A Homegrown Meal

It really is a blessing to be able to walk around the yard, basket in hand, and harvest all my meals for the day. It’s like grocery shopping in my own home, and it’s my absolute favorite thing about having an edible garden. While this can be done almost any time of year, the shoulder…

Linda Ly
Freshly harvested from the garden

It really is a blessing to be able to walk around the yard, basket in hand, and harvest all my meals for the day. It’s like grocery shopping in my own home, and it’s my absolute favorite thing about having an edible garden.

While this can be done almost any time of year, the shoulder season between summer and fall is an especially good time for putting together a homegrown meal. The chickens are still laying eggs before they turn in for the year; the summer crops are hanging on for one last hurrah; and the pantry is fully stocked with freshly cured onions and garlic.

This is what I had for breakfast yesterday, and I do some variation on it all season. You can’t get much more fresh than this!

Garden Betty’s Hearty Homegrown Skillet

Ingredients

Soy-free, corn-free, pastured eggs (laid two days ago by my backyard chickens)
Red Creole onion (harvested and cured in early June)
Inchelium Red garlic (harvested and cured in early June)
Duggin White tomato (harvested yesterday morning)
Quadrato d’Asti Rosso pepper (harvested yesterday morning)
Filius Blue pepper (harvested yesterday morning)
Lemon squash (harvested three days ago)
Edible Red Leaf amaranth (harvested yesterday morning)
Wild Zaatar oregano (harvested yesterday morning)
Spicy fermented salsa (from this recipe)

Method

Heat up a heavy cast iron pan — a good one never needs to be oiled. Add the vegetables and herbs and saute for a few minutes. Crack two eggs into the pan and cook to your liking. Serve with spicy fermented salsa and regale in this late summer/early fall feast!

Homegrown skillet

A breakfast full of garden goodness

21 Comments

  1. that looks so yummy! We can’t wait to expand our garden to include more tasty treats like these!

  2. Love reading your blog every day! Everything from your exploring beautiful country to your chickens and gardens. Was so sorry about Giselle. I do have a question… how do you clean your cast iron so it doesn’t ruin? My mother (92) has some that are slick and definitely non stick. However, I have ruined mine where food sticks. Mother hasn’t cooked in years and cannot tell me how she got hers in such great shape. I don’t use them because I’m scared I’ll ruin them too. Thanks for sharing your very interesting life!

    1. Thank you for the kind words about my blog!

      It does take some time to build up a nice nonstick finish on cast-iron pans. For the first few times, we like to cook something very greasy in the pans (bacon is best, as are other fatty meats). Then we scrape and wash the pan with hot water (never soap), put it over low heat on the stove to dry, and use a paper towel to coat the inside with a thin layer of oil. After a few months of using and oiling the pan consistently, it forms a natural seasoning on the cast iron.

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