As you can possibly tell from my sporadic posts, my attention span has been a little. . .sparse lately. One of the main attention grabbers lately has been my little container garden of fruits and vegetables. Take a look.
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| Bell Pepper (it's much smaller than it looks) |
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| Cucumber (We've got several with this shape. . I'm not sure if it's natural) |
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| Grape Tomatoes ripening |
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| More grape tomatoes (These babies have been plentiful!) |
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| Better Boy Tomatoes |
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| My poor, sad herbs (rosemary, dill, and basil) |
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| A wee jalapeno |
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| Squash |
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| Zucchini |
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| A snail in the zucchini |
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| A single, lonesome strawberry |
I actually took the pictures for this post a few weeks ago so the garden's not quite the same. I've always had something of a black thumb so I'm pretty surprised that I'm harvesting anything from these pots. The zucchini and squash seem to be failing, and those were the ones I expected to boom. However, the grape tomatoes have really flourished.
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| This was my little window plate the day I took the other photos |
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| Monday I sliced up all the ones in the window (they were overflowing the plate) for roasting |
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| Yesterday, I used the sauce from the tomatoes on a homemade cheese pizza for lunch. It was delicious! |
Let me tell you how I made the sauce. It was so, so easy! I simply sliced the tomatoes and threw in a few peeled garlic cloves (6). I drizzled EVOO over the top and tossed it all together. In a preheated 400 degree oven, I roasted the mix for 30 minutes, stirring every 10. Remove tray from oven and let it cool for just a little while. Blend the whole thing in the blender. Done and delish!!
I am disappointed that we aren't having much luck with the squashes, but I think we simply planted too many plants in single pots and overcrowded everything. Lesson learned for sure. I'm just happy right now that I've been able to grow something.
Is your garden producing anything yummy? Do you have any tips?
Your container garden is wonderful! Your plants are way farther along than mine! I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteLee, Aw, thanks! I just hope we get something other than tomatoes out of it. Everything seems to be dying. We live in a sub-tropical climate here on the Alabama coast so we were able to plant back in March. Our growing season may end soon though as everything starts to bake in the heat. So, don't be too jealous! ;)
DeleteI've never heard of making sauce that way. What a great idea! We don't have a veggie garden, but we may consider container gardening in the future.
ReplyDeleteLorraine, I did a couple of searches on tomato sauce recipes for grape tomatoes and there were loads of general tomato options, so I just went for what looked easiest. We were actually going to can the sauce, but it just wasn't enough. However, it was perfect for the pizza! Container gardening is our 'start' I'm not very good at it as everything seems to be dying. Containers have to be watered OFTEN because the moisture just drains out, they are supposed to get lots of fertilizer because the nutrients drain out with the water (we haven't fertilized), and you shouldn't overcrowd the plants (which we did). I've learned some things, but we're looking for more property for the future to have a real, in-ground garden. Baby steps though, baby steps! ;)
DeleteMy in-house plants grow in spite of me, so I don't think gardening will ever grab me. My husband tried growing tomatoes on the balcony on the 4th floor with little to no success, his herbs were sadder than yours and only the rosemary is flourishing, given that it spent the winter outside!
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes are so pretty and that pizza looks tasty.
ReplyDeleteI don't even try to grow anything edible anymore...The deer eat it before it even blooms! Until we can construct a fence to keep them out, we will just have to buy ours. It is so special to be able to just run out and pick fresh goodies that you've grown...
Judy
Judy, The deer and other wildlife are definitely on my mind as we begin to search for some property/house for a homestead. I don't think Pat realizes how much of nuisance they can be. I'm sure he'll figure it out in time. ;)
DeleteYour tomatoes (and easy recipe) look sooo yummy! did you make that pizza crust too? There is nothing more hopeful than the first few days of a garden!
ReplyDeleteWe planted 9 tomato plants, 2 kinds of beans, sugar snaps, edamame (for the first time ever), kale, radishes, butternut squash garlic, onions, cukes, 3 kinds of lettuce, jalapenos, bell peppers, herbs, and nasturtium. There is always a huge learning curve no matter how many times we plant a garden. We tried for years to grow cabbage, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and yellow squash. We had ok growth with each, but decided those are some of less expensive foods at farmers market and to give that space over to other veggies that grow better and are more expensive (tomatoes!!!).
Fingers crossed yours keeps producing and ours produces SOMEthing (planted it 12 days ago...too soon to know if it will flourish)!
I roast tomatoes all the time and never thought to puree them for a sauce, I know that has to be fabulous Hope, thanks!
ReplyDeleteJenna
Jenna, I was just looking for a way to can them and making a sauce that could be used in a variety of ways seemed best. Of course, when I got done pureeing, there wasn't enough to can...so wee ate it! ;) It really was tasty (especially with all the garlic I added.) Thanks for popping in.
DeleteColor me impressed, and jelous. I've been able to keep an indoor ivy plant alive for about 7 months now. We'll have to start calling you Garden Corn-a-Hope-ia.
ReplyDeleteI'm still pretty impressed our indoor plant continues to thrive as well! I have a serious black thumb. For now, hold off on the name. All I'm getting out the garden is tomatoes. . .everything else doesn't seem to be ripening just right. :(
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