Friday, June 1, 2012

This and That

The last two days have been busy in the garden. Yesterday was mainly harvesting. I figured I'd do all of that yesterday and then just plant today. But it never works out like that. I swear at this point most of my time is harvesting. Putting in a 4'x8' bed is only about 20 minutes. Harvesting and storage time takes so long.

I started with the Swiss chard. They look so pretty it is a shame to have them under a row cover, but the leaf miners would destroy every leaf otherwise. Behind them are two rows of broccoli. The Windsor is already heading up. That will need picking soon too. There was over 6 lbs of chard to pick. I gave it all to a friend - a poor college student that wanted something to freeze. Chard was perfect for that. Every time I harvest can't help but notice that I have way WAY too much chard in the garden. The garden is producing about three pounds of chard a week and who can eat all that? It only has 12 sqft of space and has already produced 11 lbs of leaves and it is just the beginning of June. Chard is such a powerhouse of production.

Then it was on to the peas. It was the first pea harvest.

So of course I needed to eat them last night for dinner. Granny was saying how she has such simple dinners. But really? Gravy, mashed potatoes, hamburger, and a mix of veggies? Way too complicated. Now this is a simple meal. Half a pound of peas and a sloppy joe. OK and wine. I had just had my first fillings in decades and was very stressed out. I had not one but two glasses of wine.

Anyway back to the story. I harvested my strawberries. Then it was on to the bed that would hold my sweet potatoes.

Messy isn't it? Not that I could tell since it was under the row cover. The last of the Asian greens needed to be picked. In this photo you can't even tell there is anything edible in there.

But change the angle just a bit and narrow in and you can see all the yummy Asian greens. A little under nine pounds of them. I didn't do anything else to the bed yesterday. I figured I'd pull the weedy plants today and just do the harvests yesterday. But that wasn't to be.

This morning as I went out I noticed what was left in the bed. Some of those weeds were dill. Pounds of dill. So I got a good harvest. I also noticed that the herbs were starting to flower. Whoops. I like to pick and dry them before they do that. So I chopped down the oregano and put it in the dehydrator. Then I chopped down the English thyme. The French thyme was already in full flower so I'll do that one after it is done flowering. Then as I was getting my trowel I noticed the garlic scapes were out. So I took some time to harvest them. Hmmm I wonder if garlic scapes and peas would be good together.

But I finally did get around to putting in the last bed of sweet potatoes. I planted mostly Beauregard, but I did have two Garnet slips which I put in the two extended corners. They are in a grid 12"x13". So these have more space than my other ones I put in earlier. I usually take the photo in the other direction, which is my view from the sliding door in the kitchen. But I figured I'd take it the other way this time so you can see how close my kitchen steps are to the garden. It is pretty easy to grab some herbs from the herb garden whenever I need them. I don't even put on my shoes.

I did a few other things too. I did some weeding. I got the flowers planted in the front flower pot, but I didn't have a left over slip for pretty foliage draping down the sides of the pot. I think I'll let another one root. And lastly I got the above trellis for the raspberries finished. This photo also looks toward my kitchen steps. Everyone always asks what the rust colored things are. They are my bulkheads to go down into the basement. One for me, one for my townhouse mates.

So I finally got my chores done and I cleaned up. I checked the weather. And noticed that Monday-Wednesday next week is supposed to be only 60F with one day in the 50s. Starting tomorrow it is supposed to rain for six days. Sob. I hate the weather this year. Up down up down. The poor plants are so confused and I just planted my heat loving sweet potatoes. My melons just came up. They don't want cold wet weather. Hopefully they will all be fine and not give up from shock. Heck hopefully I will be fine and won't give up from shock. What is Mother Nature thinking this year?

17 comments:

  1. Those peas look wonderful! I am soooo hungry now ... and trying to figure out where in my garden peas could go ... although it is too late to put them in.

    I wish we could have some rain. Would you please send some our way? I hope your plants make it through the cooler, wetter temps.

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  2. Peas look wonderful! mine are starting to form but not ready for picking yet.

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  3. Today it is finally in the 80s, but we're expecting lower temperatures again next week. Your peas look so good. Mine are beginning to show some pods, so I'll be picking a few soon. Alas, still no strawberries for me. My first crop on these everbearing plants is never any good, but the next crop should give me some really nice berries....I hope.

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  4. as my dad would say, " that's why they call it weather."

    not sure what that meant exactly.

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  5. Scapes and peas are amazing together! It is what I did with part of my scape harvest. Fried potatoes, scapes, and onions, and threw in the peas for a few minutes at the end to get them warmed through. Delicious!

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  6. Wow you had a busy day! Your chard is very, very productive. I love chard because it can survive the heat much better than spinach, but I only have 2 sq ft of plants so it's a manageable amount. Peas and wine sound like a perfect dinner after a stressful day!

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  7. Wow everything is looking great! I agree it sounds like you have really been busy!

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  8. Sloppy joes, lots of peas, and two glasses of wine - sounds like a great meal to me! I'll skip the dental work though, but still have the two glasses of wine. ;)

    You have been extremely busy and it sounds like your harvest Monday is going to be a big one again. I just did a hair cut on my chard and kale and there was way too much of it in addition to the fresh lettuces and broccoli I am currently harvesting, so I blanched and froze it for use later this winter. You are right though, swiss chard is a real work horse in the garden when you consider production per square foot of garden bed used.

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  9. That is a lot of chard! What do you do with it? freeze it?

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    1. Will in previous years I would have frozen it for the winter. But I have so much spinach frozen this year I don't need the chard. So I gave it away.

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  10. Hmm, I wonder if that cold miserable weather that we had here a week ago has descended upon you...

    The weather here hasn't been great either, if it's not some cold front dipping down from Canada it's wind and fog mucking up the works. We had a lovely day yesterday and I spent it indoors working on a crappy program that chucked two years worth of data that I'm trying to reconstruct. Bleah.

    But your garden seems to be quite productive in spite of the weather! Chard seems to endure just about anything...

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  11. We're getting a lot of cool temps and rain here too. Though it's Seattle area, it is a lot of overcast days. You might try cloching the newly planted melons. I'd love to see a pic of your planted sweet potatoes and how long the slips were before you planted them. I just rooted some of my (short) slips to try but I read that sweet tatos don't grow this far north. I will try. If the weather is this rainy then it's a bust. Can you cloche the sweet tatos also until the cool weather warms up? I've got a lot of pak choi coming in and think of your blog everytime I look at it. Planted some "chinese cabbage" that turned out to be pak choi as well I think. I wish the packets would be listed as more specific to the types.

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    1. I could put a plastic sheet over the beds or at least one of them. I don't think I have the materials for all the warmth loving plants. But they won't heat up unless the sun comes through at least a bit. I think they are just going to have to tough it out. I'll have my fingers crossed.

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  12. I just can't seem to get caught up with my preserving. It definitely takes a lot more time then planting! I am spending the entire day today preserving.

    Were those two glasses of wine red?? I love red wine. It very healthy too!

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    1. Yes red wine. I like both red and white but tend to drink red because it is better for me.

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  13. I'm supportive of having two glasses of wine :)

    Your garden is looking great. Peas are now a memory for us for the season...

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