Spring Harvest Means It's Time to Cook Up a Fresh Homegrown Meal

I do love harvest time. Not only do I find it more enjoyable than weeding (and a lot easier than tilling), it means it’s time to EAT! And who doesn’t love to eat fresh veggies from the garden?

Nobody I know. Especially when a basket full of potatoes and sweet onions are involved. These are a mix of Yukon Gold, Red Cloud and a batch I planted from an organic potato purchase from my local grocery store. (Yes, you CAN do that–but don’t tell anyone I told you so. Master gardeners tend to frown upon this sort of corner-cutting.)

Add a few sprigs of rosemary the herb garden, a little olive oil and next thing you know you have all the makings for an excellent side dish to dinner! Roasted potatoes anyone?

A bit of minced garlic would be the perfect mix-in for this dish. Which I also just happened to harvest this weekend! red toch garlic from the garden

Very yummy. And for those leftovers: reheat them, crack an egg in a skillet and cook until it’s sunny side up, then scoop it over top of the potatoes for a hearty breakfast. But whatever you do, don’t let the original chef know you squirted out a dollop of ketchup to go with them. They were once a gourmet dinner side.

Like I said, for me, harvest is all about eating, though there is a “fun-factor” involved. One of the students at school sent me a picture of her home garden harvest and there were more exclamation points in one paragraph than I have seen in quite some time!

But can you blame her? Look at the size of those zucchini! Beans…and a tomato, too. She’s AWESOME!

Harvest time is a wonderful time. Especially in spring, because this is the only time I have fresh sweet onions and garlic–veritable staples in the Italian diet. Remember: I’m after the perfect sauce. Just as soon as those tomatoes of mine are ready, I’m all over it!

P.S. For those of you reading this thinking I could never grow vegetables like those–think again. If these black beans don’t prove it to you, I don’t know what will. Sure, I put the cage around them–but only AFTER I noticed they were blooming completely on their own.

Roma tomatoes, too. These babies are twice the size of my garden tomatoes.

So please, if my compost pile of dead leaves can grow these black beans and Roma tomatoes without a lick of help from me, than so can you. Trust me. Mother Nature WILL help you. She wants you to grow and grow to your heart’s content! (Less work for her.)