Monday, June 14, 2010

Monday Garden Club


It's been a rainy week here again. Not like monsoon rain or anything but a little everyday with no chance to dry up between rains to get out there and do some work. Finally yesterday as the rain held off for most of the day, we were finally able to get some much needed weeding done.

The Gardener used his ATV with the cultivator on the back to work up between the rows and the girls and I weeded around the individual plants and uncovered some of the pea plants the Gardener covered up with dirt on one pass. He didn't kill any though!

I ended up replanting the Lima beans that never came up. I used the same seeds so we'll see what happens... I also picked up a small pot of mesclun lettuces at the Farmer's Market last week (although the guy who sold them to me kept calling them masculine) and I planted them in the row where only half of the lettuce seeds I planted actually came up.

The spinach I started ahead of time is almost ready to pick and the spinach I sowed directly into the garden is right behind it.

While the girls and I were on our hands and knees pulling weeds around the radishes we found that some of them were ready! Radishes are a super quick crop that grows almost overnight. The woman I buy eggs and that delicious pork that's in my freezer from is also doing a CSA this year for the first time and we talk gardening every time I stop in. Anyhow, she was telling me that if the weather is very warm, radishes will become spicier and this year hers were almost too spicy with all the warm weather we had several weeks ago. (She planted hers a few weeks before mine.) Ours are plenty spicy for me but the Gardener thought they were perfect. A quick rinse in the sink and a sprinkling of salt with a cold beer is his favorite way to eat them.

Baby summer squash! Only about 2 inches long but within a week it should be big enough to harvest.
The tomato bushes plants are growing like crazy and one of my goals for this week (if the rain stays away) will be to go out there and trim up the tomato plants and start training them up the cages. The trimming being the same theory as the pepper plants I mentioned last week and too tomato plants tend to get very big and sprawl-y very easily so I'm trying to get a jump on it and maybe control some of the tomato insanity. Did I mention I planted over 25 tomato plants? And I only have 10 tomato cages, but I can stake the rest.
Still picking strawberries!
strawberries and radishes picked yesterday


Also, the pick your own strawberry farm right down the road from our house is now open for the season. Binny and I went the day they opened (I'm kind of a stalker like that) which also happened to be the last day of school. We picked two ice cream buckets full in only about 20 minutes. We then had enough time to clean them up, dip them in some melted chocolate, put 4 of them in a cute little box as a gift to the bus driver as she dropped off Mae for the last time this school year. Gotta keep those bus drivers happy! After all, how many winter mornings did she wait for us while I was scurrying around making sure the girls had hats and mittens and shoving boots on their feet?


Now for all you gardeners out there who wish to participate, either leave a comment on what's growing in your yard, or post a Monday Garden Club update on your blog. Don't forget to drop your link in the comments and I'll add it to this post.


Participating Blogs:

18 comments:

Out in Them Sticks said...

I don't know know where to start trimming the tomatoes. they are crazy sprawly already.

Oh man, those chocolate covered strawberries look SO GOOD!!!!!! WOW!!! I'm quite jealous!

LL Cool Joe said...

Those chocolate strawberries look wonderful! Half healthy, half unhealthy! What a great combination.
I have to say I love white chocolate on strawberries even more!

sheila said...

FYI my daughter stopped dead in her tracks to view your strawberries, as she walked past the computer, lol.

What a nice looking ALIVE garden you have! lol. I think after looking at your pics I planted all my stuff too close together.

I love your removing leaves tip. As soon as it stops raining I'm going to 'prune' my tomatoes.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

Those chocolate covered strawberries look delish. 25 tomato plants! Wow you are going to be swimming in tomato sauce. Totally jealous.

Jenni said...

The garden looks great. I can't remember the last time I had a chocolate dipped strawberry.

Wild Child said...

Ok, I have something to add to Monday Garden Club today. http://nakedopinions.blogspot.com/2010/06/monday-garden-club.html

Riot Kitty said...

Yum! Now I want those strawberries.

Susan said...

Oh my - looks delicious!

Thanks for sharing!

House and Garden Boutique said...

Wow, those strawberries look soooo delicious! What a great looking garden you have planted. There's nothing like fresh veggies, tomatoes and lettuce! Hope you can stop by my blog and become a follower too!

Sarah said...

You have a nice large plot and the garden is off to a great start!

Here from Oregon Cottage.

Sarah said...

You have a nice large plot and the garden is off to a great start!

Here from Oregon Cottage.

pogonip said...

You have such a nice large garden area--what bliss!

rachel... said...

Oh, you already know how jealous I am of your garden, so I won't keep blathering about that, but WOW, do those chocolate dipped strawberries look delicious! *drool*

Anne said...

That's some garden! And it looks so healthy! Those strawberries look so good I can almost taste 'em. (Especially with chocolate on them!)

~TastyTravels~ said...

Everything is looking great! Those chocolate dipped strawberries is making me drool!!

Melinda said...

Your garden looks great! Jealous of those radishes - mine didn't come. Love the bus driver's treat - what a great idea!

Jami@ An Oregon Cottage said...

I've got to get out and trim my tomatoes, too (but I only have 18...) and it's decided to rain here again, too. We're getting strawberries, too, and now I'm going to have to dip some!

Thanks for participating in the Tuesday Garden Party!

Debbie in MS said...

You strawberries are beautiful!! And when you add chocolate!!! YUM!

I have pruned several suckers from my tomato plants and rooted them. One has already been transplanted to my garden and I have four more that are almost ready. And then there always seem to be more that need to be pruned.

http://connect-dots-garden.blogspot.com/2010/06/tour-through-my-garden.html