What did the carrot say to the wheat?

Lettuce rest, I'm feeling beet.

- Shel Silverstein

Corny, I know... but I needed some way to liven up a blog about beets. At the risk of sounding Schrute-ish (aka Dwight from The Office), I really like fresh beets. I had never tried a beet until just a few years ago when Branna and myself were force fed one by my grandmother. I'm glad she did because it turns out, fresh beets are not so bad. And Branna LOVES them.... She'll eat them like there's no tomorrow.

After trying fresh beets, I have had an opportunity to eat canned and will not be doing that again. There's a huge difference. Fortunately, fresh beets are very easy to fix. I've made them two ways: roasted and boiled. I prefer boiled, but it's all a matter of taste.

What I do is simply boil the beets in water in a large pot with a tablespoon or so of white vinegar and some pickling spice. After the water has started to boil, turn it down to a simmer. The beets will be ready (fork-tender) in about 1-1.5 hours.

Ok... so to the main reason I'm writing this blog: a recipe. Branyon and I went to Eastside Cafe (my favorite restaurant) for our anniversary at the beginning of May. One of there side specials was a beet salad. It was delicious... Even Branyon, who does not like beets, thought it was good. Since then, I have been really wanting to find the recipe to make it and finally found a similar sounding one:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/11576/beet-salad.html

Two main differences: I boiled the beets and served it chilled. If you're up for something new, try the recipe!

The Fruits of Our Labor

Since Branyon and I have been married, we've always made an attempt to have a small garden. This will be our 3rd summer living at our current residence and each summer (and even one winter), we have carried on our garden tradition. However, since we've lived here, mother nature has not look favorably on us. We discovered after our first attempt that the ground here has to be worked and cultivated to the max. About six inches below the surface is solid clay, allowing the plants to only grow so big and never produce fruit.

Last year, we made sure to remedy this problem by bringing in dirt and using compost. I think we would have been successful if it would have rained and it wasn't the scorching heat we had. Even with the constant watering, our plants died pretty quickly.

With our past failures, I really considered not having a garden this year, but decided to give it one more shot. This year, we moved the garden's location, made sure the soil was completely worked, and limited the amount of plants. (We have been known to go overboard and try to cram in as many plants as possible.) We also planted all of our tomatoes in planters, allowing for more room in the garden. So far, it seems that these changes (along with the decent rainfall) have made this year's garden grow!

Jalapenos

Hot Banana Peppers

Eggplant Bloom

Cherry Tomatoes

Last night, we picked the first produce from the garden: banana peppers. Since Branna has helped out with the planting and watering, we let her do the honors.