8/13/09

How does your Garden Grow?


I'd love it if we could meet up and stroll through our gardens together!

It's about this time of year though, when my garden starts drying out and not looking so pretty.



But I love the veggies that we're eating, ones like ...

Tomatoes and zucchini



Italian eggplant



Acorn squash (My first one - I may have to try cooking this in my microwave - no oven!)



Parsnips



Delicious tomatoes served with basil



The most unique fruit that we have growing are ground cherries (they are like a little tomato!)



After you peel the outside off, you won't believe the flavor! (top photo - YUM!)

I'd love to hear how your garden is growing?  Even if it's in pots on your patio!

(Don't forget to enter to WIN a Briefcase BBQ - winner announced tomorrow!) 

I added a link to the "ground cherries" for everyone who inquired about them!

25 comments:

Shell in your Pocket said...

I never knew the tomatoes had a covering....interesting.

sandy toe

Jen said...

I was in it last night picking tons of tomatoes...I may have picked the last of the green beans though...sad but happy to have so many of them...my squash didnt do so great but my zucchini did awesome....and peppers..lots of them..Im freezing them. And onions and cucumbers...we did good this year....you are right the gardens look yucky this time of year....but the stuff that comes out of them are great.

Di said...

Mine is doing well. We only plant a small plot with tomatoes, peppers and cukes. I have an abundance - especially cherry tomatoes. I could share with an army. Any ideas for what can be done with them?

Kim said...

Our beans are finished, but our tomatoes are really starting to come on. I just made a batch of salsa yesterday!

Also, the squash and zucchini are growing! Still looking for recipes on how to use them!

mary beth said...

We are building a new house, so I have no beds yet. I've picked out a spot for my little tomatoe/herb bed for next year and as soon as the siding is on, I'm gonna start composting there! I am enjoying the bounty of everyone else's gardens through the local farmer's market. I sure am going to miss the flavor of their homegrown tomatoes when the season is over. I sure am intrigued by those little tomatoes with the wrappers...tell us more!

Unknown said...

Oh my green beans are done. Tomatoes are going crazy. I am drying herbs this weekend for my Christmas gift baskets. Turning over two beds to start the fall planting. Freezing peppers and green beans, canning tomatoes. I never grew parsnips and also want to try leeks. I will let you know. Your vegetables are lovely.

Cyntha

Empty Nest Full Life said...

We got a late start on our tomatoes, so we should have some ready soon. Jackie

Lucy..♥ said...

Lucky you, everything looks wonderful, great harvest!!! I would love to know the variety of that eggplant.

Sadly my tomatoes were recently hit by blight and all had to be removed, we didn't get a taste of a ripen tomato off the vine this year ;-(

The Blushing Hostess said...

This is my favorite of all your posts. Yes, I wish all of us could walk through our gardens together. It says a lot about a person: what they grow, and how they care for the earth, on the whole and especially the part belonging directly to them.

Suzann said...

oh I wish I had a garden.

Kathy C. said...

Sandy, are those "ground tomatoes" the same as Tomatillos?
Your produce looks wonderful and makes me wanna dig in. I had a bad summer with my garden, lot's of peppers, but few tomatoes (thanks to the hornworm) and I had a massive attack on my zucchini and squash - just mowed them over 2 days ago! Ah, guess I'll just get the garden ready for fall - our best growing season here! ;)
Have a beautiful day!

Lynne in NC said...

For the past ten years we've had a large backyard garden 50 ft x 90 ft. Last year a friend suggested we share our space with them.
This year more folks have joined the community garden and it's been nice to have the extra hands.
Extra hands to plant, weed and share in the produce.
We've had different varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers, herbs and flowers.
It has been a wonderful experience.

We plan to plant the winter veggies soon so we can have a year round garden.
Peace.

Amy B said...

I LOVE the idea of a garden! I've even bought seeds to plant and I started digging earlier in the summer and ended up cutting through my cableline... needless to say, I still have those seeds! Maybe next year! I have a recipe for that Acorn Squash for you to try though - you said you didn't have an oven so when it's up and running again - this is a delicious recipe that I've never had exact measurements to so just work with me...
-preheat oven to 400 degrees
-cut in half and seed the squash
-rub olive oil all over the cut halves.
-cut up some onion (about 1/4 cup)
-add onion, bacon bits (a good handful), a TBSP of butter and a TBSP of brown sugar (give or take your sweet tooth)to the hollowed out section.
-Roast on a baking sheet for 45-60 minutes, fork testing for softness.
-salt and pepper to taste
A fabulous way to eat a squash!

ellen b. said...

Lovely fruits of your labor! Acorn Squash has been enjoyed out of the microwave oven around here :0)

Gina said...

I've never seen tomatoes like that! Looks cool. We're just getting tomatoes red and ripe but we're absolutely tired of zucchini! The beans are going crazy and the snap peas are all done-our butternut squash is a huge plant but no squash yet. We have such a unique growing season here and things got off to a really late start!

My mom always did acorn squash in the microwave-she halved them and sprinkled butter and brown sugar over the top-I loved it!

Alisa said...

Yummy! Thanks for sharing your garden crop...everything just looks wonderful.

FYI-Those sweet little ground cherries are related to tomatillos and not in the same family with tomatoes at all. Weird, huh? They sure look like they would be.

sarah said...

looks lovely, nothing better is there

I'm planning my spring garden now!

Sarah

An Adventurer in the World said...

Trenched my tomatoes for the first time ever, like you showed me, and they are loaded with fruit, even though we had 2 months of cold rainy weather and little sun.

Nothing red yet, though!

deb meeyrs

Carla said...

How beautiful! Enjoy:)

Scary Mommy said...

Wow, I'm impressed!! All I've got are some enormous cucumbers!

Tanna Clark said...

This is the first year we planted a garden. We have had tomatoes, green beans and broccoli all summer. I will have to try zucchini next year!

GiBee said...

The ground cherries look almost like tomatillos!

My garden is drying up too, but I'm still getting an abundance of tomatoes, and I'm especially enjoying the yellow tomatoes. That may be all I plant next year!

I just ripped out bolted broccoli and lettuce and prepared the beds and planted seeds for fall lettuce. Soon I'll be planting Brussels Sprouts. It should be interesting, as I haven't planted lettuce from seed yet.

Di: You could either make and can some salsa, or you can take a box of tomatoes to church or work and let people help themselves. That's always appreciated with the elderly!

Amy {The Red Chair Blog} said...

What an interesting assortment of fruits and veggies you grow! I live in NC--near Raleigh--and we have great luck with cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes (3 kinds), peppers (3 kinds), snap peas and basil (for pesto--yum!) Right now the cucumbers have died back and we're digging into some delicious watermelon!

mommyknows said...

Wow! It looks like you have a great crop there. I love the photos.

I look forward to meeting you in Chicago next week.

Kim @ mommyknows.com

No Longer 25 said...

Wow what a crop of veggies! You are so lucky to have such a great garden.

Those 'ground cherries' look just like physalis fruits which I love, so sweet and great dipped in some melted dark chocolate! I wish we could grow them, maybe in a greenhouse - I never thought of growing them before.