Monday, May 29, 2017

Harvest Monday - 29 May 2017

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm. Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., a day of parades and barbecues for many, and garden work for others. We got our chores done yesterday, as today is turning out cold and rainy per the prediction.

We had a light harvest of asparagus (I know, I said we weren't going to take any more, but we couldn't resist), the first delightful radishes, and a picking of Asian greens:


Yesterday we harvested more radishes, and our first picking of mesculin (no matter how you spell that word, spellcheck doesn't like it). So the first homegrown salad of the season was enjoyed last night.


The Asian greens I showed above are "Toy Choy," a miniature, fast-maturing variety. It was just 30 days from setting out, and they were starting to bolt. So we took all 6 of them.


I love the fat white spoon-shaped stems, and they are very pretty from the top side too.


The other varieties I planted are Tatsoi and a pac choi called "Brisk Green." They are coming along nicely. The Asian greens, at least, don't seem to mind all the cold we've been having. I've only been growing them for a few years, and now I won't be without them. We love our soups and stir-fries! We can get another crop too if I start more plants in mid June.

Although I guess it is risky, we just couldn't wait any longer to set out the tomatoes, as they were getting leggy and pot-bound, and who wants to go through the effort of re-potting to wait another week? We also planted 3 varieties of sweet corn (different maturities), Diva cucumbers, two varieties of zucchini, filet and wax beans, runner beans, and some sunflowers. Out in the "Survival Garden" we planted 6 long rows of flint corn, 2 types of dry beans, and pumpkins/winter squash. Working together, the job went very quickly. I'm crossing my fingers that it warms up in time. Next weekend we will set out the peppers and eggplants, and the "spring" planting is done.

Enjoy your day, and please join me in checking out all the posts on Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres!

14 comments:

  1. I'm a big fan of the various Asian greens too. My Toy Choi bolted like yours, and so is my mizuna. I'm going to start the day with garden work, then finish up with a BBQ (burgers). I'm hoping to plant eggplant and winter squash today, and peppers later in the week.

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  2. Your choys look great and they look like the perfect size, unlike those monsters at the store. It sounds like you're getting a lot done in the garden, hopefully the weather will warm up for you.

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  3. Those choys look so good. I kinda gave up on growing choy even though I love it. It seems like I never get to it at the right time, it always takes me by surprise. I still have to get my tomatoes into the garden, they are starting to need watering every day, a sure sign that they are becoming potbound.

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    1. I'm surprised you haven't put your tomatoes out yet given your perfect climate!

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  4. Wonderful salad harvests! We are into the salads too, but using spinach as our lettuce is still a week or so away from harvestable size.

    We are finally in a warm spell and I planted out everything in the past couple of days. Good thing as many of the transplants weren't looking the best and really needed to get into a bed.

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    1. Thanks Margaret. Hope your warm weather comes our way.

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  5. The one Asian green that I'll grow is tatsoi. I find the stems taste much like the choys and the leaves are rich in flavor. The toy choys are very beautiful.

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  6. Your greens all look splendid!

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  7. Love the look of that Toy Choi... I am going to look out for some seed here in the UK!

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  8. Thank you Kathryn. Hope you find them!

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