Homegrown Veggies

This summer we are going to be overflowing with home grown veggies! First, we expanded our garden. It is now approximately... gigantic! 25 ft long by 25 ft wide surrounded by chicken-wire bunny fencing! It is so awesome. I planted stuff we haven't planted before, and all the usual things like tomatoes and peas and eggplants. I've also planted herbs in the garden this year, whereas in the past they've all been in pots. We have herbs in pots too! I love fresh herbs.

In addition to the garden, we joined a CSA! The joining of the CSA occurred before we finished expanding the garden. For those perhaps not in the know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a share of a farm, and in exchange you get locally grown yummy veggies every week for the growing season! We joined the Otter Hook Farms CSA, which conveniently offers a half-share, for those of us with crazy gardens. I pick up at the co-op after work on Thursdays, which is also convenient because it's on my way home! (for the most part.)

This is what we got in our box last week:
Left to Right you've got mixed salad greens, scallions, radishes, rapini and a pile of garlic scapes!

Here's what they all turned into!
The scapes made friends with some basil and made this super yummy pesto! It was 1 large bunch of basil, 1 handful of scapes, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup pine nuts, a few tbsp nutritional yeast, the juice of a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. A little spin around the food processor and you've got delicious zesty pesto!


The rapini (aka broccoli rabe) was sauteed in olive oil with garlic, red pepper flakes, and lemon zest, topped with a few pine nuts.

The radishes and mixed greens went into a roasted portabello mushroom salad. This is based on the recipe in Veganomicon, though I marinated the mushroom in equal parts balsamic vinegar, tamari and water with oregano, basil, and rosemary. I roasted them off in the oven, and they're sitting on a bed of salad greens with chickpeas, avocado, radishes, and cherry tomatoes. (The boy's salad also included onions)

Not pictured, the boy ate the scallions in his eggs in the morning.

Meanwhile, in the Kaleyard... (pretend there aren't tons of weeds, ok? It's been downpouring and the weeds are VERY happy. So are the veggies, so I guess it's only fair. Also pretend there isn't a damned basketball hoop pole there :| We're still addressing that issue)

Overview

Peppers! Basil! Squash of many varieties! Beans! Peas!
The shell peas are flowering!

Tomatoes on really, really, really big stakes.
The kale is growing like mad, but it's hard to tell with all the weeds. The cauliflower and cabbage and things are getting really bushy!!