future carrots
last year’s carrots
some of the last of the rhubarb
typical picks these days
blueberries and cherries!
one of the first full fava pods
Today was the first day I felt that well of excitement that comes with the anticipation of days of full, real garden harvests. The fruiting plants all had quite a growth spurt last week and I’m seeing a lot of tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers forming.
So far this spring we’ve been eating plenty of rocket (one of my favorites and luckily it’s doing so well this year!), arugula (which is starting to bolt pretty quickly now), lettuces, kale and cilantro. The past week or so we’ve been enjoying artichokes, and are just now starting to be able to crunch away freely on sugar snap peas.The fava beans are filling out, and I think it won’t be long now til I’ll be able to start really picking. We discovered our love for favas last year and couldn’t get enough of them.
The crows have been helping themselves to the cherries this year, but they’ve been nice enough to let us get to at least a few handfuls. And the first few blueberry clusters are ripening.
Today I planted more seeds, filling in every nook and cranny of space that was left – parsnips, carrots, beans, spinach, more cilantro, more zucchini. I don’t think it’s too late (or in some cases not too early either I hope).
Still dealing with aphids on some of my kale plants. Strangely, it’s the only plant that seems to be a target. After pulling last year’s kale plants I thought I might have a fresh start, aphid-free.
The eggplant leaves have been getting chewed by flea beetles. This is the first time I’ve ever dealt with flea beetles. They’ve been few enough that it’s been manageable, and luckily their only interest has been the eggplant. Picky eaters, these bugs are. And the basil has had something chewing it’s leaves, but no matter how much I inspected, I never seemed to find anything – until one night last week I found a bunch of earwigs on the plants! To my surprise, it turns out they feed on many types of plants. Those creepers of the night.
I’d love to know what’s happening in your garden, if anyone wants to share.
Denise McArthur
that basket full of harvest is a beauty! You must have got a pretty early start. It’s a gorgeous morning here and I’m excited to get out in my garden.
abby
I think I got an early start in some cases and a little late in others (and I am still planting!). I hope you had a great day in the garden Denise xo
Just Another Nature Enthusiast
Abby, your garden is grand… what an inspiration! Green thumbs must run in your family.
I’m in the process of updating my garden photo journal… Where does the time go?
Jane
abby
Thanks Jane. I did have a couple great examples to learn a love for tending plants 🙂
Maya
What a pretty harvest! We live in Portland and have had a great raspberry and rhubarb crop this year. Our shelling peas are just coming on, but our fava beans need awhile yet.
Would like to hear how you store your carrots/root vegetables in a future post!
abby
Hi Maya! Thanks for sharing. Raspberries are one thing I really feel like we are missing. One of these times we will get some going here. Would love to find someone who wants to share some canes. As for storing carrots, I actually just keep them in a bag in the crisper drawer in the fridge. For some reason our interest in carrots waned for a while, so it’s been like a treat to rediscover them. I have found carrots to be the easiest root crop to store for long periods.
Maya
Our raspberry bushes have been sending out a ton of new canes, so if you ever head in to Portland let me know and I would be happy to pot some for you. We started our patch from some potted canes (haven’t tried the bare root starts) and it’s completely full now.
abby
Thank you Maya! I really appreciate the offer. I will let you know!
Maya
Feel free to email me if you would like some starts!