Salad Bowl

I've been harvesting A LOT of radishes and greens lately, but nothing else.  I'm hopeful that my zucchini will be ready soon.  The plant at the community garden is starting to set flowers.  No peas, cucumbers, or beans yet.  Next year I'll be able to plant them much earlier!  But my greens are delicious {check out the swiss chard on the top of my lettuce bowl} and kale is going in the freezer this week there's so much of it.  Those radishes aren't bad either.

Continuous Supply

Lettuce is in a plentiful supply around here...all people dropping by to visit are gifted a stash.  I'm not complaining about this supply of lettuce one bit.

About half of this is growing in the ground while the other half is on the deck in planters.  Pictured here from left to right:  {back row} flashy butter oak, rocky top blend from Baker Creek, red romaine {front row} early mizuna

Edible Decor

Loving the colors involved in my lettuce planters out on the deck--black seeded Simpson looks the most brilliant shade of lime green and the red romain the most interesting hues of red, green, and purple.  Going with more edible planters on the deck this year full of herbs, lettuce, and even cherry tomatoes, although there are flowers as well.

Some of What's Growing

Work has been a bit busy {understatement}, but I have spent some time in the garden.  The weather did not cool off as fast as it should have, but finally the nights are in the 40's and my cooler weather things are happy with that.  Some of what's going on has me excited...

collards sprouting quite thickly...

and other greens, big Boston and little gem...

fresh batch of flowers taking off--this is a song bird mix I believe...

the corn and melons have been cleared out and now it's just my okra flourishing with some hold out zinnias among some new radishes and greens...

I actually pulled two of the huge Louisiana okra plants earlier this week and threw them in the vehicle where they spanned the whole interior so they could travel to the classroom for our vascular plant study, but I couldn't stand to pull any of these yet, because even though they're not growing as fast, they're putting out enough to make me want them around.

Some Things Making it To the Table

spicy microgreens from botanical interest

that 16" okra...

Small bits coming from the garden each day this week.  This week was time to harvest the first greens of the year.  While up in Flag in early June I picked up a giant packet of spicy microgreens to give a try.  I've been going out about every other day trimming that up.  I must say I love this variety, but have to eat it blended in about 50/50 with mild lettuce since it has such a kick.  I don't think I'll ever be able to not grow this stuff again. 

Then, I've been snagging okra right along trying to get it before it gets too spiny, but it grows so fast!  I swear that I leave for work in the morning and when I come home new pods have appeared already 12 inches long.  The okra will be frozen and pickled soon...this okra season has finally been a huge success.  I'm getting requests for any "extra" okra I can spare at work and then family is thrilled that it's on hand again.  The first round of bushes are just about 4 feet tall and still gaining and the second round will be hitting its stride in about two weeks so the okra is certainly not finished.

Garden Outlaws

Ishikura improved bunching onions sprouting as of this morning...it looks like pretty much every seed sewn is coming up (I always get excited about that)!  Mike McGrath of You Bet Your Garden would die if he saw the amount of wood chips in my garden I think-it was mixed in with some of my compost I got, no harm done yet....!


According to the ASU garden publication I've tried to use as one of my guides things like bunching onions and lettuce shouldn't be planted until September.  I've decided to plant for the spring season though.  The only risk I think I'm taking is that my lettuce may bolt easier...we'll see what happens-so far so good.  The plan is to compare this season to the recommended one so I'm going to keep careful track of harvest time and amounts.  Lettuce and onions are both things I plan on marketing, plus things I use a lot of, so on top of enjoying my share I'm hoping to have extra (planting is staggered so that it all doesn't come in at once) and after this trial season I'll be deciding which varieties I want to specialize in (if not all!).  Thomas Jefferson is reported to have grown 19 varieties of lettuce at Monticello.  I only have 14, but if you count my other greens I have 24 (granted I'm growing on a much smaller scale!).

The Greens List:

red velvet lettuce with a stray lemon leaf hanging around

Lettuce...
Big Boston Lettuce, Brune D’Hiver Lettuce, Little Gem Lettuce, Mignonette Bronze Lettuce, Parris Island Cos Lettuce, Sunset Lettuce, Tom Thumb Lettuce, Amish Deer Tongue, Bronze Arrowhead, Crisp Mint, Forellenschuss, Red Velvet, Susan’s Red Bibb, Lolla Rossa

Other Greens...

Arugula, Corn Salad Dutch, Wild Rocket Arugula, Red Orach, Georgia Southern Collards, Mizuna (2 varieties), Tatsoi, Pak Choy, Boc Choy

All Sorts of Things Sprouting!

Tending garden in the dark during the week means I often may not glimpse everything that's going on since I usually get home after dark.  I was pleasantly surprised Saturday morning to see some things starting to sprout!

Alisa Craig sprout...I've never grown onions from seed before...I am doing both seed and bulb as a sort of an experiment this season.  I've been eagerly waiting for a few sprouts to show up!

beets...first time growing these!

sweat peas!!

can you see the lolla rosa?

My lettuce mix...this is the planter Jewel hopped in and I've been waiting to see
if and how things sprout so I can patch it up.  This row did well.