Cucumber, crookneck squash, & pepper harvest from the garden

Beautifully aesthetic trellis vegetable garden

pumpkin

kajari melon

pumpkin

buttercup squash

pallet & trellis garden of melons, pumpkins, butternut/buttercup squash

melons, cucumbers, & pumpkins on trellis

tomatoes

zucchini & crookneck squash

pineapple & other tropical indoor plants

butternut squash, honeydew melons, peppers & cucumbers

greens growing

Cucumber harvest to make pickles + crookneck squash harvest

The recipe was very simple: I boiled 2 cups of water with 2 cups of distilled white vinegar and 3 tbsp of pickling salt and some garlic powder and black pepper. After sterilizing the jars and lids and boiling the brine, I cut up 6 pickles that were still young. I put the sliced cucumbers in the jars, adding the dill and mustard seed separately to each jar then adding the brine. Push the cucumbers down into the jars as to remove any air bubbles. Afterwards make a water bath to process the pickles for 10 minutes.

Additionally today I harvested three small crookneck squash. I had been picking them when they're much larger, but at that stage the skin is tougher. 

Swiss Chard, Cucumber & Onion garden harvest

Harvested zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumber & Beets + Pickled beets

pickled beets with distilled vinegar, beet juice, pickling salt, garlic powder, sugar, & black pepper

I have already been eating lots of zucchini and crookneck squash from the garden with some rice. So now I want to mix it up and try different recipes with the zucchini and crookneck squash.

zucchini, crookneck squash & cucumber

Came back home to big zucchini in the garden & other garden photos

I was away from the garden for a couple of days, and I knew I would be coming home to big zucchini and crookneck squash because they were already getting big. I harvested the zucchini and crookneck squash to make fried squash with rice for dinner tonight.

the top left squashes were fused together

By the way, when I was taking pictures of the garden, I didn't notice that the lens wasn't clean, so there is a smudge in the center of some of the photos.

Additionally, the buttercup squash is growing alongside the cucumbers which are also producing fruit. In a matter of weeks I will be harvesting cucumbers and buttercup squash hopefully.

The melons are flowering alongside the pumpkins and tomatoes as well, and because they are all in the very early stages it will be some time before I will harvest them. I think it's going to be a great year for a lot of the vegetables and fruits I'm growing, though because they'll have two to three more months of summer weather.

squash

tomatoes

cucumbers & pumpkin

2 rows of cucumbers, pumpkins, & buttercup squash

butternut squash, pepper, cucumber, & watermelons growing

Some other plants that are growing are the pineapples in the containers. I have 5 pineapples growing that are over 2 years old now.

pineapples & other tropical indoor plants

The grapes are getting larger as well...

Happy gardening, y'all!

Cukes, melons, squash, greens hugelkultur garden & potatoes in grow bags (video)

Salad Wrap Garden harvest dinner + Garden sign art

Today we harvested blueberries, greens, peas, and potatoes from the garden. With the greens, onion, and peas from the garden, I made a salad mixed with some store bought tomatoes, vegan mayo and vegan shredded cheese. I had tortillas from yesterday's Swiss Chard quesadillas, so I turned the salad into a salad wrap for a garden dinner.

potato harvest from one grow bag

Also, I painted a sign to have a piece of art as you're entering the garden. I thought the sign would be attractive and the sign 'food forest' sends the message that we can live off of food we grow and build to provide for all like a forest.

 Stay tuned for a garden tour video.

Garden Arugula/Swiss Chard Quesadillas & COBBLER with garden BLUEBERRIES!

I love doing these posts showing what I'm eating and how I use the vegetables out of my garden. Today I used arugula from the garden in vegan quesadillas. You can make these any way you like and with whatever you have on hand. For this dinner, I used tortilla wraps with hummus spread on the inside of the wrap, and added the arugula or Swiss Chard into the wrap, then fold the wrap in half like a quesadilla and fry in a pan with vegetable oil until crispy. I used what I had on hand, and obviously you can use vegan cheese or salsa or any other garden green for this recipe.

Also I harvested lots of blueberries as you can see from previous photos, and I gave my grandma a batch to make a dessert. With the blueberries, she made vegan cobbler.

Peas, blueberries, Swiss Chard, & lettuce garden harvest + Garden Pea stir fry dinner idea

blueberry & pea harvest 6/11/2017

Garden Pea stir fry with noodles, soy sauce, & gochujang

blueberry harvest + swiss chard & lettuces