OMG! There's FOOD in our garden!

Wisconsin's summer is alternatively known as "construction season" or "mosquito season" but this year has irritatingly produced a bumper crop of both. Despite a generous application of every "home remedy" type of mosquito prevention known to man and Google, it has been nearly impossible to spend any time in our backyard without being accosted by a swarm of nasty little bloodsuckers. I'd actually rather have construction going on.

For that reason, my gardens have been a little neglected. I'll pull a few weeds as I walk by on my way to the car, or I'll grab a ripe tomato if I happen to see it, but beyond that, I have truly feared to venture too deeply because of the very real possibility that mosquitoes could carry me off to their secret mosquito lair in the center of the earth. (That's what they do, right?)

Saturday thankfully brought some relief from the mosquito cloud that has been hanging over the yard since May, so I seized the opportunity to survey my garden. Over the past few weeks I've been noticing great looking cucumbers and eggplants at the farmer's market and I've been lamenting my own apparently barren plants. Despite having a ton of flowers, I hadn't seen anything resembling food anywhere in the garden.

Until Saturday. Out of nowhere, I found four beautiful eggplants, hanging there silently, like little purple ninjas. The cucumber patch yielded a similarly fantastic bounty - six, SIX gorgeous cucumbers, the kind that are such the perfect length and circumference that any single woman wouldn't dare buy them at her neighborhood grocery store.

I'm so proud of my garden.

To celebrate, we had cucumber sandwiches for lunch today (sliced cucumbers on toast with mayo, black pepper and turkey bacon. Serve with ice cold lemonade on a hot day). This week I'll slaughter a few of those eggplants for eggplant parmesan, one of my favorites because it is nearly impossible to screw up, and it tastes like I know a hell of a lot more about cooking than I actually do.

From Allrecipes.com:

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

* 3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
* 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
* 1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown

My selfish reasons for gardening

I wrote this blog over a year ago, before little Jack was a twinkle in his papa's eye.  Even with the addition of Jack to our family, each and every one of these rings as true now as it did then; maybe even more so.  And so, I share:

My Selfish Reasons for Gardening

Here is my confession: my interest in the green movement, in recycling, and in environmental causes is just beginning, but growing.  Its origins lie in my Victory Garden. My Victory Garden originally had nothing to do with saving the planet or reducing waste. I have a thousand reasons for planting my garden, most of which are very selfish. And that’s okay.

1. I am planting a garden because when my sandwich needs a tomato, I want that tomato to be ridiculously fresh and conveniently located just a few steps from my kitchen door.

2. I am planting a garden because even though I am an urban dweller, I grew up in the country and a garden gives me a comforting link back to my roots .

3. I am planting a garden because lettuce from the grocery store smells like chemicals, even after I wash it.

4. I am planting a garden because when my dinner guests compliment my chili on a cold winter night, I want to tell them that the tomatoes came from our garden, lovingly canned by yours truly.

5. I am planting a garden because my mom had a huge garden, with row upon row of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, green onions, and she trimmed it with beautiful marigolds.

6. I am planting a garden because the price of a can of green beans actually shocks me.

7. I am planting a garden because frozen vegetables look so sad and wrinkly.

8. I am planting a garden because I am a cheapskate at the grocery store, but I still demand quality.

9. I am planting a garden because I like knowing where my food has been before it reaches my table.

10. I am planting a garden because sometimes you just need a little bit of lettuce, but I abhor wasting vegetables that I paid good money for at the grocery.

11. I am planting a garden because I see other people touching the fresh produce at the market a little too much, and then putting it back.

12. I am planting a garden because I want the thrill of victory when the garden is full of life, and the agony of defeat when plants fail to make an appearance above ground.

13. I am planting a garden because I want to feel like I am accomplishing something, even if it is a small something.

14. I am planting a garden because if – should I be blessed with my mom’s green thumb – I too end up with a ridiculous amount of tomatoes or peppers or green onions, the farmer’s market is full of friendly folks and right down the street.

15. I am planting a garden because if I spend a little more time outdoors, I may get a tan.

16. I am planting a garden because my husband is just as excited about the garden as I am, and I love working on things with him.

17. I am planting a garden because vegetables are more beautiful than grass, and I am nothing if not utilitarian.

18. I am planting a garden because then I can grow mint, which I never remember to pick up at the store, and fresh mint means mint juleps.

19. I am planting a garden because, in my mind, gardening requires a cute, wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed with a ribbon.

20. I am planting a garden because a vegetable garden makes a house into a home.


And, new for 2010:

21.  I am planting a garden for Jack so that he can grow up learning to respect the Earth for all its beauty and bounty.