By Wayne McLaurin
Georgia Extension Service
Volume XXVII
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Will the children eat vegetables if we make them into
desserts? Probably so.
Just don’t tell them they’re vegetables.
How could you have Thanksgiving without sweet potato pie?
We claim to have the sweetest onions in the world. Of course,
I would eat gumbo
as a dessert with the trinity of vegetables: onions, peppers
and celery.
For those gardeners in north Georgia, rhubarb is another
dessert vegetable.
It grows well in the cooler climes but can’t take the heat of
the southern part
of the state.
What about growing beets this spring? They’re easy to grow,
packed with nutrients
and delicious as Harvard or pickled beets.
Georgia grows the very best watermelons anywhere. Cordele
always comes to mind,
as well as the great aroma of melons at the Georgia State
Farmers Market when
the season is in full swing.
Do you throw away the watermelon rinds? Shame on you.
Watermelon-rind preserves
are one of the staple pickled products. Just ask one of your
gardening friends
for their family recipe. And watch for the smile and memories
that will come
to their minds.
While your thoughts are on melons, what about cantaloupes and
honeydews? They’re
two of Georgians’ favorite sweets.
Have you ever eaten corn pudding? Georgia grows sweet corn
that’s sweet enough
for any dessert. In fact, I would trade almost any dessert for
sweet corn. I’ll
just take the husk off and eat it raw. It makes my mouth water
just to think
about sweet corn.
What about sweet pickles? You’ll need to plant pickling
cucumbers to get the
best quality pickles. You can use regular cucumbers, but they
may not make as
firm a pickle as the picklers will.
What about sweet vegetable relish? There’s a good dish for a
combination of
almost any of the vegetables: cukes, peppers, celery, etc.
Never eaten hot pepper jelly or garlic jelly? What about
tomato jam? Have you
forgotten about zucchini bread and carrot cake?
You didn’t think vegetables were desserts? Well, I’m working
on eggplant now.
