I put my garden in a couple of weeks before the wedding and this month I've been able to pick some things!
My cherry tomatoes are growing well but taking awhile to turn red. I picked one (which I promptly ate) and 4 more last night. Hopefully more will start to turn soon! Fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes are sooo good! Phil doesn't like raw tomatoes so I get them all to myself!
I'm also growing larger tomatoes but didn't take a picture of them as they are just starting to pop and are very green. I'll probably be able to start to pick them in late July or early August. Hopefully my crop is as good this year as it was last year so I can do lots of canning!
One new thing I am growing this year is tomatillos. It's been interesting to watch these grow. If you've bought tomatillos before, you know that they are sold in their husk. I thought that the fruit and the husk would grow at the same time, but the husk grows first and then the fruit grows to fill it. I'm guessing I won't be able to pick these until August as the fruit inside is cherry tomato size right now. But once I can start to harvest these, there will be lots of green salsa and green enchilada sauce in my future!
This picture is upside down, but you get the idea of what else I was able to pick last night. The zucchini on the far right is HUGE (it weighs about 2.5 pounds!). We've got some zucchini boats in our future! I'm going to a bbq hosted by a college friend this weekend so will likely bring something zucchini-based. I know beets are popular with everyone, so I'll roast those for salads and sides.
I also picked a bunch of green beans. This is a gallon bag so there are quite a few! We'll be enjoying these tonight along with grilled brats and potatoes.
I love going to Farmer's Markets, and frequent the local one on weekends when we are home, but there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of eating food that you grew! I'm so glad that our neighborhood of Minneapolis has a community garden!
Are you doing any gardening this year? Have you been visiting any local Farmers Markets? My weekends have been so busy since getting back from our honeymoon so I have only gone to the Farmer's Market once! Hopefully I can get there more often going forward!
11 comments:
I love seeing all the stuff you grow! I wanted to do a vegetable garden this year (it's been a few years since we did one) but I didn't make it happen. Hopefully when the boys can play more independently outside (or help) I'll be able to do one again!
We are trying to make Tuesday nights our farmers market night where we go and get what we want for dinner but we've still only been twice because we've been away a lot.
Our tomatoes have been amazing!!! We had a few zucchini but not as many as I would have liked and the squash didn't do very well. The corn looks like it's going to be completely unsuccessful. I still say we planted the corn too close together. The good news is there is always next year! I'm hoping that the watermelons turn out! It's been awesome having a garden! I really enjoy it!
I am jealous! AS you know, I had a huge garden most of my life but have hung it up for other endeavors, like mowing! But I miss the produce so much, especially green beans & tomatoes! Oh, and squash, too. Gardening is such a joy!
Our Farmer's Market hasn't been nearly as good this year, we have fruit there now (that is brought up from southern BC) but not really any vegetables yet. I've been disappointed. I haven't been able to harvest anything from my garden yet, but it's been really fun TO garden and watch things start to grow even though I've also been disappointed at some things not growing. It's raining again all day today so I think that will really give my garden a boost as a couple of weeks ago when we got rain it grew like crazy afterwards! I definitely have a fair amount of tomatoes sprouting up on my 3 tomatoe plants but all of them are still green.
Wow, you're getting a great harvest already this year! That's more than I've gotten out of my garden so far. The tom's are just starting to come into season, so get ready for the landslide.
We've been working on clearing a big space in our front yard where we'll put raised beds. We ripped out a giant hedge, a ton of ivy, and some other non-descript plants. We probably won't get much gardening in the beds done this year, but I have a few things in containers right now including some herbs and a couple tomato plants. I might do some good late summer/early autumn garden veggies if I get around to it.
When we bought our house there were already established raspberry and blueberry bushes, so I've been enjoying plenty of berries with minimal work! :-D
Oh Lisa, what a good crop! I left my tomatoes (cherry) at home and am eager to see if I have any. I brought lots of my potted herbs up north and have been loving them. I did lettuce too, and brussels sprouts. Rick does lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, peas and beans, tomatoes and brussels, So good and so satisfying!
And I LOVE the farmer's markets and go to the one up here every week. I have a cherry budget!
I love tomatillos and salsa verde is my favorite! Whenever I bring it to gatherings, it gets devoured in minutes. I just do garlic, tomatillos, fresh jalapeños, cilantro, lime, and salt.
Wow, you're getting such great vegetables from your garden! That's so cool. I'd have to see if there are any community gardens around me, but the good news is that we have plenty of farmer's markets and fruit stands to suffice and I'm not much of a gardener myself, so I always opt for the easy way out in this case, haha. :)
My little patio garden is producing SO MUCH KALE right now. I love it! Gardening FTW.
Nice haul!! I'm growing tomatoes, kale, and herbs this year (in pots). The farmers' market in my city is on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I usually go every Wednesday, and if we're home, we try to go on Saturdays too :-)
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