Week 13: Believe it or not, beets!

Beets were a big hit, in the form of chocolate cake that Mrs. Holland-Anderson baked! Mrs. Rettler brought sweet and sour beets. We enjoyed tasting them. Here is the cake recipe as well as another recipe that we enjoy at home.

Beet Chocolate Cake (great topped with cream cheese frosting or hot fudge)
from Asparagus to Zucchini

2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 c. oil
3-4 ounces, unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
3 cups shredded beets

Combine dry ingredients. Melt chocolate slowly over low heat. Allow chocolate to cool, then blend in eggs and oil. Combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture, alternating with the beets. Pour into 2 greased 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a fork can be removed from the center cleanly.

Carrot-Beet Burgers
Farmer John's Cookbook

1/2 c. toasted sesame seeds
1 c. toasted sunflower seeds
2 c. shredded beets
2 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. minced onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. cooked brown rice
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. finely chopped parsley
3 T. flour
2 T. soy sauce or tamari
1 clove garlic, minced


Combine all ingredients, it works well to use your hands to mix. Shape the mixture into 12 patties and arrange them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve alone or on buns.

Harvesting is so much fun!

Another day of rain, but we were still able to harvest. We found some beautiful tomatoes, onions, potatoes, more beans and peppers, kohlrabi and even a baby eggplant! Everyone enjoyed dividing the harvest to enjoy at home.

Next week is our last summer club meeting. Please bring a treat to share (hopefully made from a seasonal fruit or vegetable). We will plan to meet once in September and October to see the garden and prepare it for winter.

Week 12: Rain

It was a rainy morning, but a few fearless gardeners came to check out the garden. We found some Asparagus Beans and a good looking tomato. Our corn grew tassels, we can't wait for the mini-corns to grow! Our featured vegetables were cucumbers. Mrs. Rettler brought some spicy refrigerator pickles and dilly beans.

Crunchy Fridge Pickles
from: Steve & Kelly (Wellman)

2 cups white vinegar
5 cups warm water
4 heads dill
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 tsp. alum
1 TBS. pickle spice
1/4 cup pickly salt
2 tsp. Frank's Red Hot
4 jalapenos, halved

Divide equally between 4 quart jars, then fill with sliced cucumbers and cover with the water/vinegar mixture. Ready in about one week.



Dilly Beans
from: Steve & Kelly (Wellman)

2 lb. green beans, divided between 4 pint jars.
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper per pint
1 clove garlic per pint
1 head dill per jar

Boil 2 1/2 cups water. Add 2 1/2 cups white vinegar & 1/4 cup pickling salt. Add to jars. Refrigerate. Ready in about one week.

Week 11: Summer Squash

This week we discussed summer bounty. We discussed a chapter from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barabara Kingsolver. She titled a chapter, Zucchini Larceny, because they had so many zucchinis that they were leaving them in people's mailboxes!

We tried a pasta dish with shredded summer squash and everyone begged for seconds. We got the thyme from the school garden and Mrs. Rettler brought fresh oregano from her own garden. Yum. Click here to find the recipe for Disappearing Zucchini Orzo (we used summer squash) and try these yummy cookies with either zucchinni or summer squash!

Check out the picture of this week's harvest!

Week 10: Purple Beans!

Under the leaves of our bean plants we found beautiful beans! Purple, Yellow with purple stripes (dragon tongue beans) and long thin green beans! Everyone tasted them and took some home. We trimmed the lettuce for a spicy lettuce salad and harvested a beautiful head of broccoli. We even found a potato bursting through the soil.