herbs and tomatoes

Finally have a few large tomatoes to pick- I get them early and let finish ripening on the windowsill (otherwise the squirrels eat holes out of them). Some are oddly shaped this year! 

There is also an oddity in one of my basil pots. A seed came up looking the same as all the rest, but grew tiny leaves. They have the same flavor (maybe a little sharper) just small for some reason.

As for the other herbs, well some have failed me. Dill is pretty much done- gone to flower and now dying off. That's usual. But my pot of summer savory on the deck, only has two surviving plants out of the six or eight I stuck in there. The pot of dill never did well either, and the parsley is only a few small leaves, really struggling. These did so much better when in planters on the deck railing.

Chives, thyme, basil and mint are doing well. Tarragon is sprawling in the herb bed (this French type doesn't seem to grow upright like the Russian one did I had before), sculpit is putting out its balloon flowers, and green onions continue growing. I hope to eat more of those soon.

green onions

First cutting. Not many- I only have three onions growing there. But cutting them is supposed to encourage the bunching growth, and this was just enough to sprinkle over some portabellas cooked in a tamari sauce for dinner.

We're continuing to eat carrots from the garden almost every other day- because that's what I have the most of, that's doing well out there. Beets once or twice a week, chard about as often now. Their regrowth has slowed down, I think because of the heat. I somehow lost half my swiss chard patch last week- there are only three plants on that side remaining. Were a bit smothered by some of the carrot foliage falling over- did the shade and heat do them in? or bugs got it, I don't know. 

The peas are done. The tomatoes are slowly coming on- my sweet 100's completely died (dunno why) but I have a handful of cherokee purple cherry tomatoes every few days, and larger ones too- beefsteak and others. I pick them when they are just starting to turn color and then finish ripening on windowsill, otherwise the animals/bugs get them.

Had a second helping of turnips, once again cooked with peas and salmon. My husband really likes that dish so I definitely have to grow more turnips next year. Seems like such a homely vegetable, but it does so well without any care! Cut the first lot of collard greens to eat tonight- the leaves are on the small side, and not great-looking. I've read that the purplish hue is probably from potassium deficiency in the soil, though they're still fine to eat. Funny, I planted more blue collards than yellow this year- because in the past I have preferred the blue ones. But the yellow ones are looking much healthier, so I should have done it the other way around!

A few purple podded green beans. I picked a small handful (enough for just one serving) last week, and only two ready-sized beans today. Missed half a dozen the first time around that are now too fat with seed maturing- so I will leave those to dry on the vine and be my seed next year. But now there are no new beans forming. I'm not sure if this is because of heat stress, or because my leaving some pods to ripen made the plant think its job is done.

Lost one small asparagus plant. Two others are doing great (so far as I can tell) and the third is half the size of the others. 

Nothing else to report. We're having hot days in the upper nineties again. On the days where I happen to wake up too early- at five or six am- instead of trying to go back to sleep I get up (even though still tired) and go out to the garden before it is hot. I have just enough time to put out the compost, weed a few beds, harvest food for the day and water the garden with the hose, before temperatures rise and the sweat starts rolling down my back just standing still.

first turnips

a few days ago, actually. They are small- little bigger than golf ball I think. But I didn't pull them too early- the texture was smooth, the flavor mild even sweet. I liked them better than turnips in the past. Couldn't find my recipe notes but remember how to cook them- diced small, sauteed in butter with peas and dill. Served with rice and salmon. Even the greens were pretty good. So easy to grow. I should do an entire bed of just turnips next year.

Have also been pulling more carrots. I have to say, the short ones that come up so stubby and feel a pain to prep with the peeling- at least they pull easy! The ones in the middle section have nice long straight roots but some of them the tops break off and even digging around exposing half of it I can't get a grip and I broke a few in half, the lower end is still in the ground. 

We're having a terrible heat wave- over a hundred degrees the past few days- and I've been out watering the garden with hose every morning at 7 or 8am. Gathering food for the day same time- but when the soil is damp those carrots cling.

Pulled beets today for dinner. They were great. The greens also, cooked in avocado oil with garlic.

My first purple green beans are forming- but I have to keep my cat from chewing on them. The stems grew all up the deck railings and she sees it as free salad! I propped up some acrylic panels to actually barricade off the green bean leaves- don't care if she nibbles a few of those but if she bites through a stem everything above it will die. It looks silly.

first carrots

These are the short'n'sweet variety. About twice the size of my thumb. Mild flavor. So nice to just walk out and yank food out of the ground! 

Ate the first few tomatoes today, too. Still pulling beets every week, and cutting chard every other day. There are a few peas as well. Turnips look ready but I haven't eaten those yet. Have yet to use the collards- yellow chard looks fine (not great) but the blue collards a lot of leaves are purple and I'm not sure why.

beets!

I've been thinking how good they look, and yes, they were.

Especially because gave us lots of nice greens. I do like fresh beet greens. 

peas!

First picking

I delayed too long- these are mostly snap peas but some were already getting plump and filled-out so I shelled them and we ate half as stir-fried snap peas and the other half was one serving of regular, steamed peas. I had forgotten how good fresh peas are.

I pulled the bolted tatsoi, lettuces and tokyo bekana from the garden this week. We are eating herbs on a regular basis now- dill (the one volunteer in middle of my carrot patch is doing far better than those in a pot up on the deck), summer savory, thyme, basil, parsley (though it's not growing well) and chives. I've planted hyssop out into pots that flank the lower deck and put two French tarragon from the local nursery, into the herb bed. Still don't have any sage. Tomatoes are not doing great- and the two next to lovage are in the worst shape. Lovage is thriving and taller than me! Beets and carrots look thick and healthy, chard is feeding us twice a week and then some. Turnips, leeks and collards in bed 9 continue to lag. Shiso in bed 7 has recovered well from transplanting and looks great (though I still haven't eaten it yet).

how all my plants are doing-

My beets are looking nice- healthier than ever I think. Some of the leaves get pale, bleached-looking patches I've read this is probably leaf miner and the best thing to do is just remove those leaves, throwing away the bugs on them in the process. I've been doing that and the incidents of bleach-patched leaves is reducing.

Carrots are also nice and thick now. Added more straw mulch and there's few weeds. Those bits I had pulled up earlier thinking they were carrots, turns out is a sedge. Still pulling some.

Tomatoes are planted out, around the tokyo bekana. About twice a week I cut all the tokyo bek (it grows back quickly) and we eat it sauteed in butter and salt. After cutting out the worst bits with slug holes, it's just enough for one side dish. I ought to set a slug trap again- the coffee grounds doesn't seem to be much deterrent.

Some of my tomato plants had yellowing leaves (see just lower left of center) at the end of their time in pots. But the new leaves are growing in a healthier green- as you can see on the upper part of this plant- so I think they'll be okay. There are some flowers appearing (top right)!

We have begun eating the chard:

Lettuces and tatsoi are starting to bolt, we're having a few days in the eighties now. The last cutting I took of lettuce was a bit bitter, blanched that out in cold water all day to make it edible, but now they're at end. On the right in bed 5, lavender on the near side of it is awfully scraggly- it suffered this past winter- but after flowering I will cut it back and hope it regrows nicer. 

On the far end, sorrel is overwhelming the bit of lemon balm. Which is okay, I never really use the lemon balm. Sorrel is sending up flower stalks which I regularly cut off. I will probably have to divide this plant soon, it's getting too big! There's green onions there in the middle and some sculpit, but too small to see from the overhead shot.

and the lower center plant is purple clematis climbing the deck post- just at the end of its bloom time

Turnips are doing okay here in bed 9, but collards remain small. I think it is because I made the mistake of putting layer sticks and wood bits over the cardboard when I started this bed years ago- nothing has done well in 8 or 9 since. Why do people recommend that so much? It definitely hasn't work for me. Other sources tell me that wood buried in the garden bed can tie up nitrogen for five to seven years! I am not positive of course, that's the reason my plants falter in this bed (tomatos did poorly here several years ago) but I'm not repeating the experiment.

In that round repurposed planter in the corner, I've put out the hyssop.

More later