fall garden produceIt’s definitely fall weather in Utah, but I’m one of those people who hangs on to the garden as long as possible, and most of my garden plants are still (barely) surviving. This is the produce I got this morning after no pickings for 5 days. Still, even though they aren’t overly plentiful, I savor these late vegetables, especially the tomatoes which I’m still using to make tomato sandwiches and slow roasted tomatoes.

I didn’t pick them today, but the collards and kale are still producing lots of greens, and the chard has grown back with gusto! I picked a huge bunch of chard earlier this week and turned it into Chard and Chickpea Soup with Sausage and Green Pepper.

I can’t say for sure, but this guy might have been one of the culprits who was eating the chard. I heard from my neighbors that quail are also eating the greens at their house. (I’m not even sure that this bird is a quail, does anyone know?)

I still have high hopes for the heirloom tomatoes I grew from seeds, even though so far I’ve only gotten about 5 ripe ones. The three plants are loaded with tomatoes, so if we get a frost warning in Utah, I’ll probably pick them and wrap in newspaper to ripen inside. (Thanks to Beth from PA for reminding me in a comment that the reason to wrap the tomatoes in newspaper or put a layer of newspaper over them is because it traps the ethylene gas which causes the fruit to ripe. Here’s more about ethylene gas if you’re interested.)

It was a week for garden windfalls around here, because several nice people shared their garden produce with me. This gorgeous bowl of peaches (minus about 10 I’ve eaten already) came from my sister-in-law Amy, whose recipe for Amy’s Amazing White Chicken Chili has been a favorite of so many readers.

My brother Rand is also in town for the wedding of our nephew Matt to Lindy, his lovely girlfriend who already feels like a member of the family. Rand is the uber-talented guy who designs all the headers and graphics on the blog, and these figs came from his tree.

And these Hatch Chili Peppers are from Carmen, the grandmother of the groom, who makes the best tamales I’ve ever eaten. As you guessed, Carmen lives in New Mexico, and is the mother of my sister-in-law Lisa, as well as Nefi, whose recipe for Pork and Green Chile Stew is another favorite on the blog. Sometime this weekend (after the wedding festivities are over) I’ll be roasting green chiles on the barbecue.Since there’s a wedding going on, I’m posting these photos early so I can take the night off from the blog. I’ll still be able to publish comments from my phone though, so if you have suggestions for South Beach Friendly things to make from peaches, figs, or Hatch Chili Peppers, I’d love to hear about them.

You can see all my garden updates using the link for Garden Updates.

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