The garden is brimming as cool season crops stage their finale! I’m harvesting all of the cool season edibles and then pulling them to make room for the warm season crops to take over. The timing is perfect because we are preparing for our annual “big” camp trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and I have devised a plan to use all of this fresh food.
My plan isnt’t anything new to my family as we have taken the cool season harvest with us on the camp trip for three years in a row now. I find it slightly amusing when you consider our camp meals vs. what you might think of as a typical camp dinner.
Are you thinking about hotdogs and baked beans? Well, how about Caesar salad with salmon, taco salad, grilled kale salad, gardeners choice chicken salad, and bratwurst with a side of homegrown broccoli…
After washing the harvest and carefully packing it in coolers, I use it during the first 5-6 nights of our trip. I laughingly say, “eat up more lettuce it’s the stuff that puts meat on your bones,” to the chagrin of the rest of my family. My children roll their eyes but I love eating a fresh, healthy meal in a beautiful natural setting after a full day of activity. It feels great!
Oh, we’re not completely diligent with eating healthy on our camp trip. As my harvest runs out we treat ourselves to some of the typical “fun” camp food like hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, s’mores, etc… It’s a good balance and I love being able to use all of the fresh food I’ve grown. 
For the broccoli I cut all the primary heads (enough for one meal) and left the plants to see how the side stems do while I’m gone. Many times I get a lot of production from side shoots.
This year I grew both green and golden snap peas side by side.
Lots of lettuce ready to go!
Grilled kale makes a wonderful salad. I’ll share the Recipe in a future post.
How about you? How is your cool season harvest going? Have you had much bounty?
igardendaily 
That broccoli looks good. A great idea to pack everything up to take on your camp! I have harvested salad leaves, chard, spinach and zucchini so far. Maybe some peas and beetroot soon… It’s so interesting to see what other people grow!
I agree, I love to know what others are planting and harvesting! Sounds like you are enjoying many fresh things!
Excellent veg growing 🙂 I look forward to the grilled kale salad recipe. Any tips for growing veg in a small (I mean really small) garden?
hello, I have a suggestion for a small space: Check out grow bags- http://www.cleanairgardening.com/grow-bags.html. There are pictures of them here from Garden Tour II. Also, you can grow vegies in a straw bale (if that’s not too messy for you). I bought one for $6. and it’s almost 5 feet long- http://strawbalegardens.com/.
Thank you for stopping by…raised containers/beds are definitely a good way to go for veggies. There are several methods for growing vegetables in a maximum density environment. One I use is square foot gardening. There is much literature on this style of gardening so read up on it and give it a try. I have been happy w the results. Also, think vertical. Several veggies and small fruits can be grown vertically and vertical gardening is a pretty hot topic in gardening these days. Some people are using pallets set on end to grow a variety of small herbs and veggies. Hope this helps!
I have started using square foot gardening and it seems to be working well. I’m also thinking about how to go vertical. Thanks for the reply.
Wow I’m surprised u were able to harvest all that in just a couple days b4 ur trip! I can testify to the snap peas! Sounds like a 1st class camping trip!
Yes, it was a job but I got a little help washing everything! You need to grow your own this fall in AZ! 🙂
Sounds so yummy and the garden is so lush…I just pulled my peas so the sun could reach my beans…radishes still growing strong in shady area and lettuces loving the part shade bed…carrots were huge and plentiful and I will be starting more this weekend…now if only the sweet peppers would get going…your trip sounds wonderful!!
It sounds like you are enjoying much bounty too! Can’t believe you have already harvested carrots? Did u plant them last fall or this spring? Enjoy your tasty food!
Great idea on leaving the side shoots of broccoli to see what other sweet morsels you can harvest!! I really enjoy your healthy twist of camping food…I will be following up for your grilled kale salad, sounds scrumptious!
Our cool season crops have been bursting of Swiss chard, spinach, radishes…do you have any Swiss Chard recipes that you love?
Thanks for stopping by…I will definitely post the kale recipe later this summer. Sorry to say, I don’t have any favorite recipes for chard. I’ve only grown it a couple of times and am still searching for a fav recipe for it. I didn’t grow it this year as I felt I didn’t use too much of it last year…
My harvest? Six plants = more zucchini than an entire neighborhood can consume, with more coming!
Omgosh! It’s time to pull out the zucchini bread, zucchini casserole, etc… recipes! Another option once your neighborhood is exhausted is a local food bank. I bet they would readily take some fresh zucchini. Have fun!
Shame on me for not responding to all of your fabulous posts! Your pictures are gorgeous! I’m waiting for you to start up a brown bag business so your non-gardening friends can purchase your bounty! Keep up the posts!
And..have a fun rest of your summer
Lou
Hey there! Thanks for checking in. I appreciate it and your comments. If I get good raspberries I’ll bring u some! I still haven’t made it to the store! So much fun stuff the weeks are flying by! Happy Summer to you too!