Tuesday, July 9, 2019

The Veggie Garden in July

Remember a thousand years ago when I started a bazillion seeds in my lower level?

Well guess what....it was all worth it! 

Check out the veggie garden, it's a jungle! 


We've come to the time of the year that I adore, when meals are planned around what's coming out of the garden! 

The lettuce, radishes, and peas are all that's ready yet....but that's enough to guarantee gorgeous garden salads, which we've been eating about every other day. 

I usually grill some chicken to go along with the salad....today I have chicken marinating in fresh lemon juice and thyme, which will be perfect with a garden salad overflowing with garden greens, peas, and fresh herbs.


The tomato plants had to be staked this weekend, they've gotten so tall with all the rain we've had. They all have multiple flowers on them, so it won't be long until we have fresh tomatoes to go in those salads. 

Oh that first tomato, eaten right out in the garden, warm from the sun - that's a little taste of heaven right there! 


Just look at all those gorgeous salad greens!! I keep snipping, and they keep growing! 

I do wish we could have fresh salad greens all winter long, but alas, winters on the mountain top are far too cold. 


The Radicchio is coming along nicely also....I love Radicchio in my Red & White Winter Salad....you can find the recipe for that salad in this post, and I do hope you'll give it a try!


Check out my little garlic patch, that I planted back in the fall - obviously conditions were perfect this winter for garlic, and I can't wait until these babies are ready to come out of the garden. When I pull them, I'll scrub them and then hang them to dry....once ready, they will flavor many meals to come. 

A few heads will be kept back, and the cloves planted in fall to produce another crop next summer.

 
Time to cut off the garlic scapes, before they go to flower. Have you ever eaten garlic scapes? I haven't, but I may have to give them a try this season. Apparently they taste just like garlic, and since I am a huge garlic lover, I'm shocked this will be my first time trying them.


The red cabbage is coming along well, and so far the slugs have mostly left them alone, thankfully. 

I try to plant a lot of stuff in my garden that can just sit and wait, and doesn't need constant harvesting. Celery, red cabbage, radicchio, dried beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, winter squash....they don't need day to day tending, which is perfect since I'm so incredibly busy. 

I do have cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini that will need daily harvesting once they get going, but that's ok, it's not too overwhelming when it's limited to just a few items. 

Sweetie's garden has the peas, fresh beans, and radishes as well as cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini - but he's got the time to be out there daily picking, so that works well for us.  We both have lettuce, but his is all head lettuce, not spring greens. He's always giving away produce to our friends, once the garden is producing more than what we need for ourselves.

My life becomes even busier once the garden starts spitting out produce like crazy....but my freezer is full come winter, with all the soups and sauces I produce in summer, and I am so glad for them on a snowy winter's eve. 


The winter squashes have started blooming, and I can't wait to watch all those baby squashes grow into something I will store for winter meals. 

Isn't it amazing that I start seeds in winter for meals we will eat the following winter? There's something so incredibly gratifying about that. 

 
My garden is tucked in close to the side of the garage, and isn't large by any means. However, it produces lots of veggies in that small space.....add Sweeties garden, which is about the same size, and we have plenty for ourselves and to share. 


In the beds around the veggie garden, the critters finally let me have a few sunflowers....I'm delighted as I've tried to grow them every year and the darned critters always munch them to the ground! 


This alien looking plant is an American Poppy, also started from seed. 


It's my first time trying poppies from seed, but it sure won't be my last. They are quite happy in the beds around the veggie garden, and I'm hoping they will reseed readily. 


The Bee Balm is just starting to flower as well, and will flower for ages, adding much needed color to the late summer garden. 

I keep tucking more and more pieces around the veggie garden, and it's really starting to take off this year. 


And everywhere, there are Tiger Lilies! I have such fond memories of summers in the mountains as a child, and it always seemed the Tiger Lilies really announced the arrival of summer. 

What's growing in your neck of the woods? Do you grow some of your own veggies?

36 comments:

  1. Oh how wonderful! That looks like a lot of work, but yields big dividends. We got our first tomato harvested this week, yum!!

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    1. I cannot wait for that first tomato, Carole! That really signifies summer!!

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  2. You are so, so lucky that you have the space to grow this beautiful vegetable garden! We have such a teeny yard - and not enough sun. So this year we put some tomato and pepper plants in pots and put them in the center of a patch of lawn in the back yard that gets sun - and they're doing really well. We did plant some pepper plants in the ground, but some kind of bugs or critters got those and ate them to the ground!

    My bee balm has just started to flower, too. It has spread like crazy in my butterfly garden in just two years.

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    1. I adore bee balm....I keep sticking pieces of it in all over the property, hoping it will take off and smother the weeds! When I lived down in the valley I grew my veggies in big pots right on the blacktop of the driveway, tucked up next to the house. They did great, I think the heat from the driveway helped them, and the animals left them alone for some reason, maybe because they were right next to the house!

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  3. What a luscious garden you have already! There are a few garlic growers around here and scapes are popular, but like you, I have never eaten them. I'm not even sure what you do with them. -Jenn

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    1. I sliced one raw into our salad last night, Jenn, like you would with a scallion - the salad was fantastic! I think I'm going to try one sliced into pasta tonight with peas and parmesan....and maybe bacon!

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  4. Your garden is absolutely gorgeous and the veggies you are growing. I wish I was healthy enough and the room to plant winter vegetables. I'm a huge squash eater and love winter root vegetables.

    Your Poppies are so pretty too. You are a great gardener and bravo in your busy life

    Cindy

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    1. If my veggie garden was larger I'd love to plant some more, but even so I do ok with the space I have. I'd love more carrots, but there's only so many you can eat before they go bad, so I limit it. If they lasted the whole winter (which they don't) I would plant more!

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  5. I do not grow my own veggies although, I would love to try. I'm always in awe of your garden and your cooking, especially since I know how busy you are! Where do you get all that energy?? And can I have some? ;)

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    1. Wow, Kim, if you only knew....I often have to force myself to keep going, I wear myself out! When I take a break I'll have some iced tea or iced coffee to give me a boost...but by evening time I'm shot!

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  6. Your garden looks wonderful. I see lots of delicious meals in your future. xo Laura

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    1. Let's hope, Laura!! Tonight it will be pasta with fresh peas and garlic scapes - I'm excited to try that!

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  7. Your garden looks amazing! Yes, you have to try the garlic scapes!! My tomatoes are starting to turn red!!

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    1. Ahhhhh nice, Penny!! I just have flowers, no baby tomatoes just yet! I can't believe how many flowers, though.....one plant has about a hundred flowers on it!

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  8. Dear Debbie ~ WOW is what I have to say about your wonderful veggie garden. What a treat for you to enjoy now, and in the winter as well.

    Happy Summer to you ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Definitely helps to keep the grocery budget in check, Lorraine!

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  9. You're going to have some fine eating come winter and everyone will thank you for your gardening efforts. Now as you're getting beautiful plants, my garden is about to burn up. Only thing going well are those zinnias I got from that place you mentioned. You'll have to remind me again of the name so I can order more from them next year.
    Brenda

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    1. I'll have to look it up myself, Brenda, but you can save your leftover seeds, too - put them in the fridge and they will be fine next spring!

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  10. Debbie, Your flowers are beautiful. I love seeing how nice and trim your lawn is and the gardens are awesome. I know you will make some wonderful foods with your produce. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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    1. That's the plan, Susie! I think we will have a record crop of tomatoes this year, which will mean lots of sauces for the freezer!

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  11. Your garden is beautiful! I love what you said, "remember a thousand years ago when I started a bazillion seeds". Looks like all your seeds came up and are growing good. We waited a long time for summer, didn't we? :)

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    1. We sure did, Henny! It's here now and it's going to stick around for a while!!

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  12. We're still at the flower stage for our tomatoes and peppers, but it looks like we'll have a bountiful crop here, too. We notice our first flowers on the zucchini and cucumbers just yesterday. We're hoping for a big crop of cucumbers this year as Pete plans to can some pickles. What kind of peas do you grow and use in your salads?

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    1. I plant sugar snap peas for our salads, Sue - they are lovely raw in a salad!

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  13. Your garden looks fabulous! I know is it a lot of hard work, but it is so worth it! Great job my friend! Love and hugs!

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    1. Thank you sweet Benita! Yes, a lot of hard work....and my workout!

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  14. I didn't grow any veggies this year. Only some spearmint and loofah, which are looking fabulous and coming along great. I had a huge 12 ft sunflower but the squirrels took it down yesterday. Made me so mad. lol.
    Lisa

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    1. Oh no Lisa that's awful!!!! They started eating one of my sunflowers yesterday, the little brats!!

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  15. Debbie, your garden is amazing! I'm so impressed by how much produce you get from that small space. Oh, to have some home grown tomatoes. That's what I miss most about not having a garden. I'm very interested in your Red and White Winter Salad and may have to pick up some ingredients the next time I'm in the market. Have a great weekend. Hugs, Nancy

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    1. I saw the very first baby tomato on one of the plants yesterday, Nancy - I was so excited!!! Hope you love the red & white salad - it's one of my favorites!

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  16. Your garden is gorgeous! Everything looks well loved and it's beautiful to see it thriving like that. I have to say that when I was a little girl my grandmother had red poppies in her flower garden. I just loved them. I've tried to find and grow something similar, but never did. It was lovely to see your photo and remember that time from my childhood.

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    1. Awww, Leigh, I'm so glad I brought you a happy childhood memory! I've grown perennial oriental poppies, but never this annual variety - I'm praying they reseed like mad!

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  17. Hi Debbie! Oh, you have a gorgeous garden! If I lived close by I would help you with your harvest! :) Nothing taste better than veggies fresh from the garden. Hope you're doing well.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  18. Debbie, your veggie garden in the mountains looks amazing! I agree, there is nothing sweeter than that first tomato of the season. Store-bought tomatoes are just not the same. I have eaten garlic scapes before. They came with a box of mixed veggies we bought one year from a farm co-op. I vaguely remember thinking "what the heck are those?" and following a recipe that someone had placed in the box. And they were excellent. Anyway, thanks for the lovely garden tour!

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    1. I've been using the garlic scapes in lieu of garlic in my recipes since I cut them, Heidi - I have them in a glass of water in the fridge, and they are as fresh as they day I cut them! Last night 5 of them and a pepper out of the garden went into Arroz Con Pollo, a favorite of my sweetie's. It always feels so good to use as much as I can right out of the garden when I'm cooking! Tomatoes and zucchini are next!

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