Sunday, June 29, 2008

More Internet Resources

The link list to the right has been updated with some more garden blogs that I've found informative over the last few weeks, as well a couple of entertaining podcasts.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Harvest Season Begins!

To my fellow community gardeners- my plot is overflowing with lettuce! Please help yourself to some lettuce. My plot is 2 rows in from the far right grassland, 3 plots in from the main road (in front of the plot with the big white rain barrel). I have a sign in my plot that says "Garden More, Work Less." I have 2 varieties- Black seeded simpson (a light crinkly type) and Winter Density, which is heartier and dark green.

Maybe it's just because I attended my first farmer's market of the summer, but I feel like enough crops are coming in now to finally start cooking with them. New this week in my garden were carrots, young onions, and young garlic.


The onions need at least another month to bulk up but can be used while small,








and the garlic needs to age in the ground a bit if I plan to store it. In the meantime, I can eat the freshest, yummiest garlic I've probably ever eaten. The cloves are chunky and firm.

























Here is my "trug"- showing lettuce bounty, end of the peas, and carrots.

I had already removed the kale and collard greens.




My first zucchini will be ready in a week or so- and the big beef tomatoes will follow soon after.

Check out this carrot! Too bad only about 5 carrots germinated in my small patch. A fall crop would definitely be worthwhile.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thinking of next year's garden (wherever it may be):



I would plant my onions and garlic with closer spacing.









I would interplant lettuce with a taller vegetable, to shade it from the summer sun and prevent bolting.

I would plant less early-spring lettuce and more early-spring spinach.





I would find out where I can get more seeds of this swiss chard and plant more of it.









I would start my tomato and pepper seeds a month earlier. Look at the difference between the store-bought transplants and mine!

















I would start my kale seeds earlier. It is just now ready for some harvest. (indoor sowed this year 2/8 and outdoor sowed 3/12)




I would sow my peas a few weeks later (this year, sowed 3/6 and had to replant a month later). Yesterday I ate two peas.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Strawberry Time

The last few weeks have been quiet for the garden but busy for me, with all the crops planted and nothing ready to eat yet.
Now it is strawberry season and I actually ate 3 perfect, luscious strawberries from my VERY SMALL strawberry patch the other day. This week I'll be going down to West Windsor to pick-your-own strawberries and have more than three.

Other developments:

Garlic is making scapes and the tips are turning brown. I'll harvest the scapes soon, and when leaves turn brown more fully, it will be time to harvest the bulb. I've also heard that when any scapes left behind stand straight up, it is a signal to harvest the bulbs.



The spinach will be bolting soon so I'm trying to use it up. I have two varieties, the pointy one is Spargo, which seems to have a low leaf to stem ratio and I won't plant it again.

The second is a more traditional type of spinach. I cooked up the spinach with some kale, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and it came out pretty good.



My swiss chard transplants didn't take well, but a little goes a long way with this vegetable.