Zucchinni is in da house!

A Green Tiger zucchini has joined the party. The plant was grown by Sweetwater Nursery from Sabastopol, CA. We have extended the MVG to the front of the house where you can find the zucchini near our cucumber plants.

zucchini - June 10th

Our newest addition has quickly pushed out a few fruit immediately after being planted. We expect great things from this quick producing zucchini plant.

zucchini harvested - June 17th

June 26th

June 26th

The cucumbers are starting to climb up the trellis. Vertical gardening is still a popular technique in the MVG and we hope this technique will prove useful for the Japanese and pickling cucumbers.

cucumbers are climbing

Green beans are here!

green beans

The green beans have arrived. I picked the first batch of beans on June 21st and have picked a few handfuls each day since. These long slender crunchy beans will continue to grow throughout the summer. Green bean casseroles here we come, YUM!

cucumbers are bursting from the vines

The corn stalks have reached for the skies and beyond. The tassels are swaying in the wind and will soon float down to the silk to make sweet corn kernels.

Silk has emerged!

The MVG harvests are full of variety and growing in size. I am still picking zucchini, squash, and cucumbers on a regular basis. However, the radish have matured and are bringing red orbs of color to our salads and soups.

June 21, 2013 MVG harvest

MVG's First Okra

Every day I walk out to the MVG and pick zucchini, squash, radish, strawberries, and cucumbers. I can now add okra to my list. Our first okra measures in at 5 1/2 inches. I cannot wait to fill up a whole basket.

June 12th harvest

Summer 2013 First Harvest

The MVG is giving birth to a variety of vegetables! Woo hoo! I picked our first harvest of the season yesterday. The harvest consisted of 3 cucumbers, 5 zucchini, and 4 squash. 

The rest of the garden is in full bloom.  We have lots of veggies dangling from branches and will soon be filling our bellies with yummy goodness.

bell peppers

summer squash

tomatoes

plums

The rest of the plants are blooming with color. The eggplants are showcasing purple flowers while the green beans are pushing out little white petals.

I hope to see many more veggies in my harvesting baskets within the next month. I cannot wait to start canning and cooking new recipes.

Fuyu surrounded by green beans

We see veggies!

Morrison Victory Garden - May 29th

There has been lots of growth in the MVG over the past few weeks. I have seen many flowers bloom and push out small yummy vegetables.

radish are peaking out

The first plant to push out veggies is our zucchini plant. The first zucchini of the season is currently three inches long and growing rapidly.

zucchini

The summer squash is showing flowers and fruit. The squash is small but you can see the yellow color peaking out from behind the green leaves.

summer squash

The cucumbers are peaking out from behind small yellow blossoms too. I can see over a dozen small cucumbers growing and many more will soon fill the 20 cucumbers plants in the MVG.

cucumbers

All of the sweet pepper plants have flowers and the cherry stuffers have small green orbs dangling from the branches.

cherry stuffer peppers

tomato blossoms

The okra, tomatoes, hot peppers, and eggplants are showcasing a variety of flowers but have not produced fruit yet.

a little lavender for luck

The weather has cooled down and we are hoping for higher temperatures in the upcoming weeks. Hotter weather will bring more flowers and fruit to the MVG so keep your roots crossed. We want a big harvest this year.

A fork, a hoe, and lots of soil!

MVG is ready for the summer season!

The MVG has a new look, wider reach, and is showcasing lots of seedlings. I just used a fork, a hoe, and 5 bags of organic garden soil to make the necessary preparations for the 2013 summer season.

MVG Strawberries

First, I had to prepare the corn field and garden beds for seeds and plants. I started by weeding the entire garden. I like to use a hula hoe when weeding. The hula hoe is quick and very effective. After the weeding, I uprooted last summer's corn roots. I used a spading fork to uproot the corn roots and placed the roots in the compost pile. I covered the entire corn field with fresh homemade compost and used our electric rototill to mix up the dirt. The end result is a field of soft dirt.  I laid the irrigation and sowed the corn seeds. I planted four rows of 36 seeds totaling 144 corn seeds.

I also rototilled a large circle around Fuyu. Last season I planted flowers around Fuyu. This year, I have decided to plant two rings of green beans in place of the flowers. I sowed 10 seeds in the inner ring and 11 in the outer ring totaling 21 green bean seeds.

Second, I turned the soil in the garden beds, added organic fertilizer, and mixed in additional organic garden soil. We have seven garden beds comprised of two rectangle single beds, two square single beds, and three square double beds.  I sowed squash and cucumber seeds in the northeastern double bed.

cucumber seedlings

zucchini seedlings

Third, the MVG has extended its roots to the front yard. Traditionally the MVG has utilized a third of the backyard. However, we had lots of unused seeds from last summer. Instead of throwing the seeds away, I decided to plant the 2012 zucchini, cucumber, squash, and asparagus beans along the southeast side of the front yard. Many of the seeds have begun to sprout and will hopefully produce a secondary harvest for us to eat and share.

squash seedlings

Additionally, I sowed 2013 sugar snap seeds next to the asparagus beans. Both plants are climbers and will have plenty of vertical support with the wooden lattice above the seedlings' cotyledons.

asparagus bean seedlings

sugar snap seedlings

I sowed an additional 10 green bean seeds in a small flower bed underneath our front window. We usually leave the flower bed bare or adorn it with a few flowers during the summer months. I had a few green bean seeds left and thought the area would be a great place to showcase our green beans to the neighborhood.

waiting for the green beans seedlings

I sprinkled a fresh batch of Garden Bark over the entire MVG to give the space a finished look. The ground cover will help reduce the amount of weeds in the garden and keep the herb and front yard sections moist during the hot summer days. I will add ground cover around Fuyu and in the corn field once the corn and green bean seedlings emerge.

Morrison Victory Garden - April 11, 2012

2012 MVG Harvest BBQ

This year the MVG Harvest BBQ was a hit with neighbors and friends. There was lasagna, beans, cupbread, and a big plum cobbler for everyone to nibble, munch, and devour. But let's follow the order in which my family and I cooked the vegetable filled mounds of food.

Morrison Victory Garden 2012

My first entree, VEGETABLE LASAGNA! Yum! I used the following steps when preparing and cooking the lasagna.

Golden on the top. This lasagna is done.

Ingredients: Green indicates items found and used from the victory garden

• 1 gallon Ziploc bag of frozen tomatoes (skin off)
• 4 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 chopped sweet white onion
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• Salt and Peppers
• 3 medium zucchini thinly sliced the long way
• 3 large yellow squash thinly sliced
• eggplant thinly sliced (amount depends on size of fruit)
• big tub of ricotta cheese
• big bag of shredded mozzarella cheese or use a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheese

lasagna layers

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, mix tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic, bell pepper, onion, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boil and stir constantly until sauce becomes thick.
2. In a large casserole dish, lay down a layer of sauce at the bottom.  Follow with a layer of zucchini, ricotta, sauce, squash, mozzarella, sauce, eggplant, ricotta, sauce, zucchini, mozzarella, etc. Your final layer should be shredded cheese. You may insert lasagna noodles into the layers.  I found a box with four lasagna noodles in my pantry. I cooked the noodles and placed two on the bottom layer and two in the middle layer. The long zucchini slices can be used in place of the lasagna noodles too.  It all depends on what you want in your lasagna or have on hand.
3. Cover lasagna with tinfoil to keep the cheese from burning. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove tinfoil and cook for additional 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Veggie lasagna is good!

The PLUM COBBLER was next on my cooking list.   I have never made cobbler but have watched my father make plum pie and cobber. I wanted to make sure I did not mess it up.  I searched online for a recipe that was easy and quick.  I found a recipe posted by Elise on Simply Recipes.

The outcome was fantastic. Many of my guests saved room for the cobbler or started the feast with a great fruit appetizer. I served the dish at room temperature since the day was warm and sunny.  During the winter months, I will heat up the cobbler and serve it with whip cream. I also think a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a great pairing with this dish.

Cobbler was sweet with a hint of tart. Yum!

Now time for the sides! A variety of beans from the garden were stir-fried and tossed with a lemon  herb mixture. I used the following steps when making the BEAN TOSS.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups of beans*, washed and cut into two-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• juice from a large lemon or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 4-8 cloves of garlic (I like a lot of garlic and use the max)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Bring salt and water to a boil.  Boil beans 5 minutes. Remove beans from water and run under cold water/place in ice bath.
2. Combine zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and parsley in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a wok, heat oil on medium heat.  Add beans and cook beans until tender.
4. Remove wok from heat.  Toss bean with lemon herb mixture.
5. Serve and enjoy!

*I used a mixture of Blue Lake, Burgundy, and Scarlet Emperor beans from the garden.

The ears of corn and pesto were the most consumed item at the MVG Harvest BBQ. I boiled the corn for 5 minutes.  Guests were given the choice of plain corn or Elote.  Elote calls for lime mayo, Cojita cheese and hot sauce. I personally love Elote but give my guess the option to try it or not.  To make Elote you do the following:

1. choose your ear of corn.
2. lather the corn with lime mayo.
3. roll the mayo covered corn in a plate of finely grated Cojita cheese
4. sprinkle or douse your ear of corn with hot sauce.
5. eat and enjoy!

I used a 8-oz. plastic freezer jam jar of frozen pesto and a thawed quart of whole Juliet tomatoes when making my PESTO PASTA. Read my Pesto. Pesto, Pesto! blog post for the pesto recipe. I cooked and drain one box of whole wheat spaghetti noodles. In a large bowl, I toss the noodles with the pesto, tomatoes, and a handful or two of pine nuts. I top the aromatic pile of noodles with a generous sprinkle of goat or feta cheese. If you like basil, mix fresh basil (leaves or roughly chopped) with the cheese before topping off the dish.

I also made zucchini squash bread using cupcake tins. I like to call the dish ZUCCHINI SQUASH CUPBREAD  This makes the bread easy to handle and easy to transport.  I like to send my guests home with goodie bags.  I always wrap a few in tinfoil and place them in the bags. I referred to my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook when making these cupbread delights.  I followed the zucchini bread directions but made the following alterations:

• use 2 cups of thawed zucchini and squash shreds**, for every cup of zucchini requested
• add 50% more oil (if recipe requests a cup add an additional 1/2 cup of oil)
• add in dried fruit mixture chopped up into small pieces ( use anything from dried coconut to dried mango to dried plums)
• Cook cupcakes at recipe temperature for 15-18 minutes.
• an occasional combination - add in 1/2 cup of granola but follow recipe zucchini measurement when using the thawed zucchini squash shreds**.

** Last season I froze fresh (skin on) zucchini and squash shreds in the freezer.  I place 4 cups of fresh shreds in each Ziploc quart bag.  This season, I placed a bag on the counter to thaw. Once at room temperature, the water and shreds separate.  I drained the water from the shreds.  You now have 2 cups of shreds to add to your baking recipes.

We also had additional items to consume.  My mother made chili with our frozen tomatoes.  We served hot dogs and soy dogs to feature our zucchini relish, kosher pickles, dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles. I also made fresh Ginger-Spice Cucumbers with fresh cucumbers from the garden.

Fresh cut herbs make fragrant center pieces!

Bouquets of herbs were tied.  Food was eaten.  The Morrison Victory Garden was toured. Goodie bags were taken with full bellies and warm hearts.  The feast was a success!

My family and I had a great time with our friends and neighbors at this year's MVG Harvest BBQ. Thank you to everyone who came out to see our garden.  A big thanks to everyone who tried the variety of dishes on the tables.  I am getting better at cooking and hope to one day WOW you in the yummy tummy department.

This pie was gobbled up, mmmmmm.

A big thanks to Deloris for making a fabulous apple pie, with the apples from her apple tree! A big thanks to Esther for the ice cream and doggie treats!

Happy gardening, cooking and eating to all!