This is the second year my sister and her sister-in-law Jean-Marie (who are both contributors on this blog) coordinated our annual Seedling Swap this year. I LOVE this annual swap. Last year my garden didn't do so well. I didn't plan the location of my garden well. I am happy to report, however, that this year, my garden is doing pretty well.
The basics for a seedling swap is to send out seeds to all the participants to plant and grow at their homes. And when the seedlings are ready, we all get together to swap them. A gardening party! Each person is in charge of about two varieties of seedlings. Check out our seedling swap blog HERE.
My sister got the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and you can find them at www.rareseeds.com. They are fabulous! They have an amazing selection of unusual vegetables and fruit seeds. All of their seeds are non-hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated and non-patented. If you are going to grow your own garden, definitely check them out.
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| friends at the seedling swap |
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| seedlings to be traded |
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| my seedling stash |
This year I decided to do a potted garden on my patio, so that I remember to pay more attention to it and nurture it. So far so good. I had my first harvest of purple beans yesterday.
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| my patio garden early on |
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| my little gardener watering our tomatoes |
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| harvested purple beans |
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| the gorgeous color of the purple beans... apologize for the blurriness |
The color of these beans are amazing. I decided to make a simple salad with it - A super simple chopped salad with purple beans, broccoli and carrots topped with a simple tahini dressing. So delicious!
EASY CHOPPED SALAD WITH PURPLE BEANS, BROCCOLI AND CARROTS
Equal amounts of:
Chopped purple beans (if you don't have purple beans you can use green beans or haricot verts)
Chopped broccoli
Chopped carrots
Optional chopped jicama and chopped red or golden beets
Handful of sliced almonds
TAHINI DRESSING
1 tablespoon white miso
1-1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup water
chopped cilantro optional
dash of tamari or soy sauce optional
Wisk all the indgredients for the dressing in a mason jar or bowl.
Toss all the ingredients except the almonds for the salad together in a medium bowl. Plate the salad and then top with the almonds and dress as desired.
Voila!
Here are some snap shots of my gal pal's gardens post seedling swap... Happy gardening!
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| my sister's garden |
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| more of my garden basil and tomatillos |
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| garden of my friend Deniz |
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| garden of my friend Britney |
Happy Wednesday!
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