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Garden Bloggers Harvest Day for March

Post author By Barbara
Post date March 5, 2012
20 Comments on Garden Bloggers Harvest Day for March

Welcome to our third Garden Bloggers Harvest Day this 5th day of March 2012. Our Two Gardens have surprised us again this summer! We love sharing with you the delights of our gardens on this day each month! Also, having a peek into your veggie patches will inspire and delight! There is so much to grow and enjoy! We can create great meals from our patch of heaven in our gardens! What’s growing in your edible garden?

Let’s see what can be harvested from Barbies Garden this month

Well, I have never enjoyed such a bountiful harvest as I have this month. I picked and picked and picked……. tomatoes and chillis and butternut squash. I have enough to see me through to the next season. I have never been successful with butternut squash and all my fellow Philadelphian veggie gardeners are green with envy because all their squash was stung by something – I could not give then any advice, though, because I did nothing special! Wonder what it is! The leafy greens have delighted and are still producing, regardless of the intense heat! What champs! The herbs are plentiful and keep all my dishes flavourful and colourful. Thank you, my garden – you have done well. This month of March I have cleared the beds for the winter sowing. I will keep you posted on what I plant. Enjoy yours!

[one_half]Bountiful butternut harvest![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Second growth of broccoli[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Mass of mint – I think it is spearmint[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Italian flat leaf parsley – the best![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Red cabbage nearly ready to pick[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Still enjoying the hot chilli[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Figs are nearly over-mine were lovely[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Melt in your mouth sweet and juicy[/one_half_last]

[one_half]What a bumper crop I got![/one_half]

[one_half_last]All the best ingredients for a pasta sauce[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Let’s not forget the sweet basil[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of leafy greens in my garden[/one_half_last]

Not quite ripe yet

[one_half]Love my lemons-patiently waiting[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Guavas are a winter fruit-still awhile to go[/one_half_last]

Pick of the Month

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard – Chard and the other beets are chenopods, a group which is either its own family Chenopodiaceae or a subfamily within the Amaranthaceae. Although the leaves are eaten, it is in the same group and subfamily as beetroot (garden beet), which is usually grown primarily for its edible roots. Chard is also known by its many common names such as Swiss chard, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights (due to the bright and vivid spring colors when they are cooked or provided as a medley of vegetables), seakale beet, and mangold and is one of the cultivated descendants of the sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima.

Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C, with a 175 g serving containing 214%, 716%, and 53%, respectively, of the recommended daily value. It is also rich in minerals, dietary fiber and protein.

(Courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Bone health benefits: This high in calcium content dark green leafy vegetable is easy to absorb. Together with vitamin K and magnesium it provides more than six times the daily requirement recommended for your body. As per research, one cup of cooked leaves of Swiss chard helps to support healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis. We all know calcium plays a great role in maintaining our bones but when added with vitamin K1, it helps to prevent excessive action by osteoclasts i.e. the cells which act as a main agent to break down bone. Presence of vitamin K2 helps to anchor the calcium in place.

Act as antioxidants: Swiss chard is a store house of antioxidants along with vitamin K; vitamin C and vitamin A. Antioxidants provide a helping hand to protect the body from the free radicals and harmful toxic substances. As per various researches, antioxidants present in this green leafy vegetable helps to prevent and treat coronary artery disease and various other diseases.

Prevent inflammation: Presence of various vitamin and mineral help to prevent inflammation which has been occurred exterior as well as interior.

Reduces Blood Pressure: 1 cup of cooked leaves of Swiss chard contains a person’s daily recommended content of potassium, which helps to maintain the level of blood sugar. Swiss chard being rich in potassium content helps to reduce the level of blood sugar, especially when it gets replaced by the sodium. On the other hand, Swiss chard contains high amount of fibre content that helps to reduce the level of blood cholesterol.

Maintain proper heart health: Along with various other vitamins and nutrients, Swiss chard stores vitamin K that helps to classify the blood vessels and hardness the arteries. It also helps to maintain clotting of normal blood. Presence of magnesium content helps to deal with various cardiovascular diseases. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, Swiss chard acts as a helping hand to deal with hypertension.

Maintain proper skin health: Swiss chard is good for skin maintenance and skin health. This cousin of spinach helps to boost up skin glow. Presence of vitamin A along with vitamin C plays a great role in the production of collagen, providing skin health and prevention of acne.

Boost up immune system: The immune system gets a boost from Swiss chard. Vitamin A and vitamin C is essential to stimulate and improve the function of body immune system.

Maintain proper eye health: Swiss card feature 110% of the daily requirement of vitamin A content in your diet. Vitamin A content in Swiss chard helps to protect your eyes against macular degeneration and ensures good eye health.

Prevent anaemia: Swiss chard is useful for people suffering for anaemia. Swiss chard has a good source of iron and as per research; iron is always consider for the treatment of anaemia. Presence of iron content is essential to make red blood cells which act as an oxygen carrier. The leafy vegetable also houses B complex vitamins, which helps to cure tiredness and depression.

Recipe

Spinach and Feta Quiche – Barbies own fool proof recipe

Pastry:

1 cup cake flour
50g hard butter cut into small blocks
1/4 cup ice water

Directions: Please flour in food processor and blend in the butter blocks to create a crumbly consistency. Add the ice water and watch the dough ball form. When it is a ball, remove and knead it for at least 1 minute to break the gluten to get a springy, elastic consistency. Wrap in glad wrap and place in fridge for at least 15 minutes. In this time you can prepare the quiche contents and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Spinach and Feta Quiche:

Collect handfuls Swiss Chard/Spinach from your garden
2 to 3 blocks of feta cheese
3 organic eggs, from your friendly chickens – beaten
1 cup cream

Directions: Clean spinach and add wet to a pot to blanch for 1 minute until wilted. Chop up into small pieces. Chop up the feta cheese into small 10mm blocks. Put to one side as you take out the pastry and roll to fit into a quiche dish, sprinkle flour to your work surface. Once nicely laid out add the spinach and feta cheese evenly. Add the cream to the beaten eggs and pour over the top of spinach and feta. I do not need to add any seasoning, but if you wish now is the time. Back in oven for at least 30 minutes or until it springs back when you touch it and the crust is lightly brown.

Enjoy with a garden salad!

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

Please join us on the 5th of every month and show us what you’ve harvested. Whether you have a massive vegetable garden or grow a few herbs in pots or just pick a few peaches from a tree … we’d love to see! Its all about sharing our experiences, photographs, successes and failures as we “learn to grow”.

So prepare a post on your blog about what you harvested this past month, link up to us at The Gardening Blog and then, add your link to the Mr. Linky below so we can all visit your blog and “share in your harvest”. And leave us a comment! We LOVE hearing from you!

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Tags garden bloggers harvest day, veggie garden, veggies

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Garden Bloggers Harvest Day for February

Post author By Barbara
Post date February 5, 2012
18 Comments on Garden Bloggers Harvest Day for February

Welcome to our second Garden Bloggers Harvest Day this 5th day of February 2012. Our Two Gardens have yielded a collection of incredible edibles this summer! Sharing with you what comes out of our gardens on this day each month will be fun! Also, having a peek into your veggie patches will inspire and delight! There is so much to find in the back garden!

Let’s see what can be harvested from Barbies Garden this month

The summer heat is on and the greens need lots of water. I have had a few of them wilt away, so I need to prepare the next batch carefully. But the tomatoes are tasting amazing but the plants don’t look so good this year and the butternut squash is growing out of control in my garden (good thing I love butternut squash). The Broccoli has been eaten and the celery has gone to seed. I have also noticed that the veggies grown in the raised beds are thriving compared to the veggie patch along the side of the house. It really has paid off preparing the soil carefully by composting, mulching and adding manure right at the start. Have a look and see what’s coming out of my garden.

Lots of leafy greens – from cabbages to lettuce and Swiss Chard.

[one_half]Just picked sweetcorn for lunch tomorrow[/one_half]

[one_half_last]This is growing mad in my garden[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Lots of tomatoes are ripening[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tomatoes in different stages[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Spring onions growing tall[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Broccoli was super delicious this year[/one_half_last]

Courgettes were plentiful and with 3 plants we had them coming out of our ears!

[one_half]Lots of chilli in my garden – enjoying the flavour[/one_half]

[one_half_last]More cabbage – takes awhile to grow[/one_half_last]

Pick of the Month

The Butternut Squash:

Butternut can be eaten in many different ways, from baked, steamed or puréed. It is fairly low in calories, so can be eaten freely. The main benefit that butternut has, is that it is a source of the phytochemical beta-carotene. That has antioxidant abilities and can inhibit cancer cell development. Alpha-carotene is best absorbed by the body when it is cooked and eaten with a little fat. It is most beneficial to eat this as part of a meal.

It has more vitamin A than that in pumpkin. At 10630 IU per 100 g, it is perhaps the single vegetable source in the cucurbitaceae family with highest levels of vitamin-A, providing about 354% of RDA. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for vision. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A helps body protect against lung and oral cavity cancers.

It is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid.

It has similar mineral profile as pumpkin, containing adequate levels of minerals like iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus.

Recipe:

Butternut Soup (from the foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

1 (2 to 3 pound) butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock
Nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. In large pot melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot. Stir and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Serve.

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

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Bloggers Harvest Day Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

My February Harvest

My February harvest is meagre … I’m almost embarrassed to show how little there is to harvest this month, but in the spirit of joining in with Garden Bloggers Harvest Day in February, here is what I’ve managed to “harvest” in the last month.

The two mint plants seem to be on a mission to take over my veggie planters. It’s a good thing that I have someone to take all the mint off my hands or I’d be drowning in mint right now. My new tomato plants have started to produce – I have the start of two tomatoes on one of them and my new Borage plant has its first flowers (thanks for gifting me the plant Barbie – I love the flowers!) and the seeds I planted are all sprouting. Now if only I could remember which are the radishes, which are the coriander and what was the third seed I planted?

Lettuce and two bags of mint ready for the restaurant …

Lots of chillies harvested today …

And all the rest …
[one_half]Lots of Mint, far too much[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cos lettuce still going strong[/one_half_last]

[one_half]I have plenty of hot Chillis[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And I can’t remember what these are[/one_half_last]

What have you managed to harvest this month?

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

Please join us on the 5th of every month and show us what you’ve harvested from your veggie or herb garden. Whether you have a massive vegetable garden or grow a few herbs in pots or just pick a few peaches from a tree … we’d love to see! It’s all about sharing our experiences, photographs, successes and failures as we “learn to grow”. See this month Harvest Day posts at February Garden Bloggers Harvest Day.

New here? If you would like to get involved in the gardening blog community, consider joining a blog meme. See a list at Gardening Blog Memes.

Tags garden bloggers harvest day

Barbie's garden Bloggers Harvest Day Gardening Home page features

Garden Bloggers Harvest Day January

Post author By Barbara
Post date January 5, 2012
41 Comments on Garden Bloggers Harvest Day January

Welcome to our very first Garden Bloggers Harvest Day this 5th day of January 2012. Our Two Gardens have excited and delighted us this past year and have also produced some incredible edibles! We want to share with you what comes out of our gardens on this day each month that we can eat and enjoy! Lots of love and care goes into growing fruits and vegetables – so we would love to see what grows in your backyard.

Let’s see what can be harvested from Barbies Garden this month

Growing an edible garden has always been the ultimate plan when I took my first step into the back garden of our new home – veggies and chickens will find a place here. That was nearly 7 years ago and now looking out into my garden, I have realized this dream. What great joy it brings me to dig around in my garden today and pull out a bright red beetroot or a plump potato! Sheer will and stubborn determination got this huge veggie patch of a garden producing a wide range of fruit and vegetables.

Come and see what me and the chicken’s can find in the garden for you …

Ready for the picking …

[one_half]My very first attempt at growing potatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Strawberries – incredibly sweet[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Baby cabbage great for coleslaw and stirfry[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Beautiful green Swiss Chard[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Hot chilli pepper – not sure of type[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Spring onions always welcome[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Beetroot in abundance[/one_half]

[one_half_last]One of the Super Foods![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Runner beans coming to an end[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sweet Basil always on call[/one_half_last]

Not ripe yet ….

[one_half]My first BIG butternut squash[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tomatoes taking forever to ripen![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Broccoli nearly there[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sweet corn ears[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Figs Figs Figs! Can’t wait![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lemon tree coming back to life![/one_half_last]

That’s all for this month!

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

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Bloggers Harvest Day Christine's garden Gardening

My January Harvest

Barbie and I were very excited to start a monthly “Garden Bloggers Harvest Day“. We hunted around and it does not appear that anyone has started one and with the number of Garden Bloggers who blog about their vegetable and herb gardens, we though it might be fun to share. Barbie is a serious “vegetable gardener”. Really, she has all sorts growing … from cabbages to potatoes, fruit trees (peaches, figs, apples etc.), to unusual herbs, she grows them all.

Me? Well I try … I grow lots of things in a “veggie planter” and recently added two half wine-barrels for planting of veggies to extend my efforts, but I haven’t got it quite right yet. Lots of growth and then – not much finds its way to our actual table. But I’m learning … and hope to learn a lot more via hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers Harvest Day. Please join us! Go to Garden Bloggers Harvest Day to add your link!

First, this is the extent of my “Veggie Garden”…

[one_half]My “Veggie Garden”[/one_half]

[one_half_last]One of two new “Veggie Planters”[/one_half_last]

And then here’s what I’ve harvested this month …
Compared to Barbie’s harvest it’s meagre. I’ve harvested LOTS of lettuce (I grow Cos lettuce). Lasts years harvest was poor – lots of lettuce but it tasted Yuck! Then I read on It’s Not Work, It’s Gardening that planting them too close together was probably the cause. The next batch I planted further apart and its delicious! My biggest “harvest” after lettuce is from the mint plant that is growing like crazy. I have so much that now I supply a local restaurant with Mint for their cocktails and desserts (I “know” the owner – my daughters other half – and he gladly takes all the mint off my hands!!).

Then I successfully grow coriander which we use a lot, we ate a lot of very sweet cherry tomatoes and we have basil, parsley and three types of chillis – Habanero and Jalapeno as well as a black chilli (I forget the name).

[one_half]Sweet Cherry Tomatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of Cos lettuce[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The three Chillis[/one_half]

[one_half_last]My meagre “Harvest” today[/one_half_last]

[one_half]I have plenty of Basil & Mint[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And the black Chilli[/one_half_last]

Happy Gardening
xxx

About Garden Bloggers Harvest Day

So prepare a post on your blog about what you harvested this past month, link up to us at The Gardening Blog and then, add your link to the Mr. Linky on the page at Garden Bloggers Harvest Day so we can all visit your blog and “share in your harvest”. And leave us a comment! We LOVE hearing from you!

Tags garden bloggers harvest day, veggie garden, veggies