It’s been raining all week at our house. All stinkin’ week. And you know what? The cool season crops like cabbage, radishes and peas are loving it. The vegetables are growing like crazy!
Check out this gorgeous head of cabbage. Don’t you just want to give it a big kiss?
The Swiss chard has really taken off too. If you have a favorite recipe that calls for Swiss chard, please leave your recipe or a link in the comment section. I think I’m going to need as many chard recipes as I can get this year with the amount we are growing.
Even with all the rain we’ve been having, the tomato plants are still looking pretty good. Water on tomato leaves is not ideal, but hopefully they’ll be okay. We’ll see.
Beans! From now until the end of July I’ll be planting green beans every two weeks to make sure we have plenty to harvest {and preserve} throughout the summer. Do you do this too? These beans were planted 2 weeks ago. This weekend I think I’ll plant some Roma beans.
The garlic isn’t anywhere near ready to harvest, but it sure looks cool.
These are our beets. I thinned these bad boys last week, but with all the cool weather and rain we’ve been having, I may have to go out there soon and thin them again so they have some room to grow.
Carrots. Ugg. I’m not sure what happened, but not all of the carrots germinated. So last week I had to plant some more. Growing carrots takes a lot of patience and it’s a total crap shoot when you plant them super early like I did this year.
The napping gnome is doing a fantastic job.
The potatoes are looking great and before too long we’ll be enjoying our favorite fully loaded baked potato soup again.
Here is the view from the back of the garden. Pretty cool huh?
Now, if we could just get the sun to come out I’d be happy.
How is YOUR garden doing these days? Everything growing as planned?
~Mavis
Keep Calm and Garden On T- Shirt
Knitting with Olof says
My garden is going as strong as it can with the chickens having had a run of it til just a little over a week ago. Now that they are fenced out and I have my bees it is doing really well.
Cindy says
Mavis how do you store your potatoes? I’m growing potatoes this year and need to learn quick! 🙂
Kristin says
Your garden looks great! Mine is less good. Lots of things planted, but the growing is going slowly. The weather isn’t helping – I actually had 2″ spinach seedlings bolt before they got their second set of true leaves! But I will continue to persist until I get something out of this stubborn earth!
You asked for chard recipes, so here you go. This is definitely my favorite: http://www.pursuitofvegetables.com/2011/10/pasta-with-swiss-chard-bacon-and.html
I will also use it in any recipe that calls for spinach.
Madam Chow says
In any recipe that calls for spinach, just substitute Swiss chard. That’s what I did in this recipe: http://tinyurl.com/cmmaax
Sarah says
This simple recipe for Penne with Swiss Chard is one of my favorite dishes. I chop the stems and start them with the onion.
Sarah says
Here is the link 🙂 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Penne-with-Swiss-Chard-14481
Tasha K. says
Linguine with swiss chard and garlic:
http://www.food.com/recipe/linguine-with-swiss-chard-and-garlic-238018
Kristina says
Mavis, your garden looks great! What an inspiration you are to me!! Thank you so much!!! Its been raining here a lot and cold but the broccoli I am trying to grow is really growing!!! Thank you for the blog, it really helps me figure out what to do in my own garden. Have a great day!!! Thank you!!!!
Elizabeth says
I really liked this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/swiss-chard-with-pinto-beans-and-goat-cheese/
You can also use radishes in stew like potatoes 🙂
Diane says
Remember that (like spinach and kale) chard can be added to just about any soup or stew – it’s great in Italian-inspired soups with Italian sausage and potatoes, or sausage and white beans. I’ve even added it to southwestern black bean & corn soup, maybe with a bit of shredded chicken.
Cindi says
Mavis, I use chard in any recipe that calls for spinach — enchiladas, quiche, lasagna, etc. But my very favorite way to use it is in place of cabbage leaves to make stuffed cabbage rolls. It’s delicious this way.
As for my garden, I was finally able to plant potatoes and carrots on Monday, and I’m starting to harden off my brocolli seedlings. I have lettuce, arrugula, chard and a few collar greens just sprouting, along with radishes. My peas are just starting to emerge. Now it’s a race to see how much will make it before the first frost around Labor Day!
Cecily says
I plant pole beans only once in June. As long as I pick them regularly they will produce until frost. I prefer them to bush beans since they produce more over a season, although if you like to get all your beans at once then bush is definately the way to go. Love the new layout BTW!
Diane says
We planted both pole and bush beans (plus some shelling bean varieties) only once last season, and the bush beans produced over almost as long a period as the pole beans. I don’t know whether the longevity had to do with the varieties we planted, or what, but we sure were happy to get all those lovely beans from late July through mid-October, and to be able to give plenty away to friends!
Charla Echlin says
I know! This rain the past two weeks was both a blessing and a curse- I was gone so my husband was in charge (!) so thankfully it rained- but again, I was gone! When I got back yesterday I couldn’t believe how things exploded! Worked outside all day today, and much more to do tomorrow. I also had the same problem with my carrots- had to replant them twice- second time I used the board trick- lay it across the seed till it germinates (keeps them from blowing and washing away) works every time, don’t know why I didn’t do it in the first place.
Andrea at Opulent Cottage says
This was so incredibly good —
http://opulentcottage.typepad.com/opulentcottage/2013/05/swiss-chard-breakfast-casserole.html
I’m not sure if our Swiss chard is going to take off in our crazy Texas heat (we planted waaayyy too late) but I’m sure glad that someone has a bumper crop! Loving seeing your garden Mavis, it has really been an inspiration to us this year 🙂
Melody says
My favorite swiss chard recipe is a swiss chard goat cheese crustless quiche. It’s super easy to make and since we harvest chard once a week it’s a nice go to recipe that doesn’t take a whole lot of time!
Swiss Chard Goat Cheese Quiche
2 lbs swiss chard chopped into bite size pieces
1 medium onion chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
1-2 T bacon grease
8 oz bacon cooked and crumbled
4 oz goat cheese
1/4 -1/2 cup (to taste really) grated parmesan cheese
7 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350° . In a large pan cook 8 oz bacon then crumbles and set aside reserving 1-2 T of bacon grease in the pan. Add chopped onion and minced garlic to bacon grease and saute until the onions just start to turn translucent. Pile all of your chopped swiss chard on top of the sauteed garlic and onions and toss to mix then cover with a lid and cook gently until all of the chard is nice and wilted. Grab an old kitchen towel and pour the swiss chard mixture onto it and squeeze out all the excess liquid. Layer squeezed swiss chard into the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan and top with the crumbled bacon. Slice goat cheese and crumble over the top of the bacon in an even layer. Whisk 7 eggs with your parmesan cheese, season lightly with salt and pepper and pour mixture over the top of everything. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until the center is set. Let rest five minutes then slice and serve with a nice garden salad on the side. Yum!