Picking for Dinner

With Fathers Day on Sunday and a 80% chance of going back on the harvester on Monday or Tuesday - that only leaves Saturday for yardwork, so I figured I better get in on the garden today.  I doubt I'll have a chance next week to do very much, and there were a few things that probably wouldn't wait another week.

On the potato front, the Tater Pot I was testing needed to be pulled.  It comes with 3 varieties of potatoes, and 2 of the plants had died back, the third was yellowing about the same rate as mine. Leaving it too long could have caused problems, and I'm glad I didn't - one of the varieties had some rot and so had nothing to give. Left too long it would have spread to what was left.
So there were some ok sized ones, but not a lot of volume - and not too many tiny sized ones.

 By comparison, the crate had volume (and many more that were too tiny to consider).  The plants could have gone for several weeks more, and these would have bulked out,but so could the Tater Pot's remaining plant.
I pulled both as I wanted to see how they both fared, and also learn a little bit about potato growing in the process. There were too many variables to call this an objective comparison. It was more about simply finding out if these would work. At the end of Summer we will plant them both with the same seed potatoes and put them next to each other in the same sun and check the results.
Both mediums were stored in a large garbage bag (until I rummage up a better container) and will be amended with compost and castings and reused in the garden. When I replant I'll remix some tater soil for my crate and get some sphagnum moss for the Tater Pot.  From there we should be able to do at least a cost comparison between the two and hopefully get better results.  Still, there are few things nicer than fresh baby potatoes - so it's still a winner.

The green beans, are starting to look a little faded, they've been fertilized and looked after, picked constantly, and they're still putting out buds for more beans. Some of the plants are starting to look tired, and that's to be expected.
They've performed better than I thought they would, and when they've finished producing they'll be pulled.  More beans are in around the corn and should come in while these fade out.  The squares they leave should come up vacant just in time for the first of the late Summer planting, so we'll see if I can get some overlap between the seasons.

Other veg is coming in, and although not all is promising (I'll certainly be trying to fertilize the corn a lot more next time) the broccoli and cabbage look promising. I doubt I'll get multiple ears from these corn plants, the others out of shot look a better - but you have to try things to learn.
The beans I planted around them are just starting to poke up, so we'll see if the added nitrogen this late in the game will make any difference.

Some fresh carrots were also pulled, they're coming along pretty nicely. Of the 32 I planted, around 28 or so came up. They were planted in 2 squares with about a 2 week gap between them.  I should be kept in carrots for a little while.  Next planting I'll probably do twice as many.  Perhaps split them into two varieties for a taste comparison.
As always with carrots and other root crops you don't know what you've got till you pull them, but I'm slowly getting a feel for when they are ready.
By comparison the ones grown in a container were slower growing and not as full (yes obvious I know), so now that I'm getting better at growing them I'll have them in the garden full time and turn over that container for germination.

 Finally in a move that left me a little stunned, my teenage stepdaughter asked if I had any kale that was ready.
Truth be known I have 3 plants worth, and was getting a little worried that if I left them they might get bitter as they get older (as swiss chard can do - that earthy taste with that little tang to it does get stronger as it the plant ages).
I was happy to oblige, pulling up one of the larger plants and stripping it down.  I still have 2 fully grown, 2 smaller plants and a few seedlings.  That should be more than enough.

Everything but the meat, fresh from the garden.

We had one of my faves planned for tonight, chicken fried steak, so we doubled up and put the baby potatoes into a green bean casserole.  The kale I trimmed out the stems (which was a lot simpler than people have made it out to be), seasoned with salt and lightly steamed for 5 mins.  Carrots were sliced up and boiled with a generous tablespoon of honey from the bees at the farm.   Wife prepared the steak, bacon, and casserole.

Really a meal where the veg took the center stage.  Not that the chicken fried steak wasn't good - it was great, and still one of my fave comfort foods.  But the vegetables going from garden to plate in less than 2 hours retained all their sugars, and were just outstanding.
We could all stand to eat a little less meat and a little more vegetables in our diet - this crazy cultural lunacy of massive slabs of meat for a 'manly meal' that is 'filling' is lunacy and pretty unhealthy.  I walked away from this meal with a full belly and my tastebuds satisfied in a way that a plate o meat rarely does.

That being said - I do wish I could grow a bacon bush.....