Ok, I have to admit, as much pleasure and pride as gardening gives me, I hate bragging about it in the sense that I am taking credit for the results. This is especially true about my organic vegetable garden. Granted, I planted the seeds and gave them some fertilizer, but after that they were on their own. It looks amazing right now and that had nothing to do with me. I basically watched as a combination of warmer days and rainy weather made my garden grow. I just don't feel right taking any credit. However, I don't mind in the least bragging about it in the same manner as one might brag about one's nieces and nephews (you have had no hand in how they turned out but you still feel good that they are related to you). I will tell the world how robust my broccoli is, or how mighty and floriferous my peas are. My peppers have flowers, my blueberries have fruit, my beans have taken off in the past few days and my lettuce is finally at the stage where it can be harvested.
Let me just take a minute here to discuss the wonder that is home-grown lettuce. It is probably one of the best things to eat on any given night and it is one of the main reasons I built the raised beds in my backyard. The texture is tender and buttery. The leaves just melt in your mouth and are sweet. Compared to the tough, bitter and chewy grocery store lettuce, it is a clear winner. In fact, on many nights during the summer months, we eat salad dinners. Throw on some grilled meat, home-grown peas, carrots, radishes, and a few croutons, and you've not only got a delicious dinner, but quite a healthy one at that. Plus, I get the added satisfaction of repeating after each meal, "I not only made this dinner, I grew it!" Its amazing how filling satisfaction is.
Speaking of harvests, I am just about to end one crop and begin my second. If we end up getting an actual summer this year, I might just be able to squeak a third in by the end of the season. Usually I begin in February by starting lettuce, pea, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seeds. I plant them in April and usually am able to harvest by June. In their place goes beans, corn, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and more lettuce. At the end of summer I will plant kale, garlic, onions and leeks (on a side note, it has taken me 3 years to get decent sized leeks from seed; who knew?). I am hoping to harvest the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the next few weeks and harvested my first pea yesterday. These are heady days! I get way more excited about my veggies than the rest of my flower gardens. Perhaps this is because the vegetables are much more practical and physically satisfying then flowers. After all, you can make a short-lived bouquet out of delphiniums, but you can't eat them.
In addition to the crops mentioned above, I also have grapes, kiwis, rhubarb, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. They are also completely delicious and fantastic and I cannot wait to partake! They are all flowering right now which insures that I at least have a chance at a decent crop. Even if I have to play madame bee and pollinate everything myself (its been done before), I will do everything I can to get some decent fruit. Last year, despite the crappy weather, I was able to harvest a full cereal bowl of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries every morning for breakfast for 3 weeks! I can only hope to repeat that performance this year. We will see. Below are the pictures of what things look like right now out in the garden. Rest assured, there WILL be updates (and for those who know me well, extra, fresh produce to share).
From the top left to right, by row:
Sungold tomato and row of bell peppers
Jalapeno pepper and Kentucky Wonder pole beans
Red Cabbage and Rhubarb
Butter crunch lettuce bed and broccoli and cauliflower plants
Sugar Ann Peas and Jersey Blueberries
Let me just take a minute here to discuss the wonder that is home-grown lettuce. It is probably one of the best things to eat on any given night and it is one of the main reasons I built the raised beds in my backyard. The texture is tender and buttery. The leaves just melt in your mouth and are sweet. Compared to the tough, bitter and chewy grocery store lettuce, it is a clear winner. In fact, on many nights during the summer months, we eat salad dinners. Throw on some grilled meat, home-grown peas, carrots, radishes, and a few croutons, and you've not only got a delicious dinner, but quite a healthy one at that. Plus, I get the added satisfaction of repeating after each meal, "I not only made this dinner, I grew it!" Its amazing how filling satisfaction is.
Speaking of harvests, I am just about to end one crop and begin my second. If we end up getting an actual summer this year, I might just be able to squeak a third in by the end of the season. Usually I begin in February by starting lettuce, pea, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seeds. I plant them in April and usually am able to harvest by June. In their place goes beans, corn, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and more lettuce. At the end of summer I will plant kale, garlic, onions and leeks (on a side note, it has taken me 3 years to get decent sized leeks from seed; who knew?). I am hoping to harvest the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the next few weeks and harvested my first pea yesterday. These are heady days! I get way more excited about my veggies than the rest of my flower gardens. Perhaps this is because the vegetables are much more practical and physically satisfying then flowers. After all, you can make a short-lived bouquet out of delphiniums, but you can't eat them.
In addition to the crops mentioned above, I also have grapes, kiwis, rhubarb, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. They are also completely delicious and fantastic and I cannot wait to partake! They are all flowering right now which insures that I at least have a chance at a decent crop. Even if I have to play madame bee and pollinate everything myself (its been done before), I will do everything I can to get some decent fruit. Last year, despite the crappy weather, I was able to harvest a full cereal bowl of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries every morning for breakfast for 3 weeks! I can only hope to repeat that performance this year. We will see. Below are the pictures of what things look like right now out in the garden. Rest assured, there WILL be updates (and for those who know me well, extra, fresh produce to share).
From the top left to right, by row:
Sungold tomato and row of bell peppers
Jalapeno pepper and Kentucky Wonder pole beans
Red Cabbage and Rhubarb
Butter crunch lettuce bed and broccoli and cauliflower plants
Sugar Ann Peas and Jersey Blueberries
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