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Green bell peppers and tomatoes from the garden. Tomatoes will turn red in a few days.
Recipes From The Harvest
In the most recent posts, many of the ingredients in the recipes are from the vegetables growing in the backyard. This week I shared another delicious salad, often served in restaurants. Check out my Authentic Homemade Vegetarian Cookbook available on Amazon for A Light Caprese Salad. This salad is possible because of tomatoes in the garden. The same applies with A Pico De Gallo Delight, Garden Mix Chickpea Salad and others you can read up about in the book as well as my recipes category. There is little need to go grocery shopping when our fresh produce is only steps away. As a result you can create many fall garden recipes.
Unsuspecting tomato plant promising a yield before it gets cold.
As mentioned in previous posts, pick up your vegetables for harvest as soon as they are ripe so that nothing is wasted. As vegetables are picked, like the green peppers, more pepper bulbs are coming out. Surprisingly, I planted three green pepper plants and one tomato plant, where I expected nothing to show up and it has produced something.
Small green bell pepper bulbs showing up on small plants not expected to survive.
The Timing Is Staggered So Not Everything Is Ready All At Once
The results of the harvest will show how far you have come. As of now in mid- October, a few more items can be picked before it gets too cold for them to survive. Currently the temperatures are sitting in the teens. In the evening the temperature goes down, but not below 5 degrees, as of yet. This year we have more time for food to grow in the fall of 2021. By this time last year, most of the vegetables from the backyard were already picked.
Green bell pepper plants taller than me.
The More Space You Have The Bigger The Harvest
Our backyard is standing out like a vegetable farm. Those who have more land and some privacy, having a few raised beds are great. In our case, we have raised beds all along our fence already. The majority of it is filled with plants and flowers. Even though they look very nice in the spring and summer, expanding the garden into the centre of the backyard is bringing in more attention. For now, I think we will hold off and come back to this next year.
Even so, our plants have their own life time anyway. As you can see in the picture below, the tomato leaves are starting to turn yellow. It is a sign that they have reached the end of their life cycle. Kale and collards continue to blossom beautifully though.
Tomato plants are turning brown, almost done, but many bulbs remaining.
In the picture above you can see some green strings springing out from the ground next to the kale and green peppers. That is the celery that did not sprout up this year. Despite it not giving us any celery, it has left behind several celery seeds to pick out. Some of these seeds will be planted in 2022. In the end, nothing gets wasted or lost.
Tomatoes on the square part of the right side of the pergola.
The Benefits of Fall Garden Recipes
Fall garden dining recipes are the most cost effective meals. They are high in nutrients and yield and low in cost and maintenance. Grocery shopping in September and October are the lowest months to spend money on buying produce, if we garden. The greater the amount of land you have, the more food you can grow and will receive.
Nevertheless, those living in small spaces and with less land still have an opportunity to grow food. As long as you have some sun, there is potential.
A small fraction of the yield from the backyard (sept 2021 pic).
As of yet the potatoes are not pulled out. The leaves are brown so it is a sign that they are ready to be picked up from the ground. They will be picked up from the ground this weekend, if it does not rain. Our sweet potatoes are ready as well. I will check whether we received anything this year or not.
The Fruits OF Your Labour
It is exciting to have so much food growing in such a small amount of space and enjoy the fruits of your labour. It is possible to build a beautiful garden of your own and enjoy fall garden dining recipes. Hopefully this year 2021 has shown how easy it is to grow your own garden in the city without being an expert in gardening. The cost of building our garden was on a minimal budget and has turned out to be very successful once again.
Picked before September 30th-they keep coming.
Summary
Do not hesitate to start growing a vegetable garden. While we build and grow our food, we open an opportunity for food to become available for others.
October 14, 2021
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Check out my Authentic Homemade Vegetarian Cookbook for a complete list of healthy meal ideas.
Importance of Washing Fruits and Vegetables
