What are you eating from your garden this winter?

Getting ready for a long winters nap? Tonight is our first freeze of the season so I dug up some rosemary, chives and thyme. Also shredded a big batch of sage and cut more to dry.

Picked all of my tomatoes. Have windows full of green tomatoes that will ripen into the month....or there is always fried green tomatoes! My entire garden is still flowering! It's crazy!!

Also picked the rest of my jalapeños and kale. I'm thinking about a party next weekend with jalapeño poppers, kale chips, fried green beans, fried green tomatoes and caprese salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, and homemade pesto! Oh ya, can't forget chipotle dip!   I hate the end of garden season but love looking forward to a winter full of great food from the garden. If you are not already preserving your gardens for winter make some of it your goal for next years crop. If you are, let me know what you are wintering and how! Damn I'm inspiring myself....I think I will go out and pick some mint and turn it into mint ice cubes for all if those holiday cocktails ahead!  

Here is my winter garden list:

Frozen whole tomatoes

Frozen green beans

Frozen  zucchini 

Frozen red and green peppers sliced, chopped & cubed (cubed for moms sweet and sour meatballs) I do this every year!

Frozen pesto

Dried sage

Chipotle

Kale chips

All those other herbs I dug up an brought in to use fresh all winter

HAPPY WINTERING!

Preparing for frost!

Time to bring all those herbs in before Mother Nature takes them from us! Pesto for the freezer and drying sage for Turkey Day! 

Red Peppers

Did you know that red peppers contain more vitamin C than any other vegetable? I mince, slice and cut my peppers in chunks before freezing them for different recipes. 

Fall Lunch Crop

Kale, romain & Boston lettuce growing strong in my fall crop this year! I love eating my yard every day for lunch!

Freeze Warning!

Freezing my tomatoes this year instead if canning! Just put in boiling water for 30 seconds, transfer to ice water, peel & core the stem then just freeze!  Much easier than canning and you just take what you need for soups, chili or whatever else. I also did two big bags of beans and zucchini. Almost can't wait for winter to try it all!!! 

Beautiful BEETS!

And roasted beet salad!

Pickles!

Getting Bigger!

Just a few pics of our little garden.  It may not produce much but at least it looks good!!

Garden Bounty!

My personal chef picking garden bounty to make us greens gratin for lunch.  My beautiful star lily bloomed this year.  The deer ate it last year before it could bloom!

Weekend crop!

We have been eating zucchini every day and loving it! So many options for recipes!!!

Blueberry Mint Tea

My new favorite tea. Just blend blueberries, mint & tea and add a splash of ginger ale. So refreshing!!!

There is an intruder in my garden!

Can you see it?

It's Cait!

She was a HUGE help weeding and planting! Every garden needs a Cait!!!

Water Feature

Our rain barrel is full!!!  Who knew it would also be a fabulous fountain water feature!  We need a second barrel to catch the overflow.  I'm going to need all that water in August!

They grow up so fast!!

I. LOVE. SPRING/SUMMER!

Almost ready!

Probably 2 more weeks and we'll have our super antioxidants ready to eat!

Happy Mothers Day!

Cait made this for me for Mothers Day. She free handed my fave flowers Lilly of the valley into the letters! Can't wait to hang it!

Chips & Dip Garden Fairy Style!

Snow peas and homemade chipotle dip! Happy Memorial Day!

Lunch!

Lettuce, kale & spinach! 

Save those containers!

When spring gets close I start saving all those clear plastic containers from the store! They come in handy for storing veggies & lettuce and are great for giving veggies away!

Snow Pea Time!

Coming in strong this year!  Looks like I will be doing some blanching this weekend!

Farmer's Market Frittata

This frittata was so yummy!  The eggs came out perfect, almost custardy, without the bottom burning.  All ingredients came from our farmer's market today, except the green onion and the milk.
Adapted from the Chicago Tribune "Good Eating" - JeanMarie Brownson
Prep: 25 min           Cook: 35 min          Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients: you can really put anything in here.  The original recipe had new potatoes in it.  Mushrooms? Swiss chard? Shredded chicken? 
1 bunch Asparagus
2 tblsp. Olive Oil
5 green onions, thinly slices
10 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 cup diced cheese (we used garlic dill mozzarella cheese curds from the market)

1) Heat oven to 325 degrees
2) Cut asparagus into one inch lengths.  Heat oil in 12 inch cast iron or oven proof skillet over medium heat.  Sautee asparagus (stalks only) for about 3 minutes until tender. Stir in asparagus tops and green onion and sautee for about 1 minute.  (Make ahead 2 days, rewarm)
3) Whisk eggs, milk, salt pepper.
4) Sprinkle cheese over hot veggies, reduce heat to low.  Gently pour egg mixture over vegetables.
5) Cook on low to set bottom for about 3-4 minutes (or accidentally forget it is there while you are making a salad and leave it for 10 minutes... it was fine).
6) Transfer to oven and cook for about 20 minutes.  It is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (Like a cake!)

Sundown at Early Gardens

This was last weekend before I got it all planted. 

What's New??

Have any of you tried something new this year?  I planted kale for the first time and I'm really glad I did.  It took the place of collards which no one liked but me.  I had been planting it for years.  Everyone is loving the kale.  So much so that I need to plant more.  last year I tried tomatillos.  They were good but took up a lot of space and were hard to tame.  One other new item for us this year are raspberry bushes.  Russ and I ordered  them for each other for Valentines Day which is the perfect time to plant them!

Zanadu Farm is Up and Running!

What a great way to spend the day with Mom!  We supplemented some home-grown plants with herbs and pepper plants from the Farmer's Market.  The herb garden, slicing cukes, and pickling cukes, peppers, and tomatoes got planted today.  Surprise!  The peas are just barely starting to sprout!

Damn!

OK I know I said they were our friends but I have been in the garden all day and came in cuz it started to rain.  Russ went out to work in he garage and found this black racer in my beans! Wonder how long he was out there with me??? Also literally just started weeding this bean box when the drops started falling and didn't even see this guy!

Kale Caesar Salad Dressing

Kale, spinach and lettuce from the garden with homemade Caesar dressing recipe from Whole Foods. 

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2-3 cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper 

Mix all ingredients in food processor and adjust to taste. 

Enjoy! (Warning... we both have garlic breath but it's so worth it)

Love, Lindsey

Snow Peas

Agh.... Just a few short weeks and we will be enjoying snow peas! Easy "Peasy"!

Garden Ornaments

I was looking of a space in the house for this hall tree and couldn't find the perfect spot for it. It made 

it's way into the garden and makes a great utensil rack!

Wine watering!

I found a use for my wine bottles! Slow drip watering.   :)

Not Enough Time/Room for the Garden of Your Dreams?

It is Farmer's Market Season!  The reward of growing anything at home is great, but sometimes you just  can't do it all.  Finding a local market, or CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture) may be the right choice to supplement your home garden.

Farmer's Markets are a great weekend event that is fun for the whole family.  Many larger markets provide seasonal produce as well as locally made crafts, baked goods, and preserved foods.  Some even  offer live entertainment, kids crafts, or food preparation demos.  When it comes down to it, the best thing about the market is meeting with the people that grew the food that will be on your table tonight. It can also expose you to new foods you've never tried.  I always love the challenge of cooking a new fruit or veggie.

CSA's are a great choice if you go through a lot of fresh produce in the summer months.  These are generally local, small production farms that you invest in at the beginning of the season.  You get a share of whatever is grown and harvested each week, rain or shine.  If the crop flourishes, you win!  If the crop fails, that's the gamble.  Usually there is such a variety of produce that the failure of one crop is hardly noticed.

Want to find a Farmer's Market or CSA near you?  Check out this link: http://www.localharvest.org/

I don't like spiders & snakes but that IS what it takes to love you!

One of many natural pest controllers in my yard!

Natural Pesticides

To be a good gardener you need to learn to love the insects that non-fairies find to be pests.  Spiders bees and wasps are a gardeners friend!  We watch a show on public television on Saturday mornings called Growing a Greener World. This mornings episode was about natural pesticides.  To see this episode go to their website at: www.growingagreenerworld.com and search for episode #403 with Suzanne Wainwright-Evans.  This website is AWESOME for gardeners!  It covers everything you ever wanted to know.  Go take a peek ;-)

Protection!

Our garden now has a mini fence that matches our big fence.   Need to keep those pesky little rabbits out!   It isn't done yet.  He will put wire mesh around the bottom.  Also, you can't see it, but it has a little gate.

It's a Square Foot Garden!

The tomatoes that are living in my bedroom really want to get planted in the ground!   It is only in the 50's here today. :(

Did you know?

Did you know you can eat chive flowers? I learned this from Tim! They are really pretty in any dish and taste just like chives!  If you don't pick them they will go to seed! You can collect them for next year or just let them fall to the dirt and your chives will just show up in the spring!  I have had these for years!

Chives

We have a new family of baby bluebirds in the "Bar House" Russ made me!