I hear this question quite regularly this time of year, “How should I utilize all my fresh produce?” A thing you can never go wrong with is canning, whether it be blueberry jam from fresh blueberries or dilly beans from your vegetable garden.

Pickling fresh vegetables will allow you to savor your garden all year long and is a great way to also use up your fresh herbs and hot peppers as well! (If you need pickle recipes, I have both dill and bread and butter).

Another great idea for using up herbs is fresh teas. I always offer a pitcher to guests and it’s so much healthier than store-bought. I begin by steeping 2Queens loose tea (or any of your favorite tea) into a cup. If you like yours sweetened, feel free to add sugar.

Next, I make a cup of steeped Lemon Balm leaves and add that to my pitcher, combining flavors. (This is a great way to use Lemon Balm, as it grows very fast in gardens and tends to be invasive). Continue the process until you have a pitcher full of tea and place into the fridge for cooling. You may steep dried Calendula petals to this as well!

If you’re headed to the farmers’ market or Callicoon Pantry, I love buying fresh garlic scapes this time of year. My boyfriend’s amazing Aunt Chris gifted us some fresh scapes, and they are incredible thrown into the air fryer for 15 minutes until crispy and garnished with coarse salt. They are also incredible sautéed in some butter, just like zucchini.

There is always an overabundance of zucchini, squash, and tomatoes in the summer. My sister loves to roast tomatoes and make it into a beautiful spread on toasted bread, served as an appetizer.

You will need

- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (or more…enough to fill the bottom of a small pan)

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- salt

- pepper

- few sprigs of thyme

- 1 clove garlic minced

- crusty bread

- goat cheese (optional)

Heat your oven to 425 degrees. You will want high heat so the tomatoes blister and pop. Place your tomatoes in an oven safe dish tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and sprinkled with garlic and sprigs of thyme.

Cook for 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and wilted. Place tomatoes on crusty bread and serve! Add soft cheese such as goat cheese on the bottom for a tangy addition to your crostini!