2018 Garden is BOOMING!

The above photo was taken shortly after we planted.

The harvest began with green and wax beans on May 18th.

Banana Peppers on May 19th.

1 Cherry Tomato on the 23rd.

In just TWO WEEKS, we have harvested:

Beans:  5 GALLONS

Banana Peppers:  43 of 'em

Cherry Tomatoes:  48 of 'em

(Dom's 2 hay bales didn't work out, so no big tomatoes this year.)

Pretty impressive for a small garden, huh?

**On a side note:  Since the 23rd of this month, our Blueberry Bushes have produced 10 Quarts already!

Killer Green Beans! (With bacon and mushrooms)

We had A LOT of beans this year.  Green beans, Wax beans, and Purple pole beans.  I had to get creative-  These were delicious-

Ingredients:

6 strips bacon, diced
Handful of sliced Baby Bella mushrooms
1/4 onion, diced
Green Beans
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a frying pan, cook the bacon pieces until crispy. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel to drain. Drain the bacon fat from the pan, reserving a couple tablespoons. Add the reserved bacon fat back to the pan. Add the mushrooms and onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms and onion until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms have released their liquid and have begun to brown.

While the mushrooms and onion are cooking, put the green beans into a microwave safe dish. Add enough water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Drain.

Add the drained beans to the pan with the mushrooms and onions. Add the bacon pieces back into the pan. Add the lemon juice. While gently stirring, saute for 2 or 3 minutes.

Beans, Beans and More Beans!

Our garden is blowing us away this year.  Especially the beans.  I planted 3 different kinds of green beans, my favorite wax beans, and purple pole beans.

I'm picking a colander a day.  We're eating beans, freezing beans, giving away beans.  Unreal.

So we don't get sick of them, I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest and Allrecipes.

These were delicious:

HEAVENLY BEANS

green beans, parboiled
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup finely minced onion
3 cloves minced garlic or garlic scapes
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Miracle Whip (or mayo)
2 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; cook onion and garlic for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add sesame seeds; cook and stir until sesame seeds are golden brown,

Mix soy sauce, Miracle Whip, and sriracha hot sauce, into onion mixture. Add green beans and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper.

Greek Bean Salad

We have so many beans that I've had to find new ways to cook 'em.  This was delicious!

FOR THE SALAD:

*fresh green beans, parboiled
*sweet and hot banana peppers
*snow peas, parboiled
*cherry tomatoes
*crumbled feta

GREEK DRESSING:

*3 TBSP quality extra virgin olive oil
*1 TBSP white wine vinegar
*1 clove garlic, smashed + minced
*1/2 tsp fresh or dried parsley
*1/4 tsp dried oregano
*1/4 tsp dijon mustard
*a pinch of salt and pepper