Wheee! Do we know how to have a rockin' good time around here or what? Since so many of you asked (okay, so no one asked, I just felt like sharing) how the garden is progressing, I thought I'd give you a status report.
We ate all the radishes already. They did splendidly in the cold spring we had. Everything else is in arrested development and is trying to catch up. The Walls o' Water did work on the tomatoes, though I will not be having tomatoes in June (boo), and I moved some of the Walls to a few bell pepper plants, which are still disappointingly scrawny and not looking like they're going to produce any bell peppers this century. That might be because something was eating them, too. Then my garden guru (the MiL) told me to mix up some cayenne pepper, crushed garlic, and a bit of water and pour that on the plants. It seems to be working. I hope those miserable bugs burned their mouths on the cayenne and then died. Yes, I am vindictive.
The Roma tomatoes were not planted until Mother's Day, and yet still got a little bit of frost damage. I mean, come ON, Mama N., frost at the end of May? Please, be a little kinder in the coming months.
The corn is coming along nicely, the lettuce a little less so (I blame those goddamn rabbits--I wish Leda would kill them instead of chipmunks). The beets are okay, if a little spotty. I haven't seen any leeks yet, but I have faith they'll come through.
The shallots and garlic are going great guns; the celeriac is hilariously tiny. As you can see from the photo. In the foreground are the shallots, the big plants in the background are garlic, and if you can even see it, the celeriac is planted in between the rows of shallots. Oh, and there are some nice weeds in there, too. The weeds are growing fabulously.
The asparagus is there, and I have great hopes for the future harvests. None this year, since this is the first year of growing it for us and you have to leave it alone to re-seed for a few years before harvesting it. It's so tantalizing having those delectable spears out there and yet be forbidden to enjoy them. (Wow, did that sound really naughty to anyone else?)
My precious potatoes, for which I damn near broke my back, are growing very well so far, especially a variety called Bake Kings. And the fennel doesn't seem to be growing very fast, but at least it's not dead.
And really, that's pretty much all I ask for--not dead. What a dedicated gardener I am.
12 comments:
Where's the mint?
Umm, presumably still in a gully somewhere because I have yet to search it out for transplanting. Soon . . .
You know Drew, if anyone else had left that comment I would have deleted it, because I think it's verging on the creepy. But since it's you, and I have to believe that anyone who posts step-by-step directions on how to make chive-flower vinegar can't be all that bad, I'll leave it.
Aha! I spy some buds on the shallots, which means we'll have some shallot blossoms. I checked a hoity-toity foodie website and found that in a certain market in the Seattle area, the blossoms go for fifty cents each! Oh my. We can put them in salads (and make vinegar?). And I think they need to be taken off so that the energy of the plant goes into the bulbs (same actually with the asparagus; we're just growing roots this year; our "supermale" asparagus won't re-seed).
Alrighty then. The gardening guru has spoken and I have been revealed as the gardening ignoramus that I am. I will await the blossoming of the shallots and will then pinch off the blossoms and attempt to sell them for 50 cents each. Any takers?
Do you have any flat-leaf italian parsley? I can't find it ANYWHERE (except already grown and cut in the grocery store). No seeds, no seedlings - nothing. What's up with that?
We do not have any parsley of any kind because I hate it. It's right up there with cilantro as my least favorite herb. Though I haven't tried it in awhile, so maybe I've grown out of this aversion.
You don't like parsley? I know many people hate cilantro (I love it), but parsley? That surprises me. Guess you'd totally hate my cooking. Please tell me that basil is acceptable to you (especially since it's the best herb ever).
Yes, I do like basil, and we do have some planted in pots. What is with you people and your herbs? Does no one care about my poor potatoes?
No, we don't care about your potatoes. :-D
Nahh, that's not true. We just can't see them yet.
Now, about these 50-cent shallot blossoms, I wonder what I could get for bottles of fresh shallot-blossom vinegar. Hmm ...
Kristin, to be contrary, we have some cilantro potted up and growing nicely because we like it. Parsley seems to me to have no flavor whatsoever so it is a nonstarter for us. We also have some Greek oregano potted up. As for spuds, I can tell that your household has no inhibitions related to high glycemic indices! Having said that, I'm off to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie with an astronomical glycemic index.
Looking good!
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