Monday, May 18, 2015

Harvest Monday - 18 May 2015

Welcome to another Harvest Monday post from Eight Gate Farm, and yes, there are a couple of tiny harvests to show!

The last of the asparagus:


And a picking of baby mesclun, or if you're classy, micro-greens. Cheers to the first salad of the season!


Continuing the update of garden progress, here you see (clockwise from bottom right) Brussels sprouts (transplanted last weekend, took the row cover off), broccoli (doing nicely), Espresso corn (happily germinated despite my fears), and the empty bed that will hold the next planting of Espresso, hopefully next weekend.


Next weekend, Memorial Day in the US, will be the big push. That's when I traditionally plant tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet corn--really, almost everything remaining except peppers and eggplants, which will wait another week. I hope the weather cooperates. Actually I saw that a local "real" farmer already has tomatoes in the ground--and farmers know best. So everything is ready to go in the "row garden." Here's where the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants will go. I seeded a row of sunflowers in the back this weekend.



And here's where the late season corn, cucumbers, and zucchini will go. The new row of asparagus is in the foreground.


The potatoes planted last weekend have not emerged yet, but the onions are getting stronger.


The soup peas, behind the still-fragile leeks, are looking good. That's artichokes in the background.


The spinach is unfortunately still small. I never seem to be able to grow it rapidly.


Behold, a radish that escaped the anti-root maggot doghouse. Won't be long now!


And the "Survival Garden," too, is all ready for planting next weekend. The Survival Garden is where we grow foods that don't need refrigeration--dry corn, dry beans, pumpkins, and winter squash. Learning from last year, I intend to plant less corn, more beans, and not let the squash overwhelm the beans. And a big thank you! to The Kitchen Goddess, who furrowed this bed while I was busy fiddling with the drip irrigation system for the reconfigured row garden.


I leave you with a picture of one of my favorite perennials--Alyssum compacta. Too bad it only flowers for a short time in spring.


Thanks for reading! Now head back to Daphne's Dandelions to enjoy harvest posts from around the world.







14 comments:

  1. Everything looks wonderful, so green and lush. Love the irrigation system. My asparagus was a bit thin so i stopped picking it after couple of weeks and let it grow better and spread for fuller harvest next year.

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    1. Thanks, Jenny. I can't imagine the work involved without the irrigation system, so it is worth the seasonal set-up and maintenance.

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  2. Congrats on your first greens harvest! Your garden is looking great.

    I wanted to have an earlier start this year than last but it looks as if it will actually be the other way around....best laid plans and all that sort of thing. I'll be doing the bulk of my transplanting in the next week or so - I'm hoping that my plants pick up the pace once in the ground 'cause they are definitely moving at a snails pace in their cell packs.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. I do believe that despite slow starts in spring, nearly everything catches up when it gets in the ground.

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  3. 'Micro-greens" does sound a bit pretentious, doesn't it? :) That alyssum is gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks, Susie. Whatever you call them, early salads are delicious!

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  4. Oh how sad, the last of the asparagus, the season is too short. You have been busy, your garden is filling up. I have to look up Espresso corn, it sounds like it should be beautiful. And yes, cabbage for breakfast! :-)

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    1. Espresso was from Fedco. I just selected it because it was described as the best of the early sweet corn. It did not do well for us last year, but I'm hoping the soil improvements/relocating will do the trick.

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  5. Your garden is getting off to a good start. Memorial Day is earlier this year so I am going to keep an eye on the weather forecast before I fully commit for this weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Dave. You're right about Memorial Day being earlier. But the longer-range forecast looks pretty good--maybe one night sub-50.

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  6. Whoohoo for the first salad. And your garden is starting to look really good. I had a neighbor put their tomatoes in yesterday. My other neighbor tells me he always waits until Memorial Day. That way he never gets surprises.

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    1. Thanks, Daphne. Memorial Day is a good guide, but not infallible. A couple of years ago we got nearly frost conditions a few days after Memorial Day.

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  7. I don't know, but I think 'baby mesclun' sounds pretty classy too! I always hate to see the last of the asparagus. But then other things come along to take its place. I just now finished planting tomatoes, and the peppers and eggplant are still waiting to go in. It time for the big push here too!

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    1. Thanks, Dave. Yeah, I just should say "juvenile salad" or something. Hope your weather cooperates for the peps and eggplants.

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