The wild persimmons are ripe, hanging from the fall-tattered branches like small ornaments. Wild persimmons are, at best, a gamble. They are rather like how my brother’s girlfriend once described my mother’s cooking – either really good, or really bad. It all depends on the particular tree. Some trees bear fruit that will…
Tag: vegetarian
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are easily the most delicious part of a pumpkin. It took me awhile to realize that it was well worth the trouble of separating the seeds from the stringy pulp. Before that, I gave the seeds to the pigs or goats, who were very happy to eat them. This is also…
End-of-Season Sriracha (With A Twist!)
At the end of the season here, the only things still hanging on in the garden are cassava, roselle, sweet potatoes, and hot peppers. This year even the hot peppers are flagging – they really haven’t appreciated all the rain this summer. No matter, last year the hot peppers were in rare form, and…
Straight-From-The-Garden Ketchup
The Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes held on longer than most of the other garden plants, but we have gleaned a last harvest from them now, too. They are small and very sweet and flavorful, and grow in dripping clusters. I grow them every year, whether I plant them or not – they are always coming…
Pumpkin Pie Ice Pops
The family all start groaning when the pumpkins are coming out of the garden. They claim they are still sick of pumpkin after the last season, however, I am skeptical because of how quickly these ice pops disappeared. I am harvesting quantities of pumpkins now, in huge wheelbarrow loads between rain storms. Each…
Green Tomato Pickles
As the summer garden dies back to rampant gourd vines, sweet potatoes, and roselle, I am diligently preserving as much of the harvest as possible. Last year I neglected to make enough pickled vegetables to get us through the dearth of the late summer (you can only be excited about eating amaranth leaves for so…
Summer Pumpkin Soup
This is really a summer squash recipe, not a pumpkin recipe, but summer squash are ideally harvested when they are small and tender, and the reality of gardening is that no matter how diligent you are at picking, eventually you will find monster squash on your hands! Blimp-like zucchinis, and yellow squash that can only…
Southern Fried Okra (and Luffa Gourd)
Okra is a favorite vegetable around here, so I always try to grow it every summer. It’s not difficult to grow, but I find it to be the ninja of gardening. Everyone says okra is easy to grow, and I would agree, but no one mentions what a pain it is to harvest! If I…
Lost In The Garden Creamed Corn
I don’t take gentle, evening strolls through the garden, admiring the neat rows. I’m not that kind of gardener. Sometimes I wish I was, but then I get too busy with the dairy animals in June, the peak cream season, and if we are still in no want of vegetables to fill the table,…
Aunt Esther’s Yellow Squash Relish (A Lacto-Fermented Version)
Every season I make a bunch of old-fashioned brined pickles to keep us through the in-between seasons. Late summer and late spring are times when the old garden is dying and the new garden is not yet ready for harvest. I prefer this form of food preservation over heat canning, because it preserves the nutrition…
Summer Squash On The Grill
Summer squash can be a pain to grow in Florida, between the bugs and the mildew, but it is so good! Grilled with a light, herb rub, this made a special summer supper, and would be an excellent accompaniment to hamburgers, BBQ, or pulled pork. The herb rub recipe makes more than you…
Mock Artichoke Soup
All the ingredients for this soup were home-grown (well, except the black pepper!). The potatoes are just now ready to dig, and the pairing of the fresh potatoes and the patty pan squash give this soup an unusual flavor of artichoke! Benning’s Green Tint is an heirloom variety of patty pan squash that has been…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 