Garden Club Pickles and Cooks

Since the weather has turned cold, Garden Club has made their way inside for some indoor gardening activities. Two weeks ago, Chef Jeff from Wesleyan University, came to show us and help us make pickles. Pickling has been used for thousands of years to preserve perishable food. We put vinegar and salt to kill off the bacteria and added dill, red pepper flakes, turmeric and garlic for the delicious flavor. Although we did not use the cucumbers grown from the Macdonough garden, we did pickle some of our own green tomatoes from the garden. Everyone got a jar of pickles to take home and enjoy!

Last week we made a stir fry from a variety of vegetables including broccoli, sugar snap peas, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, red peppers, eggplant, and garlic and ginger over a bed of brown rice. It was delicious! And great to learn how nutritious these fresh garden vegetables are for our bodies. Here's what we know about what each vegetable does for our health: BROCCOLI: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium and NO FAT. SUGAR SNAP PEAS: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, protein, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium and NO FAT. SPINACH: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and NO FAT. CARROTS: Full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, beta and NO FAT. MUSHROOMS: Full of potassium, Vitamin D, iron, magnesium and NO FAT. RED PEPPERS: Full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and NO FAT. EGGPLANT: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, iron, potassium, magnesium and NO FAT.

This week is our final Garden Club until Spring. We will be roasting root vegetables and reviewing all the important and fun things we learned and did this fall. HAPPY GARDENING AND EATING!