#garden vegetables

[balkanradfem]

Back to garden

So, I have been, reasonably, neglecting my garden, due to not being home for a month, and having too much to do afterwards. The garden is overgrown, weedy, diseased, and overrun by slugs. I've decided to go and take a look! Let's see how bad it is.

So it's bad, and I wouldn't normally show you this version of the garden, but I'm planning to clean it up, and it's always more fun to see the 'before' pictures. But also I think, while it looks bad from here, if I zoom in, I might find some pretty stuff!

There's a single leek, a zuchinni that's going to be a part of my lunch now, the basil flowers might make seeds if I leave them be for long enough, and kale is just, thriving, it does not mind the rain or weeds, and the slugs find it bitter. The little red ball you see is growing on the asparagus, it contains asparagus seeds! There's another part of the garden, that belongs to the plant lady, where I planted peppers because it's closer to water, and for some reason they decided to also thrive:

I have no idea why they're doing so well right now but I will take it. I planted these earlier, maybe thats the catch.

If I was taking care of my garden properly, it would have been producing more food even now, and it might seem like I failed at gardening this year, but look at this:

That's my basement. All of those jars, pumpkins and squash, that's what the garden created this summer. I was too tired to maintain it, but I was going in every day, harvesting, cleaning, cooking, canning, and I created this entire stash from it! There's over 60 jars of food in there. The garden has done its main purpose, to give me food security over winter.

[freshtendril]

Roots

To see the earthy vegetables cleaned of soil and laid out ready for storage every fall brings such a joy for me. The work of a successful summer garden and harvest at the end of the season gives proof of a future that provides for winter health and happiness.

Gardening and the food it provides is medicine.

[greenwitchcrafts]

Today's garden harvest turned out great!

[ahedderick]

Right at Seven

Right at seven this morning I rolled out of bed and into the overalls hanging on the hook; within minutes the dogs and I were out the door into a bright but pleasantly cool morning. By 8:30 it was no longer so cool, and much brighter! I had, at that point, done enough weeding to feel accomplished. Four five-gallon buckets of weeds . . that a lot, right?! I spent my time trying to think what I would tell Harriet Tubman if I could time travel back and talk to her. I brought a small cucumber, a couple of puny onions that couldn't survive my vigorous weeding, and some purslane and young amaranth leaves inside. They got tossed in a skillet with some butter just long enough to wilt, and made a fine addition to my breakfast. I had never tried amaranth (pigweed) greens before last year, a new treat I can thank Tumblr for.

Bank visit - done; removing a difficult splinter from my son - done; helping my husband with a computer issue - done (no one in the house will use the printer but me. They look at it like it's a venomous snake instead of a contrary POS that just doesn't want to print stuff); kitchen-cleanup - done. Time to shell the rest of the peas while watching Sweet Home Alabama with my daughter. We have decided that no peas will be shelled nor beans snapped unless we have something fun to watch. So mote it be.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Nettle and Green Onion Rarebit (Vegetarian)

After a few hours spent gardening, sowing, planting, weeding and tilling, how satisfying to return in the kitchen with freshly dug go, and freshly snipped (very carefully, with gloves!) nettle. These Nettle and Green Onion Rarebit, inspired from a recipe in this month's Simple Things, make the harvest all the more delicious! Happy Thursday!

Ingredients (makes 4 slices):

a large Green Onion

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 cup semi-skimmed milk

a pinch of fleur de sel or sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper

nutmeg

Mature English Cheddar

4 small slices White Bloomer Bread

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup freshly picked nettles (wearing gloves), leaves removed from the stalks and thoroughly washed under cold water (wearing rubber gloves!)

Preheat oven to 250°C/480°F.

Finely chop Green Onion.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a medium flame. Once butter is just foaming, add chopped Green Onion, and cook, a couple of minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour. Give a good stir, and cook out, 1 minute.

Remove from the heat, and gradually stir in the milk, to prevent lumps, so the mixture is smooth and loose. Return over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Once the béchamel thickens, season with fleur de sel and black pepper. Grate in about 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Then, grate in 1/3 cup Mature English Cheddar. Give a good stir until melted. Remove from the heat.

Place White Bloomer Bread slices onto a pizza pan, and place in the middle of the hot oven. Toast, at 250°C/480°F, 4 minutes.

Melt butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the butter is just foaming, add the nettle leaves, and sauté, a couple of minutes until wilted. Transfer to a chopping board, and chop finely. Stir nettle leaves into the cheesy béchamel.

Flip White Bloomer Bread slices on their other side, and spoon cheesy nettle and green onion béchamel onto each slice. Grate a little more Cheddar on top and return to the hot oven. Bake, at 250°C/480°F, 3 to 4 minutes, until bubbly.

Sprinkle Nettle and Green Onion Rarebit with chopped green part of the Green Onion, and serve immediately, with a glass of chilled white wine, like Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

[colorsoutofearth]

Tomato rainbow

Photo by @Carmelbellafarm on Instagram

[ladyy--lazarus]

Garden fresh

Saturday, October 21, 2023

[angelusteal]

we made sushi for the first time yesterday! combinations of avocado, cucumber, and some buttercup squash that we grew from seeds

[professorfranz]

Salad Niçoise Recipe It was originally intended to use up leftovers, but this fresh-tasting French salad is worth cooking potatoes, beans, and hard-boiled eggs for! A bed of baby greens, tuna, olives, capers, tomatoes, and a hearty main dish salad complete it. 1 cup lemon vinaigrette, 1/2 onion thinly sliced, 1/3 pound fresh green beans - rinsed trimmed and blanched, 1/4 cup pitted nicoise olives, 1/2 pound new potatoes quartered, 1 can tuna, 1/2 pound mixed salad greens, 3 hard-cooked eggs quartered, 4 anchovy filets, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon capers, 3 roma tomatoes thinly sliced

[chokrihizem]

Know How To Prune Tomato Plants For A Lots Of Fruits Not Leaves.mp4

[freshtendril]

My first crop of tomatoes this summer and my first ever crop of huitlacoche! 🌽 🍄

Looks are deceiving but makes some mean eats.

[nando161mando]

[saraichinwag]

Do Cucumbers Grow Underground?

[ahedderick]

Tomatoooo-oooh-no

Well, it's back to the ol' grind this morning

but with italian seasoning mix instead of the chili seasonings pictured here. I'm missing my "crew" and canning by myself. Thankfully the day isn't as hot as the past week was. Still sweating, but not dissolving like a witch in Oz.

I have 6.5 quarts of puree and chopped veg and seasonings simmering away in a Large pot. yay, me.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Poireaux-Vinaigrette (Leeks with Vinaigrette) (Vegan)

A simple dish, staple of the old-fashioned French Bistro, Poireaux Vinaigrette are nonetheless a celebration of Spring, where (just dug out) fresh produce takes center stage, enhanced by a delightfully piquant dressing! Bon appétit!

Ingredients (serves 2)

4 large Garden Leeks

4 tablespoons Vinaigrette Dressing 

Thoroughly rinse Garden Leeks under cold water, removing any dirt.

Cut the white part of the Leeks into thick chunks, and arrange them upright in a steaming basket.

Thinly slice the green part of the Leeks, and spoon in another steaming basket.

Fit steaming baskets (the white part of the Leeks underneath, green part on top) over a large pot of boiling water. Cover with the lid, and steam, 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Arrange cooked white part of the Leeks chunks upright onto both serving plates. Scatter steamed green part of the Leeks liberally on top.

Drizzle generously with Vinaigrette Dressing.

Serve Poireaux Vinaigrette immediately.