June 27th, 2012

June 26th, 2012

Garden Bounty
As I mentioned yesterday, we recently pulled up all 34 heads of garlic.  We have eaten two meals with the garlic so far.  So far, it seems much spicier and potent that the stuff we get from the grocery store.  If you take a bite raw, it really hits you.  When cooked, it takes for the most part like store bought garlic, but maybe with a little more flavor and a little more kick.

We have eaten two more cuttings of kale also.  That small little corner of kale is really producing right now.  We just keep cutting the side closer to the sweet potatoes to give them enough sun, and it just keeps growing back.

We can't keep up with all the lettuce.  We have made a few more salads, but we have more than we can eat.  With all of the baby activities, it is hard to find the time or energy to wash, spin, and dry the greens just to make a salad.  This is nothing new however.  We get into this same predicament every year.  For some reason, the lettuce more than other things, makes me acknowledge people who make salads from the garden ever day.


If you look at the back left corner of the picture, you can see that some of the Bibb lettuce is starting to bolt.  These are the plants that I started indoors and transplanted.  The lettuce plants that were started outside are still a bit behind.

Updates
About 20 cucumber seedlings have broken the surface this week, and they are about 3 inches tall now.  Things are growing so much more quickly now that is 80+ degrees outside.

The Mortage Lifter tomato plant has tomatoes bigger than my fist already, however there is still no hint of any of them turning red yet.  Some of the tomatoes on the Super 100 plant are at the right cherry tomato size, but they are also still 100% green.

Mortgage Lifter

Some of the onions bulbs are protruding above ground at this point.  At least 2 or 3 of them look to be the size of pool balls, or slightly smaller.   A lot of the onion stalks have fallen over. I'm not sure if that is normal or not.  I know you are supposed to bend them over a few weeks before you remove the onion, but I think most of ours have either been pushed around by other veggies or have been knocked over by the hose.  I'll have to look it up.  Maybe it is a sign they are getting either too much or not enough water.  

The sweet potato slips have started to shoot out into vines; very similar to ivy.  They have all definitely taken hold.  The question now is how to train the vines.   Up?  In a circle?  I thought they would go in multiple directions, but it looks like each vine is just heading in one direction.

I also sowed some new marigold, basil, and brussels sprout seeds in a seed starter.  I'm keeping it outside, and they have all started nicely. I tried to sow basil seeds directly into the herb garden twice, but both attempts failed.  Too much activity (leaves, animals, etc) maybe.  In less that a week, all three seem to be doing great in the flat.

Emily said my posts end abruptly, so this is me ending my post politely:  Thank you for visiting -- Please come again ;)