Monday Update 7.12.10

So much has been happening around the garden, and we're finally seeing (and eating) some of the fruits (mostly vegetables) of our labor. In the last week or so, we harvested our first carrots, which looked beautiful when they came out of the ground. They were sticking out of the soil a bit, which is how I noticed they were big and beautiful. (Apparently the Boyfriend knew about these orange beauties and was keeping them a secret.) In any case, my enthusiasm dropped significantly when I cut into these carrots and realized they were a brilliant shade of neon green in the middle. Apparently we let them grow a little too long and it sounds like they got exposed to too much sunlight. I promptly went out and picked some smaller ones and they looked (and tasted) great. We made another stirfry with more broccoli and our carrots. Super yummy, but can't wait until we can add our peppers and basil to the mix!

We also pulled up our one red potato plant. We knew it was too early, but it was taking a turn for the worse and our other potatoes (all fingerlings) looked great, so we thought we should rip out the one plant that didn't look so good. I was like a 4-year-old at Christmas. Obvious I had never harvested potatoes before. The Boyfriend pulled the whole plant out, and a few tiny white orbs were attached to the roots. I thought that was it. But then the Boyfriend loosened the dirt and as I dug around in the ground my hand came upon some bigger potatoes and then finally some real-looking potatoes! It was like digging for treasure. Each time my fingers grasped around a tiny tuber, I pulled it out and held it up in the air like I had unearthed the most magnificent thing you had ever seen. It was so incredibly cool. I let the potatoes dry out a bit then put them in a paper bag to cure. Some are too small to use and others seem to have been pierced or otherwise damaged, but I think we'll have a few we can actually use. It makes me so excited for the next plants!

The Siletz tomato is going crazy. There are dozens of little tomatoes on it and one bigger one. We have a couple baby yellow pear tomatoes as well. The Cuor di Bue is doing well, but no signs of tomatoes yet. The gladiolas finally opened up last week and we've had two dark pink ones that I've loved having in the kitchen.

Our peas have gone absolutely crazy. They're higher than the fence now and we've been picking dozens at a time. Our harvest today included a bunch of peas, a few carrots, and a couple radishes. You might also notice the giant empty spot where our garlic once lived. We finally harvested our garlic last week, but more about that in another post. In the vacated space, we planted a few pepper plants from the store (we've never had good luck with bell peppers, so we tried a couple plants) and some more bean seeds.

The back bed looks good. I think the corn is growing and the sunflowers are definitely getting tall. Yesterday I put some fish emulsion on the corn (and other veggies) so hopefully that will give it the boost it needs. Our raspberries, despite some sick looking leaves, are still forming baby berries and I finally ate one or two the other day. This evening we dug out the strawberries and the Boyfriend took off the bottom of the little box they were in. I had completely forgotten that little raised bed had a bottom. (It was the one I had planted a square foot garden in at the Mini last spring!) If they survived the uprooting and replanting, I think they'll be a lot happier and more productive.