Here are some of the things we picked from the garden. We had been having nice temperatures(80's) but for the last 10 days or so it's been down right cold! It was only in the low 50's today with clouds and drizzling rain.
In this photo there are kohlrabi, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, radishes, green onions and two kinds of turnips.
The kitty is new, he's a couple of months old and so curious.
This photo has salad bowl lettuce, bell peppers, broccoli (from the side shoots, the heads were cut a long time back) and english peas.
More root vegetables. We do a small farmer's market on Sunday afternoon and we were getting a few things ready today. My hands were frozen by the time I was finished. I'm not used to these low temps! I hope it gets back to normal soon.
Cabbage head split. We got a little rain and I guess it was just enough to make the head split. I guess we will have cabbage for St Patrick's Day! There are three kinds of potatoes in the photo: russett, yukon gold and red gold. I dug a lot more potatoes but didn't put them all in the photo.
Oh, my goodness, I'm so jealous! Everything looks just wonderful, you should be so proud of all your hard work and the results. Hope it warms up for you soon. It's chilly at night time here and during the day, too, but is finally starting to feel like California weather the past few days.
VERY NICE
Calalily, those veggies look like magazine pictures! Well done!
... and what time is dinner served? LOL Everything looks delicious.
You are inspiring those of us that have to wait to garden when the weather warms, thank you.
good going Cala! Isn't lettuce bolting down that way? That and cilantro are about history here.
=)
I am so jealous. Everything looks great. It's still to cold to grow muach of anything here yet. I hate cold weather and am so ready for it to leave. I hope my garden does as good as yours.
Nice!
Beautiful!
YUMMY pictures....Jo
Thanks everyone. It's a bit warmer today, but still not back to normal.
Debbie, cilantro and lettuce still doing well. I can grow lettuce till some time in June before it bolts. To keep lettuce from bolting, sow in seed pots or flats, transplant to the garden, keep the older leaves picked. Transplanting makes the lettuce concentrate on forming roots and picking the older leaves keeps it from bolting for some reason.
Cala I do that but its still bolting--it never makes it past April here; and I wouldn't want to eat that.
edited to add--I don't grow salad bowl or black seeded simpson though, perhaps that's it.
This message was edited Mar 16, 2009 10:20 AM
Debbie, the Salad Bowl is very slow to bolt. Lola Rosa, curly endive and a red oak leaf that I can't remember the name of are all slow to bolt. I have more trouble with romaine bolting than any other.
In my opinion, salad bowl and all the oak leaf's leaves a bit to be desired as far as taste goes--but I tend not to like what's in the grocery store. I know our local organic coop growers harvested the last of our local lettuces and cilantro for last Wednesday's market. We are all having the same problem. But we can still get it from a bit farther north. Beans are starting to take off and so are tomatoes so I guess its just a seasonal trade off--flat leaf dill is still holding up well, that is, unless it gets to 85 this week here as they are predicting.
Very impressive. We're just starting up here. Lots to look forward to and lots of work....but good fresh eating!
Calalily
Just wondering what you start your lettuce in to grow your transplants?
I put Romaine Lettuce, Pac Choi, and Chinese Cabbage in peat pellets covered with a dome under grow lights Saturday night and they are up as of just a few minutes ago. I really didn't expect them to germinate this quickly.
Jerry
This message was edited Mar 16, 2009 4:07 PM
Beautiful showcase !!!!!!!
BocaBob
Jerry, I start the transplants in large pots (because they were handy) filled with compost. I tried starting lettuce directly in the garden but didn't get good germination. The large pots are outside, lettuce needs cool temps to germinate and has something called "thermal dormancy" when exposed to high temperatures. This last cool spell was great for lettuce germination!
BocaBob thanks, I'm pretty proud of them!
Calalily, how do you know when it's time to pick carrots? By the greens? Or timing?
I'm growing radishes for the first time, too, I think they are getting ready, they're early types and the tops are getting big now.
I hate to keep pulling them when they're not ready because I'm using pots and growbags for everything so there are not that many to yank to test them.
Calalily,
What are you growing in (planting medium) and how big is your growing area?
Pugzley,
Radish are fast producers. There is a tendency to leave them in the ground too long. The longer they are in the ground the stronger flavor they develop. Carrots take longer to mature. Both should have been planted shallow, therefore, as they reach maturity you should see the root at or just below ground level. Since they have a tap root, it's OK to take your finger and move a 1/2" of soil to expose the root. Red radish are good at around 3/4" in dia or like you see them in the markets. The white icicle radish are good when the tops are at about 1/2 to 3/4" in dia.
This is only my gauge. Others may do it differently.
Jerry
Jerry,
This is my first time growing root crops and that's EXACTLY how I did it! I even started pulling up a runt by mistake and managed to shove it back down in there where it still growing.
Calalily, what variety of carrots are those? I did Nantes Half carrots, and am thinking I might try a full-size carrot next season.
Thanks so much Jerry. I appreciate that.
They were planted very shallow, so that should work just fine.
The carrots are really small, but I think my radishes are just about ready to eat now.
Pugzley,
When did you sow your carrot seeds? I sowed mine Thanksgiving week. Everyone else in the area had mature carrots in January-February. Next time I'll sow sooner, between Sept 15th and December 15th. Also, I plan on stagger sowing seeds every two weeks for a continuous harvest.
Oh, me oh my! I just put them in the pots about a month or so ago. Am I doomed?
I just checked and I sowed the seed on 2/3/09.
This message was edited Mar 18, 2009 1:00 PM
Pugzley, I'm in Zone 9a. I think you should follow the planting schedule for your zone and don't worry.
I just received a planting guide from my county extension office, I emailed them and they sent it out right away. I'm always shocked when I get good service like that. LOL!
I think they'll be all right. If not, no big deal, I'll just do something else in the pots if they have troubles.
Gymgirl, the medium is soil amended with compost and heavily mulched. The first garden is 25 x 45 and the second garden is 55 x 35. We've started adding 20 ft to the south end because I'm out of room.
I start picking radishes around 3 weeks after planting. Keep the soil consistently moist to keep the radishes from getting too hot, unless you like hot radishes. Bud likes them hot, so I plant spicy varieties. Some of the radishes got really big. Big radishes are usually woody and tough (and hot like Jerry said), but these were still tender. I was surprised. I plant radishes every 2 or 3 weeks.
The carrots are "Mini Kinko" from Johnny's seeds. They are short carrots, very tender and sweet and mature in 52 days. I sowed the last carrots in February.
Thanks, Calalily.
