I asked members of the Facebook ”Six O’Clock Scramblers” group to share their summer edible gardening experiences to complement the article I wrote for this week’s Scramble.  I got a tremendous response, which reinforces last week’s poll data that shows that you Scramblers are avid gardeners.  I’ve pasted excerpts from the notes I received below, and I would love you to share your experiences for other Scramblers to read by adding a comment below (or emailing me at aviva@thescramble.com).  As you can see from these letters, not all the gardens are complete successes, although some of you have tremendous success growing your food. 

“Your recipes are for the most part very seasonal–so it’s easy to use the veggies/fruits from my garden and/or farmer’s market into your recipes.  This last week with the Tabbouleh Chop Salad–I used tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and mint from the garden. I would say for most of your meals I’m heading out to pick something.  It is going to sound hokey–but it truly brings me joy to walk out into my garden and pick veggies to go into your dishes–and I often times swap out sides that you recommend to use something from my garden.  Sadly, we had a horrible hail storm here this last week and it pummeled my garden.  I’m afraid it’s going to have a hard time bouncing back.  Thankfully I’m not a farmer who is depending on my crops to feed my family and pay the mortgage.  Last year we tripled the size of the garden–so I can really plant quite a bit–and we just live in suburbia–so it’s not huge–but I love it.  I did a much better job getting out early to plant my spring veggies–so am getting spring, summer, and fall veggies. 

I plant blueberries, strawberries, many different lettuces, spinach, melons, zucchini, cukes, brussel sprouts, leeks, onions, cauliflower, carrots, eggplant, fennel, beets, tomatoes (8 different kinds), a few different peppers, herbs (basil, mint, parsley, dill, cillantro), winter squash, pumpkin (for our annual pumpkin carving party), edamame, tomatillos, spaghetti squash, and ornamental corn (for a little fall decorating).  I use these items daily in my cooking of your recipes–but my mom and I also can a lot of items from the garden for enjoying over the year–strawberry jam, pickled beets, roasted tomato sauce, salsa verde,  pickles, and grape jelly (from my mom’s grape vines). 

Besides bringing great tasting veggies and joy to me and the table, it does save money–when the weather cooperates.  I rarely have to buy produce over the summer.  I don’t know my exact numbers on how much I save but Real Simple Magazine just printed a small blurb on the increasing numbers of people gardening (19% this past year).  They state that with a $70 investment on planting a food garden it can yield $530 worth of produce per season.  They cite their resource as the National Gardening Association.” 

Monica, Denver, CO

“This year we only chose to grow tomatoes and peppers. We’ve been enjoying lots of salsa, and have also used them in salads and such and had fresh tomatoes for any recipes.  

We have a small little suburban yard (.2 acres) and planted 2 watermelon plants to appease our son; much to our delight we have 2 watermelons growing now, slowly but surely. Maybe we’ll be able to eat them in August!”

Susan, Raleigh, NC

“My garden this year is going crazy!  I have joined two other friends in our neighborhood in growing vegetables and herbs.  Between the three of us, we are growing tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, green beans, and carrots.  With all the rain we had this spring/early summer, my tomatoes are literally climbing the fence.  Definitely will save money on our grocery bills with all of these.  I love using herbs fresh from my yard instead of paying $2-3 for a few sprigs at the grocery store. 

Suzy, Eldersburg, MD

“We’ve had a plot in the community garden for the past two years.  Mostly, we grow cherry tomatoes and squash (particularly zucchini).  The cherries are a great snack for the kids and the squash ends up as our zucchini bread.

We plant lots more (corn, watermelon, peppers, etc) but in the end, not much makes it to the table.  Between the heat and the deer and other critters who have discovered the community garden, not a lot gets harvested.  In the end, I’m sure it costs more than just purchasing at the grocery store, alas.

Randy, Clemson, SC

“We travel too much in the summer to grow a “real” garden anymore, but we did grow lots of tomatoes and lettuce years ago.  I got tired of the critters enjoying our labor more than we did and so I visit the veggie stands frequently.

Now, I grow mint, basil, and rosemary and I grow those both here at home and in my garden at the beach.”

Rieann, Silver Spring, MD

“We planted several basils, parsley (flat and curly), jalapenos, strawberries, cilantro and several other herbs which I cannot name now because they are dead! LOL! The rest of the garden has been peed on by the dog so noone wants to eat anything! We planted in a bed in the backyard. Not sure what we will do next year but I can tell you that the container gardens we did last summer came back partially with lettuce and basil and we are eating those. I just mix the lettuce in with salad or put it on a sandwich and the basil we are using mostly with pizza and vietnamese spring rolls.

Can’t wait to hear how others fared. I need a fail-proof plan obviously! Hopefully the success I have had with houseplants will rub off on my future vegetable endeavors. I used to have a bunch of dead houseplants for years but for the past 5 or so I have thriving ones! It helps to water regularly!

Sandra, Cumming, GA

“We found a nice spot next to our garage, about 3′ x 12′ along the wall. It gets a lot of sun, plus reflected sun and a windbreak from the white siding of the garage.  We planted lots of seeds to start - carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes. The romaine lettuce was a fast success - we grew about 8 heads of romaine in a 3′ row. Next year, we will stagger them so they aren’t all ready at once! The carrots were less of a success (one good one so far), but the cucumbers, which we ended up thinning down to only 4 plants, took over their end of the garden and will have us fully stocked for the next month at least.  The tomatoes and peppers never germinated, so we caved and bought seedlings - 3 tomato plants, 3 pepper plants, and an eggplant. The tomato plants have gotten so big they have started to collapse under their own weight. There are at least 30 tomatoes out there now, but all still green! We have 5 baby eggplants coming along, and about 10 bell peppers and 6-7 banana peppers. So while I’ve been very impressed with the yield of each single plant, it’s definitely more of a family science project than a real supplement to the grocery. With about 3 times as much space, and more attention to staggering things in the season, we could probably supply about half of our summer vegetable needs.”

Diane, Lutherville, MD

“My garden is fairly small. I have tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers growing right now (and one brussels sprout plant still hanging on from last fall). I had lettuce, but had to eat it last month before it got too hot here in NC. Onions, carrots, and most of the cucumbers failed to grow. The squirrels have made off with almost all of my peaches. I have been picking pints and pints of cherry tomatoes, and the romas are filling the freezer fast. A neighbor’s mom told me to dunk roma tomatoes into boiling water just long enough to remove the skin, then just pop them into a freezer container to stay good for winter cooking. This is the first year I’m attempting this, so I really don’t know if it is a good idea or not. I have 6 2-cup containers in the freezer so far, and a large number of romas sitting on my counter from yesterday’s gathering.

I am not saving tons of money with this garden — a few dollars every week because I’m not buying cherry tomatoes or cucumbers for my salads — but alas, I’m the only one in the family who will even eat a tomato, so it isn’t dramatically saving anything. And the few cans of tomatoes that won’t be put into my shopping cart this winter won’t add up to much either. But it does make me happy to play in the garden though. For dinner last night, I made veggie chili with tomatoes freshly picked (other veggies from the farmer’s market), and a cucumber salad. Today for lunch, I enjoyed a tomato sandwich and tabouli made with tomatoes and cucumber from the garden.

It is just about time to begin planting my fall garden — hopefully I’ll be able to grow broccoli this year, and perhaps a few more tomatoes.”

Marybet, Charlotte, NC

“We are growing zuchinni, yellow squash, 4 different kinds of tomatoes and our first venture into cucumbers. We are inundated with zucchini right now and I substitute it for any green vegetable in your recipes lately. I am awaiting the flood of tomatos which should be any time now. We have many green tomatos and we are very excited about them. I buy tomatos everyweek and my daughters love to eat the cherry tomatos like grapes! We do this every summer and always enjoy the fruits of our labors!”

Charlene, Concord, CA

“We are loving our new home in Seattle with its big, flat yard, and Seattle (in spite of its rainy reputation) is a terrific place for gardening.  Our best produce so far is the berries — strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries — which are such a fun treat for all of us, and so expensive at the grocery store, especially for organic ones!  The other produce that we’ve been eating is peas, beans, artichokes, gourmet lettuces like mizuna and tatsoi, hardy greens like chard, collards, and lacinato kale, and herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro, sage, mint, and oregano.  I was thrilled to harvest a giant head of cabbage yesterday; I made it into a simple raw salad and it was sweet, tender, and peppery.  On the way are new potatoes, summer squash, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, and winter squash.  We even have an apple tree; it’s not a very tasty kind of apple, unfortunately, but it makes decent applesauce.

We have an upright freezer now, so we are stocking up the summer’s bounty, and adding to it with trips to u-pick farms for more blueberries.  I make pesto from the herbs (not just the basil — all of them!  but the basil is the most popular).  We also have a CSA membership for produce, and we now eat locally raised pastured meats, rather than the dubious meat from the supermarket.  (Even Whole Foods meats are mostly from feedlots.)  We love what we’re eating.  We spend more on organic produce and high-quality meat, but we feel we’re offsetting that by growing our own and buying in bulk.

I’ve also started a new mindful-eating practice based on Mark Bittman’s book, Food Matters (wonderful!).  I am “vegan before 6″ — until dinnertime, I eat only vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes.  At dinner I eat whatever I want, but vegetables are still in the forefront and refined carbs are at a minimum.  Eating less meat is environmentally responsible as well as frugal, I feel terrific, and am steadily dropping some accumulated weight, too.  What could be better?

Rachel, Seattle, WA

“We live in the desert, so I feel guilty growing many vegetables because of the water requirement.  However, nothing is better than fresh tomatoes, so I am growing some cherry tomatoes in a pot, and then have another pot with basil and one with mint. So maybe some more recipes with fresh mint!.  A friend recently made a fruit salad with mint that was really nice. 

I have several rosemary bushes in my yard since they grow well without much water and there is a pomegranate bush that was planted by the previous owner.  It has been there for the 3 years we lived here, but we didn’t realize what it was until last year when it actually had 3 pomegranates on it.  This year we have 7!”

Mary, Albuquerque, NM