I can practically smell some of the garden goodies being served around the Rocky Mountains!

David, thanks for the info on growing the artichokes! Haven't had any since...well, they got dropped far from the top of our 'love-it-enough' palate-budget quite some time ago. We have 1/2 acre and I'll just bet next year we'll have some Imperial Stars growing somewhere!

Still a long way away from my first BLT ..with succulent, garden ripe, fresh off-the-vine, actually smells/tastes like one -T's.... Looking forward to it. Lucky digitS'.. and all you others that are currently enjoying them.

MUST pick currants today... should have a few days ago. Good for sampling at this stage, though. The pet birds will scream for their share when they see me taking the red ones off.

Crystal

I don't have much to eat from my garden yet. I have basil, chives, cilantro and jalepenos. My snap peas are long gone. One of my broccoli plants seems to have bolted but the other 3 are forming nice heads. I don't have any eggplant fruit yet and all of my tomatoes have fruit but none are close to harvest. Grape tomato 'Juliet' is leading the way but is still at least a week out from ripe fruit.
So... why don't I have much to eat yet?
Here are the dates as far as I can remember:
I started most things inside early. The tomatoes and eggplants were started inside on 3/14/08. The peppers were started inside mid February.
I had the broccoli and brussel sprouts (I purchased plants this year) planted out in early May. I planted the tomatoes and eggplants outside in late May, earlier than our last frost date.
Am I still on track to get a decent harvest? This is my first year with a veggie bed and I'd love any advice. I envy Digit with his experiments and days to maturation counting. Perhaps I need to get more scientific...

David... I keep re-reading your "Ratatouille" post and drooling... YUM. I might have to cheat and go buy the ingredients and do my best to imitate it. I am adding shallots to my growing list for next year. It is very difficult to find fresh shallots at the grocery store.

I'm still picking the lettuce leaves from the last few that haven't bolted. I've got a farmer's market greenhouse tomato waiting to go into a salad, and I'm thinking of garnishing with day lilies, since my daughter & I love the flavor of those blossoms.

It's just about time to harvest some more of the kale. The last batch went into a lentil stew. I might try an egg dish I remember this time.

We've had a lot of chive-and-herb omelettes.

Martha Stewart Living had a note about dipping mint leaves in chocolate and freezing them to serve over ice cream. So now I'm eying the leaves on that chocolate mint plant I picked up at the swap and they may be in for some harvesting.

I've got one tomato plant with green tomatoes and two more that haven't really started to fruit yet. I've got one raspberry stalk with raspberries ripening, and the rest are yet to start. (I cut the whole plot back this year, so I'm supposed to get lots of fruit close to September.)

-Francesca

Three green bell peppers (for dinner recipe)
One "Fooled You" Jalepeno (just to see how it tasted)
One bush cucumber (another sample)
Sweet basil sprigs(went with spaghetti at lunch)
Chamomile flowers (for a cup of tea)

Did the jalapeño fool you, Laura?

Am I mistaken in believing that most people consider oregano "the" spaghetti seasoning and overlook basil? I have plenty of oregano and always go straight to the basil bed for the spaghetti sauce. But . . . I'm not much of a cook.

I have a favorite - Nufar. How's that for a basil name? They are just real nice plants and stay healthy during those long weeks in the Spring greenhouse. Cool, cloudy weahter is so tuff on these sun-loving herbs.

Large-leaf is another Genovese basil that is really, even more tasty. It's wonderful! But, Nufar gets thru the Spring unscathed.

Even thinking of seeing plants sicken, makes me feel ill. I'm going to make a cup of catnip tea (lacking chamomile). Then I'll feel better.

digitS'

I'm kinda fudging this evening. Just adding thinly sliced leeks, green shallots, and sweet pepper from the garden to a burrito, which is largely store bought stuff, but, hey. loca-vore more or less (olive oil is difficult). So, homegrown; ingredient-wise, maybe 15%. Flavor-wise, 95%. Two hunnert mile radius (hey, its dry out here) 99.98%

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Skewered and grilled.
Tomatoe sandwiches (my Celebs).
For starters...The first ripe Pricipe Borghese. Nice! Think I've finally found my Cherry tom.

Other than the bread, all from the garden!

Ummmm, for me - snow peas . . . stir-fried with sliced Walla Walla sweet onions and pastrami. Served on rice . . .

I noticed that the neighbor at the farmers' market had green beans . . .

digitS'

Last night, I had bowtie pasta with diced ham, peas, and my first batch of homemade pesto. One of my sons went back for seconds, which is a very good sign.

I was afraid I didn't have enough of one kind of basil, so I used a mixture of Cinnamon, Lemon, Lettuce Leaf, and Sweet. I'd like to make a batch of each kind separately, so I can see if there is much of a taste difference between them.

Bonnie

I had my first ripe Yellow Pear tonight (plant also from the spring swap). They all seem to hate them on the tomatoe forum, but I didn't thnk it was to bad. Little mild flavored, but tasty, make a good salad tom.

Harvested 4 nice sized Scallop squash to grill with the steaks tonight.

I had my very first zucchini last night. I've been wanting zucchini boats for three years, and finally I was able to have one. It was an 8 Ball zucchini that was shaped more like a giant green egg, so it was more like a zucchini urn with a lid. I scooped out the zucchini, sauteed it with some mushrooms and garlic, added a little soy sauce, and egg and some bread crumbs, and ladled it back into the urn, which I baked for about 25 minutes. When it was in the oven I remembered that I was supposed to add cheese, but it was very tasty even without the cheese. And it looked cute wearing its little lid like a hat.

I also boiled a handful of fresh Purple Majesty potatoes. They were small, but very flavorful.

The chicken thigh came from the grocery store, though.

Zucchini bread!! Honestly, this is the only way I enjoy Summer squash but, I'm trying to broaden my appreciation of the vegetable. DW makes the bread moist & heavy with zucchini, as I like it.

Yesterday, I finally had a few green beans from the garden. And, a Kennebec potato from one that volunteered in a bed of greens! Can't say I don't take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. In fact, some of the beans were from one plant that I pulled before I tilled up half the Spring planting . . . Even replanting that row offered little promise. That ground will be replanted soon for Autumn salads and I'll await the beans planted elsewhere.

digitS'

Zucchini enchiladas- yum.
Steviewonder

A huge crook-necked zucchini from a friend's garden that we hollowed out. Then grilled the first Ichiban eggplant from my garden and made a filling with that, the top of the zuke, the first ripe tomato (a Fantastic), tons of basil and oregano from the garden, toasted bread and parmesan cheese. Filled the zucchini and topped with the breadcrumbs & cheese mixture, wrapped it in foil and steamed it on the grill. It was yummy with smoked brisket sandwiches.

I ate something!

a handful of raspberries
a strawberry
and several chives were chopped and added to the dipping sauce for the pot stickers Darren made!

yay :)

Today, from my garden I ate ...

the last of my wintersown lettuces, and some Lettuce Leaf basil mixed together in a taco salad. I also used some of my fresh oregano and marjoram in the meat sauce.

I could taste the basil mixed in with the greens, though it wasn't overpowering. My DH, aka Mr. Meat & Potatoes, was unable to detect the fresh herbs, but said it was very good, which is a big compliment coming from someone who doesn't care for salad!

Bonnie

Not today but last night I ate:

A massive 9 inch Black Eel zucchini. The day before it was 5 inches long, and I thought I'd let it grow a little for an extra day....

A small Russet Norkotah baking potato, which is all one of my Norkotah plants produced.

It's really great to walk into your back yard and come back inside with food that you can eat. And this is the first year I've been successful with zucchinis. I think it's because I made sure to add plenty of compost and I planted them in full sun.

There are three more zucchinis forming.

Sweet onion enchiladas with a diced Legend tomato (I'm not giving these a proper taste test yet - what with sprinkling everything with Tabasco sauce) . . .

They're really an impressive looking early tomato. The plants are small but they are filled with good-sized fruits. Legends are determinants so they'll ripen and be gone . . . sniff.

I still haven't gotten 1 ripe Early Girl.

d'S'

Had a BLT with little but tasty Bloody Butchers and popped a bunch of Yellow Submarines. Oh, my are they good... a yellow pear with flavor. woo hoo!!!!

I dont get why people knock Yellow Pears all the time. This is the first time I grew it, and I dont think they're that bad. A little bit bland compared to others, but a decent snacker.

I didn't knock yellow pear, please don't confuse me with the snobs at the tomato board. I grew yellow sub because I have fond memories of yellow pear, but it is bland. Yellow Sub has the shape but has more flavor so I get the best of the yellow pear-shaped tomatoes.

I'll "knock" it if'n ya want, Meteor. I tried thru 4 seasons to grow 'em. DW loves the things! What finally broke the camel's back was a season when not a single yellow pear ripened without splitting . . . not one!! I know when I'm beaten and need to go with something else (but it takes awhile ;o).

I've just about never eaten a tomato I didn't like. Generally, I go for full flavor but there's not a thing wrong with mild in my book. The Thessaloniki last season was mild but with a light fruity flavor that I don't remember tasting in another tomato. I've got my slicing knife sharp for the 1st one that shows red this season.

The knife sliced up another Legend today - 9+ ounces. This is a mild tomato. I've now learned that Bloody Butchers have lots of flavor. Probably sets them far apart from all the rest of the early earlies.

d'S'

Although I haven't eaten them yet, today I brought in a couple more zucchinis and a Sausage tomato. This time I didn't let the zucchinis get to humungous size before I put a knife to them. My Black Eel zucchini was only about 5-6 inches. I've another couple forming. By the time I get back from my trip, they'll probably be ready. I don't have to worry about pollination. I go out in the morning and find at least a couple flowers open and usually with the butt end of a bee or two in view down the blossoms.

As always, Skorospelka is really pumping out nice tart canners. There are probably 20 maters on each determinate plant.

Nice Jali! Is that your laundry basket system I see there? Didn't you say you did that with potatos too? I was going to try that, but never got around to it this year. Your Skorospelkas look yummy!

Last night we had herbed green beans (with green beans, onions, garlic, basil & parsley). All but garlic from the garden. And to stock salad I added carrots, Black Tomato, swiss chard and kale. Didn't really like the kale in the salad. Too strong.

I have 2 "got away from me" zucchini sitting on the counter. Hope to make zucchine bread this weekend.

This weekend I'll pick the last of the red potatoes. Still have several Yukon gold plants to harvest. And maybe try some more beets. They're still awfully small.

Alice

Lots of stuff but there was something new - sweet corn!

d'S'

Haven't eaten them yet, but yesterday I got home from my trip to find several ripe tomatoes and a zucchini ready. I also dug up about a dozen potatoes.

Saturday, from my friends' garden we ate:

green beans, red (skin and flesh) potatoes, red leaf lettuce and sun-dried tomatoes from last year's harvest.

From my garden, also on Saturday, I ate some teeny tiny lemon thyme leaves in my incredibly delicious pasta salad!

Yeah, that was a good day :)

I have no idea what kind of potatoes those were and I should have asked but, wow, they were the best tasting potatoes I've ever had. We keep talking about them!

JC, we picked up red potatoes from the local nursery last year and absolutely loved them. So I went to the same nursery again this year, and we love them again!! They are so velvety smooth tasting is the only way I can describe them. We love them just boiled with butter.

I planted Yukon Gold this year as well, and we've harvested some of those, but they just aren't as awe inspiring as the red potatoes.

You should try some next year. They are so easy to grow, although they do take up a little room.

Alice

I bet you can narrow down the variety here.

Perhaps it was Cranberry (All Red). And, Milkranch is right in your backyard, I believe.

The Caribe potato that I have this year is very good. I'm not sure how well it will keep or if that flavor/texture will hold up while it does.

The low cost of supermarket spuds deterred me from growing 'em for years but with the flavor of the garden varieties - what was I thinking?!?

digitS'

Fresh Kennebecs. It wasn't until I started growing my own potatoes that I realized they could have subtle flavors beyond "potato."

Yummy!

I harvested "a" potato (1 is regular sized with 6 pea-sized from my "oops" taters), 2 eggplant, a Fantastic tomato and 8 cherry bell peppers, along with a bunch of sage, oregano, parsley and basil. Looks like frittata is on the menu for dinner tonight. I don't have any cuddly chickens to get the eggs though.

Dafy

Spacemaster Cucumbers and Purple Haze (which looked more purple after I washed them) and Rainbow Mix Carrots

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Sliced up fresh with Ranch dressing for the kids. Also, some Lemon Basil for the chicken in the slow cooker, and some Chives for the mashed potatoes. The potatoes are store bought, but you guys have me wondering if I'm missing out by not growing them. Not that I have any place to put them anyway.

Bonnie

Thinly sliced some Scallop squash, and onions and made fried rice with it...Yum, But, dessert (which I'm still savoring)...My first ripe Pink Brandywine!

They're ripeing small like all the other toms, but MY GOD! What a taste treat! Soft thin skin, smooth textured flesh, and intense flavor.

I think I need some alone time....

My first Cherokee Purple tomato! Well, half of it anyway, it had a pretty nasty split on one side. Diced it up with a couple of cucumbers and carrots out of the garden, threw in a couple of Sungolds, drizzled some oil and vinegar dressing over it, threw in some chopped basil and chives, and stirred it all together. WOW!!!

My older son, who is almost 10 thought it was awesome. The middle child asked where the Ranch dressing was, and didn't like the tomatoes, and the 2 year old gobbled down the tomatoes, but had to be prodded to eat the cukes and carrots. At least everyone found something they liked!

Cherokee Purple will be on next year's list for sure.

... looks like the first San Marzano might be ready tomorrow, I see a pasta dish on the menu : )

Bonnie

I'm making Eggplant Pamigiana. I've never made Eggplant Pamigiana before but I looked at a recipe and it's just the fried breaded eggplant I was having for lunch PLUS tomato sauce and cheese, baked. I've got about 3 times too much for lunch so can do that for dinner or save it for tomorrow.

Actually, I have prepared this recipe before but that was with green tomatoes. It was my last attempt to find something good to do with green tomatoes. Sorry, I don't like 'em. My trials with Green Tomato Pamigiana ended after 2 tries when I realized that the dish would taste better to me if the tomatoes had been ripe. Of course, the texture wouldn't be the same so, and since, I've always liked Eggplant Pamigiana, I thought I'd substitute eggplant into this other recipe.

Yesterday, I had half a Passport melon. I'd thought the Fastbreak canteloupe would mature first but it was not to be so. Passport is a little difficult for me to determine as to stage of development because the fruit starts with a green rind to match its ultimate green flesh. But, when it turns golden and falls off the vine . . . it's ripe!

digitS', sitting under the rainclouds hoping for sun and heat . . . what?!? Goin' to get that other melon half out of the fridge.

First of the season tomato salad, with diced up all-kindza-tomatoes, whole bunch of fresh shallots diced up, couple sweet peppers diced up, salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar, and then diced up fresh mozzarella. This is one of those salads that has to eaten with crusty bread to soak up the juice.

Yum, David! That sounds a bit like our salad the other day, except I didn't think of throwing in the mozzarella. I'll have to add that next time, and the crusty bread too!

Here was my harvest last night, served mixed with penne, sauted chicken, and cheese:
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The tomato on the left is my first San Marzano, and the one on the right is another Cherokee Purple. I wish they didn't crack so bad, but their taste makes up for it. I thought the San Marzano was a bit bland. Are all paste tomatoes like that?

Bonnie

Tomatoe and Cucumber with a splash of rice vinager and salt
Baked a large scallop squash
And some steaks that marinated all day.

The steak sucked compared to the rest, didn't finish it.

Digit - soak the sliced green tomatoes in buttermilk seasoned with Creole Seasoning for a couple of hours :-), then bread with Panko breadcrumbs, little bit of flour, more Creole Seasoning, garlic powder and fresh cracked black pepper...THEN fry and try.

Had another handful of sweet cherry bell peppers from the front yard; a couple were actually turning red, which made them slightly citrusy roasted with quartered yellow potatoes and a small pork roast. Used fresh sage on the pork and rosemary on the potatoes. Wine and garlic, some paprika on everything.

The drippings were awesome, especially with homemade bread.

Last night, actually: Roasted Garden Stuff with Pasta:

Big onion, green beans, beets (and greens) tomatoes, summer squash, garlic, all chopped up, salted, and olive-oiled, in big shallow baking dish.

Baked at 350º, flipping over stuff now and again so it roasts, not burns.

Boil lb of pasta, drain, stir all together in pasta pot, serve with grated cheese.

David, didn't you turn the entire dish purple with the beets??

I've been wondering where to share this information and since I've mentioned my Passport melons and waiting for the Fastbreak cantaloupe (& I'm still waiting for Honey Girl Charentais and watermelons) - I may as well say something more about Passports here.

Spring was a very difficult time for the melons. I had a visit from the neighbor during our 1st, belated warm spell. He was nearly standing on a dead melon plant and I was hoping he wouldn't notice and ask about it (and them). The cold, wet weather made the transplanted melon plants so sick, many died. The Honey Girls, that I like so well, must have had about an 80% loss.

Turns out that there are no, none, nada, zip, zero cantaloupe out there! I'd assumed that some of the vines were Fastbreaks - nope. Besides the 2 plants (I believe it is) with ripening Charentais melons, and the easily identified watermelon vines - ALL the remainder are Passport galia melons!

I've decided NOT to complain. Passport is a fine melon. Here's what Colorado State U says about them: "Very aromatic, nice texture, early season melons seem to be the most flavorful." Here's what Vesey seed company says: "An extremely early honeydew type melon. Combines ultra-earliness, durability, and great flavor. Passport has thick flesh and rich green color, dark green toward the outside, whitish green toward the seed cavity. Unlike muskmelons, the flavor is smooth and the aroma is fresh. Fruit are large averaging 6-7" in diameter and 5-6 lbs. Vines are vigorous and productive. Good disease tolerance. Maturity approximately 80-85 days" Territorial Seed notes that Passport is a "Galia" melon from Israel and claims it matures in 75 days in their gardens.

The CSU research on specialty melons encountered an unexpected variable - hail. Loss to the hail storm ranged from 93% to 30% in 14 of the 15 varieties tested (50% loss was about the median). Here is where Passport came thru with flying colors - only a 13% loss from the hail!! My garden's difficult Spring growing conditions showed similar results - Passport makes it thru the border-line growing conditions of Spring cold and storms better than the others!

Rather than be aggravated over the loss of the cantaloupe and most of the Charentais - I'm very pleased with Passport.

d'S'

Upon looking more carefully thru that CSU study . . . turns out that the hail storm was in August not during the Spring as I'd assumed. CSU does note "significantly cooler temperatures" during that year's trials, at least.

Oh well, I guess I should just cite my own "research" when commenting . . .

S

Golden beets. We've got hail in the forecast for the next two days..... five or six years ago we had a storm that dropped 4" in 15 min, it beat my garden to a pulp. I was out picking stuff all day.

Yikes!! Its raining already. My tomatoes won't split from heavy rain if I tell them, authoritatively, not to.

Made some caponata with eggplant, tomatoes, celery, onions, green olives. My husband's aunt used to make it and I got a hunger for it. She, of course never used a recipe. I tried one but will have to tweak it some. Had BLTs for lunch with Azchoyka and Yellow/Pink tomatoes. Some of the first of the larger tomatoes to ripen. Really late tomatoes this year along with cukes. It only is 50 degrees out so don't think I will ripen a lot of tomatoes outside this year. Green tomatoe recipes? Kidding! I have a friend who will take all the green tomatoes I will give as she makes green tomato relish and chowchow and sells commercially. I am thinking the first ears of corn tonight along with fried zucchini. ( Which is the only way my DH will eat it.)

Last night, it was Sungold, Black Cherry (thank you again for the seeds Margaret!), and my first Supersweet 100's, roasted with olive oil, salt & pepper, then sprinkled with basil and mozzarella. Nice little sidedish!

Ready to go in the oven:

Tonight it was an English muffin with slices of a Cherokee Purple, S & P, a layer of basil leaves, and a slice of mozzarella toasted, served with fresh sliced cucumbers. Yum, yum!!!

Still waiting on the first ripe Moskvich and Opalka, but hopefully we have enough warm weather left to see at least a few of those before the first frost.

Bonnie

Last night we had corn for dinner, with some grilled chicken on the side. I picked 8 ears of corn, and we (2 of us) ate it all. I should have picked most of it a day or so earlier, but this batch (our 2nd) looked much better than the first. The first must not have had good pollination, as they certainly were not beautiful, full ears of corn. Tasted good though.
We used the first good purple pepper in some sweet & sour pork the other night. It had such a nice flavor. I don't really care for the flavor of green pepper, though I'll eat it in small amounts, and I like the flavor it adds to foods. I much prefer the orange & yellows. I never had purple before, and even though it turned green when cooked, it was really good. Much milder flavor than the green ones.
I also tried some green dragon burpless cucumbers (an Asian variety) and have been happy with them. If you accidentally let the plants dry out (they were severely wilted, 2 days in a row...bad, I know I've been watering daily now) they will still get bitter. Other than that, they've been really good.

I haven't eaten it all yet, but I have seven zucchini in the refrigerator calling my name. I've also been harvesting tomatoes for sauce.

After a spell of cooler weather and tons of rain early in August, the potato plants got their second wind and sprung up several inches. They show no signs of dying back.

And my Nutribud broccoli has a quarter-sized head on it!