Category Archives: Garden

Grilled Mini-Peppers

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I didn’t get out to my garden much last week. We had about 6 months worth of rain over a few days, and I didn’t feel like getting wet. I was completely surprised when I popped out there between rain showers on Saturday and found 11 mini bell peppers ready to be picked! I was short on side dishes for dinner (previously used more potatoes than I thought), so as at the last minute I was scanning the internet for something quick to do with the bell peppers.

Grilled Mini Peppers

This is just about the easiest thing you could imagine. Dad Cooks Dinner posted this recipe. All you do is skewer the peppers, brush them with oil, and season them. I used just seasoned salt. This was great as a grilled side dish, but also would be an easy appetizer for your next BBQ.

 

Happy Labor Day!

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Happy Labor Day! Hope you are having a relaxing day off from your usual labors.

I made Macaroni salad with a New Mexico twist  yesterday. I wanted to use as much produce from my garden as possible. I found a recipe for Jalapeno Ranch Dressing from Closet Cooking, which was the perfect dressing for this salad.

Macaroni Salad a la New Mexico

I only used one jalapeno pepper in the dressing, which was great for us. Obviously, an extra pepper (or leaving in some seeds) would give you more heat. The jalapeno peppers and tomatoes came from our garden, the carrots, lime and onion from our harvest box.

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Macaroni Salad a la New Mexico
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ pound macaroni, cooked
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 carrots, shredded
  • ½ small onion, minced
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, stem and seeds removed
  • juice of ½ of a lime
  • handful of cilantro
Instructions
  1. Combine cooked macaroni, tomatoes, carrots, and onion in a large bowl.
  2. In the blender, combine buttermilk, mayonnaise, pepper, lime juice, and cilantro. Process until smooth. Pour over salad, toss to combine.
  3. Chill salad for at least 1 hour.
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A Most Productive Day

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Yesterday was the post productive yet for my backyard garden.

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I haven’t bought tomatoes for a couple of weeks. I think the large tomato is the biggest one I have ever grown. I probably would have more production if I actually did more than pull weeds and pick produce. I have a nice little crop of jalapeno peppers, but I’m waiting to see if they get a little bigger.

Produce from Everywhere!

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We just got a new box of produce, and our garden has started producing. We are swimming in produce! I love having so many options to cook with. Now, if I just had more time….

Patty Pan Squash

Only one of my Patty Pan squash plants made it, but it is producing like crazy. These 2 were ready at the same time, and there are 2 more almost ready. I’m going to have to start freezing, I think.

Harvest Box 8/9/13

Here’s what is in this week’s harvest box:

  • Butternut squash
  • Sweet potatoes
  • White potatoes
  • Garlic
  • Green peppers
  • Green beans
  • Limes
  • Peaches
  • Blueberries
  • Salad mix

Feast and Famine in My Garden

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We have been getting LOTS of rain. In fact, we got almost half of our average yearly rainfall last weekend! Our yard is looking pretty good. My garden has its good and bad points.

The Good Garden

First, the good. My tomato and squash plants are huge! We have a fair number of small green tomatoes, and have eaten a couple of red ones. (Unfortunately, the fruit ripened when they were tiny, but they tasted good.) I don’t see any squash yet, but there are lots of flowers. It won’t freeze here for a couple more months, so I am hopeful.

The Bad Garden

I should have known better than to put the two largest growing plants (tomatoes and squash) in the same bed. My beans didn’t come up at all, and the pepper plants are so small. I got the peppers in really late, and I think the plants are confused. They started flowering and trying to set fruit before the plants were ready. We’ll see how they do with all the rain.