What are You Eating from the Garden?

[flowerbug]

I'd imagine that about 20% of the peas I eat each year are while I'm right in the garden.

Snap, shell or snow - if there is any question in my mind about their quality, they go right in my mouth .

If'n they don't reach my standards of quality fresh - chomp chomp prlfpppt !

Steve

i don't even have a guilty look on my face either... i could be standing in a pile of shells around me. not a smidge of guilt... since i'm the one who picks 'em i can eat what i want... i do share. eventually... lol same way with fresh beans.

 

[Trish Stretton]

This week, my first lot of purple potatoes were ready to come out- just in time for Christmas dinner. These are the long skinny ones which usually are quite small and so hard to find, I referred to them as my catshat taties. they have a nice firm texture and dont go mushy.
I dont know how they got to this particular bed cos I didnt plant them there.
I'm wondering if this lot were a better size because they were growing next to the wooden edge of the bed rather than more in the middle a bed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Daughter-in-Law used my fresh broccoli and cauliflower as part of her Christmas Eve meal, That's was where her side and our side got together. First time I'd seen her brother and his wife for a couple of years. Her parents we see all the time. For the Christmas Day meal just for out side she used mu broccoli, chard, and chard stems in a couple of dishes.. Then for Boxing Day we got together over here and my wife used my mustard greens in a soup. My wife's sister came down from Minnesota and spent the week with us. That was nice.

 

[seedcorn]

Boxing Day?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is Boxing Day?

Arguments come thick and fast as to why, and we hope you find the answers below interesting. But firstly, it has nothing to do with the sport of boxing.


Boxing Day is a national Bank Holiday in late December, a day to spend with family and friends and to eat up all the leftovers of Christmas Day. The origins of the day, however, are steeped in history.

Why Is It Called Boxing Day?

Arguments abound on the origins of the name Boxing Day. All the answers below are valid, so maybe it is one, or even all of them.

1. The name is a reference to holiday gifts. A ‘Christmas Box’ in Britain is a name for a Christmas present. Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants and the day when they received a ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families.
2. The name is a reference to charity drives. A box to collect money for the poor traditionally and placed in Churches on Christmas day and opened the next day - Boxing Day.
3. The name refers to a nautical tradition. Great sailing ships when setting sail would have a sealed box containing money on board for good luck. Were the voyage a success, the box was given to a priest, opened at Christmas and the contents then given to the poor.

When is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is the 26th December and is a national holiday in the UK and Ireland.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Herbs!!!!! Rosemary and Basil! I use them with my roasted chicken and it was heavenly good!!! Yum!

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

There may be the most limited opportunities here but what are others enjoying at their tables?

The first for us is usually chives in some breakfast egg combination. Then, we saved some kale plants here at home. This year, we tried them as they began to flower. Very good! Scotch, Siberian and Portuguese kale. For weeks, and we are still eating them! I think we are gonna come close to eating from the same plants for 12 months.

Then ... there's the bok choy from the hoop house for about the last week. That may not really count because those beds are still covered with plastic film. I had escarole in my sandwich, yesterday.

What vegetables are you harvesting?

Steve

Personally, Tomatoes, potatoes, chiles, they are the easiest and for me the most useful.

 

[Trish Stretton]

I just harvested my sweet corn. I dont have big freezer anymore so I cut the kernals off the cobs and bagged them before popping in my little freezer.
I love munching on these fresh off the plant but remembered to keep some back for next year.

Chamomile flowers are being routinely plucked every few days and dried in front of my open kitchen window. I dont like drying my herbs or flowers in the sun cos I think it ruins the essential oils in them, so try to keep them as cool as poss while they dry.
I love my bedtime chamomile tea.

Lemon Verbena, I pluck the older leaves to dry for alot of different uses and then when the new softer leaves grow out, these get plucked too and dried separately to add to my pot of tea.
Sometimes I just grab some leaves and rub them all over for that uplifting scent.
I like the older leaves to drop in the bath over winter and the younger leaves to add to my green tea.

My NZ heirloom peas- Whero, (no idea what that means and havent had a chance to find out yet), My trial of a dozen or so plants from seed that was almost too old yielded enough for a couple of meals or pea and ham soup with enough to plant out for a better crop next year, I have always wanted a yellow pea and was thrilled to find out that these dry out yellow. fresh, they look like any other green pea.
Little grandson and I have had a number of pleasant afternoons munching on the fresh peas as well.

My sole survivor cherry tomato has been growing out all over the path and giving me lovely sweet pear shaped toms that dont make it to the kitchen.

Plums- Hawera is a seedling of the Black Doris plum. I had to climb up onto my woodshed roof the get the last of these. My dog, Jack loves them as well.
The Louisa/Elephant heart plum has just about finished. These are just what you need on a hot summer day, so juicy and with no sour/tannin notes....only a few left on the tree.

 

[digitS']

@Trish Stretton , I have tried to grow chamomile but the flowers were so few and tiny that I just couldn't see how it would be worthwhile.

They have become more useful through the years. I just finished a breakfast cup of chamomile and spearmint tea (store-bought).

Lemon verbena is my favorite to grow for tea, although it has to be protected in the greenhouse through the winter. Do you, perhaps grow anise hyssop? I don't much care for it by itself but it's an especially nice addition with lemon verbena.

Steve

 

[Trish Stretton]

I have a lovely Lemon Verbena plant. Your climate must be quite cold if you need to pop it in a green house. Mine dies down over winter but always grows back again in Spring.

I did have anise Hyssop one year. I was told it would come back again but it never did and as I didnt really like it, I never bought any more.

I pop the chamomile plants in between everything else. they dont take up much room and dont seem to bother the other inmates. I just tug the flowers off as they get to the point where the flowers are sort of flattish, leave them on a plate, somewhere airy to dry. When I store them in a glass jar, I always leave the lidded jar on the bench for a while to make sure that they are dry . If I see any condensation, out they come again for a bit more drying.