.html
Baked Zucchini Chips
http://vittlesandbits.blogspot.com/2012/03/baked-zucchini-chips.html
Mock crab cakes (zucchini cakes)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-cakes-2/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=zucchini%20cakes&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=%2fmy%2fdefault.aspx
My wife doesn’t really like zucchini either, but thinly sliced, olive oil, salt on the grill and even she will eat it. Her favorite, though, is loaded with flour and tons of sugar in a zucchini bread
That’s probably where 3/4 of my zucchini went last year.