Western Garden Centers

for what grows here

Vegetables

Zucchini Chips

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Zucchini chips are a healthy, delicious snack, and a simple way to use up some of that end of season zucchini when you have used what you can and your plants are still giving!  It takes only a few minutes to prepare, and then has some hands-off time in the oven.  Doesn’t get much simpler!

Zucchini Chips 2Wash and dry your zucchini, then slice thinly, about 1/8 ” thick.  Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment and lightly spray with olive oil.  Place zucchini slices close together (but not touching) and lightly spray with olive oil.

Zucchini Chips 4Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.  The zucchini will shrink as it dehydrates and the flavor will intensify, so don’t over-season your rounds.  If you under-season them, you can always add more when they are done.

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DIY Tabletop Terra Cotta Fire Pit

DIY Tabletop Terra Cotta Fire Pit

Ingredients

  • Terra Cotta Pot (visit Western Gardens for the largest selection of sizes and designs)
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Charcoal
  • Charcoal Lighter Fluid
  • Lighter

Instructions

  1. Line terra cotta pot with aluminum foil.
  2. Fill pot with charcoal.
  3. Drizzle lighter fluid on top of charcoal.
  4. Stand to the side and light charcoal.
  5. When charcoal begins to turn white, start roasting!
  6. If you have a chimney-style charcoal starter, you can use that to start your briquettes. Transfer to your terra cotta fire pit when they begin to turn white.
https://westerngardens.com/zucchini-chips/

Companion Planting 101

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Companion planting can help your garden flourish in ways it never has before.  You can have healthier plants and a better harvest (and even control some garden pests!) by choosing with care which plants go together and which plants to keep apart.  Companion planting isn’t difficult once you have a few basics down.  This is, however, a very broad subject, so we’ll cover the basics here to get you started!  Through companion planting you can:

  • enhance the flavor of your harvest (plants like herbs can enhance the flavor of nearby plants)
  • increase your yield (some plants help others grow better)
  • improve nitrogen (some plants can make nitrogen available to other plants)
  • repel pests (the biochemicals of certain plants can repel insect and other pests)
  • attract good guys (beneficial insects are attracted to or like to inhabit certain plants)
  • divert pests (certain plants attract pests, which can keep them away from your garden)
Companion Plants

{The list looks small, just click on it to enlarge!}

companion plants
Other highly beneficial plants to consider for your garden:
  • catmint: deters ants
  • chamomile: helps keep nearby plants healthy
  • foxglove: lends strength and longer life to nearby plants
  • lavender: attracts bees and deters caterpillars, mice, ticks & rabbits
  • marigolds: deter pests
  • marjoram: repels insect pests, attracts bees
  • mint: repels insects pests, attracts beneficial insects
  • nettles: a weed, but it excretes nutrients into the soil and protects against aphids, black fly & mildew
  • pennyroyal: deters ants & burrowing insects
  • soybeans: nourishes and reconditions soil, and deters corn pests
  • tansy: repels pests
  • tarragon: beneficial to nearby plants
  • yarrow: good for veggies & herbs, attracts beneficial bugs

Bruschetta squareOne of our favorite combinations for the garden is one of our favorite combinations for the kitchen…tomatoes and basil!  Basil will add subtle flavor to tomatoes, makes it more disease resistant, and repel aphids, fruit flies & house flies, and it will attract bees!  If you missed last week’s recipe for
bruschetta, a simple but amazing combination of tomatoes and basil,  be sure to pin it so you can make it this summer!  We will keep bringing you weekly garden-fresh recipes to give some kitchen inspiration for all those delicious fruits and veggies!

Happy planting!

Roasted Vegetable Salad

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If you are in a salad rut, including roasted vegetables is a great way to add color, texture, flavor and dimension…with minimal effort!  Roasting vegetables is not just easy to do, but it also brings out a wonderful flavor that is surprisingly delicious when paired with fresh lettuce and a cooked egg.

Roasted Vegetable Salad main

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Tips for Early Spring Gardening

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Haven’t started thinking about your garden yet for this year?  Still deciding if you should start your very first garden?  Looking for some inspiration?  Now is a great time to start, and we want to make it easier by giving you a few tips we’ve learned over the years.  Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gardener, you should find something helpful!

Start Small

  • If you have never planted a garden before, start small so you don’t overwhelm yourself and give up.  Choose 3-5 of your favorite veggies or fruits.  If you have more favorites than that, choose the produce that is the most expensive to buy at the store or farmer’s market!

Make it Easy

  • If you are starting your garden from seed, you want to avoid regular soil, which can carry diseases that your tiny seedling won’t be able to combat well.  Use a seedling starter mix.  We like to add some water to the mix before pulling it out of the bag!  This way it stays evenly moist during the germination process.
  • Mike from our Sandy store demonstrated this on a great gardening segment for our local news channel.  You can see him adding the water here before they pull any potting mixture out of the bag.  We are working on getting a link to the actual video so we can show you his other great tips!

gardening news spot

Protect

  • If you want to get your veggies outside and into the ground right now, just be sure to protect them from frost.  A wall o’ water is a great way to protect individual plants, the wall of water surrounding the plant will insulate it from any cold nights that will hit.  The average last frost date in Utah is May 15th, so a good rule of thumb is to protect your tender plants until about Mother’s Day.
  • Ever tried to fill a wall o’ water?  It can be tricky!  Check out our quick video tip to see a fast & easy way to do it.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great gardening tips!

Grow Boxes

  • If you are trying your hand at container gardening/grow boxes/raised beds, make sure they are the right size for you!  You should be able to reach into the middle with your hand…so when you are building them, measure with the span of your arm.  This is so when you are weeding, caring for your plants, and harvesting, you will be able to reach comfortably into the center of the bed.
  • If you are doing a vertical container garden, make your boxes a few inches smaller than this so you can reach the fruits & veggies that are growing up high.
  • Try to get 8-10 inches of soil in your grow box.  The roots of your plants will be happier if they can get this far down into the soil.

Compost

  • Add a 2-3 inch layer of compost to your garden beds, the nutrients will seep down into your soil, and weeds will be kept at bay.

Pace Yourself

  • Try to do a little gardening every day, rather than saving it all for the weekend.  Weekly gardening can seem overwhelming, but 15 minutes a day will keep the weeds down and spirits up!

There are as many good gardening ideas as there are gardeners.  If you have a great tip you want to share with us, please leave us a comment!  We might just feature you in an upcoming blog post!

Happy Planting!

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Roasted Asparagus

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Roasting vegetables is one of the best things you can do in your kitchen.  It preserves more of the nutrients than boiling or steaming, and it caramelizes the natural sugars to bring out a lovely hint of sweetness.  The first time I roasted asparagus, I was a convert for life!

Asparagus 2
Use asparagus that has thick stalks.  They are better for roasting than the thin stalks.  Cut off the bottom inch and a half of the stalks.  You can snap off the tough bottom portion by hand (as seen below in the top left picture), but all of mine tend to break off at about an inch and a half, so I save time by just cutting them.
Asparagus Collage
Toss your asparagus and oil in a zip top bag, or drizzle it over the asparagus right on the pan, then toss to coat.  Sprinkle with freshly ground sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and it’s ready to roast!
Asparagus 11
Pop it in a 425 degree oven for about ten minutes. Don’t overcook it, or it will be bendy and floppy.  You want it to still have some substance to it…mushy veggies=blah veggies.
Asparagus 10

Asparagus square

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 3-4 Tbsp avocado oil
  • kosher salt or freshly ground sea salt, to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Wash and dry asparagus.
  3. Coat in avocado oil, arrange in a single layer on baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Roast for 10 minutes

*Avocado oil has a smoke point of 500 degrees, so I like to use it for high heat roasting, grilling & sauteing.

Asparagus 9

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IMG_1284

 

 

~Becky

Cowboy Caviar

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If you are looking for something a little different, really simple, and super quick, look no further!  It’s a fabulous appetizer served with chips, or as part of a main meal…like a taco bar topping.  Whether your ingredients are straight from the garden, or came from the produce section, you will impress your guests with this flavorful treat!

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (15.25 oz) supersweet yellow corn
  • 1 can (15.25 oz) white corn, drained
  • 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed & drained
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix (dry)
  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and gently combine.  Delicious right away, but even better once the flavors have had a chance to mingle.  Serve with chips, or in a taco bar.

Cowboy Caviar square

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Becky

  

~Becky

Creamy Potato Soup

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If you’re not quite ready to give up soup season, give this creamy potato soup a try. It’s my most requested soup recipe! And unlike most creamy soups, it is NOT made with cream! Which means you won’t have to worry about calories. Or you can eat more. I always opt for eating more!

Creamy Potato Soup WGC

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

  • 8 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 5 cups milk
  • 6 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 6 Tbsp flour
  • 2 Tbsp parsley
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. In a large saucepan, bring potatoes, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, chicken broth and salt to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender.  Do not drain; mash slightly.  Stir in milk.
  3. In a small bowl, blend butter, flour, parsley and pepper; stir into potato mixture.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
  4. Remove from heat; add cheese and stir until cheese is almost melted.  Let soup stand for 5 minutes.
  5. Serve hot.

Creamy Potato Soup Square

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Becky

 

~Becky

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

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Grilled cheese is serious business at our house. It’s one of the few meals that every member of our family will eat (without crying and complaining about how gross dinner is and asking what the kids get to eat and then crying harder when I tell them they don’t get a different dinner). Anyway. The adults in our house also love tomato soup.  We’re dippers and sippers.  We usually have our soup in a mug.  We dip our sandwiches, and when they’re gone we finish off the soup like a drink.  It’s total comfort food…I grew up on it.  Well, with the wagon full of tomatoes we picked the other day, I’ve been trying to get creative to use them.  I plan on freezing as many as I can, but I also want to eat as many I can while I can.  Because there isn’t much that compares to a fresh tomato, ripe off the vine.  Now that some of the days are getting a little chilly, it’s officially soup season at our house!  (I love soup season.  A lot.)  Enter: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

3 roasted red peppers, rough chopped (click HERE to see how to roast your own.  don’t be scared, it’s easy.)

5 large tomatoes, skins removed, rough chopped

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tsp paprika

garlic salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

generous pinch cayenne pepper

generous dash of your favorite hot sauce

10 leaves of fresh basil, torn into thirds

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

Saute onion and garlic over medium heat in a stock pot until fragrant.  Add the tomatoes and peppers.  Cook until the juices are slightly reduced.  Add the thyme, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and basil.  Using an immersion blender, or blending in batches (mine actually fit in one batch), process until smooth (or leave it a little chunky if you like.  I don’t.  Not for tomato soup.)  Add back to the stock pot if necessary and add the veg or chicken broth.  Melt the butter in a small bowl and stir in the flour.  Add to the soup and thoroughly combine.  Let simmer for about 25 minutes.  Makes about 8 servings.

Serve with a grilled caprese sandwich (aka the best grilled sandwich known to man).

*To remove tomato skins, lightly score an X into the bottom of the tomato.  Gently drop into boiling water, remove after 30-60 seconds.  Place directly into an ice bath until tomato is cool.  The skins will slide right off.

*I have to say it.  This is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, including canned, boxed, restaurant, semi-homemade, etc.  This is also the best caprese sandwich I’ve ever had, including the one I had at a restaurant that’s been highlighted on at least one food show I like to watch.  Waaaaay better.  So much better.  I wish I could make this for everyone I meet.  It’s so fabulous.  I’ve made it for a number of family members and friends, and the look on their faces after that first bite…it says, “I knew you said this was going to be a good sandwich, but it’s way better than I thought it would be.  It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted.  Start making another one now.  Right now.  MOVE!”

Enjoy!

How to Roast Red Peppers

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Red peppers are one of the best reasons to grow a garden.  They’re flavorful, delicious, great for snacking and cooking, and they’re so versatile.  You can put them in sandwiches, salads, burgers, or on eggs or pizza, or even use them in hummus.  I love roasted red peppers!  I bought a jar once at Costco, but after they stopped carrying them, I decided I would learn how to make my own.  It’s so EASY!  There are several methods, but this is the way I like to do it, because I think it’s the easiest!

You need a foiled-lined rimmed cookie sheet, an oil sprayer or non-stick spray (this is optional), and your beautiful peppers.

Preheat your broiler.  Mine has a high and low setting, I use high.  Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stem, membrane and seeds.

Give the foil a light spray of oil or non-stick spray and place them cut-side down.  Then give the peppers a light spray of oil.  I use my handy dandy oil sprayer because it’s cheaper than buying can after can of non-stick spray, and then it doesn’t have all the additives.

You don’t have to use oil, but I’ve done it both ways and the skins seem to peel off more easily if I give them a light spray.  Try it both ways.  If you don’t need the oil, then save some calories and don’t use it!

Look how pretty they are…just waiting to be charred!

Put them in your oven and wait for them to turn black!  I set my timer for 5 minutes, and then just watch them carefully after that.  These are just starting to char.

They don’t always char evenly, so I usually have to pull them out and rearrange them.  The peppers in the middle tend to take a little longer in my oven.  You want them nice and charred…these went back in the oven for some more black!

(You can also do this with whole peppers, and you can do them on the grill or over a gas burner, but this is the easiest way for me.  And I always like to follow the path of least resisitance.)

Once they come out of the oven, put them directly into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, or into a ziploc or brown paper bag.  They need to finish steaming so you can easily peel them.  Let them sit for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes the skin should easily peel off and you should be left with beautiful, delicious roasted peppers!

Then do something fun with them, like roasted red pepper hummus!

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Potatoes!

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This is why I didn’t plant potatoes last week.  That would be snow on my flowering pear blossoms!  Luckily this is Utah, and Spring snow doesn’t usually last very long (unless you remember two years ago when it snowed until the end of May…we still shudder at the memory).  So I finally got around to planting my potatoes, and it makes me really happy!  Potatoes are one of our favorite things to grow in our garden.

Potatoes are easy to grow, you just have to know a couple of things.  Start with “seed potatoes” which are potatoes grown specifically for planting.  Don’t plant potatoes you buy from the grocery store, they can carry disease and are usually treated with a chemical to inhibit sprouting.  If I’m going to go to all the trouble of planting, watering, weeding, and caring about my little potato plants, I’m not going to plant something that might be diseased or might now grow well!  I just don’t have time or energy for that.  The potatoes we’re growing this year are Red Pontiacs and Cal Whites.  We’ve also grown All Blues (which are really yummy and expensive to buy from the grocery store) and delicious Yukon Golds.

Regular seed potatoes are 79 cents per pound at Western Gardens.  Fingerlings are $2.49 per pound.

The next step in potato planting is to cut the seed potatoes into pieces.  Cut them about 1 1/2 inches thick, and make sure each piece has at least two “eyes” which should be just beginning to sprout.  Then they need to heal for a couple of days in a cool area (about 55 degrees) with good ventilation.

Prepare your garden beds.  Or in my case, clear out the weeds from last year.  And the ones from this year.  My favorite part about weeding the beds the other day was how enthusiastic my boys (ages 7 & 4) were about it!  One of them made up a song about killing weeds, and they were entertained for at least an hour.  Who knew it could be that easy?!  When my 7 year old came home from school yesterday, he didn’t ask to play basketball, he asked to dig weeds!  So I let him.  It was glorious.

Next you need to amend your soil.  It’s easy.  All I did was call my husband, ask him to bring home some compost, watch him put the compost where I wanted it, and then watch him mix it in with the soil.  See, nothing to it!  We love Bumper Crop compost, once you try it you’ll never use anything else!  Western Gardens carries it for $11.99 per bag, but if you buy 3 you get 1 free!

Once your soil is ready, dig a shallow trench and place your potatoes about a foot apart.  Cover them with 4-6 inches of soil and give them some water.  Potatoes like full sun, but they’ll tolerate a little bit of shade.  Then just wait for them to grow!  Once the plants get about a foot high, I’ll show you what to do with them next so you don’t get any green tubers!

When you cut your seed potatoes, be sure to get two eyes on each piece.  If your potato is the size of a golf ball of smaller, it doesn’t need to be cut.

This is what they looked like right after I cut them.

This is what my potatoes looked like two days after I cut them.

The sprouts look kind of cool!

When we were preparing our planting beds, we found a couple of potatoes that we missed last year.  One didn’t survive my 4 year old helper, but I stuck the other one back in the ground!

Bumper Crop is awesome stuff!

Two things that make me happy in April: Planting potatoes, obviously, and the fact that we had a few days of flip flop and shorts weather!

Stick your potatoes in your trench in about a foot apart.  {The dirt on the right was mixed with the compost, we hadn’t mixed the dirt on the left yet}

Cover them up, water them, and then (if you have automatic sprinklers), just ignore them for a while!  It will take about 100 days until they’re ready to harvest.  But it’s worth the wait.  Promise.

This was quite possibly my favorite part of planting potatoes!  Watching a 4 year old boy discover his first worm of the year.  Perfect.

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