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You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants! Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
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Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up….Much like us gardeners who work and toil in the garden until such a time that we can enjoy the fresh produce of his labors, a gardener cannot simply throw seed upon the ground and then sit back and hope something grows (something will grow and we call them weeds.)
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 All the work of sowing seeds, nurturing the seedlings, transplanting, watering, mulching, weeding, bug picking and varmint eradicating have once again produced what we call our miracle meals. They change with the seasons but it never fails. If we do the work, the harvest will come; sometimes bountiful and sometimes more sparse but the harvest always comes.
Now for us here in the mid Atlantic region, our first spring harvest is finished. The asparagus is readying itself for next year. The broccoli is finished and now bolting. The lettuces and spinach were done weeks ago. Just when you think nothing in the world tastes better than fresh grilled asparagus sitting on some freshly picked greens, you are pulling weeds one June evening and there are little yellow flowers beginning to pop on the Lycopersicon lycopersicum. The cuke flowers had bloomed earlier but these flowers are the grin-makers. I take a quick break to snag one of the tiny basil leaves and roll it between my palms, close my eyes and take a deep whiff. It won’t be long, happens every year, but it’s not time yet.
This hiatus between spring vegetables and summer bounty gets supplemented in our home with trips to local organic farms since we didn’t do potatoes this year nor string beans – some life events kept the eating garden a tad on the small side. But again, the size still doesn’t stop the miracle from happening. If we work on the weeds and bugs and all that goes along with it, the harvest will come.
So now there are cukes abounding – not those slick waxed things at the grocery store, but a nice firm thin skinned cucumber that it a favorite here. Here’s our favorite recipe for this humble vegetable, although there are a hundred ways to fix and use them.
3 cups plain whole milk yogurt – this is so much better if you can use goat yogurt
1 large cucumber – peel, cut in half and scoop out seeds with a teaspoon
Put your yogurt in some cheesecloth and hang with a stick or whatever you have over a bowl – let drain for 3 hours
Shred your cucumber – easier than dicing – just use a box grater. Let it sit the same amount of time as the yogurt and then squeeze all the juice out.
Mix yogurt and cucumber and add in 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill and 1 large garlic clove, minced.
We take this sauce known as tzatziki and pour it over grilled gyro meat sliced super thin. There are tons of recipes on the internet to make your own gyro meat. We throw a couple pieces of pita bread on the grill along with the meat as we’re only heating things through and then spoon on the tzatziki – Oh Boy!!!
Those blushing tomatoes will just keep soaking up the sun for the next few weeks until they cozy up with a now frozen rasher of smoked pork belly and an old iron skillet that awaits. Everyone will be very happy between slices of toasted bread and a dab of mayo, but that’s for another article.
Eat well and healthy my gardening friends. Our labor produces good fruit. Count your blessings and don’t let the hornworms get you down!
 | I'm a long time DG'er, super merry wife to the greatest guy on this earth, Michael. By day, we're self employed Mortgage Bankers along with my son Andy. By evenings and weekends we're gardeners trying to get the best out of 3 acres that we can.
Andy and DDIL Michelle gave us the greatest gift of all this past year. We hope to inspire our Grandson to have the same love of gardening we do.
I truly hope you'll enjoy the occasional articles I submit and most importantly have fun cooking from your garden or your local farms.
Happy Gardening and Garden Cooking to all!
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Subject: Dea -
Posted by Dyson (from Moneta, VA) on August 15, 2007 at 1:29 AM: Thank you for the posted article, well written and received. There are so many pleasures that can be found by home gardening & the production of vegetables at home. Again thank you. ... Posted by Starzz (from Newcastle, ON) on August 15, 2007 at 9:39 AM: Makes me want to go buy some yogurt and use some of the dill that's growing in the garden. Thanks.. ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on August 15, 2007 at 2:43 PM: I know the feeling of anticipation so well....I made a whole gallon of fresh salsa two nights ago....I've eaten it on everything since. I even put some under the broiler on toast with a bit of shredded cheese! There's absolutely nothing in the world like fresh from the garden veggies prepared with quality accompaniments! ... Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on August 15, 2007 at 3:24 PM: Nice reminder of the garden's bounty! DD is growing cucumber's and now I can hardly wait! Good job Dea! ... Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 15, 2007 at 7:11 PM: I never would've thought of the salsa and cheese on toast idea--sounds yummy, as does the cuke recipe. Thanks! ... Posted by bluekat76 (from Ijamsville, MD) on August 15, 2007 at 10:56 PM: Nice job Dea! Your article made me want to go stand in the garden, which I promptly did AND I found a parasitized hornworm can't beat that.
-Kim ...
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