Here at Big Ugly we’ve been busy this past month in our gardens. We’ve got cool crops in, potatoes in, and are even enjoying our first harvests of peas, salad greens, and green onions. All of these seem to be doing quite well.

This past couple of weeks we’ve been busy getting the plants started by one of our gardeners in his greenhouse, hardened off and into the ground. There’s Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, Golden Jubilee tomatoes, Mr. Stripey tomatoes, Beefsteak tomatoes, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, hot and sweet banana peppers, cabbage, and more.  We’ve also been busy planting seeds- corn, squash of all kinds, cucumbers, egg plants, and herbs.

The weather has been cooperative so far, with plenty of rain and sunshine, combined with warm days. This has caused the plants to grow several inches, seemingly overnight. However, the weather has also made the weeds just as happy, so gardeners are out after weeds on an almost daily basis. Gardeners are also trying to be proactive in protecting their gardens from pests of all kinds, trying to stop problems before they have serious issues.

Gardens take a lot of nurturing, just like youth: you have to look after them constantly, doing things that encourage them to grow and flourish. You can’t take a break and say you’ll do XYZ tomorrow because you don’t feel like it today. Gardens and youth require a fair amount of constant TLC in order to thrive.

Here at Big Ugly we are nurturing our future gardeners. They attend all of our workshops, even the heart healthy and food preservation workshops. They have access to the same seeds and plants as the adult gardeners. Three of our garden savvy teens who were a part of the program last year, are serving as mentors for the youth with limited garden experience, and have helped them plant a garden at the center for use of the afterschool and summer enrichment programs. They are rightfully proud of their garden, as it shows the results of their care, and is thriving.

This month the youth and even some adults have found a new favorite heart healthy alternative to spaghetti in spaghetti squash. People chopped spinach, grape tomatoes, onion, and a bell pepper to add to baked and drained spaghetti squash with a low sodium spaghetti sauce. Some were hesitant to try it, but ended up eating more and deciding that it was a delicious alternative to starch laden pasta.

Spaghetti Squash

1 large spaghetti squash

1 bell pepper, diced

½ small onion, diced

20 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

10 oz spinach, julienned

1 c peeled garlic cloves

1 small can black olives, sliced

1 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage, scrambled

grated parmesan cheese

olive oil

 

  1. Halve and seed the spaghetti squash.
  2. Bake upside down on a cookie sheet at 375* for 60 minutes or until soft.
  3. Cool until you can easily handle it.
  4. Scoop the spaghetti squash strands into a colander to drain for at least 1 hour.
  5. While the spaghetti squash is draining, place the pepper, onion, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic cloves on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
  6. Roast at 375* for 30 minutes or until garlic is soft.
  7. Mix all the ingredients except for the parmesan cheese, and put into a baking dish to heat in the oven. At this point you can added shredded parmesan and/or Italian cheese if you wish.
  8. Heat at 375* for about a half hour.
  9. Dust with grated parmesan and enjoy.