Garden recipes

Garden recipe avocados

It gets a bit tricky when it comes time to harvest avocados. The best answer is pick when they are mature. And mature is not the same as ripe. Since there are so many types of backyard avocados maturity is difficult to determine until you’ve known your own tree for a few years. Avocados do [...]

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Garden recipe artichoke

If you have never tried growing artichokes in your own backyard you might think about finding a sunny spot for this large and delicious thistle. As a perennial plant, artichokes are not that far removed botanically from the prickly weed that grows alongside many of our rural roads. The large gray leaves, and leathery flowers [...]

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Garden recipe apricots

Among the backyard fruits in my garden, the apricot tree is the only one that is planted in the larger landscape. While the other fruit trees are grown in rows beside the house, the apricot stands alone as a small shade tree with a bench beneath it in the flower garden. Apricot trees are indeed [...]

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Garden recipe apples

The seasons evolve subtly here in Southern California with only the slightness recognition that the days are growing short and there is a cool pinch in the air in the early morning. But apple season still comes to mind. Backyard varieties are ready to pick. Farmer’s markets will offer a wider range of pome fruits [...]

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Garden recipe broccoli

I don’t go a week without eating broccoli because this cabbage family member is rich in vitamins and minerals and most importantly, packed with antioxidants and enzymes. But besides the nutrition, broccoli plain tastes good. There is a window of sorts when it comes time to harvest. You wait and wait until the domes are [...]

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Garden recipe watermelon

What does a sultry summer day, bored kids midway through vacation, and a cool snack have in common? Watermelon! Its more than a food  – it is something to play with, or so suggests the National Watermelon Promotion Board in Orlando, Florida. Kids can eat their way through a lazy summer day with Crazy Watermelon [...]

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Garden recipe tomato

Anybody who gardens and cooks might be wondering these past weeks how many things you can create with tomatoes. I had a wonderful tomato salad at a birthday party the other day. The two-minute recipe called for chopped garden fresh tomatoes, sliced purple onion, tossed with a vinaigrette and served alongside BBQ pork. It was [...]

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Garden recipe sweet pepper

There is a little bit of confusion about green, yellow and red sweet peppers as if they are entirely different types of peppers and they are not. Yellow and red sweet peppers are simply green peppers left on the plant longer to fully ripen. Sweet peppers can even mature beyond red to a deep chocolate [...]

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Garden recipe summer squash

Although summer squash is available year round in the markets, home grown is so easy it seem silly to spend money on these prolific plants. If you love squash and have a sunny corner to spare, try one or two crookneck, scallopini or zucchini plants. As warm weather arrives summer squashes begin to develop quickly. [...]

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Garden recipe strawberry

Strawberry season has arrived and is cause for celebration in Orange County with the annual Strawberry Festival in Garden Grove beginning May 26. But don’t wait until then to enjoy this uniquely Southern California fruit. Corner strawberry stands are already open, fruit is appearing at the farmer’s markets, and grocery stores pack their produce sections [...]

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