Monthly Archives: November 2008
Buttons, buttons, buttons
If you are a fan of square foot gardening or use my Planting by Color system, have I got a button for you! choose your button right click, select all, copy add an html widget to your blog layout and paste this html code inside of it <a border=0 href=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net mce_href=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net target=_blank><img src=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/button1.gif mce_src=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/button1.gif/></a></p> <a border=0 href=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net mce_href=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/color target=_blank><img src=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/Planting_By_Color.png mce_src=http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/Planting_By_Color.png/></a></p> Happy gardening!
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My Winning Salsa Recipe
My goal this year was two-fold: Grow enough veggies to make my own salsa Find a salsa recipe that my family likes more than or equal to Pace Picante I am happy to report success in both areas! Here is the salsa recipe I found/altered: 24 pounds tomatoes (equals about 34 cups cored, skinned, and quartered) 2 pounds green peppers (equals about 4 cups seeded, chopped) 12 ounces hot peppers (equals about 1 cup seeded, chopped) 2 pounds onions (4 whole onions) 3 TBS tobasco/hot sauce 2 2/3 cups vinegar 1/2 cup salt 1 TBS chili powder 8 cloves garlic, minced … Continue reading
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2008 Garden in Review–Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Broccoli
In the end, my broccoli took up SO MUCH space! It didn’t produce as much as I had hoped. Still, I will do it again! The fresh broccoli was SO DELICIOUS it was worth all my time starting, tending, transplanting, and picking worms off the plants! Long live broccoli! I enjoyed growing cabbage, but I had one major problem: we don’t eat “cabbage food” during the summer. All my really yummy cabbage recipes (borsch, cabbage rolls, etc) are foods we eat in the fall. So next year I need to make real efforts to grow cabbage in the fall, when … Continue reading
Posted in 2008, My SFG
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Yummy Marinara Sauce
This sauce is great for spaghetti or lasagna. Add diced veggies or meat. Simmer in 1 cup of water: 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped Add and simmer for 30 minutes: 15 ounces tomato sauce (or 2 cups) 2 TBS dry parsley or 1/4 cup fresh parsley 2 TBS lemon juice 1 1/2 TBS honey 1 1/2 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp thyme 6 ounces tomato paste Happy gardening!
Posted in Recipes
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2008 Garden in Review–Onions, Potatoes, Cucumbers
Onions One thing I learned here–definitely worth starting from sets! All the time and effort I put into starting from seeds was pretty much wasted. I harvested 6 pounds of onions, and used every last one in salsa! I planted them this year near my potatoes, but in the end they sort of competed for space. Next year I want to try a sweeter onion variety–the ones I grew had me weeping as I cut them–and I’ll plant them next to plants that don’t have huge root systems, or root vegetables. Potatoes After the failure I expected, I was SO … Continue reading
Posted in 2008, My SFG
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2008 Garden in Review–Squash, Peppers
Squash This year I planted 1 mini-pumpkin, 1 regular pumpkin, and 1 zucchini. We harvested 7 small pumpkins and 3 large (one huge!). On one hand, we didn’t get a lot of pumpkins, considering the space it took up (it sprawled to cover almost an entire box, even though I trellised them through the fence). Still, it saved me the $10-15 we would have spent buying pumpkins! We are virtually no zucchini this year. Last year my son was crazy about it, and ate a ton. This year, not so much. The truth is, I’ve never come up with recipes … Continue reading
Posted in 2008, My SFG
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2008 Garden in Review–Tomatoes
First, we had a REALLY bad start with cool weather for at least a month longer than usual. I don’t think this was a typical year. I didn’t know of anyone with “too many” tomatoes. I planted 3 vining tomatoes with a trellis. Well, I thought they were 3 vining varieties. Turns out I mixed up some plants somewhere along the way, and I ended up with two Sweet 100 plants (which I intended) and one Roma (which I thought was a Better Boy). I planted these alongside my cucumbers. First, the Sweet 100′s were HUGELY prolific, and took over the entire trellis. … Continue reading
Posted in 2008, My SFG
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Oh SO EASY Tomato Sauce
My friend gave me this recipe–comes in super handy when tomato plants are overflowing! This is so quick and easy, it’s a lifesaver! Line cookie sheet with foil. Wash and quarter tomatoes (take off stems, but no need to peel, core, or seed) and lay skin-side down in the pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 for 1 hour. Cool until you can handle them, then blend. Pour into freezer containers and freeze (I also do ice cube trays, then put in baggies). When you are needing marinara sauce, just defrost and add to sauteed onions and garlic. Season–enjoy! … Continue reading
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Veggie Lasagna
I used all fresh, home-grown vegetables in this recipe and it was DELICIOUS!!! Vegetable Lasagna Cook 1 box of lasagna noodles according to instructions on the box. Saute in 2 TBS olive oil until soft, 1 diced, peeled carrots 1 stalks of diced celery 1 seeded, diced green pepper 1/2 diced onion 2 cloves pressed garlic Add and simmer 10 minutes, 1/2 cup chopped broccoli 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes 1 cup tomato sauce 2 sprigs chopped fresh parsley 6 chopped fresh basil leaves Oregano While the sauce simmers, combine, 1 container ricotta cheese 1/2 cup parmesean cheese 2 eggs 2 sprigs … Continue reading
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Delicious Potato Soup
I think the best part of having a garden is actually cooking with home-grown veggies! I love this potato soup recipe. Potato Soup Saute 1 cup diced onions and 1/2 cup chopped celery in 2 TBS butter until transparent. Add 2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp salt, and pepper (to taste). Cover and Boil until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups milk and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Heat through (do not boil) and serve. Happy gardening!
