I started out my veggie garden by tilling almost half of the grass in the back yard. You should have seen my dad, Trent, and I all out there with this big ass tiller digging up grass that had probably been there since the house was built in 1941.
I was sore for the next week.
My dad suggested black plastic but the people at Home Depot swore they didn't have any (which I later found out they did... that's another story) and so we went with the 30 year guarantee weed cloth and covered the soil. I started out small. 3 tomatoes (cherry, Roma, and some variety that is supposed to be in a pot), 2 burpless cucumbers, 1 green bell pepper, 2 yellow squash and 1 yellow crookneck squash, 1 butternut squash, and 1 watermelon.
The bastard snails took the watermelon, butternut squash, 1 yellow squash, and a cucumber... but at that point I decided to get smart and pull out the snail bait. The large bowls of beer just weren't killing enough for my needs. We had a major invasion going on. Did I mention that my neighbors to the back killed my amazing mature green seedless grapes? If I did, I'm mentioning it again because it sucks and I'm still pissed and no I haven't talked to them about it yet because I'm still afraid I might cry.
So... The tomatoes are massive. I decided not to stake them up but they're going crazy and as of yet I've only had a handful of little cherries ripen. I ate them this morning without taking a pic first. They were incredible. Full of rich peppery flavor. So salty. Still warm and firm to the bite. Oh lord I'm salivating just thinking about them.
The first bell pepper left something to be desired... I've never had a pepper with tough skin before out of a garden so I'm not sure what's happening there. I guess I'll have to visit the garden god at the local store.
We ate the cucumber sliced up with dinner the other night. I drizzled it with lime juice and sprinkled a little kosher salt on top. Soooo tasty. I've heard you can add things to the soil with cucumbers to make them even more flavorful... any thoughts? Guess I have some homework to do.
The squash are by far my little gems of the garden this year. Since the picture here I've pulled 20 more out of the garden all as lovely as the first. Some people let them grow too big and they lose all of their flavor and get too fibrous. I like to pick them a little on the small side. So far I've had the best luck with my summer pasta:
2 yellow crook neck squash
1 zucchini
1 sweet onion (vidalia if available)
several cloves of garlic sliced thin
2 cups of cubed fresh banana squash
1/4 cup or so of EV Olive oil
S&P to taste
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 box Penne pasta
Slice all fresh ingredients in large pan before turning on the stove. Add oil over top. Turn to med-hi heat and lightly toss veggies to coat with oil. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Toss again to coat. Do not molest veggies too often or they'll fall apart. Leave lid on for the first 5 minutes. The banana squash needs a little steaming in the beginning to soften. You'll want to cook it all about 15 minutes until the veggies are soft and soaking up the olive oil. Keep an eye on the bottom squash in the pan as they tend to brown. You may need to turn your heat down a little depending on your stove. When the veggies are about done put your water on to boil. Add a little salt and EV Olive oil to pasta water. Boil penne about 11 minutes until al dente or firm to the bite. Strain but do not rinse or shake all of the water out of the strainer. Return Penne to bowl and add veggies to pasta mixing gently. Serve with healthy amount of fresh parmiggiano reggiano grated on top and there you have it!
It's a nice sweet pasta. Definitely light and summery. Lots of fresh ingredients and super fast to throw together. Let me know if you try it out!
Don't forget to read the previous post for my Mistress Spatula Contest!
Mistress A
