From the Garden

Now that it is mid-October, it is time for me to prepare my vegetable and herb garden for the winter months. I had a wonderful time growing my owns vegetables and herbs this summer. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would and am pretty proud of how everything turned out considering it was the first garden I have ever planted.


Here is a run down of some of my favorite dishes that I made using my own vegetables and herbs {patting myself on the back}:



1. Lemon Fusilli with tomatoes from my garden


2. Turkey spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce


3. Turkey burgers with cilantro and lettuce from my garden


4. Spinach sauteed with pine nuts


5. No Cook Pasta with tomatoes from my garden


6. Tortas with tomatoes from my garden


7. Recuerdos De Tucson with jalapenos and green, red and orange bell peppers from my garden


8. Posole with jalapenos from my garden


9. Endless salads with the lettuce and spinach from my garden. I also sent my parents home with lettuce every time they came to visit Ozzie, it was growing like a weed.


10. Fresh parsley added to every spaghetti dish made this summer


11. Fresh cilantro added to every Mexican dish made this summer


12. Fresh oregano added to every possible dish acceptable!


13. Homemade chicken stock with parsley from my garden


14. Mediterranean Chicken and Beans with tomatoes from my garden



15. Carmens's Chicken with Black Bean Enchiladas with the very last of my orange and red bell peppers (recipe coming soon- thanks Carm!).



16. A few caprese salads with tomatoes from my garden. Sadly my basil didn't make it. Our friendly neighborhood bunny got to both my plants before I could.


17. Salad onions added to our countless salads with our baby walla walla onions. This was a mistake, I planted them too close together so they only grew into salad onion size. They were still delicious though.

The only herb that I didn't cook with was the lemon verbena that Oscar's mom gave me. I love the smell of lemon verbena and wished I would have done a better job looking up recipes for it. I'm thinking about drying out what I have left and making bath salts for stocking stuffers.

I am already planning next year's garden and pretty much know what I want to add or omit. I definitely want to add some fallish vegetables, like zucchini. I also want to do some research on heirloom vegetables, specifically tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are another inspiration from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, she went on and on about them so now I must try them.

We truly enjoyed our summer's bounty and can't wait to try it again next year.