Author Topic: From the garden  (Read 430 times)

betty

From the garden
« on: September 11, 2018, 10:27:28 pm »
Vegetable and fruit gardeners: what did you grow this year and more importantly, what was the favorite thing you cooked using your garden fresh produce?

So far, I've had lots of zucchini. My favorite zucchini dishes have been:
Zucchini fritters (Drain and squeeze out as much liquid from the shredded zucchini as you can)
Zucchini lasagna
Spiced zucchini bread (with lots of cinnamon)
Zucchini brownies were surprisingly good, too.

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Writer of Wrongs

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2018, 02:11:21 pm »
DH grew squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. We had oodles of squash and cucumbers, and we're still getting peppers - four varieties, yum! My favorite thing, though was the little bit of tomato sauce I cooked down from the disappointing crop of tomatoes. It's zesty and delicious, without the ketchup-y sweetness of commercial sauce.

Oh, and I have herbs. Basil is probably my favorite of this year … unless it's the chocolate mint sugar. (Pack leaves of chocolate mint in a container of sugar. Shake occasionally to keep the sugar from clumping. The sugar draws the flavor from the mint leaves. Good in hot tea or sprinkled as a garnish.)
Someday, I hope to get paid to kill people. For now, I just do it for fun.

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2018, 07:25:13 am »
We grew in pots again this year.  The cherry tomatoes did pretty well but we never seem to have the overabundance that others do.  The large tomatoes - I forget what type, maybe big boy - didn't do so well.  They grew well and ripened early but the taste just wasn't as strong as home grown tomatoes should be.  The bell peppers produced only a few small pepper that again were not as flavorful as they should have been.  I think we got one or two hot pepper, which I see as a bonus because they were planted in small pots and not given much care.

I think filling the pots with loam instead of proper potting soil may have been a factor.  We'll have to try something different next year.

betty

Re: From the garden
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2018, 11:08:16 am »
Chocolate mint sounds amazing! I might have to try that (in a big pot, since I assume it spreads like crazy) next year.

We've moved on from zucchini into raspberries. I have no problem eating a big bowl of those a day, though, so they rarely make it into recipes.

We also have a ton of jalapenos. Some get added to regular dishes (pasta alfredo with jalapeno is a fave) but mostly my husband roasts them on the grill, then freezes to have when he makes pork green chili.

Tomatoes are starting to come in. We've gotten some heirloom tomatoes, which we just eat raw with a sprinkle of salt. Big boys are all still green. We are going out of town just when they will probably be ripening so I'm hoping some survive while we are gone so I can try my hand at tomato sauce or salsa (with some of those jalapenos).

Aleko

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2018, 03:44:51 am »
I'm watching my 18th-century grape vine like a hawk, so that I can pick my grapes five minutes before the birds and rey squirrels move in and gobble the lot.

(NB that my vine itself is only 8 years old, but it is a cutting of the Great Vine at Hampton Court, planted in 1768 for George III. So the grapes are genuinely the exact same kind and flavour that he would have eaten. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/explore/the-great-vine/#gs.kj0XSi8. )

The Hampton Court grapes are normally ripe in September, but that vine is in a glasshouse; mine is out of doors in a windy garden, so it routinely ripens about a month later.

jpcher

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2018, 03:43:31 pm »
^ Cool! ;D
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WorkingMum

Re: From the garden
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2018, 05:35:49 am »
My DD and I have decided we want a "witchy" garden. We have recently planted seeds for:
* Arnica
* Henbane
* Dill
* Rosemary
* Rue
* Angelica
* Marjoram
* Peppermint
* Bergamot

We halve also purchased another 20 different seeds to plant this week!We are getting very excited about gardening!
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Chez Miriam

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2018, 04:57:47 am »
We did really well with mini cucumbers [shorter than normal], and self-seeded rocket [wild?], and some of the parsley was fantastic.  Four cut-and-come-again lettuces kept us going most of the summer, so I will be buying more of those next year.

The cabbage white butterflies thought every brassica I sowed was a buffet just for them - my radish/mustard plants were skeletons.

I don't have a single pumpkin. :'(
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."  - Julian of Norwich

peony

Re: From the garden
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2018, 10:40:26 am »
All my growing has to be done inside by the north window of my apartment with the help of grow lights, so I have to be very creative in getting things to grow. This year I had two cherry tomato plants which yielded 3 c. of cherry tomatoes. not bad. I also had a pot of green onions and a celery plant. Next year I'm planning to add a jalapeno pepper plant and make a trial of one pea plant to see if it's possible to grow peas indoors. Outside I've always found peas to be work-intensive and not worth the space, but inside maybe I can make it work. My indoor zucchini was an utter failure. Lovely blooms but no fruits at all.  ???

gramma dishes

Re: From the garden
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2018, 02:12:58 pm »
All my growing has to be done inside by the north window of my apartment with the help of grow lights, so I have to be very creative in getting things to grow. This year I had two cherry tomato plants which yielded 3 c. of cherry tomatoes. not bad. I also had a pot of green onions and a celery plant. Next year I'm planning to add a jalapeno pepper plant and make a trial of one pea plant to see if it's possible to grow peas indoors. Outside I've always found peas to be work-intensive and not worth the space, but inside maybe I can make it work. My indoor zucchini was an utter failure. Lovely blooms but no fruits at all.  ???

No bees or other insects to pollinate the flowers.  Without pollination, no fruit.

peony

Re: From the garden
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2018, 08:41:50 am »
I pollinated them.

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Re: From the garden
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2018, 12:09:38 pm »
I planted up 3 weeks before I was notified that I was finally getting a hysterectomy. Needless to say, my. Garden was tended as well as it should have been. What did well...I had 8 types of heritage tomatoes that thrived with the hot UK summer, yellow and green courgettes/zucchini, my herbs did well eventually - 2 types of parsley, coriander, Thai basil, three thymes, my lettuce failed due to slug decimation after heavy rain mid-June, lots of edible flowers - borage, nasturtiums and calendula.

I also have a mint addiction. To the extent I have intentionally planted it around raised beds and not contained. We had: Noramal min, spearmint, Moroccan mint; and apple-, chocolate-, pineapple-, ginger-, and strawberry-mints. Like I said. Hi, my names AF and I have an obsession with mint.

We just got back from Greece, and I loved how they interplanted everything in beds and pots. So, next year, my from borders are going to be mixtures of flowers, herbs and elephant garlic.
Making my way through life one bottle of wine (and wheel of cheese) at a time.

peony

Re: From the garden
« Reply #12 on: November 17, 2018, 10:21:30 pm »
Is elephant garlic that type that grows very tall?