Turtle Knoll Farm Dinners begin...

One of my absolute favorite things about having the vegetable garden is creating fun 'farm dinners' based on what is out there to be harvested. Saturday night, July 14,  was our first of the summer in honor of the first zucchini. I'm trying a new variety this year called Green Tiger Striped Zucchini from Kitchen Garden Seeds, where I ordered a lot of seeds from this year for the first time. So far I've been very happy with most of what I started from them. I also grabbed a great bunch of beets from Brent at One Love Farm , who runs our local Richmond Farmers Market. My beets are coming in for the first time this year, but they were not quite ready for that night.

The menu that night was written out on the blackboard in our kitchen:

Appetizers:

• Microwave Chips using the Pampered Chef Microwave Chip Maker and freshly dug potatoes
• Oysters and little necks on the grill 

Dinner Served:

• Stuffed Zucchini on the grill
• Grilled Bread with herbed ricotta and beets
• Karl's Kitchen fresh kielbasa 

Stuffed Zucchini

ingredients:

•   sm - med zucchini's {1/2 serves 1 person}
• 1 sm onion, chopped
• 1 lb sausage {or whatever meat you like - we used the kielbasa in this one}
• 2 tbspns each of fresh parsley and basil
• 1/4 c bread crumbs
• 1/2 c Parmesan, some reserved
• 1 egg, beaten
• s&p

how to cook:
*We cooked the above in that baking pan on the grill for a half hour. We did cover it with tinfoil for 15 mins to make sure it was cooked through. 
**I do not pre-cook the zucchini because I feel that the half hour or so that it spends cooking is enough and leaves some of the crunch.  
 

• Crumble sausage and heat over medium heat. When it's about 2/3 done, add the onion. Cook until soft and starting to brown. As removing from heat add the basil and parsley. Let mixture cool slightly. 
• Cut off each end of the zucchini to the size that fits into the dish you are using to cook them. Scoop out middle so they look like boats.
• In medium bowl toss together sausage & onion mixture, bread crumbs, parm, s&p. Blend together with egg. 
• Fill each 'boat' with mixture and top with remaining cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for a half hour. 

Optional: a)You can use yellow summer squash or other summer squashes like pattypan instead. b)This can be made vegetarian by making the filling with entirely veggies - corn is a good filler. c)Cheddar cheese tastes great on top!

Grilled Bread with Herbed Ricotta and Beets:

ingredients:

• good bread, sliced about a half inch think on an angle
• olive oil
• garlic
• Ricotta, fresh if available
• Herbs: dill, chives & scallions
• baby beets
• s&p

how to cook:

• To make herbed ricotta: mix 1 cup of ricotta with about 2 tbspns each of dill, chives & scallions (or whatever you would like.) Taste to get desired flavor. 
• Beets: cut tops and bottoms off. Toss with olive oil, s&p and wrap in tinfoil. Either roast in oven at 400 degrees for an hour or place on grill for an hour. Let cool completely, peel and slice. 
• Grill bread for 1-2 mins on each side until desired doneness.   Remove from heat, brush with olive oil and rub with garlic. Sprinkle with a little s&p.
• Spread bread with ricotta and layer with beets. 

 
 

More early spring vegetables

*This was supposed to publish on May 5 so reference to any time goes from there. I have started to second seed some of the below, which I'll go over in the next few weeks as the whole vegetable garden goes in.

Along with getting the potatoes in 2 weeks ago, I also put in a bunch of herbs, lettuces & root veggies. I've gone a little overboard with lettuce this year... I have purchased it already started and growing beautifully along with putting in 7 different seeds!!!

I have a row of lettuce in Plot C along with the Arugula, Swiss Chard & Scallions (or spring onions or bunching onions.) I purchased some started Romaine & Buttercrunch at Agway when I got the potatoes. I also purchased some other Red Leaf, Romaine & more Buttercrunch at a local greenhouse to my Mom that I'm going to put in amongst the tomatoes. Lettuce doesn't like heat... at all. The tomatoes will shield it some and keep it cool. Hopefully I can keep it growing a little longer. As lettuce starts to grow I either put grass clippings around it or hay to keep the ground a little cooler. I had gorgeous lettuce going last year that ended in disaster once the Groundhog found a way to get in... it still hurts to think about!

The seeds... for the past few years Mom & I have been growing Rocket Arugula from the company Franchi that I did some peas from. I've had enormous success with it. I usually start some in a planter by the house early. Then I put it in the ground. I cut back and let it keep growing. Last year I had it ALL season. I ended up planting a second row, but the first one kept coming back.
For Swiss Chard: a little tidbit I wasn't aware of in my first 2 years was that Swiss Chard & Spinach aren't compatible. The extent of the scientific side of this for me says that they likely suck the same nutrients out of the ground... if you want to know more you'll have to go look it up!!!! I also can't say that I've had enormous success with the Swiss Chard yet. Trying to figure that out this year. I purchased Bright Lights from John Scheepers. It's a different brand than I've done in hopes that maybe that will help it grow... hey, anything can help!
Next to the Swiss Chard & Arugula I put in a row of spring onions. I split the row between a random seed packet I got last year from Kew Royal Gardens and then a package from John Scheepers called Fukagawa, which is a bunching onion. The extent of the onions is going to be these and leeks. I've done others in the past few years, but I just don't think it's worth the effort when I can get them at the farmers market for cheap. I'd rather use the space for other stuff.

Back to the rest of the seeds of lettuce... most of it is stuff I'm reusing from years past. I did venture from this 'elite' seed place I've gone and purchased 2 packages of Burpee! I couldn't resist... we'll see. I'm sure they'll be fine. I picked red leaf and more romaine... Caesar salad anyone? From Botanical Interests I'm reusing a Mustard Green and Buttercrunch I purchased last last summer. From Franchi I have 2 packages of Mesclun that I'm trying and finally from Plant Harts Seeds I have Oakleaf. I'm sure I'm missing one, but you get the idea... obsessed with the lettuce. The thing about lettuce is that you do need to remember that it takes time to harvest & wash. All worth it in my opinion, but it's work.

The Carrots.... ah! I love them! There is a great article in the current Organic Gardening about planting Scarlet Nantes, a variety I have had huge success with in my heavy soil. I did not order a new pack this year, opting to change it up some, but I have last years pack and may end up putting some in. This year I chose 2 from John Scheepers, both supposedly will do well in my very heavy soil. Yaya, which is similar to the Nantes, and Yellowstone, which seemed to be able grow very easily.  Along with those I'm going to back to another favorite: Cosmic Purple from High Mowing. I love the purple and I've had success with these. Someday I want to expand to add more color. Carrots are fairly easy to grow. I do pay attention to carrot flies and put a deterrent in - rosemary and marigolds work wonders. I've been growing rosemary in the middle of the carrots for a few years and haven't had any problems. The parsley worm can show up, but they're so pretty you hate to do anything. I move them to a different location.

Radishes... I'm reusing these seeds too. They've been in for 2 weeks and they seem to be growing fine so I think I'll just stick with that. I bought a random package of French Breakfast at a garden center about 18 months ago that I'm using - those are really pretty with they're white and pink bulb. The other is Easter Egg II from Renee's Garden. I've been doing these since the beginning and just love them. The colors are fabulous in pink, red, purple & white. Radishes are by and far the easiest thing to grow. My advice is thin them to allow the bulb to grow and make sure you pick them when they're ready b/c they bolt. Keep planting radishes to eat all summer & fall.

Finally the spinach and herbs. I have NOT had success with spinach... well, minimally. It really does like the cold. I'm doing basic Regiment from John Scheepers this year. They say it's pretty easy. I'm paying more attention to my PH to see if that helps. This variety is supposedly bolt resistant, which is a problem I have when it starts to get warm. I'll post on how it's coming along.
For herbs I've put in Cilantro & Dill for now. Dill likes to go in in the cold weather. It's been hit or miss for me with dill. Sometimes I get lots, sometimes none. I'd like to be able to use my own in the pickles and I also just like dill.

As these items start to poke thru the ground and grow I'll post more pictures. The beets are coming in strong for now - let's hope that keeps up! I'm planning a round of fish fertilizer this week. I've never been good at it in the spring, but I'm changing my ways! I did buy an attachment for the hose which will hopefully encourage me to fertilize more. That should make it easier. Water and fertilizing really are the keys! I've been out watering every few days in this dry spring. It's so important to help the seeds germinate. All of this went in about 2 weeks ago so I'll be putting in the second round soon.