As the Homegrown Food Challenge approached, Luke reached out to some of his favorite food bloggers for recipes using ingredients we grew right here in our back yard. Simply Life, a charming food blog with many seasonal recipes, suggested Eggplant Caponata.

Inspired by this recipe we set out to create a dish using only food we grew here in Massachusetts so unfortunately olives and capers were out. We substituted Nasturtium seeds for the capers because I’d read somewhere that the seeds were also known as “poor man’s capers”. They are slightly spicy. We also didn’t add the balsamic vinegar that Simply Life’s recipe called for. Instead we relied on the tangy acid of our very ripe heirloom tomatoes. We diced up all the ingredients, threw them in the skillet and let it cook for a while as we started making flour tortillas.

This recipe works great for the HGFC because it uses very few ingredients, all of which are on our list of staples. Flour, water, salt and oil. (The original recipe calls for lard but olive oil works just fine and it is probably better for you!) Basically, we mixed up the dough, divided it into balls, rolled it thinly, and threw it on a hot skillet. The tortillas puff up nicely and taste better with a little char on them.

All together this made a very filling meal. We drank home brewed beer and Luke toasted up corn kernels into little corn nuts for a snack. I thought the opposite might happen, but is it possible that I will GAIN weight on the food challenge? We’ll see. Special thanks to Simply Life for helping us with this recipe. We will surely make it again and again.

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For our first HGFC breakfast we made scrambled eggs with onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, tomato, swiss chard, chives, and parsley. To go along with that we made 3 potato hash with onions and garlic. We used fingerling, red and blue potatoes in the hash. We served it with a toasted slice of home baked bread and our homemade ketchup.

This filling, hearty breakfast was the perfect way to start a dreary, rainy day. We both agreed we ate better this morning than most.

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I’ve got a fridge full of salsa, pickles, catsup, sauerkraut, and eggs.

Our basement is stocked with squash, nuts, potatoes, and home brew!

Cabinets full of dried beans, jam, onions, garlic, relish, honey from our neighbor, and tomato sauce.

And a counter full of fresh herbs, veggies and fruit.

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fresh figs…yum!

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SO SWEET!

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We made this delicious stir fry.

Pac Choy:

Arugula pesto for the winter:

Sundried tomato:

Air drying garlic, onions, and some potato:

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The little white berries in this photo are alpine strawberries. They taste more like candy than fresh fruit.

Other crops that are harvestable now include radish, greens, sugar snap peas, bok choy, and turnip. Luke stir fried all those up with some tofu and soy sauce for a healthy dinner tonight.

And so with the summer solstice almost upon us, the cycle of preserving food for the dark months begins again!

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The growing baby! She is content to sit in the stroller while her Mommy and Daddy work, but I know that won’t last forever.

Last week the pear and apple trees were in bloom. The yard smelled so sweetly and looked magical as the petals drifted down like snow.

The peach blossoms are promising.

The grape vines survived the winter.

As did the Egyptian or “walking” onions. We can’t get enough of them right now! Green onion tops are so good on eggs, noodles, stir fries, and salads.

The sugar snap peas are coming along.

A great burst of color by the frog pond.

Rusty the Drunken Frog

Strawberry plants are covered in blossoms.

More of the pretty morels.

Baby beet greens are good eatin.

So are radish.

From left to right, tomato plants, artichoke plants, and sunflowers.

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Cleaned and sliced:

On the stove with a little white wine:

Served with spinach risotto:

Good news! My neighbor gave us some more. We will be making mushroom omelettes for breakfast!

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On Sunday evening we made a delicious dinner. We had a big salad from the greenhouse along with roasted butternut squash, blue potatoes, and garlic- all homegrown. Luke also made one of his favorite dishes, pan fried vegetarian sausage with a maple glaze. Very yummy!

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