What do you eat out of your garden raw?

Not opposed to cooking, but this spring has spoiled me. I've got an organic garden simply by luck so far. A little DE on the lettuce took care of the flea beatles. Otherwise, nothing.

I've picked strawberries almost every day for a month, one or two or three or four - yum. And sugar snap peas too - double yum. I've had lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard since April 1st which I wash because I see a hole every now and again and figure something might still be IN THERE. Onion tops I snip and put in everything. And I like to pick just about everything SMALL.

I've got a bunch of things starting to come on in the garden and anything I can do to simplify my life -- like not turning on the stove in the heat of summer -- I'll try. Besides I like the taste of raw veggies, the juicy crunch, I guess. The no-pots to clean up, that's a big factor, too.

I'm thinking I can munch in the garden: cukes, peppers, tomatoes, zucchinni, crookneck, & peas (Could cook some as well, if they make it into the kitchen).

I'm thinking I'll have to cook eggplants, tomatilloes, winter squash, pattypan squash, green beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, & corn.

???

I'm also currently planning my fall/winter garden. Any suggestions on raw veggies there would be appreciated.

Peppers, squash and eggplant are the only things I cook. Peppers get used mostly in salsa so thatscnot really cooking. Almost everything gets eaten raw? Sh...don't tell my kids, they don't know any different.

I pickle the cukes when I have enough. Otherwise we just eat them,my kids use ranch dressing.

Don't forget the carrots! I am trying cauliflower this year for the first time. If I get any I'll eat some of it raw.

They probably aren't growing carrots. They are a cool weather crop.

Raw from the garden: chard, tomatoes, peppers, onions, mint, sorrel, mesclun, peas, carrots, garlic, spinach, lovage, mustard greens, kale. Some of those get cooked as well.

I am a devotee of the Late Ruth Stout and she said the only reason she ever cooked most anything was to get it hot enough to melt her butter Of course my favorite raw veggy is the tomato followed closely by sweet corn ,That being said I don't believe I would ever eat raw Okra

Tomatoes and cucumbers top the list. Sugar Snap peas. Then salad greens and peppers.

I eat broccoli raw most of the time. If I cook it, it's only for one minute in the microwave. Snow peas which I grow as a fall crop, often dont make it to the back door. A lot of tomatoes dont make it to the back door. I eat all the raw peppers I can and freeze the rest. sometimes I eat the asparagus raw. I cook the beans, okra, eggplant, squash. Most of the time I cook the white potatoes and sweet potatoes but I have eaten both of those raw in a salad or out of hand. Of course I eat the lettuce raw. I dont like regular cabbage but I do like the white stemmed Napa cabbage which I stir fry.

I eat it all raw and definitely nosh while in the garden! I will occasionally cook tomatoes and peppers (for sauces) and almost always cook squash and sweet potatoes. Something, like asparagus and peas, I go either way -- most things I eat raw.

We are still growing and eating carrots out of the garden here in South Alabama.

I eat small okra pods raw right in the spot !

Raw bean pods are the best. My youngest has never allowed a long bean in the house. When he was younger he would ask where the long beans were? I told him in your tummy, bc you ate them before they got long. Lol

I love to smack on the yard long beans raw also. But I love them stir fried.

Small okra pods, onion tops, strawberries, tomatoes...

Own another note, I just bought 40 Roma tomatoes 20 large vine-ripened Beefsteaks to suppliment my harvest, to make homemade tomato sauce.

I also bought all FRESH herbs and other ingredients at our local farmers market. I'll be up half the night chopping up seasoning.

Corn is really good fresh from the garden. That's how I tell it's ready for harvest. Pick an ear that feels well filled, peel the husks and silks, and eat it. No butter, no salt, no pepper, no boiling. When the corn is ripe it is sweet like candy. Delicious! Of your list, green beans are also good raw. Different than cooked, but still tasty. I like raw potatoes, too. They do have to be at least washed and possibly peeled and sliced. I don't like to eat dirt. The tomatillos can also be eaten raw. Chop with some onion, garlic, green or red sweet pepper, cilantro, and green tomatoes if you like. Season with some bits of chopped hot pepper and some lime juice-- Salsa verde fresca! I like it coarsely chopped, so the veggies still have an identity.

David

Didn't even think of potatoes but they are the best! Mine are still growing.... David I consider all that preparation cooking..lol

I love Ground Cherries and Goldenberries too.

Green beans, small okra, crookneck squash, zukes, carrots are just coming out, chives, onions, garlic, maters, basils, mints, cukes, radishes, dill, potatoes, jicama, sorry, corn I just cannot will not eat without boiling, berries, cilantro, kale, lettuces, cabbages, asparagus... Yummmmm. Figure I am missing a bunch, but it depends on what I grow each year.

We cook the brussel sprouts, burdock and thistle root, sunchokes, hopniss, beet root, Chinese yams, amaranth, quinoa, sunflower seed, and the corn.

The other vegetables and greens we eat raw or cooked, depending on the recipe.

Asparagus! It's soooo yummy raw. Too bad it's only around for about 5 minutes in April! I eat almost everything raw... except artichokes.

Here is sunny Cali, it is often too hot to cook inside, so we've got a permanent camp stove outside, (next to the grill). Grill for lower heat, camp stove for boiling water. We also take the rice cooker and the panini grill outside when we are going to use them between May and October.

Works perfectly.

I am in the throes of designing a real outdoor kitchen. Can't wait until I have $20-30K lying around to put it in. HA!!!!

I grow purple asparagus and the first spears are huge (about the size of a nickel)! I peel the big spears and eat them raw. When the spears get down to "normal" size I just eat the whole thing. Can't even remember how to cook asparagus! Same thing with corn - just shuck and munch and toss the leftovers directly into the compost pile. The other plant I always eat raw - or pickled - is purslane.

Peas, tomatoes, peas, sweet peppers, and peas

Chuckle.

Smile. Love those fresh peas. ♥

eating raw: tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, sweet green peppers, onions, carrots, Swiss chard, apricots, red and black currants, bluberries, raspberries, blackberries, goosberries.

eating cooked: zuchini, potatoes plus many of the vegetables listed above!

etnredclay,

I like that handle, makes you sound like one who’s close to the soil, one who’s in love with it, one who knows that his sustenance comes from it.

A vitamin deficiency causes one to be a dirt-eater, I’ve read. Years ago, back before I read so much, I saw people do it. They looked healthy. It had more to do with beliefs than diet, I now believe. I don’t see people do it anymore. Beliefs change, I believe.

‘clay, did you mean “What do you eat out of your garden raw?” or what do you eat raw while still inside your garden, freshly harvested, just post picking, pulling, or digging?

Whichever you meant, I can dig it; it’s a good question, a good thread. I’m gonna make out like you meant while you’re still in the garden, freshly harvested. But I’m just gonna name three, and I’ll name them in the order they come off: English peas, sweet corn (G-90), and sweet potatoes (Freshly dug, if they have a crunch, it’s gonna be a tasty crop.) In some circles three can mean a whole, I’ve read.

Do you season it?