Zucchini bread

Our first recipe using some of our garden grown zucchini is some yummy zucchini bread.  We used a Paula Dean recipe.  It was enough to make one large bread (which we took to our small group last night and we left with just an empty plate).  Even the kids at it up... little did they probably know though that it had zucchini in it... all they saw where the chocolate chips.  Besides the large bread, we also had enough to make 5 mini loaves to eat our selves and share with family and friends.

Here's the recipe we used.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread by Paula Dean  ( but there's not a single pat of butter in it!!!)
3 cups all-purpose four
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease 2 9x5" loaf pans
Sift together four, baking powder, salt, spices, and baking soda
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating until well blended.
Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips.
Stir in sifted ingredients.
Pour into loaf pans.
Bake for 50 minutes.  Mini loaf pans for 25 minutes.  Check with toothpick.. comes out clean.. its ready.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Surprise zucchini today

After helping my father-in-law move into his new house over the weekend, I hadn't had time to check the garden in two days.  I already knew I had a zucchini that was about ready to be cut off so as I went to get it this morning it had doubled in size.  Zucchinis grow fast.  I did my usually walk around picking a few ripe tomatoes (today's haul was a little over 13 oz).   As I was rounding the back side checking on my cucumbers, low and behold, I was surprised with another 10" zucchini that I hadn't seen before.  So I told Jennie that we will have to make some zucchini bread soon before they go bad.

 
 With the netting on top of the tomato plants, the stems are now reaching about 6 ft long so they are beginning to lay sideways and starting to crowd out and shade my sweet pepper plants and into my kale "tree".  Not sure what to do, so will just leave it be for now.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

I think my garden has officially made its value just in tomatoes so far

This morning I found some more ripe tomatoes ready to be picked.  Thanks to Jennie's yarn scale, I am able to get a correct weight on my tomato yield.  Today they weighed in just a hair over 2 lbs.  I think its about time I start swapping produce with my neighbors, because I can't eat this many tomatoes.  Went to HEB this morning for the weekly grocery shopping and was able  to plan a whole weeks of meals using mostly produce from my garden.  Only spent $76 for this week, that of course includes store bought produce that is organic.   My wife and I try to eat mainly organic or local.  My garden is grown organically, as well as I can.  No one can be 100% organic if growing outside.

Found another zucchini this morning about 7" long.  I am going to wait a few days before picking it, simply because I already have 2 sitting in the fridge.  Thinking about making some yummy zucchini bread with it and one of the meals for the week will be grilled zucchini pizzas.

Finally have a few Aladdin sweet and bell peppers that are getting to a good size.  The larger ones should be ready in about a week.

Pest problems:  Loopers (larva of moths) or some cutworms are devouring my kale leaves and aphids are starting to eat my tomatoes.

Possible solution: I might try to mix me up some Garrett Juice to help with the pests.  J. Howard Garrett has written several gardening books.  Some of my favorite are:

Garden Tip:  don't get tomato pollen in your eyes... it stings!!  It's the one drawback of clumping my tomato plants this year.  I was reaching deep in the depths of the clump and a leaf rubbed my eye.  From now on its safety glasses for sure.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Fresh Garden Salsa Recipe

I have taken and modified my brother Jeff's hot sauce recipe over the years.

3 cans Rotel tomatoes (reserve some juice)
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/3 cup fresh chopped onion
1 1/2 - 2 tbs. chopped garlic
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (gives it the heat)
3 dashes of chili powder
1/4 generous tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt (for taste, I use a little less)
1/2 tbs. lime juice
1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce
splash of white wine vinegar

Pour all into a blender and blend (time will depend on your thickness preference) If its too thick and chunky for your liking, add some of the reserved tomato juice to thin it out.
Will make about a pint of salsa and will last about a week in the fridge.

So over the years I have made this salsa and don't use the recipe as it is.  I tend to add and taste the ingredients as I go, not really using actual measuring spoons.   What I plan on doing this time is using the tomatoes, cilantro, and onion from my garden.   I will throw the big ones on the grill and char them up to give the salsa a more smoky flavor.

Made a pint of the salsa in the Magic Bullet yesterday and Jennie and I polished it off in one sitting.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Tomatoes are a coming!!!

As of today, I have harvested 3.5 lbs of tomatoes from the large cherry tomatoes and some Phoenix tomatoes.  Pulled a few cucumbers as well today because they were looking a little yellow.  This will give  the other ones a little more energy and juice to mature better.

One disappointment for today is after constructing a net tent over the length of the entire beds, I discovered that one of my Brandywines (a little larger than the size of my fist) was just starting to turn red and low and behold, I find a place where something started eating it.  Not sure what it is, the net is far enough away that it couldn't be a bird and its too small to be squirrel, so its got to be an insect of some sort.  The problem is, is that I haven't seen many bugs on my tomato plants.  I will have to do some night surveillance to find the culprit.  I went ahead and left it on hoping that whatever it is will continue to focus on that one tomato and leave the rest alone.

Now I just need to find some good recipes to cook and enjoy my harvest thus far.

Running total of Produce

cucumbers:  12

tomatoes: 3.5lbs

zucchini:   2

peppers:  0

potatoes:  0

peas/beans:  0

Get dirty and keep on gardening!