After a fun and relaxing Fourth of July weekend, we are back in the garden, where there is definitely no shortage of work to be done! Weeding, watering, and fertilizing are the main tasks to be completed each week. All of this helps our plants to continue to grow big and tall and yield very delicious produce. We’ve also been thinning out the carrots and Swiss chard, which helps to make sure that each plant can receive enough nutrients to grow by reducing the competition with the other seedlings crowded around them.
With every week, we can see our hard work pay off. The gardens look great! This week, I’ve spotted the first cherry tomatoes and peppers beginning to form, the cucumbers are flowering, and our snap peas are finally ready for harvest! The sunflowers have also gotten much larger, but they’ll continue to get even larger throughout the summer, reaching their “mammoth” size.
I’m so excited to harvest the snap peas. It seemed to take them a while to flower, but once they flowered, the pea pods were not far behind! Snap peas can add the perfect fresh and crisp addition to a snack or meal. Snap peas have thicker pods and are sweeter than their thinner counterparts, snow peas. I bet you didn’t know that snap peas are actually botanically classified as a fruit! However, most of us use them as a vegetable. Snap peas are low in calories, but high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The fiber found in snap peas can help you feel fuller longer, as fiber works to slow digestion. This can aid in healthy weight management by reducing cravings and appetite. Fiber also aids in maintaining normal blood sugar levels, increasing stool frequency, promoting regularity, and supporting overall digestive health. Snap peas also contain vitamins K, A, and C, as well as folate, and potassium. One cup of snap peas contains roughly 42 mg of vitamin K – about 50% of the recommended daily allowance! Vitamin K is important in blood clotting and bone health. Last but not least, the vitamin C in snap peas is a powerful antioxidant that can help to reduce inflammation by stabilizing damaging free radicals in the body, and vitamin C also stimulates collagen synthesis. Hopefully, now you’ll eat your peas!
Snap peas can be eaten raw or cooked. They make great vessels for your favorite hummus or veggie dip, and they can also be added to soup, stir fry, and salad. Try this summer succotash salad for your next barbecue!
Roasted Corn Succotash Salad
Ingredients:
- 6 ears corn
- 1 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1 shallot or 1/2 of a small red onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
- 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 pounds cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- Handful fresh basil leaves, torn
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper
- Cut the kernels from the corn and put into a bowl. Add the zucchini, shallot, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and the chili pepper. Toss everything together and spread out on the baking sheet.
- Roast until the corn starts to turn golden in spots, about 12 – 15 minutes. Add the sugar snap peas and the lime juice to the hot corn and toss.
- Drizzle the 1 tablespoon olive oil, the vinegar and a pinch of salt over the tomatoes and gently toss.
- Transfer the corn mixture to a serving bowl. Spoon the tomatoes over the top and sprinkle with the basil.
Adapted from: Family Style Food Blog (https://familystylefood.com/corn-succotash-salad/)
It’s about that time when there are lots of vegetables to harvest from the garden, and as summer continues, there will be even more. It can be challenging to decide when exactly your fruits or vegetables are ripe and ready to be harvested. You want to make sure that you pick them for the best flavor, but you also don’t want to leave them on the plant for too long. Check out this video below for tips on when to harvest your favorite fruits and vegetables! Happy picking!
If you want to help me tackle the weeds and help me with other tasks to care for the garden this summer, please sign up via the link below! We have two shifts per week on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am-11am. I would love to see you there!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050e48a4a62ea0f85-creekside
References: https://draxe.com/green-peas/
https://www.livestrong.com/article/112589-benefits-sugar-snap-peas/