Happy Friday all! Sorry I've been a bit more absent than I like lately but all this rain has me working over time in my garden. I had no idea a garden would be so much work. I am happy to say that I am finally reaping a bunch of rewards. We have a had a ton of rain this summer in Central Pennsylvania and my plants have gotten huge. There has also been twice as many weeds to pull. I was feeling a bit frustrated because as big as the plants are, I haven't been seeing any veggies yet, but the plants have had a ton of flowers.
A few weeks ago I talked to a fellow backyard gardener and she explained when you see lots of flowers but aren't getting any fruit there is usually a mineral or nutrient deficiency. I have been determined to keep my heirloom vegetables 100% organic, gmo and chemical free so I hopped online to do some research and was surprised at the solution I found.
There is one thing that almost every home across the country has and surprisingly enough we consider it trash: coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are approximately 1.45% nitrogen. They also contain magnesium, calcium, potassium, and other trace minerals. They are great to add to your compost bin to create some really great fertilizer. You can also give your plants the benefits by simply sprinkling the used coffee grounds around the base of your plants before watering or it rains. Tomatoes and roses especially like this method.
You can also use the grounds to create a slug and snail barrier. Coffee grounds are both abrasive and
acidic, so a barrier of grounds placed near slug-prone plants may just
save them from these garden pests
I gave it a try and the garden exploded, especially the zucchini and cucumbers. Ironically enough, Wednesday was National
Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbors Porch day. I understand why, because there are is only so much zucchini you can eat at a time when your garden decides to let loose. I spent yesterday baking zucchini bread and a few other yummy treats to portion and keep in the freezer. After all of that work I wanted an easy dinner (and I still had more zucchini to use up), so I made a frittata.
A frittata traditionally is an open faced omelette that the ingredients are added into the raw egg mixture before it is cooked (instead of being added after the eggs are fried and folded into the middle). THey typically are cooked over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, although I prefer to make mine in my convection toaster oven. Here's what I did:
First off, I beat 4 eggs in a glass bowl with a whisk & added in about 2 tablespoons of flour. Then I folded in 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, about a 1/2 cup grated carrot and about 1/2 cup shredded cheese (sharp cheddar works nicely) to the mixture.
I lined my stoneware baker with a piece of parchment that had been greased and poured the mixture into it. I then baked it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When it was done I lifted the parchment out of the baker and cut it into wedges. Add a nice glass of pinot grigio, a side salad and you've got one quick & easy dinner.
Today the garden harvest madness continues with making tons of pickles and oven roasted tomato sauce. I'll talk about the cucumbers next week. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying all the wonderful produce this summer has to offer!
