Last night, I harvested the remaining lettuce from the garden plot. About five heads total. I cleaned them all and stored them in the fridge. Just in time for the big heat wave that is supposed to start the day after tomorrow, Wednesday. We are expecting temperatures of 100F (feeling like 113F), so I will not be turning on the stove. Salad it will be for dinner.
This morning, I harvested two heads of lettuce form the garden plot. The garlic scapes are coming in, and with the recent heat, things are growing nicely. I also finished weeding the communal bed, planted the last Zinnias there and mulched the entire bed with straw.
Today, I harvested my porch radishes. So crisp and sharp. So good!
Over the last two days, I completed almost all the planting for my plot. I transplanted my tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, squash, hot peppers, marigolds, strawflowers and dahlias, and also added an Asian eggplant seedling I had purchased from The Neighborhood Farm. My lone surviving Delicata squash was leggy and did not survive transplanting, so I will pick up two more Delicata seedlings from The Neighborhood Farm this weekend. All that’s left for now is to inter-plant everything with more marigolds, and sow nasturtium and beets. I may move the dill I had planted last week closer to the cucumbers. I also need to stake the tomatoes and refine my cucumber teepee.
It feels good to finally start incorporating home-grown vegetables and fruit into our meals again. Tonight we had a caramelized leek tart with a simple side salad. I tweaked this recipe, using Gruyere instead of Blue cheese. First time I made this. So good!
For dessert, it was a simple strawberry-rhubarb compote over vanilla ice cream.
Today, I spent several hours in the community garden to (finally!) finish getting the plot ready for planting. Because of a major leak, the water in the garden was turned on super late – only about a week ago – which delayed everything.
I weeded and amended the soil with manure and city-provided compost, and I also got my first seedlings in the ground: leeks, chives, dill, snapdragons and zinnias. The flowers were inter-planted with chives. I also sowed two rows of cilantro.
Last night, I harvested my overwintered leeks. They looked pretty rough in early spring but recovered beautifully, and some of them are enormous. I also pulled green garlic from a forgotten and accidentally overwintered plant. I am thinking leek quiche or leek tart; not sure yet what to use the green garlic for, maybe pesto.
This morning, I harvested the spinach on my back porch. We have had a couple of warm days (in the eighties), and it was starting to bolt. Tomorrow, it will be in the nineties, so time to harvest. In total, my two 12-inch containers yielded 190 grams (6.75 oz.). Not bad. It will be a nice addition to our dinner tonight.
One of the two containers has a parsley plant in the center, and I am adding nasturtium around it. In the other, I planted some tiny Iceland Mix poppy seedlings. It is my first time growing poppies. They are supposed to be difficult to transplant as their roots do not like to be disturbed. Fingers crossed.
Forgot to post my first real harvest of the year (May 11). A handful of rhubarb, which I turned into a strawberry-rhubarb compote served over vanilla ice cream for dessert. So good!