Are your favorite vegetables in season now?

Asparagus season has been over for about a month but it was a splendid harvest. Lettuce has been great but with the heat it's starting to bolt. The peas, beans and beets are ready for harvesting now and soon it will be tomatoes, the most welcome of all produce here. Still many others are doing fine - scallions, broccoli, cucumbers, etc.

So while some have passed there's always something to enjoy fresh from the garden. Nothing can compare to eating fresh produce from your own garden.

Tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers - yuuuuum! We love to grill them or eat right off the vine (well I rinse them before). This is my first year planting and maintaining organically. I'm thrilled with how well my plants have turned out. Like pirl said, nothing compares to your own home grown veggies (and you don't have to worry about salmonella poisoning either)!

Not quite yet, but soon. Maters! Plump, red and sweet. I take the salt shaker with me to the garden and eat them right off the vine still warm from the sun. Juice running down my arm. Yum. Can't wait.

We've had summer squash for a few weeks now. Boiled and buttered, fried and grilled. One tomato is turning red now, the rest are trying to catch up (catsup, ketchup, whatever!!!) Can't wait for them to get ripe. I've made 12 quarts of dill pickles in the past week and a half with more cukes still coming on. Ahh, the smells and tastes of summer!

Doug

Veggie season in S.E. Texas is done for me. I pulled my tomato plants last week in preparation for a fall crop. Cukes are worn out. Haven't picked beans in 2 months. There are still some peppers out there and I'm picking watermelons every other day.

This fall I am getting serious about cole crops. Broccoli, Lettuce, etc.

Juicy, red maters and Silver Queen corn..........both great raw.

Sweet corm & tomatoes are hard to beat.

Other -- whatever is in season is my favorite!

I love Tomatoes - wait they're actually a fruit - mushrooms, onions, potatoes

Oh I love all the veggies,

Like staceysmom, I take the salt shaker out in the garden too and eat those maters. I think thats how I get surprise tomatoes growing from the drips of tomato juice/seeds running down my arms ,lol

Love em when there out of season too, that being the ones I can. I like em right out of the mason jar, almost can pig out on a whole jar. Cold, salt and pepper and a dash of vinegar and nice big dases of tobasco, good stuff.


Picked more greenbeans today and tomatoes. I could not imagine life without a veggie garden on the homestead.

enjoy the seasons harvest ^_^

Mine are, 'cause I buy them at Whole Foods (did y'all know it originated here in Austin on Lamar Street?!).

I would LOVE to try to grow veggies, but don't have the room.

I had to vote other cuz eating greens, chives and herbs and Tomatos not ripe yet. Luv all veggies grilled, raw and steamed. LOL I always need an 'all of the above' button to click in these polls.

Not quite a vegetable, but its the time of year to go scrumping cherries in the park . . . ;-)

Baby yellow squash grilled!

No favorite because I like almost all! Especially : snow peas, carrots, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, beets, green beans, eggplant, okra....I could go on!

Other - just finished the last of the 'taters last night and the 'maters will be ready in another few weeks.

The summer garden has been through for a month. We start tomatoes again the end of July and then plant for a winter garden the end of September. I miss all the fresh foods from the garden.

Dry as a bone in north LA, so summer gardens are beginning to play out. Did get eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes out of mine and swapped with some friends who had better luck with their squash and beans. Planning a fall garden with greens and onions. I'll use whatever tomatoes don't ripen by frost for chow-chow. Love any vegetable, any time.

There's nothing better than fresh tomato and cucumbers grown in my little garden. I have raised beds and made a watering system with soaker hoses controlled with a timer. This way I get to enjoy gardening without a lot of hard work once it garden area was all set up. I even put down landscape fabric all around the beds so that I don't have to mow grass between the beds.

I voted other, It is kind of hard to pick a favorite when they are fresh from your own garden. We had our radishes, salad greens and peas. Green beans are still coming in, We have only had one tomato, but when they start look out. The sweet corn is getting very close. The storm nearly flattened all the stalks but I am sure it will come back up. If not I guess I will just have to stoop over to pick those tender sweet goodies. My cucumbers are blooming and I'm training them to go up a fence. We had a late spring, too cold and wet to plant when it all needed planting. I guess it is better late than having none. Now I just thought of one that would be very close to a favorite. My Sweet potatoes. They are coming along great. I planted several varieties. One is vardaman I am liking the way the plants are getting bigger, without sending vines all over the garden. Now if they just come close to matching the yields of the centennials I have used in the past, They could very well be my choice, for years to come.
Here was from one hill last year.

My fav is a big tomato sandwich from the garden on soft white bread with mayo. I have harvested tomatos and cukes so far. My bell and habenero and hungarian peppers are kinda late this year. Wax and green beans almost done but the pole beans are just flowering. Snow peas done and dug up. And my best horseradish will be ready in the fall!
Pic of some of my tomatos from 7/13/08 GM

Grandmaggie, I agree with you. My late step father and I would always eat tomato sandwiches with mayo!

We are eating everything but tomatoes and eggplants.
We love them all, raw or grilled, so I had a hard time deciding on one choice to go with.
We have had peas, lettuce, herbs, and are now eating peppers, green beans, summer squash and cukes.
Love it! Love it! It is so great to go "shopping for supper" in my yard. ;)

Grandmaggie and gessiegail, we call those mater sandwiches "sink sandwiches".........so juicy you have to stand over the sink to eat 'em.

I love picking sun-warmed veggies from my garden and eating them raw! I've had cukes, zukes, and other summer squash for the past two weeks. . . maters are juuuuusst starting to turn red (but not much). My lettuce is beginning to bolt. I'm growing the "tromboncini" Italian zucchini this year--an exceptionally vigorous vining plant that has made a break for it out of my fenced garden and is heading down the driveway. The squash are pale green and amusingly curved. Delicious raw when they're tiny.

mmmmmmmmmmm tomatoes - fresh in plain bread with mayo, or toasted sandwiches, or grilled red tomatoes, with lots of butter, salt & pepper, over bread.
OR leaf lettuce in a big humungeous bowl with just salt & eat it by the handfuls.
OR boiled, then grilled sweet corn
OR baby tatoes.........swimming in butter!!!!!!!
aw heck - ALL of 'em!!!!

This message was edited Jul 21, 2008 6:23 PM

Tomatoes, green peppers, cukes and yellow squash. YUM!!!

maters! They are coming in strong right now. I just blanched 5 bags and will do more this weekend.
d

Watermelon, crenshaw cantaloupe, and corn are favorites here.........crenshaws not ripe yet.

I love nightshades & squashes. Eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers...time for ratatouille and an assortment of Italian delights, followed by sweeter squashes for pie and soups. Honorable mention to root veggies, esp. beets & turnips.
If only the rest of my household felt the same...hubby prefers legumes & broccoli. Cooking is fun.

One good thing from the (misdirected) salmonella scare is that I have come to absolutely LOVE grape tomatoes - better than other cherry types!!

hey! sugar snap peas! right off the vine .... just browse through the garden, munchies! not ready yet, and who knows when -- talk about slow, cool season!

Oops! I forgot that tomatoes aren't a vegetable, lol! But I did vote that mine aren't quite ripe but will be soon. We had a very wet, cold spring that lasted forever and we're playing catch up right now - won't be long now though - I think we're going to set a record for continuous hot days - been in the 90's (mostly) for about 3 weeks now I think - maybe more.

Sliced tomatoes served with okra fried in buttered flavored Crisco.

3 words: Silver Queen corn.
Grilled in the husk. Yummmmm!

DebinSC, ever tried microwaving it? I had not until someone told me about it and we've never looked back!! DH used to say grilling was best but until you've tried this way........yum, so tender.
Don't even husk it, place in microwave for 7 mins, you would adjust for more. When taken out and removing the husk, all of the silk comes off with it.

bugme - you are SO right about microwaving corn!!!!!!!! I cannot believe those huge buckets of water I would get to boiling so as to enjoy this - no more, never again!!!!!!! I just trim the silks w/ the scissors and any nasty leaves are removed. The entire cleaning is SO much easier after microwaving. I just use a hand towel to strip everything off ----- oooooooo la la (oh yeah - check pointy end for any grubs that might be there - sometimes you find one!)

I'm tapping my toes and waiting for the local sweet corn and tomatoes to arrive. And yes, I eat them both raw. I like most veggies raw instead of cooked, even potatos and peas.

Fresh ripe tomatoes right off the vine are numero uno! Then, "Silver Queen" Corn, sweet bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Snap Green Beans, Sugar Snap Peas, Potatoes & Onions. YUM, YUM, YUM!