Garden Days

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inPoetry, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , , , , ,
Bucket of veggies
grazing the garden
tucking veggies under arms
and filling buckets
little hands helped to sow seeds
dirt-stained hands help to pick weeds

I wrote this little poem for the Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt. This week, Punam asks us to do the following:

*Write a food-related poem in any form*

Our garden is a special summer tradition (and treat!) every year. Every growing cycle, I learn something new about planting, maintaining, and harvesting vegetables. I also find that the plants that do especially well will trade off every year. Three years ago, I had so many peppers that I was selling them by the bucket load on the black market (er, I mean, Facebook marketplace) and dropping them off at the local food pantry until they starting calling me the Pepper Lady and giving me weird looks, but this year, I’ve sadly only picked 3 lonely jalapeños.

The biggie this year is beets. My husband and I love beets. The problem is that the kids do not love beets even a little bit. And I accidentally planted about 50 beets, by which I mean I planted 50 seeds, expecting that surely not all of them would grow because they never all grow and– as luck would have it– 50 beets grew! Boy, what a delight (if you don’t happen to be one of my children).

I’ve dehydrated some and pawned some off on reluctant friends (nobody’s a beet fan), but there’s still a bunch left to pick just watching me from their row every time I go into the garden. I’ve also taken to sneaking them into food. However, beets are so conspicuous because they turn everything pink. I made beet hummus and of course the boys eyed it up suspiciously. I even took the time to find a recipe for sneaking beets into pancakes on one of those food blogs where the authors tell their entire life story and you have to scroll for eons to find the recipe. The poster had the audacity to title it “Kid-friendly beet pancakes”. They were certainly mom-friendly, but my kids were not impressed.

Have any beet recipes to share? Or stories of sneaking unpopular veggies into your kids’ meals? I’m here for it!😉

25 thoughts on “Garden Days”

  1. Sarah, my mother always made Beet/Raspberry Jam. There weren’t any raspberries in it but you’d never guess! It was made by boiling beets and reserving the liquid. She’d then puree in the blender half of the beets (the other half would be her treat for making the jam)! But the recipe called for raspberry jell-o, sugar, sure-gel, and the liquid and the puree. I was looking it up on line and there is one for jelly that sounds very similar (sans the puree). She would make all kinds of jelly and jam because my grandmother lived with us and she HAD to have jam with her toast every morning…. I am not a big fan of beets but her jam was to die for! And my grandfather couldn’t have real raspberry jam if it had seeds in it so he loved her lam since it tasted just like raspberries!!

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    1. Ooh, that’s a good idea! I love that it’s called “beet raspberry” jam and doesn’t actually have raspberries 😁 I do need to make more jam and jelly because the kids love it.

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  2. I lovvveeee hearing about your garden and gardening! My mom grows potatoes and beans sometimes, and it’s always intriguing for me to see the result, but I don’t enjoy the process when I have to go with her to the tiny farm. But I apparently enjoy reading about the process 😆

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    1. That’s great that your kids like beets! I’m still working on it, lol. I have convinced them to at least try more different veggies this summer, so I’ll take it as a small victory. 😁

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  5. Love the poem – you need to get your hands dirty to grow good things! I love beets…! I don’t know the recipe but maybe you could find one – but on holiday then”chefs special dessert” was a chocolate beetroot cake – it was amazing! All the food was great (the piled on pounds can attest to it 😂) but that one is still remembered …. Maybe you could try and chocolate and beet type dish. I don’t follow recipes but knowing these flavours work I wonder if a chocolate and beet ice cream or mouse served with other fruits..!? Let me know if you find something that works ..😊
    💞Suzanne

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    1. Thanks, Suzanne! Ooh, chocolate and beet is a wonderful idea, and I wonder if it would hide the pink color a bit, too. We’re making a dessert for a visit with another family this evening, so maybe I can sneak the beet into brownies or try out that chocolate beetroot cake today! 😂😋

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