Congrats on the harvest. Being in the mid-Atlantic, my production isn't in full swing quite yet. We have eaten a bunch of snap beans, lettuce and cukes that came from the garden. It is good when you've grown the food, isn't it?

Had yellow squash and sweet onions tonight. Picked a bunch of Curly Kale for tomorrow. Some little worm was eating a green Black Krim tomato for dinner, until I smashed him!

"It tastes SO good when you've grown it yourself!"

You ain't just a kiddin'.

Actually, the yellow squash I just ate was give to me by a gardener friend. But it was just as good as if I had grown it myself. Lots of good things are ready now, or nearly ready.

Did you grow the pork chops? (Just kidding. I didn't grow my burger either.)

Jim

We had friends over for their Xmas present (dinner and a play)
We had Leg of lamb (home grown by someone else)
Green beans with toasted almonds
Roasted baby potatoes
The herbs and GBs were home grown.
Nancy

Absolutely FABULOUS eggplant parmagiana with my fresh basil, oregano, and italian parsley thrown in there, a side of basmati rice, and a pile of fresh steamed green beans with thyme butter. And chilled cucumbers, of course!

Jimster

LOL! Nope. Didn't grow the bread either.

I've been saving my yellow crooknecked squash by freezing it, but boy, is it good fresh -- we like it sliced the long way and floured and sauteed, all crunchy outside and tender and buttery-tasting inside. Or cut up raw in salads. Or in casseroles. Or replacing eggplant in moussaka. I must have nearly enough frozen to last one meal a week all year now.

Still waiting for the okra to rev up production, too!

Green beans, ham and potatoes tomorrow night. (only the green beans are from the garden,tho)

Green beans, potatoes, and corn are staples for the next couple months. Throw in some tomatoes, zucchini, and cantaloupe with side fixings of berries and watermelon.
Also available are cabbage, carrots, and onions

I have been trying to have a full meal from the garden only. We had tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, onion, purple hull peas with hot sauce, bell pepper, and new potatoes. Too hot for lettuce here now. So only the meat, bread and Tea are outsiders. Also have English Peas, Green Beans, Cream Peas, and Blackberries in the freezer. For desert we have a few watermelons on the vine bout ready. Done good this year.....or so says the in-laws......DT

Leftovers :(

Shot

Eggplant Parmesan, tomato & bell pepper salad, cold sliced steak from the night before.

Yes, its' wonderful eating from your own garden. On the news this morning, "We can expect groceries to rise another 5% this year." So when I commented to a friend that I'd been working in the garden and freezing and canning, she said, "That's the trouble with having a garden. Too much work. I'm glad I don't garden." I was just about to offer her some fresh, home-grown produce but decided to freeze and can it instead. Made me mad! This is not time wasted in view of the good taste and savings and good exercise for this 65-year old body.

Supper last night was Peas(cream 40's), creamed corn, tenderized deer steak(I helped fatten off last year with my garden), corn bread, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and onion soaked in a little vinegar, water and black pepper, iced tea. All from the garden. Pretty good eatin'!!

We had Reds fried in butter, steamed green beans, and polish sausage in sauerkraut.

Hey Aulani,

Tell her it's your free gym club membership that pays you with delicious garden produce! When she gets real quiet, you'll know she's thinking about the 90 bucks a month she shells out for her gym membership that gives her squat back!

I have a neighbor that comes over and chats only after I get done picking or digging or whatever. Never stops by when I'm hoeing or planting. She used to get a couple potatoes or handful of green beans until I figured this out. Now she doesn't stop by at all.

Sauteed Sunray squash, Fortex green beans, Cosner tomato, and chicken. Note how the veggies got top billing. :-)

Randy

Yo Farmerdill, I like your free gym club membership example. How right you are. Your Polish sausage and sauerkraut supper gives me an idea for tonight. Thanks! :)

BTW everyone, I've been using those microwave steamer bags for some of my veggies. They work real well.

Broccoli (it's coming like mad right now), baked potatoes with fresh dill (and parsley/garlic pesto maybe if I have time), and grilled chicken breast with some sort of fresh garden herb rub that I'll likely make up on the spot tonight. :) Oh, and I made juice from some rhubarb and the first picking of nanking cherries this morning. Might try to make a drink of some sort with that, too.

Vine ripened tomato and cucumber salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Home made rosemary focaccia sliced and brushed with basil pesto, served with marinated roasted eggplant, vine ripened bell pepper, sweet onions, zucchini. All topped with a little parmesan cheese.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, eggplant, bell pepper and zucchini are from our garden.

Fresh herbs and vegetables make the effort all worthwhile...

Salt marsh lamb chops and rosemary, garlicky runner beans, mixed lettuce salad, radishes. Rice pudding with black currant compote. Home grown tomatoes are at least a month away.(The lamb and the rice were NOT grown by me!)

Pepper steak tonight. I tossed in a couple jalapenos in with the bell peppers. Unfortunately since this is my first year with a garden, the onions weren't mine.

Marinated Steaks.
Scallop squash, marinated in a bit of oil, garlic, and black and red pepper.

Grilled them up. It's not summer until something from my garden goes on the grill.

Harvested my first 2 ripe Tomatos, but didn't include them in the meal (long sad story).

Have to empty out the frozen tomatoes from LAST year to make room for this year, so I made chili with chicken.
After reading some of these things I think I'll pop out and make some pesto for tomorrow! Nancy

Grilled chicken, zucchini and onion slices. Salad made from my garden and flat bread "baked" on the grill topped with my cherry-rhubarb jam for desert.

Last night was my first experience eating something I had grown. I picked string beans for myself and ate them w/ a bit of butter and salt. Yum!! I was so proud of myself. It's amazing what joy a garden brings. I had no idea I had such a love for it until I began gardening this year.

Congrats, oliviainnyc! It's so satisfying, isn't it? :)

Tasty Brown bunch green beans, fried yellow squash, fresh white corn(from local market), sliced better boy tomato, cucumbers and fresh onion, jalopeno pepper corn bread and sweet ice tea to wash it down with apple cobbler for dessert. Supper of the south :)
It's great to be able to pick all but the corn from your own garden, nothing better!

Hi Macky! Yes, it's satisfying and wondrous all at the same time. I know humans have been gardening for millenia. Nevertheless, there is something miraculous about putting seeds in dirt and having vegetables grow from them. Spending time in my garden is my favorite time of day now!

Our dinner last night was all home grown except for the smoked turkey sausage. We had green beans with new potatoes, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers dressed with oil and vinegar and topped it all off with fresh peach cobbler! Was chatting online with youngest daughter later and told her the awful grub here was getting out of hand and she had a good laugh. We are swamped with tomatoes and peaches right now, but it all tastes great in the middle of winter too. I agree the miracle of gardening is awesome!

Today's dinner was some big beefsteak tomatoes with tuna salad, green beans, cucumbers, the first canteloupe of the season and the first watermelon of the season....

The tuna was the only part not out of the garden. Anyone know how to grow tuna?

{{gwi:93489}}

Yesterday was a big pot of chili. Tomatoes, peppers and chilis were from the garden.

I love this time of year.

Appetizer of raw carrots, cukes, and yellow cherry tomatoes with ranch for dipping, Pasta with pesto I made, and zucchini with a teeny bit of maple syrup and soy. All except the pasta and ranch from the garden!

Wow I just love talking about fresh garden veggies. I couldn't help my-self just now and put my bean harvest of the day in a bowl cut up some of the onion i just picked... put a bunch of butter and salt and pepper on it all... heated it up in the mic... and enjoyed... YUM!! Next time i'm gonna try to put some jalepeno(out of the garden!) with it. Thanks for all the info every-one... couldn't have done it with out everyones help. HAPPY GARDENING!

Karl

Hearing about all your great dinners got me thinking about using whatever food I could that was somehow connected to me.

Last night we had roasted chicken....the first one I've ever eaten that I knew while it was alive. Since it was part of a flock of 50 I didn't know it well and others took care of the birds and processed them. But that is close for me :) We added a lettuce salad heaped with cucumbers and tomatoes, beets and beet greens, and baby carrots. Yum!

Tonight we had BBQ pork chops from a pig raised as a 4H project by a coworker's child. We heard some stories about that pig! A few people even left work for awhile one day to help round up the hogs after they escaped from their pen. We had the first potatoes of the year sprinkled with fresh chives, a steamed zuchinni/sweet onion/yellow pepper mixture topped with cheese (didn't have a connection with that), fresh wax beans, cucumbers, and sliced heirloom tomatoes. Also, all the blackberries I could reach without putting on long sleeves and long pants :)

I am going to try to include several homegrown fruits or veggies in every meal for as long as possible. All of you have inspired me to make better use of what I grow. But I'll probably alway like growing it better than cooking it!

"Anyone know how to grow tuna?"

First, get a large aquarium...

Jim

This time of year is slow for my garden. In another post I said we had only had one good rain this year. That was about a 20 minute rain. Today, I had planned to grill some steaks but we had a WONDERFUL rain, close to 4 hours!

Anyway, all I have in the garden right now are hot peppers and herbs and cucumbers. So, instead of grilling, I marinated the steaks in liquid smoke, soy sauce, olive oil, rosemary from the garden and garlic - seared on top of the stove and finished in the oven. I also made potato flat bread from left over mashed potatoes. We dipped it in a basil and garlic oil at the table (like Italian restaurants) - basil from the garden. Had a green salad to go with. Only cucumber from the garden in that one.

Still, I feel like we were blessed with fruit of the earth. Can't wait for the fall crop. I have a tiny garden, btw.