Friday Night Garden Photos and Recipes Using Garden Vegetables: 2010 Garden Update #3
posted by Kalyn Denny on June 4, 2010

In the last garden update I showed
the herbs in my garden, so this time I’m going to focus on the vegetables, most of which are doing well even though Salt Lake did have a late-season snowstorm that killed a few of my plants. I’ve been adding garden spaces and having raised beds built for the last few years, and this year I’m really happy with how my garden has turned out. Above is my first tomato of the year, on an heirloom
Brandywine Tomato plant that was started in a greenhouse by my brother-in-law Clayton. (If you’re a gardener who’s feeling envious, let me confess that plant already had that tomato on it when Clayton gave it to me!) Brandywines are one of my favorite tomatoes, and I’m looking forward to having some early ones this year.

As part of my
house renovations, I added two new raised beds just for tomatoes, along the back deck and on either side of the path that leads to my garden. In this smaller bed I have three
Green Zebra tomatoes, probably my number one favorite tomato for flavor. I love to eat these just drizzled with
Basil Vinaigrette and sprinkled with goat cheese.

On the other side of the steps is this row of six tomato plants which includes two
Celebrity tomatoes, a
Grape Tomato, two
Roma Tomatoes, and the
Brandywine Tomato I got from Clayton. I do feel very lucky to have tomatoes growing right next to my deck, where they get maximum sun all day long. Soon I’ll be making things like
Marinated Tomato Salad with Parsley and Marjoram Dressing,
Summer Tomato Salad with Avocado, Tuna, Cilantro, and Lime,
Middle Eastern Tomato Salad, and
slow roasted tomatoes. (Links to gardening sites contained in this post are only to illustrate what type of plants I have and are not meant to be an endorsement of that company.)

I also have four of
the heirloom tomatoes I started from seed growing in one of my garden beds. I started twelve little pots with seeds, only five survived to get planted outdoors, and then one of these little plants didn’t make it after the snowstorm. The four plants are either
Berkeley Tie Dye,
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, or
Beauty King tomatoes, but the labels came off when I was keeping the seed moist, so they’re a mystery until tomatoes start to appear. (Thanks again to
Nate for the tomato seeds.)


This bed has radishes, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, and Kale. I didn’t like the radish variety I tried last year, so this year I got
Champion Radish. I always grow
Bright Lights Chard, and I planted Tuscan Kale, but I didn’t write down the variety for the
Collard Greens. All these plants need to be thinned, but before too long I can make
Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed,
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Garlic and Chard,
Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Vinegar, or
Pasta with Sausage and Collard Greens.

I’m trying this
Flying Saucer Squash for the first time this year. If anyone has tried this squash variety, I’d love to know how you used it.

Finally, every year the garden has some “volunteers,” plants that come back from seeds dropped the previous year. This year I have this huge patch of dill growing between my garden beds and the fence. I think you can never have too much dill, so I’m going to let the plants get a little bigger; then I’ll transplant them along the fence and have an enormous patch of dill!
If you have a garden at your house, I’d love to hear about what you’re growing or your favorite ways to cook vegetables from the garden.
posted by Kalyn Denny on June 4, 2010
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24 Comments on “Friday Night Garden Photos and Recipes Using Garden Vegetables: 2010 Garden Update #3”
Hi there- I found you through your linking to my asparagus and bean puree recipe (thanks!) and saw that you do garden updates. You might be interesting in linking your updates over at the Tuesday Garden Party I host each Tuesday- it's a great group of people just trying to grow tasty and beautiful things and sharing our successes and failures. I'd love to see you!
This looks amazing! I need to try it ASAP 🙂
Christine, we had horrible weather for weeks here, but it finally improved. Hang in there, the sun will come out eventually.
I could be sooo jealous of your garden, Kalyn. But since we're good friends, I won't be. Instead I'll say Your garden absolutely rocks! And, no, I'm not going to kvetch about the rain and pissy weather at my house. Not much, anyway. 🙂