garden news-eating what you produce

GARDEN NEWS-EATING WHAT YOU PRODUCE

this is one of my favorite flowers
the bird of paradise
i tried to grow it at the country n but was unsuccessful
here it grows in our courtyard 
this one is near the entrance to our condo
sometimes i just reach out and touch it thinking its a live bird

it loves the dry mediterranean climate around here
well this week
its a mediterranean week for sure

we topped out at 102 here this week
tomorrow it will top out around 90+
add to that an increase in humidity
then
add to that the fact that few folks here even have air conditioners
this
makes for a miserable feeling for several days each year
when it hits you think
man we need air conditioning
then
for 350 days a year we have near perfect weather
i always say its unfair living here
except 
for this week

our condo hoa doesnt allow air conditioning to be installed
its an infrastructure thing
which makes for it to be miserable a few times a year

as i was looking for what to cook from our garden
i thought there is no way we are turning on our stove or oven
its already too hot inside as it is

so 
being a lazy cook 
i find me this recipe for crockpot veggies to replace grilling veggies
usually 
we wrap them in aluminum foil and grill them in the oven
or
put them in a dish and cook them in the oven sprinkled with seasonings and olive oil
they get left with a little bit of blackened crust that leaves them like you grilled them outside

so
it was crockpot veggies on this hot day in our condo

the day i cooked these veggies it was 102 outside
it felt that hot inside

i went to the garden to harvest whatever we had growing
zucchini squash
Japanese egg plant
scarlet runner green beans 
french green beans
a handful of purple hull peas
a handful of okra
bell pepper
banana pepper
jalapeno pepper
a small poblano pepper
corn
green tomatoes
red tomatoes
malibar spinach
curly leaf kale
amaranth leaves
walking stick collard leaves
swiss chard leaf and stalk
green onion
garlic

from the grocery store i added sweet potato red potato carrots and white mushrooms

olive oil was add to the pot before the veggies then sprinkled on top when the veggies were added
fresh herbs from the garden were added
rosemary thyme oregano basil
seasoning like black pepper some salt cumin smoked paprika was added
all of this was stirred up well to mix the veggies and the olive oil and the seasonings

it was cooked for 3-4 hours

it was plated up on a bed of rice
for a delicious evening meal that didnt heat up the kitchen and the condo much
most of the veggies were fresh from the garden

we have two more days of heat then a chance of rain on saturday
the temps will be back down to the 70s
again

our last rain was february
no wonder we have so many fires in this area

i really shouldnt be complaining about the heat
since in places like texas they have this hot dry weather for a month or so each summer

however
folks have air conditioning there
most of us dont here

eating those fresh vegetables sure made it more tolerable

the organicgreen doctor