Click on this link to check out my CafePress Shop. I’ve had it for some time, but recently added some gardener items and am working on adding lots more!!

Wow. I haven’t even set foot in the garden in 3-4 days because of the heat then rain and I was thrilled by what I found. Our first red roma tomatoes, crooknecks and zucchini, lots of corn and more. Check it all out

And the crookneck squash siamese twin that wants to be a porn star:

So much for planning on weeding today. A big storm came in last night and will last all week. With the amount of rain we’re going to get, I think the weeds might just take over

I did manage to get the zucchini shredded and frozen, and got a bunch of peaches and have started freezing them. I got some from the store and some from a local orchard and am doing half of each in fruit juice and the other half in very light sugar syrup. I thought about canning some, but just can’t get the ambition up. Freezing is incredibly easy!

Just a general update on how things are going in the Garden of Eatin’ today.

The weeds are taking over. I need to get out there and attack with the weed whacker, it’s that bad. It’s not stopping things from growing, so that much is good! But it won’t happen in the next few days…yesterday we had 100F+ temps, today we’re due for 105F and tomorrow is supposed to be 100F, and Sunday 90F…temps should be back in the mid 70s on Monday, so I’ll plan on going lots of work in the garden then, with before after after pics.

The tomato stake experiement has literally been a giant FLOP. As soon as the tomatoes started getting big, the plants got so heavy and thick they’ve tipped over, breaking the stakes and I have lots of tomatoes on the ground at risk from bugs…trying to keep them UP but they just keep growing and falling more

The corn is nearly 7′ high with lots of ears. I think we might have some grilled steak and corn for dinner tonight.

The lemon cucumbers are finally growing, well….like taking over their corner of the garden. I definitely planted too many. And the little vines have built in protection to keep me from picking too early, their thorns leave me bleeding when I try.

The strawberries stopped producing fruit all together after giving us hardly anything and are producing runners like crazy. I tried stopped that to see if it would encourage fruit, but it didn’t.

I’ve gotten 6 gigantic zucchini now and there’s lots more growing. I’ll be shredding and freezing it this weekend. Those suckers grow fast!

The crookneck is finally starting to grow fruit, but only after the plant grew to “Little Shop of Horrors” porportions.

Out one pumpkin is about basketball sized and just starting to turn orange.

Potatoes will finish being harvested tonight, there’s 3 plants left and I want to make potato salad. I forgot to write down the ingredients I used last time, I’ll do that this weekend and post the recipe

My brothers would cringe at this, they’re scared of boobs  (yeah, you, J, I know you read this sometimes ) but it’s just so neat I gotta share. That squirrel from the other day is a mama

I wonder where her babies are

I usually make quiche with spinach, but the kids hate it and since the husband isn’t here anymore, I wasn’t going to bother. I used grated zucchini instead and not only did it taste better, the kids gobbled it up

You’ll have to excuse my measurements, this is one of those homemade things that I eyeball for part of it.

For each pie:

Oven at 350F

Use a refrigerator pie crust (or homemade, I’m lazy) and lay it out in your pie plate.

Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 cup heavy whipping cream or half & half.

Mix 1 baked chicken breast, cubed small, with some cheddar and mozzerella cheese, and shredded zucchini, enough to fill the pie plate 3/4 full, then very slowly pour the egg mixture around. Slow is necessary so the mixture gets down to the bottom.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until it “shakes like jello”. Let set for 10 minutes to let the cheese solidify a little and keep the mess down. Slice, and try not to scarf too fast.

I was moving the sprinkler around the garden today… I was under the walnut tree turning off the water and something hit the top of my head. Scowling up into the limbs, I figured it was a cat, but couldn’t see anything. Backing way up, I finally saw this guy, chucking walnut chunks at me. Little bastard.

Or, it will be! I sure wish I could watch this little guy grow up.

Then

Now:

I love squash flowers!

My parents didn’t teach me to cook, I had to teach myself and there were no family recipes that I grew up on (we never had christmas or thanksgiving or easter dinner), so I abuse the internet recipe websites frequently. I figure any recipe that almost 1000 people give 4 or 5 stars for, has to be good.

So, thanks to allrecipes.com, I’m making these today:

Zucchini Bread

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

And these cookies (which another member of mothering.com posted on the forums):

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes about two dozen)

• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl.

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini
• 12 oz chocolate chips

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir Fry

I’m making stir fry tonight, for me, the kids won’t eat it. Normally I use frozen stir fry veggies, but tonight I’ll keep it simple and use zucchini, some crookneck squash, some green beans and maybe a little celery and onion from the store (the garden onions are still tiny).. I use a simple recipe for the flavoring: cubed chicken breast in a gallon baggie, 1/3c corn starch, 3-4T soy sauce and a bunch of ginger and garlic powder. Make sure the baggies is sealed tight, mix and let sit for 30 minutes. Fry in a little oil, remove from pan, fry veggies in a tiny bit of oil, add the meat back in, and season with more ginger, garlic and soy sauce if desired. Serve over rice. Before I started watching my calories and weight, I could easily eat 3 Corelle plate fulls of this stuff. Sooo good Tonight I’ll eat a normal portion with more veggies then rice or meat

I couldn’t stand it any longer, I had to pick the 3 big zucchini Going to make some zucchini bread and maybe a treat for the kids and shred and freeze the rest.

Mmmm crookneck!