I’ve been growing a vegetable garden for the last few years. It has been fun walking around the house to grab a tomato or a zucchini. (I didn’t venture much further than those items.)
This year I wanted to expand the garden and grow everything from seed. (Previous years, I bought little plants.) It was a great project to start indoors during my surgery recovery. (And watching a seed grow while on pain meds IS very entertaining!)
I kept planting seeds (radishes, carrots, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, squash) thinking maybe only a few of them would grow. I was wrong. Almost every little pod I planted grew a cute little plant. (They were adorable!!!!!)
My gardening confidence was not strong as I transplanted these beauties into my outside garden. (Did you know you are supposed to thin out your growing seedlings? I didn’t do that either.) I just kept planting more because I knew that they wouldn’t all survive. (Next year I need to plant some confidence!)
For the most part, everything did okay. (Surprise!) As the days passed, I could physically see them adjust to their new surroundings. The stems looked thicker, the leaves were a fabulous shade of green and it was like they were speaking to me. (I would blame my pain meds for the talking plants but unfortunately I wasn’t on any at this time.)
And then we had this monsoon season hit us!! My plants survived the winds and never ending rain and grew and grew and grew. Great, right?
My garden looks like someone spiked it with steroids! My tomato plants are full of flowers and my squash garden is blossoming. And the lettuce….oh…the lettuce. For the record, next time someone says lettuce is bunny food, they are wrong. The bunnies aren’t touching my lettuce but the green beans are a goner!
The other item that flourished was my radish crop. I didn’t think I planted that many. I just wanted a few here and there for salads. Nope. I’ve got the mother of all radish crops. (Now I’m trying to remember if my mom planted radishes?)
My fresh radishes were crisp and delightfully peppery. I didn’t want to waste any so I had to put on my listening ears for options. (Speaking of ears, I didn’t grow corn. I wish I would have.)
Luckily, the Food Swap the other week had a brilliant guest who brought some radish dip. Mmmmm, it was tasty. Toni (the brilliant food swapper) was nice enough to share the recipe link that inspired her to make a dip. (I don’t think she used the recipe as written but I liked her flavor profile.)
So I headed out to the fields (otherwise known as the back of the house) and picked a big handful of French radishes. I cleaned them up (and myself) and used the recipe to guide me into a sandwich spread. (Because I had some awesome little buns from food swap that were begging to be a sandwich.)
The bombardment of peppery notes of radish turned an ordinary turkey sandwich into extraordinary! (It also helped that the buns were awesome, the lettuce was garden fresh and I had just pickled the onion.)
Be prepared for more posts from the garden adventures! I am so glad that I started my garden from seed but next year I will have to think about yields a little bit more. (And remember to label better….I currently have a mystery squash garden and I have no clue what tomatoes I planted!)
Turkey Sandwich with Radish Spread
Radish Spread Ingredients and Directions
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 Tbsp Fresh Dill
1 Tbsp Fresh celery leaf
1/8 tsp espelette
1 cup shredded French radish (This was about 6 of my radishes)
Mix Together and let flavors sit together in fridge for at least an hour
Ingredients For Sandwich
4 fresh rolls
½ pound of turkey breast
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
Pickled onion
Sprinkles of fresh dill
Directions for sandwich
Turn on broiler.
Cut open your buns…um, like a sandwich.
Spread your buns with radish mixture.
Broil for about 2-3 minutes, until the cheese gets a little brown in spots
Remove from oven.
Divide turkey meat evenly over each sandwich.
Add slices of cucumber and pieces of pickled onion.
Sprinkle with dill.
Eat in the garden as you talk to the bunnies and things that grow.
Love reading your posts and your garden adventures are inspiring. I cannot wait to
harvest tomatoes from my plants. Is there anything better than a fresh tomato? Maybe one day I’ll get more ambitious. Clearly it’s worth the effort when you can walk out the door and pick your own fresh produce.
Yes, youngest daughter. A radish was the one and only veggie that ever touched your hand as a child and I’m pretty confident that it never ventured near you mouth. Unfortunately, I thinned our radish and carrot plants. Your great-grandparents were the ones whose green thumb you must have inherited. I’ll be over for salad later. Luv, Cuj
My thumbs look dirty and not green! haha
I have little baby cucumbers too! : )