Happy Life Blogspot

I have a confession to make. Last year my garden was terrible!! I drew up a plan for a 4′ X 12′ raised garden box with removable sides and my hubby built it exactly as I had envisioned it. I found a planting guide on Better Homes and Garden and started seeds months ahead of time in our basement. We planted. We watered. We crossed our fingers. We tried! We really did try, but somehow it was an epic fail! I don’t know if it was the hot, sticky, no rain summer, or if we just started with horrible soil, or what. We had lots of tomatoes on the vine, but they never ripened. Our cucumber plant just kind of gave up on life. Our beans started out promising but then just fizzled out. Granted I’ve never actually grown anything at all, let alone from seed, but I was convinced that just by sheer probability something would have taken off! Nope, not really. Apparently that’s not how gardening works. But I was determined to change my death thumb to a green thumb! So we added compost to the soil, bananas, eggshells, dry milk, our Halloween pumpkins, anything that would give me some glimmer of hope that I wouldn’t be a failure the following year. I googled every single thing that we planted and took notes on how to care for them. We watered WAY less because we had a great summer of rain this year. And then BAM! It was almost magical to see my garden turn into a jungle!! Like plush, healthy, growing out of the garden box! I can’t even tell you how many times I had to cut back the cucumbers and tomatoes (after I googled things like how to cut back cucumbers and should I cut back my tomatoes). It made my heart so happy to grow my own food. What a difference a year makes! And now we’re scrambling to find new ways to use up all this food. That’s where this handy little Homegrown Cucumber Salad comes into play! It’s only 5 ingredients (which you know I love!) AND 3 of those ingredients came from……..MY……GARDEN!!! Happy dance! Happy dance!!

Here’s all you’ll need: Corn, cucumbers, basil, chives, and mayo.

Cook corn and slice it off the cob. We made corn on the cob the night before and used the leftovers in this salad. I absolutely loved that it didn’t go to waste because it was just so dang good! Dreaming of the day I have enough room to grow my own corn!!

Rinse and peel cucumbers. Do you see that cucumber??? I GREW IT!!!

Remove seeds. I used a spoon and just scooped them right out.

Slice into chunks.

Chop up the basil. I have SOOOO much basil right now (and I love it!!). I’ve been trying to find new basil recipes every day to use it all up! This salad is a great start! Don’t forget to chop the chives while you’re at it.

Add cucumber, corn, basil, chives, mayo, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Mix with a spoon to combine and evenly coat.

OMG!! Doesn’t that look so fresh and delicious!! The cucumbers give it a crisp and juicy feel, and then it’s balanced by the sweetness of the corn, and then the basil and chives give it such an awesome flavor and the mayo just kind of pulls everything together.

How are you using up your cucumbers this year? I would love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below. If you love cucumbers, then you’ve gotta try our Watermelon Cucumber Salad too!