Calm Amidst the Storm(s)

It's been relatively quiet out in the garden lately, at least if you ignore the near-daily thunderstorms! Despite the rain, I haven't had to do much weeding. In the spring the weeds seem to pop up overnight after each rain, so every week I have to work over the entire plot. My plot has not been used for a few years and it was chock full of weed seeds.

Produce-wise, the peas are harvested and the vines are pulled out, the lettuce is long gone, and the shallots and garlic are pulled along with early onions. Sadly, the beans and broccoli were not successful. We had multiple harvests of both last year, but three weekends ago one of the landscapers managed to tear out a section of fence with his mower, thereby allowing critters in to feast. They actually ate whole heads of broccoli! All is not lost, though, as I will be planting a fall crop soon.

Currently we are harvesting kale, mizuna and mustard greens grown from seeds we were given by Honeybee's Godmother, as well as Swiss chard and grape and cherry tomatoes. Chard is one of our favorite garden vegetables. Every few days we cut off the three or four largest leaves on each plant and leave the rest, so our six plants should last until late fall. We cut the stems crosswise and cook them like celery, and cook the leaves like spinach. Our summer staple dinner: chard, chorizo, and polenta.

Several peppers are still developing as are carrots, leeks, and Brussels sprouts. We cut the first handful of Brussels sprouts yesterday, but there are many more to come. My next big task is to do a permanent repair on that fence and then start the fall planting. Hopefully I will find time this weekend!

Peas

I harvested my first planting of pea vines yesterday, about two pounds' worth. I've been snacking on them for the last month, but the vines were dying so it was time to harvest the whole batch. The pods are rather sad-looking but the peas are still fresh (and huge! Bigger than Kix cereal!). I planted a second crop three weeks later, and those are close to harvest also.


The shelled peas were handed over to Honeybee for tossing with olive oil, shallots, pancetta, and bow-tie pasta. Very tasty served with parmesan, ricotta and mint!

Bastille Day Fleurs

Okay, not quite Bleu Blanc et Rouge, but close. My last attempt at raiding the garden for flowers yielded a bunch of yellow and white blooms that promptly shed little fuzzies all over the place and caused major allergy problems, especially (and ironically) for Honeybee. So far these appear to be satisfactory.

These flowers are from a back corner of the garden area that hasn't been planted for several years. This year I intended to branch out (hah! sorry, that really wasn't an intended pun) into flowers, but like many things it just never happened. Maybe this fall...

July 12th overview

Brussels sprouts sprouting, um, sprouts...

Brussels sprouts are really impressive plants! I'm amazed at how many sprouts pop out of each stem. If you click on the left-hand image you will just be able to make out the sprouts forming along the stem.