Hello everyone. Hope everyone is have a great time gardening. I am Alex Sanders and I am the Grow Appalachia Garden Program Site Supervisor at Project Worth Outreach in Menifee County located in northeastern Kentucky. It has warmed up a bit but no complaints here after the winter we just went through. Our gardens are starting to take off and harvest numbers are starting to trickle in. We are expecting a huge jump in harvest numbers before the end of the next reporting period.

 

Over the next several weeks I’ll be featuring several of our gardeners. This week it will be a photo feature on the garden of Willie Slone. Willie is in his second year with Grow Appalachia gardening. He is a very experienced organic and we are very pleased that he is a participant in our program. Below, you will find a number of photos of Willie’s garden. After the photos, you will find this week’s recipe. Please enjoy the photos and the recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greek Oven Roasted Veggies

 

5 large zucchini, washed and scrubbed and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
3 -4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 large onion, peeled, cut in half, each half cut into thirds, large wedges
(Spanish or Bermuda) 2 large tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 lb hard cheese, cut into large chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced (or 1 tsp dry)
2 tablespoons cut cilantro (optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 420 degrees F.

2 Put everything in a very large baking pan. Pour water, olive oil on top and add herbs. Season generously.

3 Put your clean hands in the pan and give all the veggies a toss so herbs, and oil and salt and pepper go on everything.

4 It looks like a lot but don’t worry – it’ll ‘melt’ down considerably during cooking.

5 Roast for a couple of hours, stirring everything up a couple of times to allow veggies on bottom to come up and brown nicely too. What you’re after in terms of texture is for the vegetables to ‘melt’ into each other, but without losing their individual shape. NOTHING crisp-tender going on here – just meltingly, comfortingly, deliciously tender.

6 This is delicious with good crusty bread (lovely juices) and feta cheese on the side- like we eat it.

7 Will probably serve 6 hungry people, or maybe not. We go through it fast. It’s even better the next day.

 

Shelia Hamilton

 

Hope everyone has a successful week in their gardens. Watch the heat, take a lot of breaks and drink lots of fluids. Be safe while working in your garden.