Our garden is growing!

I wish I could take credit for our veggie garden production, but the boy gets the nod for this one! At my direction (insistence?!), he was the one who bought the plants, taught Linds how to create a veggie garden, makes sure everything is watered daily, and has been picking everything. This year we've already had a little of the three types we planted, which is way better than our last attempt. Last summer we tried zucchini, peppers and beans and all we ended up with were beans. This year we've picked enough beans for a few meals, 2 peppers and a single strawberry (we're having issues with some critters snacking on our berries).

All of our haul from our own garden goes along with what we pull in from our CSA (red potatoes, spring onions, garlic, peas, beans, swiss chard, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, etc.). I tell you what - the 35 minute drive to pick stuff up may be a bit of a pain, but knowing all of our veggies are 100% pesticide/herbicide free and picked fresh within hours of us receiving them is pretty cool. Plus, supporting this young Mennonite couple who are trying to turn their hobby of growing into their source of money is rewarding.

Below is an updated photo of our garden. For those not familiar with the bell, it used to sit atop the boy's grandparents' barn on their farm in Lititz. After they sold the farm, they moved it to their front yard of the home they purchased. It's an important relic to the boy, and when his grandfather was contemplating selling it, Scott insisted on keeping it as a family heirloom to pass down to future generations. We thought it was fitting to sit at the head of our garden since it once overlooked the farm, so with a little rebuilding effort, the boy installed it last summer. It's a neat reminder of the Rissers' roots!

Salsa!

After looking through all of the delicious veggies we got from Vollmecke Farms, I realized we had all the ingredients to make a really kick ass salsa. I never made my own, so I looked up some other recipes, but threw together my own little thing. I pulsed the stuff individually in the food processor so it was good and chopped up and did a lot of draining, but man, when that was finished - well, let's just say jarred stuff will NEVER be as good. I was amazed how delicious it was and how well I did with no recipe (you know me - I just *have* to have something to go off of when I cook).

I used about a dozen cherry tomatoes, an onion, a green pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 jalapeño peppers, 1 habanero pepper, a splash of red wine vinegar, a drizzle of EVOO, a little sugar, a little salt and some cilantro. It had a GREAT kick to it after you swallowed it, but a sweet tang to it, too. I brought it over to a dinner party we had with some friends and came home without any left. I was happy it was a hit (but super bummed not to have any to much on today!).

Veggies Galore!

Thanks to my fabulous neighbors friends, Joy and Kortney, we got to go pick up another share from Vollmecke Farms this summer! The two are enjoying a vacation in the Grand Canyon, so we reap the benefits of them missing pick-up.

This time around we got tons of great fruits, veggies and spices! Our loot included:

• 1 quart cherry tomatoes
• 1 quart tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 green pepper
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 1 habanero pepper
• 1 basket of beets
• 1 bag of green beans
• 2 buttercup squash
• 1 basket of potatoes
• 1 bag of apples
• Basil (both regular and Thai)

I can't even begin to imagine all of the possibilities of what we can do with this stuff! I already used the cherry tomatoes, onion, some garlic, and all of the peppers in a salsa. A lot of the other stuff will go with our meals for the next week or two (they must have known I had TONS of potatoes in the works). I'm a little excited about the beets, too - I've never had them (except with pickled eggs), so I want to try doing something a little fun with them. I contemplated making another pie with the apples, but after eating 3/4 of the last one by myself, I think it's in my best interest (as well as my thighs' best interest?!) to just snack on them plain :)

Thank you again, Joy and Kortney! <3

July 19 - Pasta Primavera

My green beans finally sprouted! I was so excited to be able to pick a small handful on Sunday. Here they are:

I also had lots of veggies from Vollmecke Farms - my wonderfully generous neighbor helps them farm there and in exchange receives a share of their veggies. They were traveling a couple weeks ago, so she let me pick up her share and keep them. I had yellow squash and broccoli from the share, some peppers and carrots that I picked up at the grocery, and of course, the beans. With all these veggies, I decided to make some pasta primavera. I tossed the veggies in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them at 400 for about 20 or 25 minutes.

I knew the kiddos would want something fun to eat with their veggies, so instead of any plain old pasta, I made miniature bowtie pasta (which I got for free with some coupons a month or two ago!). I also made a light sauce with chicken stock and milk, which tasted delicious. It was a perfect light, summer pasta...too bad the kids AND my husband had no interest in the vegetables. Gah! I'm trying one of those Deceptively Delicious meals tonight so that hopefully they can get some sort of vegetable in their diet (besides corn). Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Primavera Sauce
Ingredients
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup milk (I used whole since it was the only type we had)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Cook garlic until soft, about 1 minute. 
3. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute more. 
4. Add chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce to a simmer and cook until liquid has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.

Garden Update

I planted lettuce seeds in the garden a few weeks ago, and we have some baby lettuce! It's pretty teeny-tiny sprigs, but it's there. Linds keeps asking where the "mommy lettuce" is - hehe :) I'm thinking of planting the peppers, zucchini, and green beans this weekend, although I need to check the weather for the next week to make sure we're past the last frost.

Since I've started my garden, I've started accompanying the boy on his runs to Home Depot (it's like his haven!). I came across these opportunities and thought I'd share them with you:





I signed up for the workshop at the Downingtown location (on June 3rd), so if you're local and feel like coming, let me know! I'm also planning to sign up for the Garden Club - I need any and all tips I can get!

Apr. 18 - Pizza & Gardening

We started our garden! One of the veggies I wanted to try was lettuce, and since it loves the cold weather, we planted early. We just tossed seeds in the ground (nothing pre-planted indoors), so we'll see if this works out?! When Scott started preparing the area, he claimed there were a million spiders throughout the mulch and dirt that was already there, but by the time I got out there, I saw nothing. A few "experts" told me that the bugs were okay, and since we're trying to go organic in there, I didn't want to put anything into the ground that was harmful. I took a photo of Scott raking the soil - it's my first picture of the garden!

When we were done, I was going to make shrimp stir-fry, but the boy was in the mood for pizza, so pizza it was! We got Dominos, which we are totally diggin since they redid their recipe. I got my usual - spinach and feta with the white sauce on thin crust; the boy got sausage and extra cheese on his hand-tossed crust. We also got an order of their buffalo chicken kickers - not too bad...nothing extraordinary, but it tasted good!

Starting my own garden

I've always wanted to start my own vegetable garden, but never went forward with the idea. I love veggies and am always trying to get the boy and kids to eat more of them, so what better way than by growing them myself? I think Linds is old enough, too, to enjoy watching the garden grow.

I'm not sure what I'm going to start off planting, although I'd definitely like to do some zucchini and peppers. We also eat a lot of beans and carrots, but I'm not sure how easy those are to grow. I'd also like to do some fruit (maybe strawberries?), but I'm not sure if this is too ambitious.

If you are an "expert" and have any advice, I'd love it! Luckily the boy's family is big into farming (his grandparents are former farm owners and his parents have a great crop from their own garden each summer), so I do have some resources. I'm excited - I can't wait to start growing some of my own food!