I am sure it comes as no surprise that I like to make fresh salsas. I have several recipes that I make on a fairly regular basis. One of my favorites is a tomatillo salsa, another is a smoked tomato salsa. And summertime is a natural time to make salsas, I use them for tacos (breakfast and dinner), as a salad dressing, or as a sandwich spread. The fresh produce I use to make my salsas usually comes from the store or occasionally from a farmers market nearby. But even during the peak growing season, the best ingredients are often hard to find and can be expensive!
I am not characterized by my green thumbs. I haven't been known for lush landscapes, but I am getting better. So far, I haven't been able to kill my roses, and my grass is looking better with each passing week of our early spring. We still have a house plant we received from a friend when Hailey was born, that qualifies as a minor miracle, I am sure. Now, my mom has a green thumb, she inherited it from my grandfather. Pa could grow anything, I swear. I can remember him planting castor beans by the backdoor of their home in Tulsa that grew as tall as the 2 story house. I have still never seen plants that tall since. I can also remember the spring we planted a vegetable garden out at the farm on the Illinois River in northeastern Oklahoma. The tomatoes were my favorite. Pa kept a shaker of salt under his seat in the pickup truck. We would pick a couple right off the vine, wipe any dirt off with a rag, cut into it with a pocket knife and sprinkle them with salt. The tailgate of the truck down, just a kid and his granddad, eating tomatoes.
For the last several years, we have worked hard as a family to make better food choices. Not that my waistline proves my success, but I have really tried to make educated, responsible buying decisions, especially with our meats and produce. If you haven't read any his books, Michael Pollan makes some strong arguments for sustainable, local and organic foods. Produce grown to a ripe stage on the plant, consumed close to the time it was picked really does have a higher level of nutrients and flavor than produce picked before it is ripe and shipped across the globe in the cargo hold of a ship, that then sits in a distribution warehouse and on various container trucks on the way to the local mega-mart.
That doesn't even broach the topic of selection. Even a well-stocked mega-mart, during the peak of growing season won't have anything close to the spectrum of tomatoes available. There are dozens of varieties, many of which most of us haven't even heard of that have been growing for generations. Heirloom varieties and new hybrids grow in various climates and conditions, yet you are lucky to find 3 or 4 tomato varieties in the store. Usually some variety of a Roma tomato, a greenhouse variety and maybe a beefsteak tomato can be found.
For our first vegetable garden, we selected plants themed as a salsa garden. We chose vegetables that would be easy for me to make quick use of, even if we end up with more than we can use a particular time. I also chose varieties that I can't get in our local grocery store, or that are expensive. We planted 2 tomatillo plants, 1 Cherokee Purple tomato, 1 Hillbilly tomato, 1 other tomato plant (we received as a gift from a neighbor who had 1 too many), 1 Lilac bell pepper, 1 Chocolate Beauty bell pepper, 1 Poblano chili, 1 Holy Mole chili, 3 Straight Eight cucumbers, some Texas 1015 sweet onions and some Crystal Wax onions. We also got a Mexican Thorn-less Lime tree/shrub that we put in a container on the patio. I decided not try cilantro just yet. I heard from experienced herb gardeners that cilantro was very difficult to grow well. Plus it is probably the one herb that is abundant and very inexpensive in our local grocery store, at around 25 cents for a bundle. Depending on our success with this garden, I may add a small container herb garden for the patio next year.
So, please send your kind advice, prayers and blessings for an abundant crop from our new garden. I can't wait to start harvesting.
I am not characterized by my green thumbs. I haven't been known for lush landscapes, but I am getting better. So far, I haven't been able to kill my roses, and my grass is looking better with each passing week of our early spring. We still have a house plant we received from a friend when Hailey was born, that qualifies as a minor miracle, I am sure. Now, my mom has a green thumb, she inherited it from my grandfather. Pa could grow anything, I swear. I can remember him planting castor beans by the backdoor of their home in Tulsa that grew as tall as the 2 story house. I have still never seen plants that tall since. I can also remember the spring we planted a vegetable garden out at the farm on the Illinois River in northeastern Oklahoma. The tomatoes were my favorite. Pa kept a shaker of salt under his seat in the pickup truck. We would pick a couple right off the vine, wipe any dirt off with a rag, cut into it with a pocket knife and sprinkle them with salt. The tailgate of the truck down, just a kid and his granddad, eating tomatoes.
For the last several years, we have worked hard as a family to make better food choices. Not that my waistline proves my success, but I have really tried to make educated, responsible buying decisions, especially with our meats and produce. If you haven't read any his books, Michael Pollan makes some strong arguments for sustainable, local and organic foods. Produce grown to a ripe stage on the plant, consumed close to the time it was picked really does have a higher level of nutrients and flavor than produce picked before it is ripe and shipped across the globe in the cargo hold of a ship, that then sits in a distribution warehouse and on various container trucks on the way to the local mega-mart.
That doesn't even broach the topic of selection. Even a well-stocked mega-mart, during the peak of growing season won't have anything close to the spectrum of tomatoes available. There are dozens of varieties, many of which most of us haven't even heard of that have been growing for generations. Heirloom varieties and new hybrids grow in various climates and conditions, yet you are lucky to find 3 or 4 tomato varieties in the store. Usually some variety of a Roma tomato, a greenhouse variety and maybe a beefsteak tomato can be found.
For our first vegetable garden, we selected plants themed as a salsa garden. We chose vegetables that would be easy for me to make quick use of, even if we end up with more than we can use a particular time. I also chose varieties that I can't get in our local grocery store, or that are expensive. We planted 2 tomatillo plants, 1 Cherokee Purple tomato, 1 Hillbilly tomato, 1 other tomato plant (we received as a gift from a neighbor who had 1 too many), 1 Lilac bell pepper, 1 Chocolate Beauty bell pepper, 1 Poblano chili, 1 Holy Mole chili, 3 Straight Eight cucumbers, some Texas 1015 sweet onions and some Crystal Wax onions. We also got a Mexican Thorn-less Lime tree/shrub that we put in a container on the patio. I decided not try cilantro just yet. I heard from experienced herb gardeners that cilantro was very difficult to grow well. Plus it is probably the one herb that is abundant and very inexpensive in our local grocery store, at around 25 cents for a bundle. Depending on our success with this garden, I may add a small container herb garden for the patio next year.
So, please send your kind advice, prayers and blessings for an abundant crop from our new garden. I can't wait to start harvesting.
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