Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Veggie Tales

Fortunately our veggie CSA has been able to keep bringing lovely, fresh summer veggies to market, so the poor performance of our garden - remember the peas? - hasn't meant hungry nights at our table - hardly! But it's still nice when a plan comes together, \ and the beet plan has done just that!

Mitchell likes to plant the veggie garden and I think he enjoys watering it, but he's not all that interested in the harvest. We planted beets last year and put them way too close together. We didn't really get anything edible, so his interest level in big, red root vegetables was pretty low this spring.

That's never stopped me if I wanted something, so I planted four rows of beets in the middle of his "square foot garden" using about two square's worth. I'm not much on thinning seedlings, so I planted them 3-4 inches apart and hoped for a good percentage germination. And voila' - I got beets.

Remember that issue I have with forgetting to write down the planting date? and the number of days until harvest? I wonder why I even bother to keep a garden journal? It seems like that would be a good place to keep information like that. Perhaps I will try it - someday.

At least beets are a bit more helpful than the peas were. I could tell when their "shoulders" started pushing up that they were getting "done", so I started harvesting.

We got three good, full harvests that yielded four dinners and a huge jar of pickled beets.

What more could a girl ask for? Actually.... okra. Soon. Stay tuned.
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4 comments:

  1. flwrjaneJuly 29, 2010 at 4:13 PM

    Yum, I love beets. I am pulling more plants out of garden that harvesting vegetables.

    This is a sad summer for our table.

    Perhaps I need to investigate our local CSA.

    We love to use the tall okra stalks in arrangements.

    So if you forget to harvest your pods you can design with them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. webbJuly 29, 2010 at 6:03 PM

    Thanks for two good ideas. I hope to keep cutting a couple more weeks, but by then we will be tired of eating it. Got 1/4 inch of rain this afternoon - perhaps hiring that Indian with the divining stick really worked?

    We do love the CSA, tho.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Caroline BenderAugust 3, 2010 at 8:31 AM

    The bell pepper plant I inherited from a friend has (2). I think I will pick one green and see if I can get the other to turn red. I fear, that like bananas and peaches, they will be underripe for weeks until suddenly one morning when they are inedible mush.

    ReplyDelete
  4. webbAugust 3, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    Ms. Bender, clearly you have been peeking in my veggie basket! That always happens, but hope springs eternal....

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