Sprouts

I had a great crop of golden beets this summer. Here's a sample of the Touchstone Gold. Beautiful!

 

I intended to do a round of succession planting which is when you sow another round of seed after harvest. I was poking around my stash of small tools and other miscellaneous gardening stuff when I found them...

...seeds that had already sprouted in the package. Both the rutabaga (my son's request) and some left over 'Kamoulini 2' beet seeds had germinated. It's pretty late in the season to be sowing these, but why not give them a shot? I'll let you know what happens.

I did manage to plant my garlic on time. Our last neighborhood farmers' market was last week. I bought two heads from Let Us Farm (and yes, they grow the most amazing lettuce). Cecelia asked if it was for planting or eating. I said "One for each!" I am looking forward to garlic scapes in the spring.

Brrrr!

Apologies for not having posted since the 1st of this year. I'll blame it on the weather; this being the coldest spring on record.

Let's catch up on what's happened since I last wrote.

My culinary laurel is evidence of that. I was hopeful that I'd have a flush of leaves from the buds. After looking more closely, the little shrub was toast. It looked so ratty, I removed it immediately.

My Queen Anne cherry is finally blooming as of Saturday--our warmest day this year. I had no blooms on Friday. When I came back Saturday afternoon, about half of the flowers are open. This is the year when we're supposed to have a heavy fruit year (stone fruits have "alternate bearing years"), but I'm not getting my hopes up.


Cardoon and rhubarb are doing well. I have yet to make something with cardoon. I better act fast while the leaves are small and workable. Rhubarb on the other hand doesn't intimidate me. I made a wonderfully tangy sauce for our Easter breakfast waffles. I peeled and sliced 5 small stalks (remove the leaves! they are poisonous), added about 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a splash of water, and 6 strawberries over medium heat in a saucepan. I cooked it until the rhubarb was soft. So easy and so delicious!



I planted a patch of Early Purple Sprouting broccoli and sowed a patch of the "3 Root Grex" beet mix from Fedco Seeds. I can't wait to see how these turn out. The drizzles of rain in the last two days have at least helped relieve me of my watering duties. But really, I'm ready for some sun!

Radishes, Beets, and Carrots

There's no better way to welcome spring than by dining in the garden. It's even better when you can invite your guests to help plant seeds.

I'll admit I've been carrying around the same 4 packets of seeds for a couple of weeks. The fennel was finally planted early last week, but the radish, beet, and carrot seeds were still in their packets until Sunday.

Part of my problem I'm going to blame on the weather. Now I know I can plant these when the "danger of frost has passed" as it says on the seed packet. But won't they have a better chance of germinating if I wait a little longer? It was still feeling chilly out there last week so why push it?

The other part was letting go of last year's chard. They were starting to bolt and twist into some crazy looking stalks. I usually don't get too attached to my plants, but then Eldon noted how cool they looked. I had a little patch of Dr. Seuss in my garden. I held on.

When I made this lunch date with my friends, we were expecting rain and planned on indoor crafts. The sun was shining and the garden was warm--the perfect time to sow seeds so out went the chard. Unfortunately, I didn't take their photos. It was time to get to work.

I have a few rows of crops scattered here and there--my fava beans are in rows along the bamboo trellis as are the sweet peas, and I have rows of well spaced Walla Walla onions. But rows can be extremely boring. I drew out my plan on a piece of paper, and decided the seeds would be sown in crescents. The radishes, sown by Teresa, are in the longest one. There are two smaller crescents of beets; I sowed one and Kerstin the other. Sarah sowed the carrots in a swirl between the two.

As we planted, we talked about the increase in food prices, and how it may be the catalyst for people to start growing their own fruits and veggies. I know it's difficult for many to take up part of their yard or balcony and dedicate it to urban farming. But maybe it will make us at least think about reconnecting with our land no matter how big or small.