time lapse

Because it's part of a community garden, our garden has a definite end date- this Saturday!  I've begun harvesting the final crops (anybody have some good rutabaga recipes?) and really need to get cracking preserving things.
  
I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed, but I'm hoping this video gives me the motivation I need because this is exactly what is going to happen in my kitchen if I don't get it together.

one potato, two potato, three potato, four

Because the nights are getting cool, yesterday I decided to pulled the sweet potatoes out of the garden. At first it was very exciting.

Then it got a little scary.

And then it got down right ridiculous!  (that's a 7 gallon bucket.)
check out other people's harvests Daphne's Dandelions.

overload

Since it's been really dry, squash borers killed the zucchini and the cucumbers went kaput I figured things would be slowing down in the garden.

Boy was I wrong.

30 pounds of potatoes not pictured.  (HELP!!)

check out more harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

2 pounds 3 ounces

the beginning

We've had a few up until now but, I think this week marks the official beginning of tomato season!  The most wonderful time of year.

It also marks the beginning of eggplant season and the continuation of cucumber, zucchini, kohlrabi, romaine, carrot, green bean, broccoli, cabbage and 'arrange your crops by color and take a pretty picture' season, which is also quite nice- especially now that there are more colors than just green. 

check out more harvests at Daphne's Dandelions. 

windows

You know how good window treatments are hard to find, and super expensive?

Problem solved. 

bowled over

On Sunday we also went to the Ann Arbor Antiques Market and picked up these awesome mid century enameled metal bowls.

I love them and figured I use them to show off my harvest for Daphne's Dandelions Harvest Monday posts.  They bring out the orange in the carrots, don't you think?

I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with all the radishes (and a harder time figuring out why I planted so many of them) but I'm excited about all the fennel and carrots, and even more excited about all the tomatoes that are almost ready.

beneficial?

One way to deal with garden pests (squash bugs and cucumber beetles are the devil) is to bring beneficial insects into your garden. So at the beginning of the season we bought some praying mantises and I was all happy about it. I thought it was such a natural way to control pests, no chemicals, circle of life blah, blah, blah.


But now that I've watched this video I'm afraid to go back to the butternut squash patch.


(don't worry, both bird and beast survived.)

big haul

Every Monday Daphne's Dandelions posts images of her harvests for the week, and links to people's.   "Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest." And I've decided to join in the fun. 
 
The last round of fava beans (I was so sad to see them go!) didn't make it into the photo because we ate them, I gave away a couple pounds of green and a number of the carrots got eaten before they made it into the house, but here's some of what we picked this week.

The green beans are going crazy, as green beans are prone to do (note to self: plant fewer green beans next year.) so I decided to pickle some.

Last fall we had Rick's Picks Wasabeans at Chiara's parents house and I loved them!  After searching around a bit I found the recipe for them, straight from Rick of Rick's Picks himself.

They need to be left alone for 2 to 4 weeks for the flavors to combine, but I can't wait to eat them!

how does your garden grow

I took this photo of our garden on June 2nd.  

And this one just one month later on July 2nd. 

And I took this one of the crops I picked the other day.
Anyone hungry?

first blush

tomatoes in the garden are starting to turn red!!!

pea green

Just a few days ago I had doubts that it was possible to grow enough peas so that enough of them would be ready at the same time so that they made it from the garden to the kitchen without me eating them up first. (they taste like candy! I can't stop eating them!)

But today I went to the garden and started picking and before I knew it I had a big bowl of peas!


I went home and shucked them, which is always a disappointing activity because the bowl ends up so much less full (I may have eaten a few (dozen) while I was shucking), and ended up with a full pound of sweet, tender little peas!!!

Yum, yum, yum!

watch out, Popeye

Probably because of the hot weather we had a couple weeks ago, the spinach and arugula season was short this year! (if you don't know and were wondering- spinach and arugula and most crops where you eat the leaves are only good until they bolt, or flower and go to seed. Once that happens the leaves become tough and sometimes bitter and the plant's productive time is through.)

It was starting to bolt so we picked all the spinach yesterday and now I am trying to figure out what to do with it, all 5 pounds of it!

I made creamed spinach and we had it with dinner last night and again with eggs this morning for breakfast, but I have still have 3 pounds left to use!

Any suggestions?

spinach and arugula

They were picked in the garden this afternoon, and will be on my plate later tonight.

all in

My vegetable garden is all planted! All seeds and seedlings in the ground and growing.

Here's a list of what we are growing: Tomatoes, fava beans, lima beans, edaname soy beans, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers, serrano, ancho, jalepeno, bulgarian carrot and thai hot peppers, peas, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, fennel, celeriac, parsley, basil, cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy, carrots, beets, parsnips, tomatillos, eggplants, potatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, butternut squash, acorn squash.
(have I mentioned that I think I've lost my mind?)

But look! Baby tomatoes!

graduates

This Saturday, after U of M students graduated, so did my cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, celeriac, parsley, bok choy, celery and fennel seedlings! They left the comfort and safety of our sun room, went out into the real world and got planted in the garden. (I "hardened them off" first, don't worry.)

Since the President had already left town I gave them a little speech: Grow fast, be tasty, and please don't get any pests that are too disgusting.

No, I'm not crazy, plants grow faster when women talk to them. (Ok, maybe I'm a little crazy.)

open season

The community garden where we have our plot opened yesterday!

So today, in honor of Earth Day, we spent the whole day hauling topsoil around. I can't wait to get to planting!

hello love

look what came up! little tiny basil plants!

I promise not to get too carried away with the garden porn posts, but it's very exciting.

ready, set, go!

It's that time of year, time to start seeds!

It's still early yet so I've only started artichokes and celery root, but next week the real work begins when I plant tomatoes, onions, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, fennel and a whole bunch of herbs.

Spring really is coming!

the end

Because we rented a community garden plot, no matter the weather everything has to be out by October 17th. So, before leaving we pulled out all the plants in the garden. They'll all be tilled back in and covered with straw over the winter, adding some great organic material to our soil next year.
It was a little depressing to kill the plants I started from seed, but it's also a bit of a relief to not have to worry about the garden anymore, at least until I start new seeds inside in March!