Although I love every aspect of my garden (my first garden blog told you all about that) and every fruit, vegetable, or herb I pick off a stem, there can still be a favorite. Before I share my favorite, I want to share a few of our “wow” moments so far. This is what makes gardening so fun!
The first ‘wow moment’ came in the form of Swiss chard. Still going strong from our winter lettuce and herb boxes, Swiss chard apparently thrives in cold or hot weather (a delicious surprise!). One day while watering and pruning the garden, I found this bad boy growing among the rest. An ELEVEN INCH Swiss chard leaf! This has to be a record! I also just learned that chard ranked #3 (wow) in the CDC’s list of powerhouse fruits and vegetables so I hope this plant keeps growing and growing.
The second ‘wow moment’ came a few weeks later when this hilarious cucumber seemed to appear out of nowhere. Telephone? Eel? Letter “L”? I love it. Where else are you going to find cucumber with a handle? Imperfect produce deserves love too.
My favorite ‘wow moment’ was discovering yellow cherry tomatoes. These little guys are DELICIOUS. I had no idea there was a difference in taste of yellow compared to red cherry tomatoes. Maybe it’s because they are home grown so they have more flavor, but I can’t get enough of them. They are so good. Even my husband eats a few of them and he loathes red cherry tomatoes. And he likes these! So we are two for two with him expanding to vegetables he “doesn’t like” (last year it was green beans). Also, while I am praising these cherry tomatoes, is how quickly and easily they grew. They took less water than the other tomato plants, started producing fruit way (way!) sooner than the other tomato plants, and require less water than they do.
Have you had unique experiences in your garden? Have you tried yellow cherry tomatoes from a garden, farmers’ market, or store? Share your thoughts!
Also, this was our first little harvest. A green bell pepper, a few yellow cherry tomatoes, and a handful of green beans. All of them were immediately gobbled up and they were de-li-cious.