Garden Update

I’ve been remiss in blogging about the garden this summer.  Spending most of my free time working on the basement doesn’t mean that we’re still not enjoying a bountiful harvest!

So far this year we’ve enjoyed the following produce (and so have many of our friends, family, and coworkers since we’re constantly giving our overabundance away!):

Spinach – always the first thing to go once the summer heat arrives, we used in a variety of salads and then harvested the remainder for a large batch of creamed spinach

Radishes – hundreds of radishes have been devoured plain, dipped in ranch, on salads, or pickled (with rice wine vinegar, coriander seed, and black peppercorns – try it!).  Some are still pickling now!

Green beans – we had a lot and enjoyed them with a homemade Thai curry, a great recipe my Aunt introduced us to, and pickled

Kale – sautéed and simple, but there’s so much left and it would be great in some potato or miso soup I think

Peas – We had a lot of peas, and Eliza ate almost all of them – raw.  I don’t know what she liked more, eating them or opening the pea pods and trying to get them out.  Just wait until she meets her first crab leg!

Cucumbers – it took them a lot longer this year, but the cucumbers are finally ripe. We’ve been dipping them in ranch and pickling them in the same concoction used for the radishes, and maybe we’ll try this simple recipe.

Chard – three different types, all just as delicious, sautéed with onions or garlic, and for one batch I added some leftover ground breakfast sausage – the perfect one bowl meal

Lettuce – we went overboard again and have been eating about 9 different kinds of lettuce (including Bibb, one of Lynne’s favorites) and spicy arugula

Green onion – last year’s remainders made it through the winter and got more than four times the size of your store-bought green onions, went to seed, and still taste great!

Herbs – cilantro galore (planted via last year’s seeds), dill, basil, parsley, mint (one of my coworkers even made awesome mint-iced brownies when I took some of the harvest to our New York office)

Raspberries – the best fruit in the world, and it’s nice having a couple handfuls of berries every two or three days – although Eliza will eat them as fast as Kobayashi if you let her

Things that are almost ready to pick/eat:

Cabbage – we have lots of loose green cabbage to pick, but I still have no idea what to do with it – recommendations?

Carrots – guessing from how long my other plants develop their root systems, and the fact that these bad boys still aren’t ready, I’m guessing they are going to be ridiculously long carrots

Beets – we picked one and have a dozen more ready to go.  I’m not a fan, but Lynne is, and she says that fresh homegrown beets will convert me…we’ll see!

Tomatoes – we planted three different kinds this year (yellow, pink, colorful heirloom), and they’re doing well, but not quite ready yet.  To my surprise I also had dozens of new plants spring up from some red tomato seeds I planted last year that never took

Peppers – also way behind this year, I think only two plants made it :(

Things that need a bit longer:

Corn – growing well though!

Okra – I won’t be experiencing any record yields like last year.  The wet June really slowed down the growth, and I’d just be happy to get any okra by August this year

Fennel – year two of the experiment, only one plant grew (just like last year) and it’s not looking very full

Leeks – my wild tomatoes overtook them, so it’s hard to see if they’re even there at all

While this picture only showcases a section of the garden in the background, it’s way more entertaining than staring at vegetables and leaves!