Thursday, June 28, 2018

Spring crops ending and summer crops taking their place.

I have been having a choi salad every day this week. By tomorrow it will be the end of the choi harvest. Here is the recipe for my salad:

- 1 or two heads of Joi Choi chopped bite sized
- 3-4 T of homemade carrot/radish/cabbage sauerkraut
- roasted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 C black beans
- Brianna's Honey Mustard dressing

I haven't really harvested any peas since June 21, but there are more flowers developing. I will be making tabouli this weekend with the last of the parsley and then planting out celery from the basement. I will also be making pesto with the first basil pickings. There is still plenty of romaine and leaf lettuce, kale and chard to be harvested. Also, it appears that the beets and carrots are about ready.

The cucumbers, beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash, all of which will be supported by trellises, are becoming more prominent and in a couple of weeks will be shading the other crops. It is time to fertilize all of these.

It is time to start some more choi, lettuce, kale and parsley in the basement for the fall/winter.

This weekend we are expecting temperatures in the 90's. I was going to cut back some branches from the maple tree overhanging the garden but now will probably wait until the heat wave has passed.

I am hoping to install automated watering and build more frames over the next three weeks.

Here are some photos of the garden:

Far frame with carrots, beets, peas and parsley

Grow boxes with Cherokee tomatoes, basil, Sun Gold tomatoes,
 and sweet peppers from right to left

Middle frame with squash, pole beans, lettuce,
peas, garlic and marigold

Near frame with kale, chard, choi, lettuce, cucumbers,
peppers, catnip, pole beans and peas

I had nowhere to put tomatoes so this small frame
currently holds tomatoes, garlic, chard, kale and lettuce.
Once I have new frames built, everything except the tomatoes
will be transplanted.




Thursday, June 21, 2018

Peas be with you

We have harvested about 4 quarts of snap peas over the past two weeks. A little more than half of that was gathered in two separate harvests. Other than that it has been a cup here and a cup there.

We continue to harvest lettuce, choi, chard and kale. Johnny's Joi Choi with whiter stems appears to be most resistant to bolting. Mulberries were enjoyed last week as a sweet addition to our breakfast muesli. I did not bother to try covering them this year and the birds took their share.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, basil, summer squash, and green beans are all becoming established now. They will be taking over the trellises currently adorned by the snap peas and should all be flowering in about a month's time.

Current projects include building additional frames and setting up automatic irrigation.

Choi and Snap Peas Harvest

Monday, June 18, 2018

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Tomatoes, Basil, Squash, and Cucumbers planted out


I finally got all of the tomatoes, cucumber, summer squash and basil planted out today.

Cherokee Purple tomatoes

Kale, Choi, Mizuna harvest


Lettuce, Chard, Choi and Peas,
and Green Beans and Cucumbers too small to see

Tomatoes interplanted with lettuce and garlic

Super Sugar Snap Peas