Harvest Time, Late Post for May 20th

Last week was BUSY!  Between the kids and a couple of days at the farm, I found myself on Sunday dead tired and a million and one things to catch up on.  Had I posted on Sunday this would have been a different post I'm sure. For one I was going to be opening out on it being the first time since September that I had to use house water, but as fate would have it - when I finally got to the point where I could do Sunday's harvest a thunderstorm hit - literally as I put shears to plants. The garden watered, my 50 gallon rain tub refilled, and not having to water for 2-3 days.

Sometimes it's good to have the reins taken from you - well me. I can fall into a system of order very easily, and nature doesn't work that way. Also (although some won't admit it) you end up very invested in plants you've been raising - especially if you've been fighting to get them going. Having most of a week taken from you and letting nature do it's thing can be good. Plants that have passed their season will fade away and you can push forward, rather than trying to bend natures will to your own stubborn pride.

So on we go, this was harvested Monday (and all pictures were taken Monday) but it's now Wednesday night and I'm getting around to posting it all.

Not too shabby

Again a great turnout for beans and peas - more peas this time, and less beans. The differences are negligible and the quality remains the same.
The beans are sorting themselves out in terms of timing. These are were blooms and small beans last week - and in turn the next group will be ready next week.  The only question that needs be answered is will the first batch follow this rotation with more blooms, or will it be more effective to replant.  Either way another 2 squares would put me quite flush with beans, and certainly further along the way of working out the logistics of a full veg intake over spring.
Peas are producing but they are way too big for their trellis. I had to train them back over.  If they bounce back and keep blooming it will be great - My Autumn peas continued till the spring, If I get to the start of summer I'll be happy.
Radishes I continue to thin one of the squares out and keep only one planted full.  I think this is a good strategy and I'll try and adhere to that next spring.  Swiss chard I pulled out. After the week break I could see it wasn't growing at any rate anymore while other plants (such as Kale and my Greens) were going gangbusters.  Time to pull it and eat what you can.

Now THEMS some greens!

 The growth that convinced me to pull things and move on was the greens. They are going great.  I count them and the Kale as 'in the harvest' but I will pull them when I use them (this week).  Like Lettuce I prefer to keep them in the ground till needed.  As for 'moving on' there's a small Kale in the center right square - replanted where I had Beets.  Nature did her thing and told me 'it's over for them' - all 16 were only the size of small seedlings, and I planted them before the carrots - at the same time as the greens.  Be it the wrong place in the garden to plant them, I missed the opportunity, they are gone.  The 13 in the square next to them are shaded - and seem to want to keep growing so I'll keep an eye on them.
Lettuce is starting to sprout in both the bed and the containers - so I might do some catch up on that yet.  Spinach has been replacing the Chard. The hot swing of weather sprouted them all then fried half of them.. Some insects have been nomming as well. Replanted them out and we'll see on Sunday.

This plant has doubled in size since this photo on Monday.

 Squash are starting to flower - I was concerned about the size of the plants (leaves vs flowers), but they have grown larger since Monday. I'll soon be spacing the pots further from each other.  I'm crossing my fingers that this might be the best way to grow larger plants in limited space.

The herb garden is producing very well - especially the basil and parsley. The sage is playing catch up, and all the seeds for Basil and Sage have sprouted out. Garlic is doing well up the back.  Thyme - I guess it doesn't like transplanting that much! I've thrown a few more seeds there.  Dill is coming along, but the same fate that held the Spinach also hit the Cilantro. 2 of the four plants were lost. Still I replanted and moved on.
Rosemary, as predicted, failed to make an appearance.  I used to suffer that with Parsley - no matter what I did it wouldn't grow. Ill be making it my project later this year to crack the rosemary code (without buying seedlings).

Still between here and the containers I have fresh Basil, Thyme, and Parsley to cook with fresh from the garden. If I can build a surplus I'll dry some out to store for later in the year.


In other news, having a week hands off the worm farm, I could objectively see a change in the levels of the trays, as well as a change in the color of the 'tea' that runs off them - slowly darkening again. It's not there yet, but it's on the way.  If I get another 30 bucks to throw at the worm farm I'm very tempted to purchase more of the European Red's - you get half as many, but they are more than twice the size - and they seem to be making a difference (or alternatively I could just let them breed out in that tower and have a more objective look at their performance).  Thus far the overabundance of paper goods doesn't seem to have slowed them down.

My flirtation with Eggplant has yielded 3 seedlings that seem to be doing well. One is in a container of it's own, the other 2 are in one of the overflow containers and have transplanted well. As space becomes available I'll be putting them into the garden proper.  I need another bed!  Oh well - that can be a Summer/Autumn project.

The composting frame, once again, had it's level sink below the halfway point - back to the same level as my pre-mow entry last week. Considering I put 4 boxes of shredded paper goods and all the yard clippings in there, this is becoming a great asset till the worms get back up to speed.  By the end of this week I'd have had to mow again (if the intermittent rain ceases for 24 hours) and another 4 boxes will be added, taking it back to the 1/2 full mark once more.

Spring marches on - I look forward to getting even more out of the garden before this week is ended!