Thursday, June 10, 2010

From the Garden

From the Garden
Ingredients for green borshch all from the garden

The other day I really had a craving for green borshch and fortunately I've been growing щавель shchavel (I think it's called sorrel in English), the key ingredient. I've actually been growing several different types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in our garden that came from seeds given to us in Ukraine. Our tomato crop is an extensive mixture of heirloom and Ukrainian varieties so we'll be doing plenty of canning soon. Edna and I plan on canning everything like we did in Ukraine including pickles just like our neighbor Olya taught us. Having a garden has definitely been a blessing in that we are eating healthy, saving money, and it helps us feel less homesick for Ukraine. Anyway, I promised some pictures of the garden, so here they are.

The Garden
Shchavel

Green Borshch
Green borshch

The Garden
Some of the flowers in the garden mixed in with onions

The Garden
The Garden
The Garden
The Garden
The Garden

The Garden

The Garden

I've also started a bucket garden where I'm growing different vegetables including lots of hot chili peppers. I'm using some antique galvanized steel fruit picking buckets that I'll hang on a rack once they are all planted. Hopefully I'll be able to move the bucket garden out of the cold and keep it going through the winter.