Garden Goodness

I’m relatively new to gardening, but I think my love for dirt and growing things started when I was a child.  You see, my dad has a big garden in our back yard.  I grew up watching and helping the process along as much as a kid can.  I rode the tractor with Dad.  There was a little button on the steering wheel he always told me was used to “mash worms”.  I pushed it a lot.  And I remember fondly the way the freshly tilled dirt smelled after a rain.  I remember how Dad would walk the garden rows checking on the plants, and how he noted the weather and anticipated how it would affect the seedlings.  At the time I was more interested in digging up worms and grabbing unusual-looking rocks for my collection.  But then, strawberries came out of the ground from mounds of pine straw, and my small hands were used for shucking corn and shelling peas.  I can distinctly remember the sound the peas made when they hit the side of the yellow Tupperware bowl I held in my lap.  The corn would be hand-creamed by Mom in that same bowl.  I remember the sweet creaminess and the smell it made.  And then payoff – dinner time.

I don’t have a patch of land yet, but this year some friends gave me some nice dirt – complete with a few patties of manure – and I loaded it into pots.  They were kind enough to give me some spare seedlings too, and I got some herbs at the farmers market.  When I planted them I got so much dirt under my fingernails that I couldn’t get it out for a few days.  I didn’t try anything from seed this year, just seedlings, but I lovingly planted them all the same.  I watered them, fertilized them when they looked sad (though it hurt my heart to do so … ahem … organic movement).  Each morning I sit out on my porch with a cup of coffee and notice the changes from day to day.  Sometimes a droopy leaf tells me more water is needed.  Sometimes stems lean into the sun, so I scoot the pot over to make it easier. 

I guess watching them everyday you don’t notice the growth as much.  And then you leave for a weekend, with much trepidation and fear that they will wither in the heat or a bird will peck them, and when you return you find … a SQUASH BLOSSOM!  And just around the corner from that … A GREEN BEAN!  Wow!  Is this what having kids is like?

Not from my garden, but still awesome

Check out that little bean!!!

I’ll let you know what they taste like soon.  And while I’m at it, how about a nice spring-changing-to-summer recipe?

Stuffed Zucchini

3 zucchini, split and seeded

salt, pepper and EVOO

1/2 cup wild rice

1/4 an onion

1 bunch chard, stems removed and sliced into ribbons

Parmesan cheese

Cook the rice on the stove.  I added my onion just straight into the boiling stock for the rice.  Meanwhile, drizzle a little EVOO over the zucchini halves and sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes, or until fork-tender.

Once the rice is done, mix it with the chard.  The heat from the rice should wilt the chard a bit.  Then scoop it into the little zucchini boats.

Turn the oven to broil.  Sprinkle some Parmesean over the top and broil for a few minutes.  Simple.  Delicious.  Enjoy!