Gardeners and Cooks Unite!

Real quick, because the dogs are waiting for their romp....

zuchinnia and yellow crook neck are YUMMY, cut thick like a cuke or juliened, and sauteed in a bit of extra virgin olive oil.  When they are ALMOST done, I add a diced tomato, just long enough to warm it.

That's the very first thing that came to mind, but I'll think about it while romping and if all of me doesn't freeze out there, will add more!  Rather hard to think about gardening when I'm buried in snow........

 I love the hard shell squashes (acorn, butternut)  but they are very hard to peel and cut.  The easiest way to cook them is in the microwave with the peel on.  With the acorn, I cut them in half, add butter,salt and pepper, and nuke and serve like that.  Butternut can be pierced with a fork and nuked.  Then mash like potatoes and serve, or do several and freeze in meal portions. 

How about trying some strawberries? 

I second the butternut squash! They keep forever in a dark, cool place. They need room to roam on the vine. I slice it in half lengthwise, bake it on a PAM-sprayed pan, cut-side-down for 30 minutes at 375, flip it over and bake till tender (15 minutes more?). Remove seeds and add butter (Smart Balance) and brown sugar. Depending on the size, they're great for a side dish, full meal or dessert! DH uses butter and pepper.

This soup is TO DIE FOR! and can be frozen in individual portions.  

CURRIED WINTER SQUASH SOUP (amounts are approximate - I use more garlic, and spices as we like strong flavors)

Bake 1 large or 2 small squash as above and then scoop out the meat. (I have doubled this recipe, too)

In a large skillet or saucepan-
1 Tbsp. Olive oil, 4 shallots or grn onions chopped, 3-4 cloves of garlic, 2 Tbsp fresh ginger Saute until tender.
Add 1 Cup Mirin or sweet white wine – cook until about half the liquid is left.
Add butternut squash and 1-1/2 Cups chicken stock, more or less
Simmer about 15 min.
Add 1 can coconut milk, simmer 5 min.-turn off heat, let cool for 10 minutes             
Add – 1 Tbsp curry powder and some chile powder, salt, pepper

Also, plant arugula. It's a wonderful spicy green for salads. Also Cilantro for salads

Warning: Some dogs like Butternut Squash right off the vine:

I use a community garden space for the larger garden since I rent and cannot do it here, but as for strawberries I think I will put a bed of them in outside the back door this summer, I will have to move a couple of shrubs, but well the landlord did nout put them in, the previous renter did and she lives on the other side of the drive, she can have it back! So yes, strawberries are a good choice.

I will certainly try the acorn, crook neck and butternut then. I over did tomatoes last year, made sauce twice and still gave away a small ton. Of course my employers, patients and neighbors will snap up anything I cannot use. So there really is not limit on what I can plant, unless you count space!

The garden this year will be 2 side by side 30x30 plots, water accessable.

My BF's mom's unusual favorites are leeks, Jerusalem artichokes (also called "sun chokes" I think?), parsnips, black raspberries, and my favorite of all time of anything in the world is sugar snap peas. 

Well, I asked the expert on this (my DH) and he said there's a lot you can do.  One of our favorites, is marinating zucchini in italian dressing and grilling them on your grill.  You can roast them, steam them, broil them, or cut the zucchini thin, and bread them lightly w/ just flour, salt and pepper in a skillet, w/ a little oil.  He says, to try it different ways and see what you like best.  I myself, like them best grilled!  It's definitely a nice change from the usual corn and green beans!  lol

Best thing I can recommend during the warmer months is to cut up all those lovely veggies and grill them in a grilling basket on the BBQ.  I have grilled almost all teh ones you mentioned.  You have to add them one at a time according to how much time they need each to cook.  I ALWAYS include onions, and usually do some whole garlic, some sort of lemon zest combo thingy and at the very end I squeeze on fresh lemon juice.  Coat all the veggies with a  light spray of olive oil before you grill them and the get a big festive fun looking platter and dump the veggies out on them when they are done cooking.  It makes for a wonderful presentation in addition to the taste.  

tomatillos - YUM!

They are like small green tomatoes in husks - make great salsa's and sauces for mexican foods.  usually a green salsa has tomatillo and cilantro as its main flavors.  In summer you can add them to a gazpacho - yum yum.  I'm not a recipe person but you can always find good recipes, rated and starred for difficulty at Food network

Another personal favorite is broccoli rabe.  You just steam or blanch it but my favorite way of having it is with pasta.  You blanch the broccoli rabe for about 2 minutes, get most of the water out, chop it to whatever size you like ( or not at all) and put it in a pan that you are saute'ing olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper in.  Then you toss this over the pasta.  I cook the pasta in the water I blanched the broccoli rabe in.  Don't drain the pasta super duper well instead reserve some of the water to mix with the olive oil, garlic and pepper.  Once dished out season and grate some parmesan and you are good to go

Thanks for the replys everyone. I will certainly plant more of these items in the spring and enjoy them in the summer!

I have dropped fried foods, high starch food and most bread and pasta from my diet, I had to due to a medical condition. The fried foods just do not sit well with me anymore. I have changed over to olive oil for cooking and most of my baking, I can tell you I think chicken and most veggies are tasting better when I use that over fat and veggie oil. The flavor is just awesome.

And Carla, I added arugula and garlic to my item list, I like arugula and the though of using illegal amounts of garlic sound fun. Thanks.

If you grow leeks, I can give you a great recipe for leek and potatoe soup!

I want to have a garden again, but we have no set place in our backyard for it, and well I don't think I could have one in the condo we will be moving into!

You can maybe try to grow grape tomatoes, they are soooo tastey cut and in a salad

Before I used a community garden site, I did container gardening, most veggies do well in this manner, they do require more water and dirt tending, but overall they do great. You can even buy specialized plants just for container gardening.

As for leeks, if I can find them I will try them.

I don't know what zone you're in, but we plant garlic cloves in the fall and pick them early spring. We just cover the crop with straw or other mulch and it comes up first thing in the spring. When the stalks get brown and fall over, it's ready to dig up!

Good call on the garlics. BF's mom also grows garlic and I looooooove it. I especially recommend the "Korean Red" and "Music" varieties, as IMO they're the best for roasting, which is one of my favorite things in the universe! 

Louisville is a complex area. I very well could have had a winter garden this year. I plan to redo the section outside my back door for that reason this spring. Everything is coming out but my rose, which if pressed I could move.

We are considered 6b for zone hardiness. I can grow things here that I could not grow up north. But the weather is wacky to the extreme. Example today it will be 36ish, Tuesday it will be almost 60. This is considered the norths most southern city and the souths most northern city. The history here is unbelievable, which is why we like it.

So, I can actually start planting in early to mid April for hardy cold type plants and then add on from there, my garden was completely done by the second week of May last year. I am only controlled by the community garden in that we can get in as soon as plots are marked but have to have everything out by October mid month, generally the week before Halloween. So I get a 5 month growing season on average.

And that is why I am planning the garden already, if I want to seed start I have to do it in the next 3 weeks or so.

Thanks all.