2. Still eating lots of New Kuroda carrots. (Ruby likes to go over and pick them herself, then wash them off in the kiddie pool.)
3. A few zukes have finally matured! (Earlier ones rotted after only growing a bit - I'm guessing their flowers didn't get pollinated). Will pick later today.
4. Beets! Have eaten beets and their greens a couple times. The beets themselves haven't been too big, and the ones that are left are quite small, but a fun thing to grow nonetheless.
5. Flowers: Some of the flowers I raised from Botanical Garden seed last spring are blooming now - Purple Coneflower and Joe Pye Weed. Also, some of the self-seeding annuals have started to bloom - zinnias and cleome.
6. Leeks: Vegetable or flower? I don't really understand the onion family. Maybe someone can enlighten me. Sister Cate says she has a self-propagating leek patch in her garden in Texas, so that's what I'm trying to do here. I planted about 10 leeks last spring and haven't picked one yet. Now they're all flowering. What will happen next?
4 comments:
Oh God - Ruby and those carrots - so cute. She sure does have a mischevious grin.
About the onion family - or more specifically, the Allium genus (including onions, garlic, leeks, ramps, shallots, etc.). What I know from our leeks here in Austin is, they propagate like mad but do so best if they have space to grow. We let ours get all concentrated in a small patch for a while and the leeks never got too big. Then Adam did an experiment where he transplanted several to another spot in the garden with lots of space around each one, and now those guys are HUGE. Space is good for those underground bulb-y propagators. As far as harvesting, spring is the prime time to harvest leeks in the traditional, bulb stage (although we eat the leaves too). Once the flower stalk (scape) goes up, the bulbs diminish for the season. Sometimes we take the flowers off just to promote bulb growth, but nowadays we harvest the flowers either for a stunning bouquet, or for use in salads or stir-frys. Subtle flavor. In full summer and fall, the plants are really not much to look at, and you just have to have faith that come spring, they'll rebound like mad. But do be sure to thin/transplant often.
Are you pleased with the Kurodo carrots? I wonder if they do as well there as in TX. Ruby's carrots looked pretty nice - how do they taste?
Regarding pepper plants, we have incredible luck with Giant Marcones. The peppers get quite big, and are good for stuffing. No heat though, just good flavor. Serranos are our favorite hot pepper - great flavor in addition to heat, and prolific producers.
Maybe this post was better suited to an email? (so long)
Happy gardening!
Sorry...but I have to comment on the fact that our Austin Sun Gold cherry tomato plant is going BONKERS and that I picked at least 100 little guys off of it this afternoon! Isn't it interesting how different our seasons are?
Girls - what bounty! And my little Sun Gold cherry tomato plant is only a foot tall with a few flowers on it, which I'm trying to protect from the squirrels, slugs, and deer!
I'm jealous. I hope to follow one day in your footsteps with a fruitful garden of my own, but for now I can only boast of some purple verbana I planted around the mailbox and a very small compost pile in a corner of our backyard.
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