Some Summer Dinners from the Garden – 2020

Harissa-rubbed chicken breast over arugula, heirloom tomatoes, peaches and parsley with tahini dressing – Aug 12
Zucchini/parsley frittata with cherry tomatoes – Aug 13
Roasted chiogga beets and goat cheese over arugula topped with toasted pepitas – Aug 21
Pizza with garlic scape pesto, kale and roasted shallots (all home-grown), cherry tomatoes (not home-grown) and mushroom. Before it was topped with cheese and went into the oven – July 17
Not a dinner in itself but a dinner condiment – quick refrigerator pickles – Aug 22
Lemony zucchini and pepper stir fry with fresh herbs and Aleppo pepper
(served topped with feta over rice) – Aug 25
Kale pasta with sausage, peppers, garlic, feta and toasted pine nuts – Aug 27
Zucchini potato gratin with tomatoes and fresh herbs (all veggies and herbs except the potatoes were home-grown) – Aug 31
Zucchini potato gratin (see above)
Roasted Ping Tung eggplant with goat cheese, pine nuts and parsley – Sep 13
Heirloom tomato feta sandwich with tahini and parsley – Sep 11
Korean bibimbap bowl with sesame Swiss chard from the garden – Sep 18
Thai basil chicken with hot Thai peppers, garlic and basil from the garden – Sep 24
Lunch: Egg on a bed of sauteed home-grown kale, tomato and garlic – September 28
Tomato tart with fresh heirloom tomatoes and roasted heirlooms on a bed of arugula pesto and cheese (all veggies except the arugula are home-grown) – October 5

Not pictured: countless Caprese sandwiches, creamy cucumber salad (with sour cream dressing), Swiss chard frittata.

Roasted Tomatoes

Tomato tart with fresh heirlooms and roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic on a bed of home-made arugula pesto and cheese

I roasted two sheets of tomatoes today. 250F convection oven (on bake) for 30 minutes. They were grape to cocktail size, and that was the right amount of time. I used them to top a tomato tart I made for dinner. So yummy!

Before
After

August Check-In

I took advantage of the cooler temperatures yesterday morning and spent two hours weeding my garden plot. My cucumbers are on their way out. They have started to wilt, I think I might have over-watered them. The green beans never made it. The seedlings are eaten by something/someone right after they emerge from the ground – I suspect the resident rabbit. The parsley died again. Like last year, the leaves turned reddish and pale and the plant basically disappeared. I ripped it out. I did some research and found that it might be due to a phosphorus deficiency. I will have to seriously amend my soil this fall. The greens are doing very well and the squash is looking good as well. The eggplants are growing nicely and the tomatoes and basil are also doing well. The first dahlias will bloom very soon – I am super excited. Soon I will put in fall greens and beets.

Greens and squash

Mid-July Harvest

Yesterday’s harvest: five cucumbers, Swiss chard and basil. I had harvested two cucumbers a couple of days earlier, so I used some of them up in last night’s dinner: I made a big Greek salad and served it alongside Mediterranean steak tips (marinated with fresh herbs from the back porch) with yogurt sauce, roasted garlicky eggplant, tahini sauce and rice. That still leaves four cucumbers 🙂

Early July

Borage

Things are happening fast now in the garden. We had some good rain a few days ago and it has been pretty hot. Everything is growing well. The squash has been taking off:

Butternut squash

I also harvested the first Chiogga beets. So pretty! We had them shaved with salad for dinner tonight. Delicious.

Chiogga beets

Early Summer Plantings

Front porch

I did some more planting yesterday. In the plot, I planted chard seedlings, two types of squash (butternut and delicata), a hot pepper, a zucchini and three cucumber plants. All of them were grown from seed. I also harvested some lettuce from the back porch and replanted that container with chard seedlings.

Front porch kale and lettuce
Back porch greens and baby chard
Back porch herbs

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Still no water in the garden. So, currently I have radishes, carrots, lettuce, beets and parsley growing in the plot. The seedlings are strong and ready to go in the ground, but I will wait a few more days hoping that we will get water soon.

Butter lettuce on back porch

I replanted two tomatoes, one hot pepper, eggplant, parsley and basil plant each on the back porch. There are also two lettuces in medium-size pots and a variety of herbs. The front porch has dwarf peas, lettuce and kale as well as mint, chives and cilantro grown from seed.

Waiting …
Dwarf bush peas
Front porch: flowers, peas, lettuces, kale, mint, chives, cilantro