If only I had chickens

It's a toss up this time of year:  either the woodchucks and squash bugs have gone through the garden like Sherman's March to the Sea or, if I am fortunate, I have dodged those bullets and now it starts - the avalanche of produce.

I begin to remember (cause I do already know) that even two people cannot eat enough green beans from an 8 foot row as fast as they can grow.  Leave out the Swiss Chard and the potential for zucchini which rarely goes unfulfilled!

It's really too early in the season to think about canning the overflow - at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  So the plan is to eat as much as we can and try to find homes for the extra.  So far my friends and neighbors haven't started avoiding me so it's working.

I love going out to the garden and deciding what is on the menu for supper:  no tomatoes yet but plenty of other things that go in a salad.  This year I even have one plant of the small sweet peppers (the colored ones) that are good for salads or, perhaps stuffed with cheese, used for snacking.

Also planted one Ancho/Poblano pepper - I really have no clue what to do with these peppers and I'd better figure it out cause they are coming soon!

Last night a new recipe for the Swiss Chard.  Usually I just steam or boil it.  Wonderful with butter and salt and pepper.  This time I tried sauteing it: simmered some smashed garlic in olive oil and added the chopped up chard ribs.  Cooked until tender, tossed in the chopped up leaves along with some red pepper flakes and slapped on the cover.  Once the leaves were wilted added just a splash of red wine vinegar and there was the side dish, ready to go!

At that point the green beans were steamed and the chicken breast was done on both sides - grilled in olive oil with spices to a crispy outside and tender inside.

So most of my supper came from the garden and more will as time and woodchucks allow.




Now, if only I had chickens it could have all come from the back yard!

I wonder how woodchuck broils up?

P.S.  Definitely not a shortage of lettuce these days either!

I did tell you - lettuce practically grows itself (in the absence of woodchucks and rabbits!)