Getting Creative with the Garden Harvest

This year has been so very strange for my garden... 

1) Lots of bugs. I lost at least 5 tomato plants to a cutworm. Many green bean plants to slugs who paved the way for the pill bugs. Almost all of my kohlrabi and some cabbage to aphids. BIG SIGH...

2) The weather. First we had a late-ish frost. Thankfully, I had not transferred most of my tender plants from my jugs out yet. So I just covered the milk jugs. The frost did, however, impact the Swiss Chard. Now it has been so very hot and dry. Most of my plants look wilted by early afternoon. Some even look like that with the shade cloth I have erected! Poor plants.

For whatever other reason - or just a combination of the first 2- very few tomatoes yet, no melons, one zucchini, a handful of small peppers. Not going to feed us on just the garden any time soon.

All that being said, some things have done well. Luke and I ate much lettuce from the garden! And I have tried to find ways to use what I can grow such as my herbs. I made some Tarragon salt and Tuscan Herb salt - so yummy. And the beets, although slow to start, are coming along well - and SO DELICIOUS!

 Tarragon chicken sandwich topped with caramelized onion and Swiss, golden beets sprinkled with Tuscan Herb Salt, and artichoke (the artichoke was from the store BTW)  - Yum!

Tarragon chicken: 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken, 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 1/2 tsp. Tarragon Salt. Slow cooker for 2 hours - until the cream cheese melts (stir well).

With the Swiss Chard bouncing back and basil finally growing... Chard lasagna - SO GOOD!

The tomato sauce was from last year. Here's to hoping I will yet get enough tomatoes to make some more!

Even with the weird garden year, I am so blessed!