July 2011 MKG Harvest

Saturday harvest- strawberries, Sungold cherry tomato, Hungarian wax and
Padron peppers, Black Spineless, Cocozelle and Sunburst zucchini


This summer is taking its sweet time getting under way!  Zucchini have appeared on the menu around here, but we're still waiting on the tomatoes (Okay, there has been ONE teeny little Sungold cherry tomato but come on!).  Plenty of little green orbs of future yumminess, they just won't ripen!  My gardener's patience is being tested this year.  At least they have set, they will ripen eventually.

The strawberries have continued to trickle in, a few at a time, along with the first blueberries!  Not enough to make anything from, but it's still nice to pick them in my yard.  The only other times I've picked blueberries are the wild ones up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.  The raspberries and blackberries seem to want to grow a bit bigger before providing a crop.

The artichoke season has come to an end.  It finally heated up and they started turning into lovely flowers.  I'll be sure to post a picture of them for Bloom Day.  We got a great harvest out of them, though, and they were delicious.

The chard is still going strong (anyone who is hungry should plant chard... this plant won't quit!).  No wonder it's always available at the Farmer's Market.  Unfortunately, the lettuce seeds I planted earlier aren't interested in sprouting.  I'll try again in the fall.

Here is what came out of the Mighty Kitchen Garden in July 2011:

- one bunch chard
- 4 artichokes
- 11 Black Spineless zucchini
- 3 Cocozelle zucchini
- 3 Sunburst squash
- 2 Zephyr squash
- 3 Squash blossoms
- 2 Hungarian yellow wax peppers
- 1 Padron pepper
- 1 Sungold cherry tomato
- 17 strawberries
- 10 blueberries
- 13 Ruby Red Pluots
- a couple Pineapple Guava petals
- 5 lemons
- 37 heads garlic
- plus what the cat-sitters harvested (zucchini/squash, chard and onions)

And how we ate it:

- Zucchini carpaccio
- Zucchini basil flatbread
- Garlic scape pesto
- Sauteed chard with garlic and red pepper flakes
- Grilled marinated zucchini
- Roasted zucchini
- Sauteed squash blossoms stuffed with basil and feta

I hope that your gardens are going strong wherever they are, and you are avoiding the Summer of the Green Tomato that is currently gripping us here in northern California.