Summer Harvest

We didn't get many cherries this year but they are delicious. The result of the harvest is four Cherry pies...delicious! We had one but the other three went into the freezer.

Mark pitted the cherries which is a big job even with the little cherry chomper.

After making the pies, I had leftover pie dough so I made quiche and it was delicious with fresh carrots, Swiss chard and onions from the garden and fresh eggs.  We had fresh buttered beets and salad greens from the garden as sides. Yum! Here's the recipe..

EVERYDAY QUICHE

5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk (soy or almond works fine)
2 cups shredded cheese (I like fontina and/or havarti)
then, add what you have in the refrigerator, such as: chopped drained cooked veggies; chopped left over slices of deli meat, roast chicken, cooked ground beef or seafood. Use your imagination and leftovers)
1 9" pie shell (my recipe is on the 07/18/10 blog)

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Beat eggs in large mixing bowl
Add filling and milk and  mix well
Pour mixture in prepared pie shell
Place quiche on cookie sheet and bake on the middle oven rack for 45-50 minutes; or until top is browned and a knife inserted comes out clean

Serve with fresh green salad and a few pieces of fruit.

Here are pictures of the potatoes, beets, carrots and greens from the garden.

And, if you haven't had baby potatoes right out of the garden, steamed and buttered, you are missing a piece of heaven on earth. Oh my, soooo delicious. It's good enough to want to make a meal of it.

If you recall, I planted my potatoes in the tank bed this year and I experimented with planting the traditional way in the ground and the Ruth Stout way of on laying the potato on the ground covered with mulch. The Ruth Stout method wins hands down. It's so easy to harvest by just lifting the mulch.

So many people say they don't like beets which I don't understand unless they've only eaten large old beets that have lost their sweetness. Small beets pulled from the ground, washed and roasted or steamed with real butter are so delicious. Beets are very sweet when eaten young. They are also such a beautiful food. This year I repeated Bulls Blood which we had last year and just adored. I also tried Chioggia beets - red with white circles inside. Delicious and interesting. Nothing wrong with interesting food.

I grew Danvers carrots again this year. They weren't particularly sweet last year but I thought it may have been growing conditions. Well, after growing again this year with the same results, I've decided I won't plant them again. They are OK but not sweet enough for me. I also planted an unusual colored carrot- purple! yes purple-ish on the outside and orange on the inside which is called Dragon. It is interesting looking which makes it fun.



 Here are some pictures of this years early garden...

Looking S-SE

Looking S-SW

Looking south from the sweet potato and leek bed

The roses are still in bloom; this one is so fragrant -
David Austin's Scepter'd Isle English rose

If you don't have a garden, you can enjoy the summer harvest at your local Farmers Market. Try it - you'll savor the flavor of summer!

Delores