Another month has passed and we are well into summer. It’s a strange summer with none of the usual holiday markers to indicate the march of time. No Memorial Day, no 4th of July, and I don’t think Labor Day will be different from any other day of the week. I am losing track of time and the date as one day seems much like the one before and the one to come. I’m not (necessarily) complaining as we are all well, have plenty to eat and I am not worried about where the rent payment will come from. I feel very fortunate. But, it seems unreal with so many sad and horrifying events happening around the country and the world. I try to avoid being political on my blog, but I am deeply embarrassed and humiliated by my country right now.
So I retreat into my kitchen (and garden) which has a bounty of richness.
The flowering sweet peas are blooming like crazy. They need to be picked almost daily or they will set seed and stop blooming. I can see the blooms on the dining room table from the kitchen and they smell divine.
Sweet Pea Flowers
On the edible side, I have both snap and snow peas in the garden. It takes a few days to harvest enough for a meal but they are delicious!
Snap and Snow Peas
In my kitchen I have the first of the cucumbers from my plastic covered raised beds. I haven’t been able to get any to ripen in past years but the plastic has done the trick, raising the temperature.
Cucumbers
In my kitchen I have zucchini, lots of zucchini, which we adore simply grilled and splashed with good olive oil. I usually salt them for a few minutes before cooking which improves the sweetness and draws out excess water.
Grilled Zucchini
In my kitchen I have lettuce, this one is so beautiful as it looks like a flower. It’s almost too pretty to eat.
Lettuce from the garden
Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box from Nye Ranch has contained bunches of regular and golden beets the last couple of weeks. I pickled a two of pints of each. The golden beets are with rice vinegar and ginger, the red ones with red wine vinegar and star anise.
Also from our CSA I have turnips. I don’t really like turnips, I try but am not having any luck. I hate to throw them into the worm bin so this time I made a quick refrigerator pickle with them. I do like radishes and I know they are in the same family. But, I am simply not a fan. I will let you know if the pickled ones turn me around.
Quick Refrigerator Pickled Turnips
And in my kitchen I have this lovely broccoli Romanesco.
From Wikipedia:
Romanesco broccoli is an edible flower bud of the species Brassica oleracea. First documented in Italy, it is chartreuse in color. Romanesco has a striking appearance because its form is a natural approximation of a fractal.
Broccoli Romanesco
Isn’t it beautiful? Although it looks closer to cauliflower the flavor is more like broccoli.
And, for comfort there has to be something sweet…in our case that’s chocolate, especially milk chocolate.
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What great vegetables you have! The zucchini look really delicious. I totally agree with you that being safe, well-fed, and not fearful of financial ruin is a reason for gratitude, but our current situation comes with the unfortunate side effect of humiliation on our country’s behalf. How did we go wrong?
be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
We love roasted potatoes, but potatoes are unfortunately the vegetable equivalent of white bread with a few minerals.Now I do a mix of potatoes and turnips, which are better nutritionally. you might try that as a way to get turnips into your life. Also I make many vegetable stews that include turnips as one of the ingredients.
Thanks Dan, I have tried them mixed with potatoes and roasted but don’t think they can match the texture of potatoes. They will get someone crisp on the outside but remain watery on the inside, not floury. I will try them in a vegetable stew though.
i agree about turnips:) I am envious of your lovely produce, esp. the zucchini. I am planning to make zuke pickles soon so i wish had some gorgeous fresh produce. I know what you mean about gratitude for all the good things in our lives, but it has been such a tough year so far! here’s hoping for better. that broccoli is such a work of art; just lovely. sweet peas look beautiful too. thanks for joining in Liz
cheers
sherry
We have a glut of zucchini so I may end up making pickles. I do love them though and never regret having an abundance. Stay safe and well.
The sweet peas remind me of my mother as she has always grown them. Enjoy the bounty from your garden:)
And for me my grandmother. I spent many summers with her in England and she always had a long row of them planted.
Everything looks beautiful. I’ve only had one zucchini so far, and the tomatoes are still green, but that’s how it goes!!!
My tomatoes are still green as well, fingers crossed that I actually get some this year. Covering the raised beds with plastic has increased the heat. But, this will be a first. I didn’t even try last year.
Lovely and yummy – just the way a garden should be 🙂 What kind of lettuce did you grow – don’t think I have ever seen it before.
To help tomatoes along in Michigan I use to put down red plastic – said to reflect the heat.
I have seen red plastic used for that purpose, I recently saw “walls of water” made from that same red plastic. Unfortunately my problem is that the temperature can drop more than 20 degrees overnight, and we rarely get over 72 degrees F even in the middle of the day. Add to that the fog in mid summer…bad tomato weather unless you have a greenhouse.
Your weather doesn’t sound good for tomatoes – they need lots of hot temps, sun, water and night time temps above 50 – try growing salad tomatoes – good luck!
Lovely photos, your veggies look so fresh. Wish our markets had produce this nice.
Thank you Tina, I do indeed feel fortunate. But I am sorry that you don’t have an equally delicious supply.
Such a beautiful garden you have, with all those vegetables. We have different sorts of tropical perennials growing, but I do want to see how zucchini would do. I’ve found that turnips, or daikon are really good thin sliced into kimchi.
Kimchi is something that I have been meaning to try for ages. I think I am a little intimidated.
Your veggie photos are amazing. I would frame your lettuce. I’m getting a bit of zucchini and am waiting on my cukes. I like Claudia’s idea about kimchi with your turnips. (It’s hard to not get political when everything is becoming politicized.) 🙁
I will try that with the next batch, good idea. I am sure I will get even more turnips next week.
I am having good luck with cucumber but not zucchini this year; what kind are those interesting-looking hairy zucchini you have?
They are Romenesco, an Italian variety with stripes. They are very dense and good even when quite large.
Nice, I had never seen that variety before!
Your garden bounty is beautiful Liz, especially that head of lettuce! It has been raining nonstop here-well with the occasional half day of some sun. My garden is looking ok, but very slow growing. The tomatoes are on the plant, but the plants are not as high as they should be by this time. Pazienza…..I just have to be patient! This is the first summer in 17 years I am not going to Italia, so I am a bit disoriented and confused. I guess everyone is right now. We are lucky we have gardens to help relieve our stress. Ciao, Cristina
Yes we are lucky to have gardens. I understand that displacement though, we had trips to New Zealand and Finland planned for the spring and fall. This will be the first time in a long time we haven’t had a vacation and aren’t really going anywhere.
I’m very envious of all your beautiful fresh veggies. I’ve never seen your purple peas before…do they turn green when they are cooked like so many other purple vegetables do?
They don’t turn green but a shade of muddy grey-ish purple. They are pretty mixed in the green ones.