House of Bob

A brief trip to visit family, and a few hairy deadlines, but the veggie patch is showing no signs of slowing down. The Japanese cuke is well above my head as are the pole beans. I added a crookneck squash and a small pumpkin after my trip so they need to catch up. I have already harvested a good handful of cucumber Alibi, and they made a good, if salty, quick pickle with shiso leaves. I’m not so sure about my grapes- I have a piddly amount of clusters, especially the Kyoho. The Zinfandel is better, but this is the first year after all.

I had planned to start my vegetable garden from seed this year, but the sowbugs had a different idea. The only vegetable seedling to survive was a cucumber, Alibi. I blame myself for having too much organic matter that’s not really broken down yet.  It attracts the bugs and they feast on the tender seedlings.  I’m still the lazy kind of composter – I turn the pile maybe once or twice a year, so it leaves chunkies.  However the newer planting boxes are doing well, and some of the chard I planted from seed is still there – although it is starting to bolt.  I also had a good harvest of lettuces over the winter, all from seed.

So, with Miss Baby down for a nap, I headed off to the nursery for some plants. The place was a madhouse but I managed to pick up some plants pretty quickly. Here’s the list:

Cucumber, Japanese
Pole Bean, Kentucky Wonder
Pepper, Hungarian Wax
Pepper, Anaheim
Bell Pepper, Mandarin
Eggplant, Japanese

A little picked over and overgrown - but new seedlings are popping up.

Gary Johnson investigates the charred earth that is the side yard.

The recent arrivals.

beet photo

I pulled out the leggy arugula, snap peas and radishes in anticipation of heirloom tomatoes, okra and peppers.  This is the only beet that made it from the whole packet of seeds, but what a beet!  Ok, so maybe this beet cost 1.50 plus the expense of watering (or lack thereof since only one came up.)   I simply boiled it in a little salted water, and sauteed the tops with some chard.  The raised beds are holding up well and I hope to have a pretty good harvest this year since I added drip irrigation over the winter season.