We’ve had a bit of a reprieve from the Canadian wildfire haze the last two days and what a relief. Whether from fires in Canada or our western states, air quality is on alert far and wide, and I don’t see it getting better any time soon, unfortunately. Our hay is on the ground drying and with no rain forecast for a few days, that’s a good sign at least.
Crazy weather
It seems we as a species are not to be pleased more often than not. It’s either too hot or cold, too rainy or dry, too windy, too hazy. With so many areas in drought, I really do try to be careful and not complain when we’ve had a long, wet spell. I hear my grandmother’s voice telling me to “never rue the rain” and those words have stayed with me always, even as our state has faced severe flooding in the past few years. The old New England saying “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change,” doesn’t seem to apply as much in this climate as we seem to be facing long stretches of wet or dry extremes.
Lot of food from a little space
With the poor air quality, I’ve not felt much like gardening, but I’m making an attempt to catch up now. It always amazes me how much produce and herbs I pull out of my little raised garden beds each season. I grow a large variety of greens and herbs, a couple tomato plants, sprouting broccoli, summer squash, pole beans, and peas which are followed by Brussel sprouts in the same spot. I rotate the crops in the six beds every year and enrich with lots of compost, and ask the worst of the bugs to kindly stay away. Mostly, they cooperate, and with healthy soils, the plants are less apt to be attacked. The rest of the seasonal vegetables and fruits, I find at the farmers markets and farm stands, and we are quite fortunate to have many in our area.
Bring back the Victory Gardens
Not every area of the country is so lucky, and if you live in one of those areas I know many of you have space for at least a small garden. If not, containers can supply an astonishing amount of food in very little space. Food prices are really high right now, almost shocking at the checkout, and with fuel shortages still looming, it’s probably going to be that way for a while. We need more Victory gardens to get us through, even if it’s just the addition of some pole beans among the roses or a decorative kale border on the perennial bed. It all counts.
We’ve done it in the past
We’ve done it before. During the food shortages and rationing of WWII, the government encouraged the growing of food in every possible spot imaginable from backyards to city parks. Victory gardens sprang up everywhere and by 1945, home gardeners supplied nearly as much produce consumed as commercial farms, well over 40%. Of course, after the war, that amount dropped considerably, reviving now and then according to recessions and poor economic conditions in the country over the decades. We also saw an increase in home kitchen gardening during the pandemic, but we soon forget.
Longest running television gardening show
Victory Garden was also the focus of the long-running PBS gardening show which began on WGBH television in Boston as Crockett’s Victory Garden, running from 1973 through 2015 in one form or another. It was certainly a program I watched every Saturday during a good part of my adult life, with all kinds of tips on not only growing vegetables in our backyards, but how to cook and preserve them as well.
Tuck those plants everywhere
You don’t need a large tract of land to make a difference in your household budget. A cherry tomato plant and some cut-and-come-again lettuce will give you salad all season long, and the sprouting broccoli and summer squash or zucchini will add a side dish right to frost. Perennial herbs will supply your kitchen not only this season, but years to come as well.
Harvest all summer
How exciting when those first vegetables are ready to harvest. My tomatoes are finally coming into their own, and my summer squash is producing like mad in the heat. I only planted two hills this year and I’m already giving squash away! My sprouting broccoli is also quite reliable, so my mother would be happy to see a fresh green and yellow vegetable on my plate every night. It doesn’t take long though to try to find a few different things to do with all that squash beyond leaving on my neighbor’s steps.
Abundance
Making little boats and stuffing them is always a good idea, and really fun to make with kids, but it does take a bit of time. Cutting them into planks and grilling them en mass to use for many days is also a favorite technique used frequently here, as are steaming, roasting, stir fries, and my favorite ratatouille once the peppers start coming in a little more abundantly. I let the farmers grow the peppers and get them at the market each week and they are just coming in. But this weekend, there should be plenty, in every possible color, and those are also fun to stuff.
Tame the mint
I’ve learned to contain my mint in large planters so they do not overrun everything else. There’s still plenty to dry for winter’s tea and to use abundantly all summer long. Sometimes, I just go outside to sit on my back porch and I’ll pick some mint just to smell the beautiful aroma. For a moment, all is well in the world.
Feast on what is ready
So garden trug in hand, my supper one night this week was determined by what was available in my own little yard. So often, the garden or the farm stand dictates the menu, and that’s fine with me. Summer squash, sprouting broccoli, and mint, with a little help from a sweet Vidalia onion from Georgia and some mini red peppers from The Farmer on the Hill. The mint was delicious with both the vegetables. We ate it hot as a side dish, then leftovers were used cold like a salad, and even tucked in a whole-wheat wrap at lunch. My husband didn’t want the wrap, so he had his warmed with a poached egg on top. One meal sort of morphs into the next.
Happy gardening and happy cooking.
Summer Squash with Sprouting Broccoli and Mint
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 2 mini sweet red peppers, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 quart diced summer squash or zucchini
- 1 cup or more broccoli sprouts or florets
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 mint leaves, minced and some for garnish
Add or subtract this dish at will. My granddaughter was with us when I first made this and she like it even though she is not a big an of summer squash. She said next time, double the broccoli. You can use any broccoli you want here, even some chopped up stems you saved if that is all you have. Or substitute another green veggie.
Heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium high and add the onion. Cook until softened, but not browned. Add the red peppers and the garlic, some salt and pepper to taste, and let these flavors blend for a couple of minutes, then add the summer squash and a pinch more salt.
Continue cooking for ten minutes or so until the squash softens but is not mushy. Add the broccoli and red pepper flakes and cook just until tender, correcting the seasoning.
Stir in the mint leaves, remove from the heat and plate. Garnish with more mint and edible flowers if you like.
This also makes a tasty full meal with the addition of some white beans, or that little egg on top.
“I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
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We have had smoke in the Midwest from the Canadian fires, as well, Dorothy. But today is pleasant, although cloudy.
My parents watched the Victory Garden every Saturday. The show sparked my interest in gardening. All the best to you!
To you too my friend!
The Victory Garden was a weekly routine for me as well.
Thank you, Dorothy for your thoughts on vegetables, which I share.
Joanna
It’s mostly what I eat, and I enjoy them all. Well, not so much beets…
I just discovered a local store carries baby beets in small packs. I now enjoy beet and goat cheese salads – although I wish the beets weren’t marinated in white vinegar. I love their sweetness.
I found the same type of little package here and they were made locally! Now my husband has beets when he wants them!
Love to read your posts!
Thank you Marilyn!
Cheers to you! Your food and your stories are always so refreshing.
Thanks Suz! There”s always something growing, or simmering!
Even apartment dwellers can grow many things in containers! I have a constant supply of herbs to use year-round – including a dwarf Bay tree!
That’s wonderful! And I know every time you pick a leaf, there’s a smile on your face!
Wonderful reading about all the bounty in your garden, D. The air here cleared up quite a bit and we no longer smell smoke from the Canadian wildfires …. another reason not to “rue the rain”. Delicious-looking squash and broccoli dish, my friend!
Thank you! The air is much better here too. My eyes stopped weeping!
Corn and squash dish look delicious as always. I’m thrilled to say I’m sitting here with the windows open, A/C off, and enjoying every minute. It is 75℉, humidity is low, and the air quality is ‘fair.’ Take care, enjoy those fresh veggies and the cooler and clearer temps.
Yes, I was able to finally sleep with the windows open last night!
Love that moon picture! Absolutely beautiful. Also, quite the statistics about victory gardens in the 1940s. Always so satisfying to use what’s at hand for suppah. 😉
Thanks Laurie, I’ve always been fascinated and deeply encouraged by the resilience of the human spirit when we put our minds to maneuvering our way through hard times.
Absolutely! And boy what a pickle we are in right now.
Yes, that says it all my friend!
My heart goes out to Canadians at this difficult time.
Oh so does mine, we live on a very small planet and what happens to one happens to us all.
Having been a refugee child in SW Germany in the post WWII years, methinks plants for food were grown everywhere there were a couple of spadefuls of soil . . . how do you think we are here now to tell 🙂 ! Love your moon photo . . . don’t think I knew the facts . . . the way you told them I don’t think I’ll forget 🙂 ! Oh – love the look of the salad!
Thank you Eha! I’m sure those are experiences you will never forget. Those memories stay with us. My mother talked about being a child during the Great Depression here, and throughout her life she never wasted a potato peel.
I’m glad the air is a bit better! I hope one day to be able to have again a little corner of veggies too! That’s a lovely dish!
Thank you so much!
Another gorgeous and healthful dish, Dot! ❤️ I wish we could share some of the rain that has bombarded North Carolina this week. I’m not sure any region has ideal weather anymore, such a shame.
I love all your hints about the garden. And thanks for sending me the info about the darn hornworm that was ravaging my volunteer tomatoes! I managed to wrangle the rascal before he could do much damage to my container jalapeños!
They are such odd little creatures, the stuff of nightmares for gardeners!
Thanks for stopping by!
Such a beautiful dish, and I love cooking summer squash this way too! I can relate to the wildfire smoke inhibiting the gardening tasks. It’s been pretty bad in the Midwest, though we’re getting a reprieve right now. I hope more people will start their own gardens and keep them going each year. Tomatoes and zucchini are so easy to grow and taste so much better than store bought. Not to mention, who wants to buy lettuce from the supermarket right now? Not me!
It’s really scary, this latest outbreaks. But we’ve now left it to the industry to decide whether or not to test for these pathogens, and guess what? Not a surprise.
Another good reason to buy local or grow your own.
I used to say we were the original organic farmers because growing up, if we didn’t grow it, pick it or kill it, we didn’t eat! I can still picture the dirt cellar filled with mom’s canning, a feast for the eyes & stomach. Gardening ticks off a lot of boxes for me – the faith in a planted seed, tending those seeds to harvesting produce, then preserving it, fresh air, exercise, meditative practice. I could go on & on. Peas & beans are just starting to produce. There should be a picking in a week or so. There’s cucumbers & a sweet potato plant in the perennial bed right now; tomato plants in the front flower bed; a basil & cherry tomato plant in pots on the porch. I look forward to dishes like yours.
I had so many similar experiences growing up. All the food waste was buried in the garden, we used everything, and my mom preserved just about anything she could think of from the bounty of tomatoes to even making pickles out of zucchini and watermelon rinds.
Enjoy all those wonderful veggies as they come into being.
Fabulous!!! Such a wonderful recipe!
Thanks Mimi, it was really good.
Victory gardens are the essence of resilience–and resistance. 🙂
They have always been. Gardens are still very much a tradition here, but sadly a lot of the younger folks are not so much into the growing, just the eating part!
This is a vibrant bowl of pure summer goodness from your garden to table perfection!!!
Ah thanks Mary!
How are things going your way? Rough weather?
Love your thoughts on veggies. I feel the same way. And I remember the show Victory Garden!
I also like your veggie dish!
Thank you so much Nancy!
Indeed, a nourishing salad shows diversity with love and colorful abundance. 💞🥗
Ah, beautifully said!
Spring is just around the corner for us, Dorothy. Lots of produce coming up! I can truly appreciate your loving, and often observations of your growing greenery – it’s a thrill of another kind… 🥦
Every stage is a wonder!