Processing the Produce

My husband and I are getting ready for a nice vacation in New York this coming week. Along with that comes the process of getting things ready here at home. For me, that entailed going out to the garden, doing some weeding and harvesting the stuff that is ready now, and will be past by the time we get home. It seemed like there was a lot more ready than I anticipated. But, you definitely can't go wrong in that department. The important part it to process it and put it into some sort of storage, which is what I spent the afternoon doing.

The peas are still growing and some are taller then me now!

Salad greens including beet greens and some swiss chard.

Garlic Scapes

I did some thinning of the carrots and some had grown into itty bitty little things. Not to be wasted, these guys are super sweet and perfect for dips.

Local cherries are now in season.

The radishes are popping up everywhere. These are also great for dipping, and since we have an abundance, I figured I needed to make some dips.

Homemade hummus with home grown scallions.

This cookbook is from our town's farmers market which collaborated several farms and locals to get some amazing recipes. The following three spreads I got from there. It is definitely a great resource for some delicious ideas for whatever is in season.

Chive & White Bean Dip adapted with home grown scallions and garlic scapes. Courtesy of Pitchfork Farms

Tinky's Savory Apple-Blue Cheese Spread adapted with home grown scallions & local made chevre instead of cream cheese from Hillman Farm. This recipe is from a woman named Tinky Weisblat and she also has a blog you can check out with more of her recipes for seasonal food.

Garlic Scape Pesto with some added almonds. Courtesy of Dolores Griel. This I put in the freezer for a later dinner option.

Peas, salad mix and fruit salad all in the fridge ready to be eaten. It was a productive afternoon! And since we are going on vacation, I have worked up some great dinner ideas: I will keep you posted on how they turn out!