Before you say anything about the title of this blog post, let me get this out of the way: Yes, I know “gluten-free garden” is pretty much a given. Unless you’re row-cropping wheat, barley, or rye (and seriously, who isn’t these days?) chances are pretty darned high that you have a gluten-free garden. We certainly do. But I decided to title the blog post that way anyway. Okay? Good. Now let’s move on!
Over the course of the summer, we’ve shared some of the ups and downs of our experience as novice gardeners. We’ve also shared a good number of garden-infused recipes. Shrimp pasta salad. Zucchini Stir Fry. Caramelized Onion and Sweet Corn Salsa. Zucchini Pancakes. Cilantro Hummus. Zucchini Cupcakes. (Can you tell we initially had a bumper crop of zucchini?)
But with the exception of a photo here or there of zucchini, or cilantro, or basil, we haven’t shown you much of the garden…or more importantly, our harvest from that garden. I’ve been meaning to. Don’t get me wrong. Other blog posts seemed to keep taking priority.
However, with Hurricane Irene setting the Northeast squarely in her cross hairs, we’re expecting to get tropical storm-force winds here in the mid-Hudson Valley this weekend. Frankly, depending on how strong we get hit, I don’t how much garden there will be left to show you next week. It was potentially today’s Friday Foto, or never.
And so here you are: a representative sampling of our garden harvest over the course of the past three weeks or so. I hope you enjoy seeing our garden’s bounty as much as we’ve enjoyed eating it!
 |
| San Marzano, Roma and Beefsteak tomatoes |
 |
| Sweet corn |
 |
| Broccoli |
 |
| Swiss chard |
 |
| A typical harvest basket, which we collect about once a week – plenty of lettuce, some Swiss chard, some ears of corn, carrots, beets, jalapeno peppers |
 |
| Tomatillos |
 |
| Cilantro gettin’ all coriander up in our house |
We’re still waiting on a few crops to finish maturing. The winter squash are about ready to harvest. The bell peppers are getting close. We’re optimistic we might get some Brussels sprouts. All in all, it’s been a glorious first season for us, and hopefully Irene won’t bring it to a close earlier than expected.
– Pete
Beautiful!! Don’t ya just LOVE it?
My garden did poorly this year due to wet/cool spring and then hot dry summer.(we have no water for gardens!) But what is there is just so much fun. I’ve gardened for 26 years and never had such a poor one. Usually have our fill and share with others until I get so sick of picking I pull it out. Glad you enjoyed it. The taste is incomparible isn’t it?
LOL on the title discussion, but it’s a good discussion and the alliteration is nice. 😉 Hope you still have a garden and didn’t get beaten up too badly. Your homegrown produce looks wonderful! We lost two trees, but overall fared very well. Relieved it’s over! Now we’re headed to Bermuda on vacation. 🙂
Shirley
Hi Lorraine.. Sorry to hear it’s been such a rough season on your end! But yes, the taste is incomparable! Especially with the tomatoes…
Hi Shirley… We’ll be going to check out the garden later today. We got tons of rain, but not too much wind, so we’re hopeful the garden will still be in decent shape. Enjoy that vacation!!
Cheers, Pete
Wow! you guys did wonderfully for a first garden. We’ve been doing it for years and our stuff doesn’t look that good.
I had to smile at your comments about growing wheat, since we live in a farming community and are surrounded by wheat and other grain crops. Every year during harvest, Joe always spends a few days feels generally yucky, and with a few unexplained episodes of Gluten reaction…or is it just something he ate,…or a bug…or just all in his head. You understand, I’m sure.
But this year two other fairly recently diagnosed celiac friends in the area also reported being sick after driving past a field being harvested or on those days when the harvest dust is thick in the air.
So it’s sad, but at least anecdotally true. Wheat harvest can effect those with celiac disease. Not good news, definitely, but Joe’s glad to know it isn’t just all in his head!