Summer Garden: Getting Started + First Salads

Last summer my husband and I decided to plant a garden. We cleared our side yard, built the raised garden beds, and shopped for the plants all in one day. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. Split those duties up amongst two or three days. That being said we were overtired and hungry while selecting plants and we had an odd assortment in our year 1 garden: green beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, kale, peppers, mint, and basil. While we ate a small portion of the offering from our garden, most of it went to waste. This year we vowed to do a better job by first selecting more veggies that can be eaten both raw and cooked and second by actually preserving some of our bounty.

In early June we planted our second summer garden. We bought the plants from our local Swanson's Nursery and painlessly plopped them into the raised garden beds.

We did have a head start on this year's offering with a sage plant gifted from a friend and a bunch of mint that reappeared from last year.

The green bean string wall and 2 tomato cages both survived from last year so we're keeping them around again. Clearly I had to get creative on how to place the beans appropriately.

Here's the official lineup for planter box #1:​

• 7 'Blue Lake Pole' green bean plants across the back
• 2 Genovese basil plants on the front left
• 3 strawberry plants in the middle
• 2 Costata Romanesco zucchini plants on the right (selected for their edible flowers)

Planter box #2 includes:

• Sage in the back left
• Fernleaf dill on the far left in the middle
• Mint in the front left
• Amish Paste tomatoes on the left (best for making sauce)
• Big Rainbow tomatoes on the right 
• Butter crunch lettuce second from the far right
• Another "mystery" lettuce on the far right

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We're just over a month out from when we planted the garden and things are looking bigger and greener! I don't follow any rules but watering daily and during never mid-day when the sun is hottest. 

Planter box #1 looks good so far. We had a few tiny red strawberries but something ate them!

Everything in planter box #2 is looking nice and green. The sage was looking dull a few weeks ago but has seemed to bounce back nicely.

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The all-star performer at this time is the lettuce. Both types are doing great and are ready to eat. 

Both types are delicious but the lighter one, on the right, is my favorite. Of course this is the one we don't know the name of! 

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Every single day for the past week I've eaten salads with "my own" lettuce and it's so oddly rewarding. I've never eaten so much salad in my life, truly. It's best to pick the leaves first thing in the morning when the water content is highest. I feel a great amount of pressure to not let any of it spoil and I hope that feeling doesn't go away! Hopefully in a few weeks I have some other garden additions to add to my salads.

These packed-lunch salads have been rocking my socks and topped with a good amount of varying toppings:

• capers or garlic stuffed olives 
• cashews or pistachios
• feta cheese crumbles
• fresh mint
• frozen peas, which defrost by lunchtime

When I had some kitchen time I made farro (a grain) and hard boiled eggs and have been adding them to these salads to help me to stay full for longer. For salad dressing I just snag some from home and pack it in a tiny little container. Those containers always seem to leak so I throw them inside the salad rather than outside where they'll spill all  over my lunch box .

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Summer garden 2017 is going well thus far! My goals this year, in addition to enjoying the veggies fresh, are to:

1. Make caprese salad with the Big Rainbow tomatoes and basil + fresh mozzarella
2. Freeze some basil with these tips from Wholefully, one of my favorite blogs
3. Make and jar sauce with the Amish Paste tomatoes
4. Make something delicious and cheese-filled with the zucchini flowers

My hope is that by listing all of this stuff here I'll stick to the plan and remember all of this next year when planting the garden. If you've got gardening tips, please share!