How does your garden grow?

It's been a while since I last ventured into my garden to harvest any veggies and man, oh man, are there zucchini. There were two ginormous ones that probably should have been picked a week ago. Oops. I'm a haphazard gardener at best. I hope they make good zucchini bread, because I could make about 4 loaves with those whoppers.

I was very excited to see so many lemon cukes coming in and I also have quite a few pickling cukes as well. Good thing we're going through those homemade pickles because I am going to have to make another batch this weekend! Also, my beans are starting to come in nicely. I'll have to find a tasty recipe that includes bacon for those bad boys. And I have a handful of ripened tomatoes as well, with lots of green ones still waiting for that sun.

As you can see, I've got a wild garden. I didn't pull the grass weeds and so they are growing everywhere. I can barely walk in there to harvest my bounty. Anyone want to come over to pull some weeds for me? I'll pay you with dinner....

Bacon Jam Follow Up

Here is a follow up to my previous post on Bacon Jam. I put some Bacon Jam on my cheeseburger tonight. It was delicious, adding a little sweetness coupled with the caramelized onions and the ketchup. Just a little bit of barbecue sauciness and a hint of smokiness. Much better than a bacon jammed piece of bread with avocado and tomato. And the pickles were a nice contrast, tart and crisp!

Pickles and gardening

My garden has been growing nicely and I have had a lot of cucumbers come in, specifically, pickling cucumbers. They're the little ones that are really crunchy and good for making Japanese style pickles as well. My friend gave me his mother's recipe for Dill Pickles and so I made a batch last week. The recipe is super easy and I was able to get everything done within an hour, from cleaning the pickling container to setting wrap over the top to let sit.

The pickles are very crunchy and perfectly tart. I cut them in quarters or halves depending on the size. I figured that would help them cure quicker and then I would be able to eat them sooner. The recipe basically consists of cucumbers, vinegar, water, pickling spice, garlic, dill, and salt. You put them all in a container and a week later they are pickles.

The recipe said to put them into glass jars, but I didn't want 3-5 glass jars hogging up precious space in my refrigerator. So I went to Target and got a gallon plastic container with a locking lid. It was only about $6 - a real deal! I'm sure it will smell like pickles from here to eternity, but I figure if I just keep making pickles in it, who cares?

These are some of the cukes from my garden - the pickling cukes and a lemon cucumber, my first so far. It was delicious in a salad. I have a couple more growing but they are still too little to eat. I also have about 15 watermelons growing and a couple of zucchini are starting to grow as well. My beans are finally starting to come in and I have a bunch of green tomatoes. Unfortunately, I don't think it's been hot enough for them to ripen. I might have to make some fried green tomatoes though because I don't want them to go bad. My potatoes are also all over the place and I think I need to thin them out and harvest some. I have no idea when they're ready though, so that will definitely be a learning experience! I'll post some photos of my garden later this month. I'm SO excited for the watermelon!