2019 Spring Garden Southern Utah: Tomatoes

Here are some pictures of my tomato plants when they were first planted in April 2019. I bought plants as opposed to starting these from seed. My town is in growing zone 8a.

Celebrity Tomato (Back) Patio Tomato (middle) Sweet 100 (front)

Juliet Tomatoes, 2 plants

Pictures from May of the same plants. I've done a lot of pruning of these plants so that I can find the tomatoes that have ripened! We had a Spring that was cooler and wetter than normal, and the plants grew like crazy!

Juliet Tomato Plants x2

Sweet 100s in foreground, Juliet plants in back bed

We started harvesting these in May as they ripened. Here is a picture of today's haul. I harvested some large Celebrity tomatoes yesterday that we used for dinner, but didn't get a picture. Below, these Juliet tomatoes are prolific and are shaped like an oversized grape. Tasty yet sturdy.

Juliet and Sweet 100s tomatoes

2018 In My Southern Utah Garden

February 2018 Almond Tree in Bloom. Pruned in January.

Broccolini producing continuously in April 2018.
Planted end of March.

Beets.

Large harvest of Broccolini. June 2018

First tomato! April 10, 2018. Costco plants, harvested tomato
one week after planting.

Yellow pear tomatoes and Sweet 100's.

Roma tomatoes.

Figs and other harvest June 2018

Blackberries June 2018

Cauliflower and assorted tomatoes. June 2018

Celebrity tomatoes.

Roma tomatoes

Swiss Chard.

Spinach

Yellow squash

First Harvest of 2018

Sunflower greens are a great way to enjoy your greens! We love them in salads or chopped slightly as a garnish on scrambled eggs or vegan dishes. These were grown with an inch of seed starting soil in a glass pie dish. The seeds are soaked overnight, then pressed into damp soil. Another glass pie plate is pressed down on top of the seeds. Once the seeds start pushing up the top pie plate, the top pie plate is removed and the seeds then go under a grow light. The shells are gently picked off over the next few days and the greens are cut at the soil level once they are green and before a second set of leaves appear. They will keep in the refrigerator for a week or so, if you can keep from eating them sooner!

Fall Harvest in the Garden

I planted these Zinnias from seed under grow lights then transplanted them into pots in October.
We were able to enjoy the blooms for about a month before freezing temperatures were threatening, and I cut the stems for an indoor bouquet.

I should be able to harvest Swiss chard all winter. I cut the larger leaves, and come back and cut again as I need to. I made some Low Carb Lasagne out of this bunch of chard. Delicious!

Grape tomatoes were also harvested and enjoyed before I pulled up the plants a couple of weeks ago. Can't wait to plant some peas or other cold weather crops to enjoy in early spring!

Vintage Pottery

Fall Harvest of Soft Shell Almonds

Soft Shell almonds

I was able to pick a small harvest of almonds from my dwarf almond tree on Saturday! It was fun to show my granddaughter how to break them open and eat them. She loved eating them, too! I was also able to pick some of the pomegranates from the bushes in the yard. Will get some pictures and put in another post.

Have you been harvesting anything from your garden? Share in the comments.

Bountiful Baskets Haul 7-25-2015

I ordered two baskets (which means I got 2 baskets of fruits and 2 baskets of vegetables). It was quite a haul. The produce is amazing with great flavor. The romaine lettuce had some slimy parts on one of the heads, but that was easily cut off.

The carrots are huge! Great for slicing in half length-wise and putting on the BBQ or for juicing.
I think I will do a little of both.

 The small peppers are delicious. We've been dicing them and using them in salads.

Loving the strawberries out of California. So sweet and not overripe.

You can check out the video I shot of this haul here.                                                                                    

Vegetarian Pinto Beans and Brown Rice

 Vegetarian/Vegan Pinto Beans and Brown Rice

When I cook beans or rice, I usually put some aside in the freezer to use another time. Today, I pulled some pinto beans from the freezer, and decided to make a quick lunch from them. I already had left over brown rice with chopped kale in the refrigerator. 

I started with 4 cups of cooked pinto beans ( you could use 2 cans ready to use), and defrosted them in the microwave. At the same time, in my dutch oven, I sprayed some coconut oil cooking spray. If you are avoiding all oil, then just put a little water or vegetable broth in the pan.Turning the heat to Medium high, I added a chopped onion and 2 diced carrots and let them get wilted/cooked while stirring. I then added 3 TBSP of chopped garlic and an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce. I found some frozen corn that I then added to the mix, 1 cup or so and put in some honey mustard and some Dijon mustard and a little ketchup. While all of that was simmering, I scooped out a half cup of rice, microwaved it and put it in my bowl. You'll notice that I chopped up some romaine lettuce and put that in the bowl and put a cup of my pinto beans in as well. I love balsamic drizzle (you can find it at Trader Joe's and I just saw some at my local Albertson's) so I drizzle some over everything. It Tasted great and was quick and easy!

Ingredients:

1 yellow or white onion
2 diced carrots
2-3 TBSP of minced garlic
4 c. or 2 cans of pinto beans
1 c. corn, canned or frozen
8 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 TBSP honey mustard
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 TBSP ketchup or tomato paste
1 TBSP brown sugar (optional)
balsamic drizzle (as desired)

Saute the first two ingredients for 5-6 minutes on medium high heat or until onions are translucent. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Lower heat and add pinto beans, corn and tomato sauce. Add all other seasonings. Let simmer for a few minutes to incorporate flavors. Serve with rice.