Harvest Monday: June 27, 2011

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

I’ve been looking forward to Garlic Scapes this year with much anticipation. Many fellow bloggers have already harvested theirs and have posted some wonderful recipes. Finally mine were ready for harvesting this week:

Garlic Scapes

Other harvests are still mostly lettuce and other salad clippings. I make a large salad several times a week so that is it ready for lunches and dinners:

Ruby Red Swiss Chard and Celery

Mixed Lettuce

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.

As the Garden Grows

It seems I haven’t posted in a while, but really there isn’t much going on in the garden except a bit of growing, weeding, watering and bug control. Lettuce still represents the majority of the harvest, along with some celery, Swiss chard, and scallions.

We had some really nice weather over the past week or so. Thursday was the beginning of a rainy period for us. The rain is needed and welcomed. The cooler temperatures are not.

I dodged the rain to take some updated pictures of the garden:

The first little tomatoes

Garlic scapes ready for harvesting

Pole beans climbing the trellis

The first pea pod

Dark Red Norland Potatoes

Kennebec Potatoes

Peppers enjoying the shower

While it rained, I took some time to try to plan out some succession planting for the garden. Some of the spring lettuce will be finished soon and I have several transplants ready to take their place. I have also started some lettuce seeds in pots that can be moved into the shade as summer heats up. I hope that I can keep fresh lettuce growing all summer.

I have also been reviewing the posts from last year to give me an idea of when crops were harvested so I can plan to put something else in its place.

I expect the garden to pop in growth after this rainy period.

Harvest Monday: June 13, 2011

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

Lettuce still represents the majority of the harvest and provides us with salads almost every day. Little by little we are adding new things. This week we added some young red onions, swiss chard, and celery.

Ruby Red Swiss Chard, Young Red Onions, Celery

Mixed Lettuce

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.

Early June Garden Update

It was back to work this past week, which was difficult after a nice week off working in the garden. We had some 80 and 90 degree F days that also churned up some thunderstorms. The garden responded extremely well to the heat and rain by putting on some considerable growth. Here are a few photos of what is growing:

Purple Trionfo Pole Beans

Purple Trionfo and Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans

Shallots

Ruby Red Swiss Chard

Lettuce in need of a harvest

Marvielle of the Four Seasons

Kennebec Potatoes

The weeds in the potato bed are tomatoes sprouted from seeds in the compost.

Garlic

The beginnings of a garlic scape

Leeks

The first tomato blossom

Harvest Monday: June 6, 2011

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

Scallions and Green Garlic

Lettuce

Springtime Shrimp Alfredo

Ingredients:
1/2 pound medium raw shrimp (peeled, deveined, and tails removed)
2 green garlic, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
8 ounces fettuccini (or other pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon cornstarch
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, chopped

Cooking Instructions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Mix cornstarch and milk in a small bowl, set aside.

In a large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until softened. Do not brown. Add raw shrimp to skillet and cook until shrimp turns pink (1-2 minutes). Stir milk mixture to be sure cornstarch is well blended in and pour it into the pan. Add parmesean cheese, pepper and salt. Stir until the sauce thickens.

Pour mixture over cooked pasta and garnish with parsley.

Makes two generous servings. Add a fresh garden salad and some crusty bread and you have yourself a quick meal for dinner.

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.

Working Vacation

I try to take some time off from work around this time of year to devote to planting the garden for the season. It allows me to enjoy the planting process and not feel as though I need to rush to “get the garden in.”

Even though I was on vacation, there wasn’t much rest and relaxation last week with so much to do in the garden. The week began hot and humid, but gradually became more comfortable for working outside. There were a few showers here and there during the week, but it was mostly warm and sunny. I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. As of Friday, the garden was officially “in.”

It looks like the pole beans will emerge today:

Early in the week, the trellises were put up, solar mulch laid, and Kentucky Wonder and Purple Trionfo Pole Beans were seeded:

Tomato overflow bed was planted:

Squash transplanted into the new bed. By August, this corner of the garden will be filled with vines:

Extra onions were transplanted on the other side of the new bed and the rest was seeded with some bush beans and beets. Hopefully, these will finish up by the time the squash needs to stretch their vines.

Now that the temperatures have cooled down a bit, I have pulled out the remainder of the frozen tomatoes from last year to thaw and make into sauce. Earlier in the week, I made a batch of salsa with frozen tomatoes, Jalapeno, and fresh green garlic. I had to purchase peppers and onions though. Hopefully this batch will last us until the garden produces more.

The Potatoes Broke Through!

I took a peek beneath the mulch on the potato beds and discovered that the potatoes have reached the surface:

Kennebec Potatoes

Dark Red Norland Potatoes

The Kennebec potatoes were planted on May 14th and the Dark Red Norland on May 20th.