Radishes and Carrots and Lettuce, Oh My!

[Whitewater]

I wanted to let everybody know that we do actually have radishes now, I have seen a few with their little round red roots popping up through the dirt! Hopefully in a few days they'll be ready to pick.

I also saw more than a few carrot sprouts in our garden yesterday, which I hadn't noticed until then, so I don't have to worry any more about them. It seems that all the rain we had kind of shoved the carrot seeds further over than I had anticipated, LOL, but that's ok, they haven't gotten in amongst the tomatoes like a few of the radishes did.

And speaking of tomatoes, I am pleased to report that the 3 plants I put in the ground very early and were subsequently severely damaged by the cold, dark, rainy spell have now begun to recover quite nicely. This means that I now have 11 tomato plants in my garden instead of the 8 I was hoping for, but hey, more tomato plants mean more tomatoes, which is never a bad thing.

The heirloom tomatoes I ordered from an organic nursery in California are doing well, they've been in the ground for just about a week now and seem to be thriving. In many ways they look better than the plants I bought from Home Depot!

The tennis ball lettuce continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate now. It looks like we'll be able to harvest the first of the lettuce and a second crop of radishes at approximately the same time.

I planted a number of beets, but I can't identify the sprouts, so I have no idea if I have any beets coming up or not. I am going to go and have a careful look at the garden today to see if I can see any actual beet sprouts!

As soon as I have anything in my garden that looks like a real plant (instead of a sad little baby green thing), I will post pics. Until then, my garden gets to grow.

Hopefully we'll harvest the first of the radishes within the next 7 days.


Whitewater

 

[digitS']

YaY, Whitewater !

If they are purple beets, you will recognize that by their stems .

I don't think I lost any tomato plants this morning but some of them may look worse than what yours did. Between this morning's frost (and life under a bucket) and 50mph wind 2 days ago - it would have been better if they'd stayed home rather than ventured out into the big, wide world.

In fact, the reserve tomato plants here at home look a good deal better. I'll need to take a cold, hard look at replacing some of the plants in the garden. Any open garden space has already been assigned to the melons, peppers, and eggplant. They are waiting impatiently.

It is great when warm weather finally arrives, eh :coolsun? And in your case, an end to the rain. We seldom have much rain here. Too many clouds in the spring sometimes , but not much rain.

Steve
:rainbow-sun

 

[Whitewater]

Oh, yes, it's lovely to have warm weather! Unfortunately being rainless isn't quite happening yet-- this morning Hubby and I woke up to a completely unexpected MAJOR thunderstorm and it's supposed to rain most of the next 10 days, although the temps will be a LOT warmer than the last time and it won't go on and on and on the way the last did, that was pretty unusual for here.

Pleased to report that the almost-finished, roofless, floorless, almost doorless chicken coop is happily hanging out through the storm. Even though it's mostly just a frame right now, it's nice and sturdy Today was supposed to be a work day on the coop, but the storm put paid to that idea.

I tried one of the young radishes yesterday (about the same size as an oval cough drop) and it was good, but I was very disappointed to discover that it was EXTREMELY spicy. I picked the Cherry Belles because they were supposedly *more mild* than most radishes. Must be something in my soil.

I did indeed get to go and give my garden a good look yesterday and I DO have beet sprouts, though I am concerned because I planted an entire package of beet seeds (and soaked them in water first for 24 hours previously), yet I'm only seeing a scant half-dozen of sprouts. If that's all there is, I may end up with a solid 6 beets for my troubles after thinning and whatnot.

Interestingly, I was able to discern two distinctly different sort of carrot sprouts even though I planted 3 kinds of carrots. It will be interesting to see which sprout belongs to which carrot!

And I discovered a 9th lettuce sprout which must have just popped up, it's looking very brand new compared to most of the others which have their first few leaves already. The lettuce is a much lighter green than I was anticipating, perhaps because it's still a baby.

I'm really frustrated about this rain, today was the day that I was supposed to sow all my warm weather seeds, like squash and beans. Oh well.

I am very happy that the root crops appear to be happy, this is my first time growing them.

(And my strawberries, holy buckets, the strawberries! Going to have more than I know what to do with, the first early crop is HUGE this year)


Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

Well, I finally got half of my peppers planted today, but in so doing I squished (and dug up) a few carrots, accidentally. *sigh*

I also planted the Mortgage Lifter and watered the veggie garden pretty deeply, everything was getting wilty in this heat. And I did a bit of weeding.

Strawberries are holding up under the heat pretty well. I can't wait for them to finally ripen!


Here's hoping I can find the time this weekend to plant the rest of the peppers and the cuke, beans, and squash seeds.



Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

Ok, so I still haven't sown my cukes, beans or squash BUT I did get the Mortgage Lifter in and the Anaheim Chilies out of the house, though now because there's no drainage holes in their plastic cups, they're probably getting drowned out of existence . . . dangit. And the planted plants in my garden really desperately needed this much rain too . . .

*sigh*

Harvested 4 radishes today and ate them with friends, they were good.

Right now there's a massive thunderstorm pretty much overhead, and it's going to keep raining for hours. All I can do is go out 1st thing tomorrow and drain my poor Anaheim peppers, either that or actually plant them . . . it's not supposed to rain tomorrow.

You know what? I was going to work on our chicken coop tomorrow but that's not going to take all day, so I'm going to sow the warm weather seeds and plant the rest of my peppers, dang it!!! (as well as work on the coop, of course)


Whitewater

 

[ducks4you]

Here is what to look for in beet seedlings.
http://bp1.blogger.com/_h2EzbV4lTjA...y+of+4-26-06+WGO+beets+between+onion+rows.JPG

 

[Whitewater]

I have beets! More have popped up in the days since my last post. And some of the first are getting leaves that are almost 6" tall . . .LOL . . . can't wait until they finally get to be eatin' size We're not going to have a bumper crop of beets, but I'll definitely have more than one meal's worth.

Started picking ripe strawberries on Memorial Day and so far have a little over a dozen waiting in the fridge -- I tried one and it was, well, not as sweet as it would have to be for a fresh eating berry, so I'm going to make jam as soon as I have enough to fill a jar or two, which, given the rate that they're ripening, ought to be this weekend.

I tried one of the tennis ball lettuce leaves today, tore off a bit, and dang -- they're still just *babies* but they've gone all bitter. No lettuce for me this year, sadly I think it was the couple of record breaking hot days last week that did it (we were in the mid 90's!).

Still harvesting radishes to the tune of 2-3/day, which is nice.

Carrots are growing fast and furiously, and today (a mere 5 days from when I sowed them!) every single one of the 6 squash that I planted have come up, so yay. 3 different varieties, can't wait!

Still waiting on most of the beans and the cukes, though, only 1 bean sprout and 2 cuke sprouts have sprouted so far. But they still have a week before they're past their germination date, so I'm not complaining! I planted 6 seeds each, we want to have plenty to put up for later (pickling, too), to give away and to eat fresh. And for the chickens, of course!

I had a day or two of transplant shock when I moved the peppers into the veggie bed, but they have all picked up nicely and are growing noticeably every day. I hope to have my first peppers showing by the 4th of July.

The tomatoes, well . . . I had a lot of blossom drop when we had those record high days, but the plants themselves are doing just fine, most of them are just over 12" high and growing quite sturdy stems. The plants that were badly affected by the freeze have recovered nicely, and aren't quite as big as their fellows, but are catching up quickly.

The herbs -- the Mammoth dill FINALLY sprouted, still no chamomile, the rosemary continues to sulk, the lavendar is about to bloom, the mint has really taken off(thank goodness it's in a pot!), and the sage is sporting very pretty purple/blue flowers. Basil continues to grow slowly but surely.

In a couple months, we'll be able to eat pretty well from our garden alone, so exciting

Oh, and we're going to harvest about a pint of raspberries this year from our 1st canes ever! And the apple tree out front is ready, if things continue as they have been, to deliver its first harvest of about 2 dozen apples this fall. I can't wait to taste them!


Whitewater

 

[digitS']

Whitewater, this year may be good for lettuce in my garden and not much else :/. Our records have been on the cool side and with 24 hour rain. Not real extreme but lingering, lingering, lingering . . .

The best thing I know to do for hedging lettuce bets is to plant a mix - a broad mix. Some folks don't like romaine but it is a good choice when weather turns hot. Harvesting the outside leaves can keep a plant going a long time. It can also be cut at the soil line and will usually sprout more buds. I can remove all but 1 or 2 buds and harvest more romaine lettuce after a few weeks.

Usually tho', I just pull the plants and transplant more. The nursery is the shadier area of my backyard where lettuce can be started in containers quite late in the growing season and then set out. The shady corner of my smaller veggie garden works well for leafy greens even late in the season .

I'm going to take this opportunity to question "heritage" vegetable varieties and their usefulness in our gardens. I'm all for seed banks and for people enjoying the experience of trying something from an earlier era. And, for holding onto the varieties that do well in their gardens, year after year after year.

Some heirlooms were very specific in their usefulness. They grew well in this valley and not that, this maritime climate and not that continental climate. That's almost the "nature" of heirlooms.

I can remember the first supermarket that I ever entered. What a change! For one thing, we came in thru the parking lot, not a front door on the sidewalk!

The place was well lit and BIG! It was quite different from the Mom & Pop stores and greengrocers that I was accustomed to. The products looked different, too, if only because the lighting was better. I can remember tomatoes, which might have found buyers when there were only a few bins of produce, and how they looked in that big, bright Groceteria store.

Tomatoes that were oddly shaped, cat-faced and split - sure looked out-of-place. The retailers had to "step up their game" 'cause we would soon be able to stop at the new Piggly Wiggly's down the road. So, they did. At least cosmetically, they stepped up their game.

The retailers of produce didn't have much excuse outside of the bottom line to not carry quality produce then, as now. Of course, the bottom line is important to the corporate world just as it was to Mom & Pop. But, we are gardeners. We can do better.

There are some heritage varieties that just as well, fell into disfavor. They were from a world of limited choices. There are also "modern" varieties which suit the needs of the food industry but don't come close to a "garden variety" standard.

There have been hybrids for a hundred years, actually, thousands of years. We are sometimes inclined to call something a hybrid that is just a simple crossbreed. It is a hybrid of genetic lines, that's true. That doesn't make it anything especially exotic or artificial. I mean, the plants may very well have crossed if left to themselves and grown in proximity.

Other hybrids are cross-species. A mule has some virtues and has had for eons. That's why they were loaded with supplies and set off along mountain trails to carry goods from one community to another. They had something called "hybrid vigor" that held them in good stead, for their place in the world.

Other critters may benefit from this hybrid vigor even if they aren't offspring of 2 species. Lines bred for specific purposes might just benefit from crossing once or twice. The result may be offspring that are more resistance to disease, for example.

Lettuce varieties are usually not hybrids, I believe. Still, there are a huge number of choices and some may be more suitable for some situations, some suitable for other situations . . . and tastes.

My grandmother used to talk about being "broad minded." I guess she would have had to be a little broad minded. Her family, for generations, had been right on the frontier. Looking at new horizons, searching for opportunities, meeting new people from different cultures - there wasn't much of a chance for "turning back the clock" for them. But, I don't believe Grandma was ever in a supermarket. She was born in a different century - the 19th.

The game of tennis originated in the 1890's. Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. He may have grown that variety of lettuce at Monticello but no amount of 21st century hyperbole can change the dates. Nor change the fact that it is now 2010.

Without Jefferson, you might never have come to live in Minnesota. Jefferson wrote the 1st draft of the Declaration of Independence and set Lewis & Clark off on their great western adventure after he bacame president. These were rather broad minded things to do.

Steve's 2, that he got in change

BTW, Whitewater, your posts make great journal entries. Why don't you think about dating and saving them. When you are old , looking back on this season may be of help to you.

 

[Whitewater]

Journal entries -- why do you think I'm doing this ? With luck I'll be able to read this over next year and go 'oh, ok' and plan appropriately for the 2011 garden!

I typically agree with you mostly on most things, Steve, but I have to gently point out that tennis the game was invented considerably earlier than the Golden Age (haha, what a name, speaking of hyperbole . . . anyway. . . ) and that the Magna Carta was actually signed on a tennis court. Tennis is one of the earliest games, right up there with golf, badminton and bocce ball.

I know this because history, particularly Elizabethan and early Modern Era history, is pretty much one of my main hobbies And you also pick up all sorts of odd trivia when working in theatre for 15+ years.

You may have been thinking of basketball or baseball, neither of which were played much before the mid 19th century and definitely weren't codified until then.

Anyhow, whoever named this lettuce must have had the same sort of imagination as the early astronomers, who named the constellations after what they saw in the sky -- the only resemblance Tennis Ball lettuce bears to an actual tennis ball is its color, they're both that odd bright green.

To other topics:

With all this heavy but totally inconsistent rain, my radishes have begun to split, phooey. I guess I ought to be thankful that I don't have any tomatoes yet! A few of the tomato plants are showing flowers, but as they are only about 18" high right now, I'm kind of hoping those flowers don't turn into anything, none of the tomato plants can handle heavy fruit right now.

Carrots and beets continue to grow with maniacal speed and I have just about all of my cucumber sprouts up and out of the ground, which is nice. They look an awful lot like bean sprouts to me, I'm glad I remember where I planted the cukes and where I planted the beans. Knowing which is which will also come in handy when I start weeding!

The bean sprouts are lagging a bit, only about 50% of them have come up so far, but after this rain I hope that the sluggard seeds will get with the program.

On the other hand, I have all 6 of my squash sprouts up PLUS at least one volunteer, lol. I can't remember what kind of squash the volunteer was, I think it's yellow crookneck, guess I'll have to wait to find out. Apparently most of my zucchini bread will be yellow this year, LOL.

Since Memorial Day I have easily picked a half-dozen of strawberries each day. They are more tart than last year (compost?) but are also quite a bit bigger and most of them have that picture-perfect strawberry look. I have enough right now to make a small batch of jam. With luck, I'll get two 8 oz jars from this week's harvest. Some of the strawberry plants are still blooming, which means more berries on the way -- I have given up trying to distinguish or remember which are which, the berries in my plot obviously haven't read the book! There are currently a ton of strawberries that still need to ripen, so I'll have more batches of jam than just this one, which is nice.

I just saw a totally new bunch of flowers on my raspberry plant, which means we might make up for the raspberries we killed trying to put the chicken coop up, yay! All I want this year is enough raspberries to make a single 8 oz jar of jam.

Our apples have thinned themselves to a scant 6 proto-apples on our tree. I'm still happy -- that's 6 more than we had last year! Anyway, this is only the apple's 3rd year, the 2011 crop will be bigger yet, we hope.

I intended to go out and weed today, everything really needs it, but alas, it's pouring out rain. No weeding! Maybe tomorrow.

I just picked basil for supper for the first time, 5 leaves, enough to give some nice basil flavor to my pot of tomato-meat sauce for spaghetti last night. Basil can sometimes bowl you over, I didn't want that to happen and I was only cooking for 2, Hubby and myself. It didn't seem to mind being picked, we'll see what it looks like tomorrow, when the rain stops.

I really need to start harvesting the sage so I can get it to drying.

And I need to harvest the chives too, the flowers for another batch of chive vinegar, the actual chives for drying/freezing/using fresh.

There's nothing to report on my peppers, either, they're still all nice and leafy, but no flowers yet. I think they're concentrating on growing, which is good, they were all babies when I put them in the ground.

I found a nice, simple recipe for mint jelly online, and as soon as I have enough mint, I'm going to make some.

Going to try for the strawberry jam today! Since it's raining, and we can't work on our chicken coop, might as well do something else useful.


Whitewater

 

[digitS']

Magna Carta?

oh.

'