What a harvest ! Looks great as always. The Tatsoi is up you sent me- thanks again.
And have a Great Holiday as well- I am sure you will eat well.

Your plants look wonderful as always. And your harvest even better. You do a great job with the veggies. :o)

Silvia, just curious...how much land do you have? I only have a 1/3 acre and don't seem to have enough. My little raised garden is only 8' x 4'. I am going to add 2 more of the same size in the spring. How much can I grow in these? It looks like you must have at least one acre.

Hi Steve

Yes, that is the same tatsoi that I sent you, the greens on the bottom right. They are great in a salad with a vinaigrette dressing, if you like blue cheese you can use that.

I also use it to make a fritatta, they are very good!

I will be looking forward to see the pictures of your future successful garden.

Hi Kathy

Thank you. You have a green thumb with your flowers, you are an expert!

I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner soon, all the menu is different every year. I will be using the sweet potatoes but they will be baked whole with pecans and brown sugar.

Shar

I have 6 beds in total. My place is very small, I have to ask somebody the acreage. It is really something I don't pay attention.

The key here is that all the spaces have to be used intensively, this way I have always something growing.

At the end it is not about how much space do you have, but how do you use it.

You also have to make a choice between ornamental plants, fruits or veggies. I think my choice is made. While I really appreciate beautiful plants, most of my small backyard is veggies and fruit trees.

And I still have the front yard that little by little I will be adding some nice plants and take out the ones that came with the house.

Silvia

NICE!!!!
How's the Passie Doing?
NC

Forget the garden, I'll jump right to the sweet tater pie and lasagna LOL, don't be surprised when I drop in for dinner!!

bernie

Hi NC

All my passies are doing well, getting ready for winter. How is your brother? Did he return from the trip?

Hi Bernie

You have an open invitation for dinner. Your choice of menu and we can always include veggies from the garden.
I will make mojitos when you come, I have the mint, the red limes and rum from Jamaica.:o)

Silvia

Silvia, your garden looks so beautiful, as always. Your harvests so yummy, as always. Please keep showing us your plants and creations! Silvia, what is the green veggie on the top left of the front bed? The taller one with the yellow flowers. Also, what is the dark green leafy veggie you chopped finely in the salad and what is the tomato and the pepper?

Hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I can only imagine what goodies are in store for your family! Enjoy,

Anna

Hi, Silvia,

Now I really missed my tiny FL garden. The green seeds you sent germinated before we left LOL. I would like to try Tatsoi if you have some seeds to spare :o). Thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Freya

Hi Ana

Thank you. The vegetable with the yellow flowers is an Oriental green in the cabbage/broccoli family. The name is Choy Sum golden and has a mild flavor, can be steamed or stir fry. You eat the flowers too.

Because we were making the lasagna and the pie (both rich) we made a very simple salad of 2 lettuces from the garden. One is very hardy and type of leaf lettuce from South America, the other very tender almost like butter Italian Lollo Rosa. The pepper is from seeds of Ancient Sweets. I get them them at BJ's and save the seeds, they are very sweet. I put 2 different tomatoes one orange Purple Smudge and one pale yellow Livingston Golden Queen.

The dressing was made with tarragon vinegar, olive oil and herbs from the garden, parsley and dill. I always use the combination of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or citrus.

Ana, right along your many virtues, one that I have been noticing lately is that you are a great details specialist!

Hi Freya

I will make a sampler of greens for you and I am sure you will like them. I have tatsoi brothers and sisters.lol.
Also from time to time, you should enlighten us with your cooking.
Remember the calamondin tree? I planted in the ground. I made a plate of citrus to be sampled for the guests the other night.
It was funny to see them making faces after eating the red limes and calamondin, they like them!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, wonderful friends. I am thankful that I got to know you.

Silvia

Hi Silvia,

Your garden is such a delight to look at! Besides being edibles they make great ornamentals too! I too was wondering what the yellow flowering plant was. Where did you buy the seeds for your Choy sum? I would like to give that one a try. I particularly like mild flavored greens. I recently harvested some of the turnip greens I have growing and was surprised to find out that it tasted like spinach only a little chewier.

I absolutely love the cranberry salad dressing recipe you gave me last year. I keep making it but my hubby, not a fruit lover, doesn't really care for it. I often make him a different vinaigrette. I will make him this recipe you just gave us. Sounds tasty.

Someone told me about some very expensive peppers that he bought at warehouse club and saved the seeds to grow next year. I wonder if the Ancient Sweets peppers from BJs are what he was referring to?

Someone asked how large your yard is. I would guess that you have a quarter-acre lot. You certainly do very well with what you have.

Christine

Hi Christine

This season I am only doing mild flavor greens that when very young can be put in a salad and later can be stir fry or steamed. Choy sum is one of the collection that I am planning, I got it from Gourmet Seeds but any other seed company that carry Oriental veggies would have that like Evergreen, Kitawaza and others.

As I am trying them I will be posting the results, I just find it that they are more resistant to bugs and disease and in the kitchen they are more versatile.

When given to guests man and women, I don't tell them what it is. Only after they start praising and asking for recipes that I do. This way they don't have preconceived ideas.

Is like when I made the lasagna 2 times this season, I did not tell Willy or the others what is in it. After they said this is the best lasagna! Then I said that it has zucchini and pumpkin.lol Of course a good quality hot sausage too. I am including the recipe, you will probably like it and the family too.

The Ancient sweet peppers, they called them mysteriously sweet, I think are the best that you can get in any market now, they sell a bag of about 2 pounds for $6, and you can save seeds and plant them. I do the same with the very small peppers from Publix, they also grow well in the garden. And you can not get seed fresher than that.

About the yard I ask Willy how big he thinks it is while we were in the car, he said maybe 1/3 acre and then he start counting the footage of the 6 beds. And I said that is okay you are on vacation, you don't have to figure it out.:o)

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: pumpkin lasagna

Silvia, the recipe just says spices. What spices do you use? It sounds really yummy with all that garlic, cheese and sausage.

Hi Shar

I was thinking about the space in my yard, and I thought I was fortunate enough that the backyard goes to the Orange Blossom Trail with all the trees and wildlife, and the best part is that I don't have to take care of. :o)

It is a good thing to have a small backyard because it is easy for me to take care of it by myself, if I had a bigger yard(which I don't want), I will have to hire a maid, a gardener, etc. lol

About the lasagna, I encourage you to make it. It is really good!
If you get a good hot Italian sausage, it has a lot of spices already, but you can add if you want to a little bit of Italian spice blend.

Willy (the lasagna connoisseur)adds hot pepper flakes and garlic powder to his after the lasagna is served. All the tasters that we had at the house like it.

Silvia

Silvia first let me wish you and your family a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving. From what I see you will be eating very healthy.Lol
When I see some of these posts from you and others I am left speechless and I'm hard to shut up.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Sal

All I can say is, yummy! You all are making me hungry...lol. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hi Sal

Thank you very much for your nice compliments and good wishes.
I also wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.

I will make an Italian themed party soon, my daughter studied in Italy while she was at Cornell, she speaks Italian and we have Italian friends coming for get togethers. I love music from Eros Ramazotti , Laura Pausini nd Andrea Bocelli. I hope I spelled it right. And I also remember one of my favorite songs from long time ago the Cuore E Zingaro or something like that. And I do miss a good Italian deli and a good Parmigiano Regiano! I also like Mortadella with pistachios, peruginas, and panetone. I am having panetone for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Shar, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Silvia

Hi, Silvia,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks in advance for the greens' sampler. We love greens....cook or uncook. Thank you for the visit to your picture perfect garden! We appreciate Willy, Cheryl and your hospitality. The visit gave us ideas on how to garden and the lessons we learned will be with us forever. The bananas you gave us are loved by Art. I'll post pictures when we go back.

Sure, I can post some of my tested recipe, not much, but "tested" and "easy".

It is cold in NOVA, but warm with love from family..See you soon.

Regards to all.

Freya

Hi Freya

Thank you very much for the recipes, I made the first today that I went to the Oriental market to get the ingredients.

I found vegetable seeds there again and I am going to try a long picklying cucumber that they had, they described as the best for fresh eating and tolerant to heat. I will try it in Spring, also got Chinese squash, Chinese eggplant and a Japanese cherry tomato.

We love the first recipe that we tried!! And made with Choy Sum golden, to me it tasted better than any broccoli or green that I ever had. I will make the same recipe with tatsoi or the other greens. It was easy, fast and delicious!

Choy Sum golden, getting washed

Finish dish, I served with the best heirloom Japanese sticky rice, some sausage, chicken tenders and sweet peppers with red onions.

Silvia

You are an inspiration Sylvia as I carefully tend my little tomato plants, several from you. I'm squishing in radishes and carrots in between the tomatoes because I read they grow well together, and the dear boyfriend who digs so many holes for me loves radishes.
And the arugula is coming up. My happiest, easiest green. Have you tried it?
Happy harvesting
Susannah

Hi Susannah

Try to grow a different variety of radish for the dear boyfriend, there is some interesting with 2 colors like watermelons, rose or french breakfast. Then use the whole plant. Cook it for a minute or two with their own water left from washing, you can chop the leaves coarse. Add a little bit of butter, salt and pepper.

It is is perfect to use tomatoes, radish and carrots together. I have runner beans, carrots and radish combo.

And I like all the greens from my garden this time of year, I love your arugula in salads!

Are you planting any of the Asian greens? We really have to grow more of this, they are not only easy to grow but they are delicious and nutritious.

Here are my radish going to be prepared like I told you.

Happy gardening season for you Susannah and all the friends that are doing veggies now!

Silvia

Hi, Silvia,

You are welcome! I'm glad you like the recipe for stir fried asian greens. What I do is when I come home from the asian market, I wash the greens, cut them up and dry with paper towels. Place in plastic bags, refrigerate ( it stays fresh for 2-3 days). The greens are ready when I need it.

I miss my "tiny Florida" garden. When we go back, the seeds you sent will be in the ground for some early spring greens. Before we left for NOVA, a lady in Brooksville, gave me three egyptian onion bulbs. I will plant them as soon as we get back and hopefully I can germinate those and will share some with you :o)

Thank you in advance for the seeds....

Freya