UPDATE: Garden 2014

So here is our garden for this year....

It's bigger!

It's badder!!

It's all ours!!!

Above is the plan we created while planting.

We used the "Carrots Love Tomatoes" plan and adjusted it where necessary.

Some plants we already had planted in other areas of the yard, so we

weren't able to adhere to it very strictly.

The above shots are of our red and white potatoes.

The metal bin at the back is actually filled with spare soil.

Potatoes need to be mounded as the get taller...so we save

some dirt for that purpose.

Red and white onions in the above shot.

Many jalapeno plants as some other hot peppers at the front.

Our field of tomatoes!

There are 24 plants in this area, some romas and some hertiage varieties.

While I am loving not hauling water, the tomatoes are not loving all the rain we've been having.

Can you see the leaves that are yellowing at the back?

Heritage white corn...we grew it last year and saved the seeds

for this year!  Looks like it worked!!!

(we found the wood under our pile of logs for the campfire...

nicely repurposed to keep the weeds down)

Directly to the left of the corn are our two sweet potato plants!

We tried growing sweet potatoes once in 2011...

it didn't turn out then...so we thought we'd try again!

The last time the plants spent the whole growing season just trying to grow leaves!

The bunnies thought the leaves were mighty tasty...so the plants never got a chance to grow tubers.

Our yellow zucchinis are starting out great!

The green zucchinis...not so much...

We dismantled a black composter...and filled them with dirt.

The sides have slots...so you don't have to worry about the plants drowning

in rain water!  Score!

Our pumpkins...with one sad trellis...

I have to get me some T bars and do these

trellis thingies right!

The radishes are coming along...

The beets are shy.

We planted dill with them (as per the book)

and the dill likes the bed...

NOW WAKE UP BEETS!!!

Our cucumber machine makes its triumphant return.

We had such a great year with cukes last year.

We're taking a small break and only planted about a dozen of them this year.

Our kale seems to love it here!

The swiss chard on the left hand side of the bed...not so much.

I want to make kale chips so badly...

mainly so I can see what all the hype is all about...

\

Above shows our salad bar!

We have 5 different packs of lettuce and salad greens sprinkled

in this bed.  We forgot almost instantly what kinds we planted...but does it really matter?

SALADS!

Our spinach bed is pretty pathetic right now...

Hopefully it will make a come back...

or a decent fall crop from a second planting...

We have 2 rows of peas this year...cuz why not?

No seriously...we love peas.  

Especially sitting in the garden eating them straight out of the pod.

Each year we plan to store some in the freezer...and sometimes we actually do!

This year I am determined to get a whole large freezer bag full!

We also have to get to work on trellises (or is it trelli!?) for these peas.

Pea plants have a tendency to fall over and grow in the dirt.

We saved beans from last years crop.

We have no idea which beans are which...

but in this bed are green, yellow and purple wax beans.

Finally we have our acorn squash.

Again with the sad trellis...

So I've been pinning a TON of trellis ideas.

I will be posting soon with the results of my adventures into trellising.

(Trellising?  I have no idea...but you'll see some cool stuff for sure!)

I have to admit...last year we didn't plan much.
In fact, I made the mistake of having a few libations while planting seeds.
The result was that I had no idea what I planted and where.
(Laugh all you like)
It was a surprise when everything started growing...which was funny for about a week.
(oh who are we kidding...I'm still getting ribbed for that!!!)


Don't forget to send me your garden love!
I want you to post photos of YOUR gardens on my facebook group and page.
Lets celebrate our accomplishments together!!!

Chicken and Swiss Chard Noodle Pesto

Our gardening season for 2011 may be coming to a close....but the garden itself is still kicking out all sorts of yummy things.  Most days we have a hard time keeping up with eating all of it!  That's when we're fortunate to have lots of friends who are willing to take these free vegetables off our hands...tee hee!

The other day, Hubbie asked me if I could make those swiss chard pesto noodles.  I was a little surprised...as I wasn't sure how good they were the first time I made them.  I guess they were a hit, when they are getting a second request!

I thought I would go over that recipe in more detail...as I think I glossed over it largely in the the 3 recipe post a while back.  First you need an enormous pile of swiss chard.  I'm not even kidding here.  The bigger the better!!!  This stuff wilts down to almost nothing....and I almost always underestimate.

Fortunately this time we had prepared pesto on hand.  Hubbie made it with basil from our herb tub.  He used walnuts instead of pinenuts...as that was all we had on hand.  Now is actually a good time to be collecting walnuts...if anyone has a walnut tree and would like to get rid of their pesky walnuts...LET ME KNOW!!!

Originally with the pesto chard noodles...I used garlic, oil, walnuts, parmesan cheese and basil directly on the noodles...this time I just spooned the mixture over the chard liberally...which was not necessarily a good thing...

Here is a shot of the chard cut into "noodles".  I wash the leaves, rinsed them, then shake off most of the excess moisture (or you could use a salad spinner).  I remove the ribs of the chard...Hubbie always reminds me I can leave them in...but I only do that when I want the water chestnut texture in my dish....not this time though....

Next we took all the meat off of a whole roasted chicken from Costco...the in-laws buy them for us now and again...and it's always a welcome treat!

Here I wish I owned a wok...as the biggest frying pan we own doesn't quite seem to do it.  Swiss chard was spilling everywhere.  I added a touch of pesto sauce to the bottom of the pan and started warming it up.

At some point the chard wilts down enough to fit into the pan.  I then realize how this dish is lacking in colour...so I dice up a yellow zucchini and throw it in too!  It is also at this point that I start to notice how much liquid is in the pan.  It occurs to me that by spooning on the pesto...I've added too much oil to this dish...next time I'll use more restraint when adding the pesto mixture!

I started heating up the pulled chicken pieces in another frying pan with lemon juice, S & P.

I layer the swiss chard noodles and zucchini on the bottom of the plate, next the chicken, then chopped up parsley on top.  I also halved some cherry tomatoes and threw them at the plate after all was said and done.

The cherry tomatoes added more colour and were nicely warmed by the hot meal.  (I had trouble taking pics of this dish....the steam kept fogging up my camera lens!) 

This dish is EASY, healthy, colourful and warming.  I feel healthier after eating all of that dark, rich, green matter.  I understand this to be a very low carb meal...but kept wondering if a piece of toast or crusty bread would have gone nicely with this dish.  

What is the healthiest meal you've ever made fresh out of the garden?

Swiss Chard Burritos...

Here was a meal we threw together in minutes.  It was hearty, healthy and a big hit with almost everyone in our household.  (Only Owen wasn't a fan, mostly because he doesn't like his food to touch.  Such are the tastebuds of a 4 yr old.)  We had leftover wild and brown rice to eat up.  We are drowning in tomatoes.  We had leftover corn from the dozen ear we ate a day or so prior.  Add ground beef and voila!  Burritos!!   

Beef is browned and added to the pre-cooked rice, tomatoes, corn and seasonings

Flat torillas are always a great thing to have on hadn for such occasions.  You can buy the package when its cheaper and keep in the freezer.  Then microwave them still in the plastic bag to keep them moist and pliable.  Stale tortilla wraps aren't good for wrapping, as they have a tendancy to break apart.  Keep those old torillas for making your own chips!  (in that case, cut to desired shape, brush with oil, any flavour or plain will do, and bake at 450 until crisp!)

I fried up some swiss chard and onions for Ches and I...as those are the two things the kids are most likely to complain about.  I like to put the cheese on first and let the chard do the melting...mmm.  We had no lettuce in the house and our lettuce crop has since gone to seed and dried up.  I am still in the habit of always making sure we have a green thing on our plates.  Swiss Chard fits the bill!  Its VERY green and VERY healthy for you.  It is also quite a hearty plant, keeping firm in hot or cold weather.  I'm learning to love it.

Here is the completed wrap.  Burritos are great if you are trying to integrate other "exotic" foods into your diet.  Burritos are a fun way to eat up leftovers without them looking like leftovers.  Burritos are also messy, so you can have fun trying to have the cleanest plate by the end of the meal...or just laughing at other people trying to eat them all tidy like. 

Recipe Feature...3 meals in one post!

I've been away all week again...so I find the post ideas have been piling up...

I was about to make 3 posts with a lot of details about each meal.  Instead...I want my readers to get the most bang for their buck.  Here is a post that features 3 hit meals from the past week.  All were delicious.  Some were planned, some were accidental...some used recipes, some were made up on the spot.

Here are the delectible servings of seasonal, easy and CHEAP meals (they all required at least ONE ingredient that DIDN'T come from the backyard).



Dinner last Sunday, some for family and some for friends



Aubergine & Courgette Bake

1 large eggplant

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 lbs tomatoes (peeled and chopped)

a handful of fresh basil leaves (chopped)

1 Tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)

2 zucchinis (sliced lengthwise)

whole wheat flour for coating

shredded mozzarella

parmesan cheese

1.  Slice the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 45-60  min.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.  Fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened.  Stir in the tomatoes, half the basil and the parsley.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook, stirring, for 25-35 minutes until sauce has thickened.  Mash the tomatoe to a pulp.

3.  Rinse and dry the eggplant.  Dust the eggplant and zucchinis with the flour.

4.  Heat more olive oil in another frying pan and fry the eggplant slices and zucchini slices until golden brown.  Set aside.

5.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter an overproof dish.  Put a layer of eggplant, the zucchini in the dish, pour a layer of sauce and scatter with some mozzarella.  Sprinkle over most of the remaining basil and parsley.  Repeat the layers, ending with mozzarella.  Sprinkle with the parmesan and remaining herbs on top and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Serve at once.

(REF:  The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking, by Roz Denny & Christine Ingram, 1997)



Saturday Lunch at Home



Swiss chard noodles with Pesto sauce

a dozen large leaves of Swiss chard, sliced in long lenths

walnuts

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion cut in lengths

2 cloves garlic crushed

handful of basil leaves

a tsp of parmesan

handful of cherry tomatoes as topping

whole wheat bagels toasted with butter & a dash of parmesan

S & P

Fry up the onions and walnuts in some of the oil.  Add garlic and chard and simmer.  Grind salt over the whole mess.  Add basil and some of the parmesan.  Heat and serve in bowls with cherry tomatoes and toasted bagels.  Top greens with more parmesan.  



Dinner on Saturday night



Squash and Tomatoes on noodles

1 Flying saucer squash

1 pit red and black cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups chopped chicken breast

2 tbsp fresh oregano and parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

spaghetti noodles

shredded cheddar

S & P

Microwave the chopped flying saucers for 2 minutes.  Fry up the heated squashes in olive oil until browned.  Add garlic and chicken and simmer for 5 min.  Add sliced cherry tomatoes, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.  Simmer a 5 more minutes.  Serve over noodles and top with shredded cheddar. 

REVIEW:

These meals were a hit each time.  Each dish hit a different flavour of the season.  The first recipe was wonderful but WAY too much oven and frying for a hot summer day.  I could see me making that dish and freezing it for a fresh taste of summer in the mid-winter season (not sure how these ingredients would stand up to freezing...but worth a shot!).  The second two recipes were completely made up from stuff we needed to eat up.  Both required a minimal amount of frying and served up hot and fresh.  

If you wonderful readers make this dish, let me know, post a pic of your creation on my facebook page!  Lets all share our accomplishments.  

That's me...saving the planet one low carbon footprint meal at a time...