Garden Update: Week 18

Garden Update:  Week 18

Some tomatoes ready to pick.

Got 3 off the plant.

I picked 2 squash

1 little zucchini freshly harvested.

I picked 7 pea pods.  

And then on another day I picked 2 more tomatoes.

I took tomatoes and peas to work as a snack.

I discovered a cucumber.  This little guy is growing so fast.  I'm probably going to pick it tomorrow.

Some cucumber blossoms.  You can see how big the cucumber has gotten just in a few days at bottom right.

My basil has grown back up.  :)  I need to pick some.

I have some new eggplant blossoms.  I also have some bugs eating the leaves.  :(

This morning, I picked another tomato.

This is my first daisy that popped for the year.  So pretty.  I can't wait until they all pop.  It always looks so pretty.  These are in my front flower bed.  I also have star gazer lillies which have popped too.

I keep finding ladybugs on the daisies.  :)

This one is my favorite.  :)  I almost picked her up and put her in my garden but I figured she was happy with the daisies so I left her alone.

I made a bee water station.

I have several peppers.

I picked this pepper today.

Still waiting for this guy to turn red.

Both my lettuce plants are done.  They have been bolting and I read that it's because they don't like heat.  We've had some real humid days here in Virginia lately.  I think they look pretty though, so I think I'll let them continue bolting for now.  The lettuce probably isn't edible because once it bolts it gets a bitter taste.

Here's my watermelon plant.

Little blossoms on it today.

Pretty

This is my carnival squash.

Blossoms on this too.

I dug up 12 potatoes yesterday.

That's pretty much everything that happened this week.  :)  Happy Gardening!

Tart Raspberry Mini Muffins

Just like the blueberries, I had raspberries I needed to use up.  I guess I could have frozen them but I felt like baking.  My husband can take the little muffins to work for breakfast this week.  I used the same recipe that I used for the blueberry cakes.

Tart Raspberry Mini Muffin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You will need:

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbs brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp homemade vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup raspberries

Mix everything except the raspberries until well combined.  Then fold in the raspberries.  Add to a greased 24 count mini muffin pan.  Top each with a cinnamon sugar mixture.  (optional)  

Bake for about 15 minutes.  Let cool.

Here's a mini muffin cut in half.  They are a little tart but would be a quick go to breakfast or snack.

Little Baked Blueberry Cakes

I still had some fresh picked blueberries that we hadn't eaten yet.  I searched around on pinterest to see what I could bake to use up some of these blueberries.  I came across this baked blueberry donut recipe.  I changed it up a bit and I didn't make the glaze.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You will need:

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbs brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

cinnamon

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp homemade vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup blueberries

I baked these in my donut pan but I put more batter in to cover the ring in the middle so they would fill more.

Mix everything but the blueberries until combined.  Once combined fold in the blueberries.  Add to you greased donut pan and bake for about 15 minutes.

Once the little cakes are done take them out of the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 1 minute.  Then pop them out of the pan and let them cool on a wire rack.

I added some fat free cool whip to the top and of course a blueberry.

I cut it and I had a little bite.  Whatever I cook or bake I have to try to make sure it's not missing something and that it's good.  It was very blueberry.  My husband liked them.

I had some batter left over so I baked the rest of the dough and made four donuts with it.

Farmers Market 6/21

I got up this morning and headed to my favorite farmers market before going to the grocery store.

Once I got to the market I parked my car and saw my radio/tv teacher from high school.  She was putting farmers market goodies in her car.  I went over to her and said hello and we hugged.  She said she was proud of me and loves listening to me on-air.  She said I did a great job on-air and that made me happy.  :)

We said goodbyes and parted ways.

I had my list on my phone.  I needed:

-onions

-bell peppers

-broccoli

-toms

-squash

-zucchini

-cucumbers

I took some pictures as I walked around.

Here's a picture of large zucchini for .99 cents per pound.  The zukes were huge.

Some colored beans

More beans

Elephant garlic with flowers

Sweet corn

Swiss chard

Sunflowers for $10 a bunch.  These were flawless and so much more prettier than my sunflower.

Lots of squash and zucchini.

Cabbage

Flowers....I had some of these but they died.  They look really pretty.

Eggplants

Salad peas and cherry tomatoes.

Here's my haul.  :)  I got everything on my list and spent $17.95 on local farm fresh produce.

Purple pepper!

Cherry tomatoes

Onions

So pretty