Our neighbor Shyla has a secret garden at her house.  It’s a wondrous thing.  The entrance is by the driveway between massive rhododendron bushes.  You wouldn’t see it if you didn’t know it was there and when she invited me to it, there was a gargantuan spider guarding the entrance.  The spider sits just above eye level for me so I almost didn’t see it.  At the last moment, I performed an awkward and embarrassing dodging movement, but I successfully made it into the secret garden.  I have no doubt that my moves would have looked hilarious to anyone watching.

Shyla grows vegetables in her secret garden, more than they can eat, so she shared her bounty with me.  She and her whole family are some of the most generous people I have ever met.  Living next to a dairy farm is not always pleasant.  We are noisy, we are messy, and we are smelly, but they shrug it off and bring over pounds of rhubarb and tomatoes.

I served some of Shyla’s tomatoes with a Feta Dip and it was very popular.  I also picked up some carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, and kohlrabi from Small’s garden.  Vegetables fresh from the garden have wonderful flavor and the mellow dip compliments the flavors without overpowering them.

Feta Dip

• 1 cup Appel Farms Yogurt
• 3 ounces Appel Farms Basil Tomato Feta (or flavor of your choice)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced

Combine and chill 1-2 hours before serving.  Can be made a day ahead.