Pickling radish from garden harvest

I'm not sure how they turned out yet, but with these radishes I harvested were used for pickling.

First, sterilizing the jars and lids, and washing and cut the radishes. Afterwards I made the brine that consisted of 2 1/2 cups of vinegar, 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, 8 tsp of salt, and brought this to a boil. I recommend putting vinegar in the water that sterilizes the jars to prevent calcium deposits left on the jars. When the jars are clean, add cut radishes, add 1/2 tsp of garlic, mustard seed and black peppercorns on top. Using a funnel, pour brine in the jars pushing down on the radishes to prevent air pockets and bubbles. Leave 1/2 inch of space between brine and mouth of jar.
Wipe mouth of jar and secure lids to the jars. Then put the jars in a water bath for 15 minutes of processing.

Fall autumn quince dessert

There are fruits and flavors that remind us of the fall autumn season: cinnamon, pumpkin, pear, apple, persimmons, and oranges. Actually I ate a pear from my garden today, and it was good for a Kieffer pear.

The lesser known fruits of the season are quince and figs...which I incorporated in a tiny delectably simple dessert.

Pineapple quinces

I have never grown quinces, nor have I tasted thrm before, but the other day I came across some at the store so I thought I'd try them. I cut one up today and noticed this fruit is unique from others in that it is like a sponge and is inedible raw. I looked into quinces, and sure enough I realized they need to be cooked.
I have a flavor bible book hat recommends pairing quinces with some of hose other fall flavors. So, I used the quince that I had already cut into cubes to cook in a small pot with apple juice, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, chopped pecans, and cut up figs harvested from my garden.

I cooked this mixture for 15 minutes on low, then drizzled it over top of vegan toast with melted coconut "cheese." I call this a hillbilly gourmet because toast isn't quite fancy but it is somewhat a fancy dessert because of the high quality fruit ingredients. It's quick to melt some vegan cheese on top with a beautiful array of flavors that comfort you.
Here's a picture of a similar dessert with the quince...I didn't take a picture of the one described here because I ate it immediately!

Garden food into vegan cheesecake and veggie spaghetti

I am stuffed from tonight's dinner. I made garden spaghetti and vegan cheesecake with loads of garden blueberries.

The spaghetti sauce was made with garden herbs and harvested tomatoes. I foraged for chanterelle mushrooms in the woods too, and fried them in the sauce. It was delicious. And I prepared homemade garlic bread too.

The bread was really good so I'll provide the recipe: 4 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 pkt of yeast, sifted together then make a well in the center for 2 tbsp of oil and 1 3/4 cup hot water. Knead the dough for 5 minutes after mixing. Sit on the stove for an hour and 30 minutes, kneading every 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes after preheating oven.

Before baking the bread, I made the blueberry cheesecake with tofu and tofutti brand cream cheese mixed with blueberries that I picked today. I mixed the ingredients in a processor then put it in a vegan graham cracker crust, baked for an hour at 350 degrees F. Afterwards, chill in the fridge and then I added frozen blueberries from the garden.

I took some photos of the garden today too of melons and peppers, which I'm excited for, among the many more tomatoes to come.

Wild Spring onion soup & spring rolls recipe

I haven't done a recipe post in a long time, but these are two healthy and hearty recipes that are low cost and fast to make.

It's Spring time, and there are wild green onions all over the yard and garden. I carefully choose the onions that are safe from traces of animal, then with a spoon I dig up the whole onion including the roots. Then I soak the onions in water for 5 minutes to thoroughly clean them. Afterwards, I cut the roots and skin the onions, then finely chop.

I use the bulb and most of the green stem in the soup and the green tops as a garnish. Then while the water is boiling, add wheat or rice noodles with the onions, salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. If you're using udon, ramen, rice, or korean wheat noodles, then the soup will only take 5 minutes. Here I'm using Sempio brand wheat noodles that cook within 5 minutes. Ramen noodles are not healthy so I don't recommend using them.

Wild spring onion soup (vegan)

Handful of noodles
2 cups of water, boiled
3 wild green onions, chopped
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp garlic powder and salt
Garnish with the chopped green onions tops and spring roll filling

Spring roll filling (vegan)

Spring roll wraps
Spiralized zucchini
Spiralized carrot
Soy sauce
Lettuce

First boil water to dip the wrappers one by one. Then dip each in cold water before adding the filling. For the filling, spiralize zucchini and carrots and fry them in a skillet with a little oil and soy sauce. You can add any other veggies here or greens like kale, and chop the veggies any way you prefer. Dip each wrapper in the hot then cold water and lay flat. Add the filling then lettuce and roll. The soy sauce I used is the healthy alternative, and the dipping sauce I used was spicy peanut.

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!

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.