Under the garden relish

For several years, I’ve heard from my in-laws about a cherished recipe their mom used to make. Like many people, they weren’t very well-off growing up, so she had to learn to scrimp and save and let nothing go to waste. Her family lived in the country, so having a large garden helped keep the cost of groceries down. But when the gardening season came to an end, oftentimes she found she was inundated with a potentially useless vegetable – green tomatoes. Not being from the South, she wasn’t very familiar with the well-known dish called Fried Green Tomatoes. So what was a girl to do, if she didn’t want all those green tomatoes to go to waste?

Why, she’d make Under the Garden Relish!

The original name of this dish was probably “End of the garden relish”, but over time, the family grew to call it “Under the garden relish”. And she didn’t just use tomatoes for it; any vegetable that would add a tangy, or sweet, or crunchy characteristic to the relish was eligible to be added.

Over time, the original recipe has been lost. But I’ve asked family members, searched old recipe books, and done some research on the internet, and found a recipe that seems to come pretty close to the original. This recipe uses tomatoes, onion, and peppers, but you can add green beans, squash – in fact any vegetable that you enjoy, and that would hold up to the preparation of this dish (I wouldn’t add cucumbers or lettuce, for example, because the relish is cooked). Have fun experimenting – if you decide to try this, we’d love to hear how it came out and whether you adapted it to your own garden and family!

Ingredients:

• 24 large green tomatoes, well-chopped
• 3 red bell peppers, well-chopped
• 3 green bell peppers, well-chopped
• 12 large onions, well-chopped
• 3 tablespoons celery seed
• 3 tablespoons mustard seed
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 5 cups white sugar
• 2 cups cider vinegar