Your garden looks perfect, healthy, abundant, delicious. I can’t imagine summer without gardening!

Ah, Yvonne, gardens really are such a wonderful oasis aren’t they? I’m lucky enough to have an Italian friend at work whose father maintains a huge garden in Scarborough full of figs, zucchinis, and incredible tomatoes. The zucchini flowers look gorgeous — I love making them with ricotta and just a little finely chopped anchovy.

Well you know me.. I couldn’t imagine not having a garden from spring to fall - and I bring in my herbs during the winter (although some protest).. there is nothing like fresh produce grown from your own garden

I love the grape vines.. so pretty!

xoxo

I’ll just admire you garden since I don’t have one

Mmm, I love squash blossoms. Sadly living in an apartment leaves no room for a garden.

I admire anyone who’s able to understand what a garden needs and getting anything out of it, be it edible or pretty, to eat or to look at…
Me? We have a big enough garden but when I merely look at something green it wilts, I just don’t understand these green growing things.

About this time of year I start cursing my garden: too many beans, zucchini, cornichon, cucumber; too much work preserving it all…
Then winter comes and I’m glad I did…
Then the spring comes and I get all excited and try to figure out how to plant more…
Can’t imagine life without my garden!
Last night all of my dill blew down, sigh…

LOVELY LOVELY POST and gorgeous photos! I feel so much the same way! And I came across the same book and immediately fell in love with the recipes AND the watercolors! Try her recipe for a simple tomato sauce using every imaginable type of tomato from the garden — OUTSTANDING!

I wish I had a big garden like yours, lovely that all those plants seem happy to grow and be together. I feel lucky to have so many herbs and a couple of tomato plants. The herbs especially make me feel rich.
Love the blooms, one day I’m going to be able to have some of those.

Sometimes I really miss my gardens, until I want to leave for 5 weeks in Greece as I did last year. I saw zucchini flowers on the menu so many times, but they were always sold out!!Finally I had them at Keartisanal cooking school stuffed with feta and mint. Fantastic!!! They lend themselves to all kinds of fillings but make sure there are no bees or ants lurking!!!

Bellissimi quei fiori di zucca… quanto mi mancano. Sì perché in Svezia non si trovano… I miei genitori li hanno in nell’orto.
Ciao.

Oh, Ivonne. I love these family stories of yours! I’m just getting into gardening, after avoiding it for years (scarred by the memory of enforced weeding sessions in my mother’s garden when I was a child). But I do love it and it is a magical thing. I look forward to hearing more about yours!

Oh I just love fried Zucchini flowers!!! And was able to grow my own for the first time this year. They are just gorgeous!!!

Jamie Oliver recently did a programme on his garden, one of the recipes he showed was stuffed courgette flowers… you’re nowhere near as annoying as he was though

I barely even look at my garden, the land lord is the only one who uses it, and that’s just to cut the grass! I’m far tooooo laaaaazy for green fingers

Lovely post! I enjoyed the photos of your garden, which made me long for next year when we will finally have our raised beds in place and can grow as many veggies and herbs as we like. Like you, I grew up with a family garden but didn’t really participate much, except for snapping beans and shucking corn. Now I can’t imagine life without growing my own veggies and herbs.

We have a large and, I think, beautiful vegetable garden –due to my husband’s dedicated care. This time of year–with the tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and basil in abundance–is my favorite. A few recent photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseyell/

How beautiful!

ack, i LOVE zucchinni blossoms and i didnt get any this summer, BOO!

these look wonderful!!!

I’m new to the world of zucchini flowers and I want to try them! They’re so pretty, and you’ve done wonderful things with them.

Thanks for sharing Ivonne!

Gardens are magical! Great memories.. you have to hold on to them. I had fried zucchini blossoms a few weeks ago. It’s true..you must watch for bees. An unending number came out of mine. My mom told me a story about my grandmother frying zucchini blossoms and someone got a fried bee in theirs! hehe..oh well!

I wish I had a lovely edible garden like yours to love! Right now all I have is one thyme plant in a pot…

Your zucchini blossoms are very pretty…I’ve seen them in the market so I can try this

Wah! Zucchini is something exotic here. You even get something yummy from the flowers? *Tarie throws a tantrum of envy* …My family has a farm too. But I only get to see it every Christmas season, when I visit. *sigh*

Oh dear Ivonne,
I wish I had a garden like this. The only garden that I have is my apartment balconny garden, filled with sage, basil, two kinds of thyme, three kinds of mint and rosemary. And flowers of course.

Beautiful writing! Can you hear me be for frid zucchini blossoms?….ot oly do I have a hard time finding them but Mr. Tartelette is opposed to growing a garden….Would you adopt me?!!!

what a beautiful garden and i love eating zucchinis flowers !

Have you ever found zuchinni flowers at a market? My garden is mostly flowers and herbs (although I have carved out some space for heirloom tomatoes). I’d love to recreate the stuffed zuchinni blossoms I made last fall in Florence (amazing cooking class . . . .).

You are so right Ivonne in depicting vegetable gardens like this. I too have fond memories of it, and miss having one terribly, especially when I imagine my mum’s and brother’s! One day, I hope…..

Lovely garden Ivonne! It is alot of work but every year I am grateful for the goodies that it bears and curse the short-handled zappa. I’m not very good even though our late Zio Pasquale (an expert) showed me how.. or tried, at the expense of a few corn seedlings. Hope you have kept some of those old home made gardening implements. Ciao!

I do have a small garden to love, thank you. Enjoyed your post and thought those deep-fried zucchini blossoms look absolutely perfect.
Just added you to my blog roll! Don’t know why it took so long! *blush*
Best-
Aimee

I’m planning to start my first veggie garden next spring and I simply can’t wait! Those fried zucchini blossoms look delicious!

Lovely post. It brought back memories of my grandparents’ farm and the summer days spent picking vegetables or fruit. I am like you in that I want to grow all that I can in my little backyard, but most of it has to grow in pots. It is still wonderful to walk out the back door and pick dinner, isn’t it? Great photos, too, especially of the mouth-watering zucchini blossoms. Yum!

I have been thinking about zucchini flowers all summer; however, I have not found any at my local farm market and I fear that I will have to wait until next summer before I get to have some. Sadly, I do not have a garden to love this year.

These zucchini flowers look wonderful I am so happy that your garden has given you such a great gift.

Shayne

Last year I prepared a few lovely recipes with zuchinni flowers.This year I missed the opportunity. Yours look so perfect.