Another Fine Mess

First few beans

This garden and blog began with good intentions, and one needs only note the gap between the dates of this post and my last to see what often becomes of such intentions. I'm having a go at achieving closure on this little project (for now) by posting some notes I wrote up back on August 23rd, followed by a quick update on current conditions. Hmm. That sounds like a weather report, due perhaps to the dreary rain out my window and the persisting forecast for snow in a couple days.

August 23, 2009

I'd better make some entries before summer trips into fall and everything I've learned end up in the compost pile. So here is the first of a bunch of notes about the vegetable garden-in-the-garden experiment – what happened, what's going on now, and thoughts about next year.

Swiss Chard. No complaints here. The half-dozen plants that sprouted provided all the chard we could want, meaning a meal for two every week. It might be more honest to say, "All the chard we could stand..." because I generally have not been a big fan of this very nutritious, but earthy-tasting, leafy, green veggie. This season, however, I found two new ways to cook it that heightened it's appeal. One is to use it in lasagna, sort of like you would spinach, but with the stalks as well. The other is a roasted version inspired by an online recipe at beyondsalmon.blogspot.com. In both recipes I added a lot of chopped onion and garlic. Works wonders.

A true chard enthusiast (if one exists) might want a few more plants.

Beans. One plant survived, and as of this date is not prolific. We had a skimpy dozen beans between us two nights ago, and they were flavorful but not worth the trouble. Probably won't grow beans or or peas next year unless I establish a fenced area to keep out the critters. Not likely to happen.

Zucchini. These things really lived up to their reputation. On one forum I read a comment that began by saying the squash should be harvested at six to eight inches in length for best flavor, and went on to admit that zucchinis like to play hide and seek, resulting in the baseball bats. While I agree with the latter, I have no complaint about the flavor of the giant zukes.