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grrlgeek
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2014 What did you eat from your garden today?

The new "Similar Posts" feature bubbled up a topic from 2010 that I thought was super neat. https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... =4&t=26296 . I thought I'd create one for 2014.

I love snacking from my garden while I'm wandering around or going out to pick whatever is ready today, then figuring out something to make out of it. Let's hear what your garden brought to the table today. I am always looking for new and exciting ways to play with food!

Today I had a bowl of basmati rice (not from the garden) with peas (shelled and immature pods) and steamed broccoli shoots. On the side, a spinach salad with lentil sprouts and wild arugula.

I pulled the last of my spinach today after numerous harvests over the last 6 weeks. I am going to try making spanakopita over the weekend. I grew 4 varieties and was going to wait to see which one bolted last, but it's starting to get munched so I decided to halt the trial. For those in warm climates who are curious, I had amazing success with Matador and Renegade. Still didn't bolt and temps have been 85+, and up to 97, for the last couple weeks. The Bloomsdale Longstanding, was not so longstanding. Gallilee bolted before I took a single leaf. Too bad, the leaves were a cool shape. I will try it again in the dead of winter.

While doing the daily bug check, I got to eat 1.5 ripe raspberries that the birds must have missed. I only have a couple of raspberry plants, so we usually only get 2 nights of milkshakes and a few bowls of cereal out of the harvest. And boy, do we look forward to those treats. This year, along with my cherries, I am lucky to get a whole berry left for my enjoyment. :x

What bounty did your garden bring today?

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jal_ut
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Asparagus.

BTW off topic: I am really not liking the new format. Sorry.

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applestar
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James, so sorry you are not liking the format. Is it because everything is different? Post your comments about the new format here:


^^^
Don't Use Does Not Work >> use this link instead

webmaster wrote:Hi,
Welcome to the feedback forum! :)

I'm looking forward to any bugs or suggestions you may have. I hope that there are only minor changes to be made, like changing colors here and there.

Thanks in advance for your time and suggestions!

Roger
Now, what did I have from the garden yesterday....

I had to make room for another tomato plant so I uprooted some onions and garlic chives. They went in my pasta sauce to make the store bought jarred sauce more interesting.

I spied something magenta red at the base of the peas -- when I looked closer, I found weeds so I was taking care of that and realized that the flash of color was a radish. It never made it into the kitchen. :D

I didn't eat them, but I picked first two strawberries yesterday. Left them washed and ready for the kids. There would have been two each instead of just one each, but the other two ripe berries had been discovered by the birds already -- either robins or catbirds. (The catbirds visit the blueberries every day to see if they are ripe -- long way to go yet, but they even sample tiny green berries. :x )

I think I'll pick a bowl of mixed salad today. Lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach all looked ready, violets are blooming, I might raid some of the pea shoots and blossoms, and I need to thin the onions. I could add some asparagus... 8)
Last edited by webmaster on Wed Apr 05, 2017 5:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Wrong link was posted. Added a working link.

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rainbowgardener
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The link didn't work for me either, says not available. But this thread "notice anything different" https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 33&t=58053 is where people have been giving feedback.

Haven't eaten anything from the garden today, but what my garden is producing is tons of spinach (extended cool weather and lots of rain means the spinach is going crazy, with gigantic leaves), some chard, lots of celery (but the stalks are very small, mostly leaves), green onions and chives, parsely, lots of herbs, a little lettuce, a little kale, lots of herbs. Peas are almost ready, broccoli is gigantic and just starting to make heads. Cabbage got eaten by the groundHog :( .

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applestar
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Oops sorry about that. Being a mod, I can't tell when something is not available to everyone.
Please go ahead and comment in the thread rainbowgardener indicated.

I'll find out about the beekeeping forum.

I haven't collected my salad yet, but. I did dig up a stray garlic (not bulbed yet -- looks like a green onion), so extra Egyptian walking onions that are looking fantastic right now and need to be harvested (I'm just going to chop them up and freeze them for now,but I might use them in a "leek pie" recipe), some Mitsuba that was growing under the trellis where I wanted to sow pre-germinated scarlet runner beans, and weede/harvested some jewel weed and plantain, though they are not for eating but for making but bite and poison ivy tincture.

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Meatburner
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Picked about a half dozen ripe strawberries for breakfast. What a great way to start the day!

pfong001
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Lettuce! Lettuce! Lettuce!

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grrlgeek
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Very long day. Got home 5 hours later than normal after taking my parents to doc appts. Settling down to enjoy microwaved leftovers of the Rumbledethumps pie that I made on Monday with my very own turnips, lacinato kale, early garlic and onions, and the dwindling supply of fresh chervil. Yummy!

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skiingjeff
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Asparagus - Love it!!!

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grrlgeek
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2 beautiful artichokes, coming out of the steamer in 5 minutes!

While walking around in the garden, I nibbled on a few stray peas that I missed the other day. They're still trying to produce, but the plants are looking pretty worked, and are slated to become mulch this weekend. Fun while it lasted!

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feldon30
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Just a couple of snow peas. They were so sweet!

Everything is going nuts so I should be going from famine to feast very soon. I've got 24 ft of Dragon Tongue beans going. I'm going to be canning my butt off.

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applestar
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Hm. Yours is the third post I've come across extolling Dragon Tongue beans. Last year growing them for the first time, I sowed them in morning shade location thinking this is a bush bean variety, and they didn't do too well and what they did produce, the groundHOG got to them so I didn't get much and wasn't impressed.

I guess I have to grow them now. 8)

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feldon30
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I've gotta have my Dragon Tongues. ;)

I was surprised to see a few seed packets of it at HD on the Burpee rack. Would save you the shipping on ordering online. Course, I bought 1/2 lb of seed. :shock:

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PaulF
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Only thing ready here right now are radishes.

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grrlgeek
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What a beautiful basket of goodies you have there, feldon! And an okra too! My okra plants have only barely poked through to the surface this week. I am green with envy. Enjoy!

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Gary350
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I have 11 squash, more bell peppers than I can count and about 15 tomatoes that SUCK. These @#$% celebrity tomato's have almost as much flavor as cardboard I am very seriously considering pulling the plants up. The bell peppers make a GREAT omelet every morning for breakfast.

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lakngulf
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We had fried squash for dinner tonight. Good! I shred it like hash browns, salt, pepper, corn meal and fry in light oil. We like to let it crisp real good on first side before flipping.

Gary350, what variety of tomato works well in your soil? I have grown Celebrity (along with Better Boy, Brandywine, etc) for years. The Celebrity's have always been good, and I like it that a lot get ripe at the same time.

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feldon30
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grrlgeek wrote:What a beautiful basket of goodies you have there, feldon! And an okra too! My okra plants have only barely poked through to the surface this week. I am green with envy. Enjoy!
Just FYI, that picture was taken in my Houston garden a few years back and thus much further advanced in the season! Where I am now (Rock Hill), I've got but a few snow peas to eat and everything else is weeks away from giving me a harvest.

I personally find Celebrity to be indistinguishable from grocery store tomatoes. But then again people call me a tomato snob. ;) I grew a few plants of Celebrity my first year and I ended up giving most of them away. Frankly, I almost threw in the towel on tomatoes until I went to a farmer's market and tasted a Cherokee Purple and a Druzba. After the paramedics revived me, I started reading everything I could about heirloom tomatoes and the love affair began.

This is my 5th year gardening (my first in South Carolina) and I am growing a dozen tried-and-true heirlooms and plus another half-dozen favorite hybrids (some of them are pretty amazing), all told 29 plants and all selected for flavor and those which have done well for me in past years. Some favorites include Cherokee Purple, Earl's Faux, Tony's Italian, Big Beef, Sungold, Black Cherry, etc.

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Lindsaylew82
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Still just asparagus, but I have lots of basil and cilantro that are just waiting on me to get over the excitement and cooking laziness that payday brings.

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applestar
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I made an omelet with freshly harvested garlic greens, Egyptian green onions, garlic chives, spinach and Swiss chard from the garden, fully ripened hot lemon and green jalapeño from the indoor overwintered peppers that are blooming and setting fruits, dried tomatoes from last years harvest and dried Mexican Mint Marigold/Texas tarragon from overwintered harvest.

Then instead of folding it, wrapped it around cooked brown rice for Japanese style "om(elette)- rice". Yum! :D

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feldon30
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Looks like the discussion between me and lakngulf about tomato varieties has been wisely split off into its own thread here: Tomato varieties -- have you grown these?

Susan W
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Not all from my garden, but got some small new (red) potatoes Saturday from fellow vendor. Yesterday boiled, skins on, for potato salad,. Made dressing with mayo, lemon juice and loaded up with herbs. I had dill, tarragon and chives. I also had what I could salvage from the broccoli that got over run with the caterpillars (blue with stripes that get IN the crown, not the green ones on the leaves).

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Lonesomedave
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gonna have a mess of green beans, sauteed in butter and olive oil, and also a bunch of chinese pea greens

for those not familiar with chinese pea greens, I got them from burpees...you cut off the greens as they grow and stir fry them...they are incredibly good...I first was exposed to them on a trip to taiwan with my (chinese) wife...I couldn't believe how tender and delicious

when I saw them on burpees website, I ordered a box of seeds and they have not disappointed...easy to grow and prolific...I recommend them to all here

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lakngulf
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Lonesomedave wrote:for those not familiar with chinese pea greens, I got them from burpees...you cut off the greens as they grow and stir fry them...they are incredibly good...I first was exposed to them on a trip to taiwan with my (chinese) wife...I couldn't believe how tender and delicious
I may have to give them a try. When I was in graduate school at UNC Chapel Hill we lived in married student apartments. I petitioned the housing folks to let me grow some tomatoes in a spot behind the building, very small about 4 x 6. Well, our neighbors Hai Ping and DuhSen wanted to garden as well. So we tilled up a small section, they took half, we took half. Was interesting.

I need to see if my x-wife has a picture of the gardens. Mine was tall - tomatoes, pepper, etc and theirs was short with all the delicious greens, beans, peas and sprouts that are so good.

PaulF
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Besides radishes, today I ate a homemade strawberry/rhubarb pie. It was....and I mean was...delicious.

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Lindsaylew82
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An asparagus (prolly the last time I'll harvest ) Omelette topped with a mixture of store bought diced compari tomatoes, minced garlic, olive oil and basil from my garden. Tonight we'll finish off that tomato mixture with some grilled bread and fresh mozzarella.

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Lonesomedave
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today...green beans, cooked slow with country ham scraps...the other day, I had em stir fried, today, old school

BTW...my first better bush tomato that was gonna be on the menu later this week, has been attacked by birds...I may have to net all my plants, but I have heard that birds that do this are not hungry...they are thirsty, and if you leave fresh pans of water strategically in you garden, they will leave your tomatoes alone...any truth to this?

or any thoughts?

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ps-edit- also found, while making my rounds, that we have several zucchini about three-five inches long...so, I collected a bunch of them and we are also gonna have stir fried zucchini tonight

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hendi_alex
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Yesterday, tomatoes, Asian greens, sweet peas, radish, squash, leek, garlic, shiitake, strawberries, mulberries, blueberries. Today, add cucumber as our first cucumber was harvested.

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grrlgeek
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I am so jealous of you folks with tomatoes and cukes and squash already!

Got home from work hot, hungry, and too spent to feel like making anything. I grabbed a small head of red sails lettuce on my way in, drizzled some ranch dressing on it, stuck it between two pieces of bread, and voila! It was cool and crisp and light and a lot yummier than I expected. Which reminds me to start more lettuce seeds today!

valley
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Greetings, So far just a couple types of lettuce, mustard, mint and onion. Looking forward to several types of peppers and tomatoes.

Richard

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hendi_alex
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Birds and squirrels damaging tomatoes. I have tons of both in ouryard and they only seem to bother the tomatoes during drought. So I would agree with you comment. Provide them with water.

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feldon30
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Picked a quart of snow peas so far. Steamed them for 2 minutes, then tossed them with sesame oil to get them crispy, then tossed with a little soy sauce. All told less than 5 minutes cooking and still very crunchy. Soooo sweet and tasty! Just the perfect first thing from the garden.

Cukes and tomatoes are going like mad right now. Beans are loading up with flowers. I think I am going to be buried in beans, about 2 weeks, then cukes, then tomatoes, then corn!

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Lindsaylew82
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Herbs, herbs, herbs! Tonight we had some quick grilled chicken that I smeared with s&p, tarragon, and Dijon mustard.

Tarragon and chicken are such a great match!

I miss my asparagus... I always do the first week.

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applestar
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Strawberries are starting to come in. Finding some pecked by birds -- I think it's those sneaky catbirds. Picked what might be the last asparagus today -- didn't eat it but put it in the quart freezer bag with others for a meal later.

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hendi_alex
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Funny how similar catbirds are to mockingbirds. Yet we had a couple of catbirds two or three seasons ago, and they were so much more active and persistent in eating our fruit. The cat killed both of them, and sad to say, I wasn't sorry to see them go. The mockingbirds show just light interest, and I'm willing to share at that level.

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Lindsaylew82
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I made pesto with basil, walnuts, garlic greens, manchego cheese, and evoo! Kid picket bow tie pasta! Very tasty!

Tomorrow though....... :() :() :()
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SusanRachel
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Squash, zucchini, and scallions stir fried with a little sesame oil and soy sauce. Yum! During the day, I snacked on the last of the green beans and snow peas and the first of the cherry tomatoes.

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Cola82
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Feldon, this is random, but I think I bought the same yellow twine you did. It's holding up much better than the green stuff in the garden center did, I have to say.

I picked two early cherries today and gave them to the boyfriend because I already has a sun gold and early cherry a few days ago.

I'm jealous you guys all have peas already. I had to start mine kind of late so they're only 6-8" tall. :(

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hendi_alex
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Susan, if you have a morning sun location, you can keep bush beans growing much later into the heat of summer. I have five small beds under the edge of an oak canopy. Green beans, egg plant, peppers, and arugula do well there any time during the summer.

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rainbowgardener
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Last night I had company over and served a big salad all from the garden! Lettuce, kale, lots of spinach which I am trying to use up since it is starting to bolt, celery, fresh picked peas!, chard (with the colorful stems chopped up into it), BROCCOLI! (first one) along with some of the broccoli leaves, and lots of herbs thrown in - lemon balm, dill, fennel, green and purple basil. That and some black bean burgers on the grill made dinner.



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