Today's Tidbit - Exploding Cabbage

I guess this is what happens when you wait too long to harvest cabbage.

End of July Harvest

I can't believe that July has come to close, which means that we only have one full month of reliable warm weather left this year. I'm really hoping for a hot August as most of our slicing and paste tomatoes are still green on the vine. We're down to about five jars of tomato sauce from last year and it would be a shame if we weren't able to preserve as much this time around. Then again, I did cut down the amount of tomato plants this year to 20. We'll see if that was a wise decision.

In no particular order, here are a few things we harvested this week:


We picked and ate our first ears of Argent corn today. Out of all of the veggies we grow, I think we look forward to the first corn harvest the most. It tasted just as I'd remembered from last year. Unlike the bland, tough and overly sugary corn you find at the market these days, Argent has an old-fashioned sweetness and a very tender kernel that explodes in your mouth. I plan on growing this variety year after year.


Another good week for artichokes, I also picked a ton of basil to make pesto.


The string beans have peaked this week. It took me quite a long time to pick them all. The bulk of this will be blanched and then frozen for future use. I've never eaten frozen string beans before. Hopefully they retain at least some of their crispness.


Aside from the usual suspects, I picked our first long beans. I have a feeling they will continue to produce for us long after our bush beans have given up.


I'm still waiting for the BIG one. Hopefully it'll come soon.


I keep forgetting that I have scallions in the garden. These grew well while the red onion sets I planted this spring were a complete bust.


I'm very happy with my savoy cabbages. They took much longer to head up than I'd expected but are of a good size now.

Finally, I pulled all of my Paris Market carrots. I love the round shape of these carrots and have a feeling they'll be very tasty roasted.

Colorful Picks of the Week

The weekly harvest is finally starting to take on some serious color. Up until this point, everything has been mostly green. A colorful harvest always reminds me that summer is in full swing. Pretty soon, the tomatoes will add their shade to this rainbow until fall arrives and the greens predominate again. I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts.

As you can see, we've picked a few new things this past week. While I'm planning on making a big pot of chicken soup with the celery (soup in July, I know), most of what's remaining in the garden will be frozen for winter use. Homegrown celery in my opinion is VERY pungent and a little bit goes a long way.


Our spring sown carrots are looking very good this year unlike last summer. We've picked a couple dozen of them already and all but one or two have been perfectly straight. I've built two other carrot beds for this year's winter crop. Hopefully, the voles will stay away this time around!


I also picked the first artichoke of the year (yes!) and all of my plants now are starting to produce. The two golden beets I pulled this week were so delicious. This was the first time I've tried them and they tasted incredibly sweet.


My chamomile is now flowering. Better late than never I guess.


The Fava beans continue to roll in and we picked our first string beans this week. The greens ones are 'Contender'. This is my second year growing them and what a disappointment they have been. I think I'll try a different variety next year. I also picked our early sowing of Dragon's Tongue beans. I love them. They have a nice flavor and keep their crunch when cooked.


The cukes and zucchini plants continue to be productive. I also picked my first head of savoy cabbage today, albeit a small one. It was about the size of a grapefruit. My cabbages are taking FOREVER to grow and the heads are stalling at the moment. I just hope they don't bolt before they reach full size.


Finally, this was the haul from my five potato plants. I was afraid that the voles may have gotten to them but to my relief they didn't. Only one potato showed signs of being chewed on so I think I harvested these just in time. I sliced up a few and cooked them up in a gratin for dinner tonight. Boy were they good!

This Week's Harvest - June 5, 2011

When I look at this head of lettuce, I'm can't help but be reminded of nature's diversity.


Lately, it has become a race to eat all of the spring sown lettuce and Asian greens before they reach for the sky. The cleared space will be replanted with more beans and heat-tolerate varieties of lettuce. Our fridge is pretty much patched with greens at the moment. I decided to harvest all six heads of Napa Cabbage as they are beginning to show signs of bolting. Unfortunately, I had to throw about two thirds of each head of cabbage straight into the compost pile because they were covered in holes and slug poo. I must have found at least two dozen baby slugs when I inspected the leaves. I'm starting to question why I even bother to grow it.

In my experience, growing organic Napa cabbage takes a lot of discipline - more than I have apparently. I've been really bad about reapplying the Sluggo every week. Then there are the cabbage worms. I hate to have my beds covered with fabric row cover but when it comes to most brassica vegetables, I'm becoming convinced that it's the only option.


On the bright side, I think this has to be one of the most finest heads of lettuce I've ever grown. This is an Italian variety called 'Lollo Rossa'. It's pretty mild tasting and the leaves hold up well under the mid-day sun. I will surely grow this one again.


Late this afternoon, I noticed that my Pskem River hardneck garlic had produced scapes. Still no signs of them on my other two varieties (German Extra Hardy and Bogatyr).


I also picked the first of this year's broccoli. These crowns aren't quite as big as the ones I got last fall (probably because I planted them much closer together) but I'm still happy with the results. The plants are already sending up plenty of side-shoots. I have nine plants but now I'm wishing that I had grown twice as many.

Around the Garden this Week

The garden seems perpetually covered in rain drops this week. In some ways, I don't mind so much as I think the garden tends to be at its prettiest right after a rain storm. Here's a quick update on how things are looking this week. In no particular order:

On Sunday, I made a pea trellis out of wooden stakes and some leftover wire fencing. I like being able to recycle materials in the garden. Both my shell and snow peas germinated really well this year. In front of them, I sowed bush beans (Contender and Dragon's Tongue) and edamame (Envy) last week. With the cold and wet weather we've had lately, I don't have much hope that they will germinate well.


I also used some dead branches to prop up this planting of shell peas. I used this method last year and it worked out well for me. Plus, I think it looks pretty.


My broccoli and savoy cabbage are starting to really grow now. It always amazes me how certain plants will look for weeks as if they're not growing at all and then suddenly take off.


My overwintered scallions are sending up flower stalks. I'll be interested to see how they look.


My overwintered sage is also flowering at the moment. The beautiful purple flower buds also have an intense sage scent. Maybe I'll make a flavored oil or vinegar out of them.


The beets are growing rather slowly. I'm just glad the garden rodents and bugs are leaving them alone. I'm trying to do successive sowings to maintain a steady supply of beets this year.

Finally, I had planted some Seascape strawberry crowns a few weeks ago. Seascape is a day-neutral variety that should produce fruit all summer and into the fall. The plants are starting to flower already. However, I'll have to pull all of them off for at least the next six weeks so that the plants can put all of their energy into growing healthy roots and leaves.