Discover our top 3 favorite summer recipes and how to grow all the necessary garden ingredients!
We love crafting creative new recipes using garden ingredients. A quick browse through our blog will provide you with countless meal ideas! To get you inspired for the upcoming gardening season, we chose three of our favorite recipes from the Wallace’s blog, with a quick tutorial on how to grow all of the necessary garden ingredients—feeling hungry yet?
Our Best Garden Recipes and How to Grow Them
Serving a delicious homemade recipe at a party is always a worthwhile experience, but you’ve earned exponentially more bragging rights if you grow the ingredients yourself! Here are our top three garden recipes, plus all the ingredients you can grow at home.
Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce
If you want a full-flavored pasta sauce bursting with antioxidants, this Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce recipe will knock your socks off! If you like your pasta sauce to be on the sweeter side, try yellow cherry tomatoes like Sunsugar. Tomatoes: Tomatoes need full sun, 6–8 hours per day, and consistent watering to prevent fruit splitting. During the hottest summer months, you may have to water every day. Grow them in a container or the garden bed. If you choose an indeterminate variety, you’ll need a tomato cage or some stakes to keep your plant upright. Fertilize once per month with a vegetable-safe fertilizer. Harvest as soon as they ripen. Basil: Plant basil in full sun, water when the top inch of soil is dry, and avoid harvesting more than ? of the leaves at a time. Garlic: Just like a baby, garlic needs nine months to grow! Plant bulbs in October for a summer harvest. Choose a hard-neck variety, as they are more tolerant of our cold winter temperatures. Plant them 3 inches beneath the soil surface with the point side facing up. Make sure the soil is loose and well-draining so that the bulbs don’t rot. Water regularly when the soil isn’t frozen. Red Pepper Flakes: If you grow a pepper plant with small, spicy peppers, you can dry them on a sunny windowsill, then pulverize them in a blender to make chili flakes! Peppers need 6–8 hours of full sun, consistent watering, and monthly fertilizing through the growing season.
Shrimp and Feta Stuffed Zucchini
Zucchinis are a highly underrated, super versatile vegetable! Bring some Mediterranean flair to your next dinner party with this Shrimp and Feta Stuffed Zucchini recipe. Zucchini: Plant in full sun and keep the soil consistently moist. Vining varieties need a trellis, but bush varieties can grow without support. Apply a slow-release vegetable-safe fertilizer one month after planting. Make sure you don’t crowd your plants tightly together, or they may develop mildew. Harvest zucchinis when they are at least 4 inches long. Onions: Plant onions in early spring when the weather is cool, but the ground isn’t frozen. They need full sun and consistently moist soil. Trim the leafy shoots so that they don’t flop over and sit on the soil. Stop watering in August—the leaves will die and once you trim them, leave the onions in the ground for one more week before harvesting. Bell Peppers: Peppers need 6–8 hours of full sun, consistent watering, and monthly fertilizing through the growing season. Larger plants will require staking. Tomatoes: See Above Fennel: Plant fennel in full sun and water once or twice a week when the soil is dry. They prefer acidic soil and a light application of fertilizer. Cut back the tops and deadhead them to prevent the seeds from spreading—fennel is an aggressive grower! Parsley: Parsley can grow in full sun or partial shade. Space your plants 6–8 inches apart and remove flower buds before they bloom. Water when the top inch of soil is dry, and avoid harvesting more than ? of the leaves at a time. Dill: Space your dill seeds 18 inches apart in a spot with full sun. Water regularly and don’t let the plants dry out. Harvest older leaves first. Fun fact: dill will help attract beneficial insects that kill aphids and other pests!
Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Guests will go crazy over this delicious Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. That vibrant purple color is nothing short of amazing! Blueberries: These flavorful, antioxidant-rich berries need sandy, acidic soil (pH 4.0–5.2). Plant them in full sun. Their root systems are shallow, so do one deep watering at least once per week. Don’t fertilize your blueberry bush during its first year. Need some fruit, vegetable, or herb plants to grow all the ingredients for these Iowa garden recipes? Visit Wallace’s Garden Center to see everything ready to plant now!
