April Garden

I'm pleased with how everything's coming along in the garden and went out and took some pictures to share.

I'm very happy with my broccoli this year. Last year I barely got any florets and then it all bolted. This year is very different. Three of my plants have had small florets that I've been cutting off and using raw in salads because they are small and about to bolt. I thought the other three plants were not going to produce then two of them starting growing really big, like the one below. It's about softball size and there is another slightly smaller one. Hoping they will get nice and big but watching closely to harvest when needed.

Big broccoli, yay!

I have been harvesting lots of lettuce for lunch sandwiches and we have been having some nice big dinner salads. The red sails have been producing for a while and the green leafs behind them have just gotten big enough to start harvesting. The darker green in back are the castelfranco radicchio plants. 

Lettuces and greens

Here is a close up of one of the castelfranco radicchio plants. I had never had it before and is is really good. The younger leaves have a velvety texture and are great in salads and sandwiches. The older leaves are getting a little tougher and bitter, as radicchio does, so I will probably be cooking some up soon.

Castelfranco radicchio

We have been eating a lot of beet greens, chard and kale but the collard greens are coming along nicely. 

Collard greens

Speaking of beets, these are the last of the three sowings and varieties, except for a couple rogue ones that came up by the kale. I've been good about thinning so hoping to get nice big beets from them.

Detroit Red beets

 Snap peas have started blooming. Can't wait, they were so tasty last year!

Snap pea blossoms

Besides all the above, there is chard and kale ready to eat, tomatoes and eggplants growing, and pepper and bean seeds germinating. 

Just a basic update

Haven't posted in while. Garden was a bit depressing during the winter months but I'm pretty happy with how everything's coming along right now.

Currently growing:
Beets (3 varieties-Ruby Queen, Detroit Red, and Bull's Blood)
Green onions
Collard greens
Parsnips
Pak Choi
Broccoli
Mizuna
Lettuces (Red Sail and a mix of other seedlings too small to differentiate yet)
Sugar Peas
Bright Lights chard
Lacinato kale

Broccoli plants are much healthier than last year's. 

Ruby Queen beets & green onions

Mizuna, the bulk of my recent salads.

Waiting

I have a mish mosh of stuff growing in the garden currently. Tomatoes, melons, eggplants, brussel sprouts, beets, scallions, and parsnips. I've torn up three tomato plants that weren't looking like they were going to do anything and that I didn't get much from to begin with. I only got two tomatoes each from the Cherokee Purple and Large Barred Boar plants and none, zero, zilch from the Berkeley Tie Dye. Very disappointing. The sun gold is still going strong and the Juliet is also still producing a little.

Sun golds 

The three newer tomato plants look healthy and the Beefmaster actually has 4 tomatoes growing now that it's cooler.

Beefmasters

Not sure if I'll get anything from the other two since it's so late in the year and is starting to cool. But I'll still give them a little longer to see what happens. There are 3 charentais melons  growing and I hope the cooler weather doesn't kill them.  The honeydew is flowering but no actual melons yet. The eggplant has some flowers but I'm starting to think none will become an actual eggplant. However, the cooler weather is making the brussel sprouts very happy and I've  had really good germination with the beets, scallions, and parsnips so that is all promising.

Lots of brussel sprout plants

The dirt between the beets is still fairly soft as evidenced by my bigfoot style print

Parsnips are looking good

Not sure what I will plant once I have more space, probably another type of beet and some sort of greens, at least. 

The Beet Sprouts Have Sprung

This is a section of the Ruby Queen beets I sowed last Saturday.

Ruby Queen beet sprouts

All four rows are germinating nicely though I will definitely have to thin. I promise myself that I will be better about thinning this fall. I definitely learned my lesson last year. Luckily the sprouts are delicious in salads and will not go to waste.

Eggplant Blossom

The first, and hopefully not last, eggplant flower!

Eggplant flower

I hope it becomes an actual eggplant. May even do a little hand fertilizing when it's bigger to increase the chances. I'm seeing new growth coming in, too, and hope that more flowers are on their way. I'm wondering if it has just been too hot for the plant.

Recent Sowing

This past Saturday, I sowed seeds for beets, parsnips, and scallions in some vacant areas of the garden. I was very surprised, and happy, to see lots of little red beet sprouts sticking up when I did my evening soaking today since it's only been 4 days. The soil and my watering must be perfect for germination right now. I hope the scallion and parsnip seeds are as happy.

I still have tomatoes trying to grow on some the 5 older/bigger plants but they're not doing all that well and one has not given me one damn tomato! (Shakes fist at Berkeley Tie Dye plant.) The three newer tomato plants look healthier and are flowering so I hope they produce. Perhaps the still warm yet not 100 degree weather will agree with them. There are also two kinds of melons that seem to be doing ok. One of them has a promising blossom that I hope becomes a melon as it will be the first out of the plants in front or back. There is also finally a flower on the eggplant which I really hope gets germinated and becomes an actual eggplant. There are quite a few young brussel sprouts plants that got badly attacked by cabbage worms but I think I eradicated them as I haven't seen any more, but will continue to check to make sure.

Large Barred Boar & Cherokee Purple

Well, the other day I harvest two small heirlooms, a Large Barred Boar (that wasn't very large at all) and a Cherokee Purple. I've been watching them and hoping they'd get bigger but they seemed to grow to a small size, pause, and then, finally ripen.

I also harvested the Juliets and one lone Sun Gold that were ready and placed them all together for size comparison of the "big" tomatoes.

4 varieties of tomatoes

Close up of the Large Barred Boar & Cherokee Purple

Tonight I sliced them both so we could try them. The Boar was a little tangy and the Cherokee had a nice deep tomato flavor. I hope the plants produce more; there are no signs of any more growing on either bush. Hopefully we're out of the 100 degree heat and they'll start producing again.

Sliced and ready to eat