More chard, Magenta Sunset on left, Orange Fantasia, and Pink Passion. The chard and mustard were overhanging the squares where the cucumbers were to go, so they got trimmed.
The mustard greens are finally large enough to harvest. Keeping them covered prevents flea beetle damage but I run the risk the higher temperature inside might cause them to bolt. Oh well, they are going to bolt anyway.
The squares in the foreground are needed for the cucumbers.
More radishes, Zlata and Dragon. I definitely have to try making radish pickles. For Michelle, I tasted a bit of the Dragon leaf and it was fairly mild but a little fuzzy. I would eat it, some bacon grease and a splash of pepper vinegar would make it quite tasty.
The garlic scapes have started to form and I got a first picking. The really fat ones are from the German Red garlic I picked up last year at the Mt. Desert Island garlic festival. The stems on this large garlic are at least an inch in diameter so I am hoping for some good size bulbs.
Finally got the last of the peppers planted, the spice and chili peppers that were so slow to germinate. On the left above are the spice peppers, Aji Dulce and Arroz con Pollo. The lighter green peppers on the right are the Lemon Drop chili peppers. All of these went in the raised beds.
As an example how crazy the variance in pepper seed germination is, the picture above shows two of my Jimmy Nardello peppers, a variety that I really like and really want to grow. The large plant was the first to germinate and one of the first seedlings I had to pot up. The rest did not germinate and/or I killed them, but I scrambled and used the paper towel in a baggie method and eventually got 6 peppers, 5 like the one on the left and one like the one on the right. Naturally I would like to be planting 6 peppers like the one on the right. I need to do something better, but at least it is not like last year where I killed just about all my pepper seeds that decided to germinate.
The Soloist Napa cabbages are heading so I tied them up to help, and to get the leaves off the ground so they don’t provide a convenient ramp for the slugs to get inside the heads.
I also tied up the heads of endive to blanch the hearts, which makes them more tender and less bitter. I should be harvesting some of the endives in a few weeks.
That is what I harvested from my garden last week. Check out what other gardeners around the world are doing by visiting Daphne’s Dandelions, our host for Harvest Monday.
Those spice pepper plants look really good. The Jimmys make quite a contrast though! I had germination problems with a couple of peppers I love to grow so I can feel your pain. I have more trouble with peppers than any other veggie I start from seed. The seed I save usually comes up great however, so I am trying to save more pepper seed.
ReplyDeleteGood tip on the saved seed. Out of my 10 Stocky Red Roaster seeds for $4 I have one plant. I should save seeds from that one for sure.
DeleteMost of my peppers seemed rather small this year as well, and I sowed them "on time" according to my schedule. I'm thinking that I may start them a bit earlier next year. And how is your garlic doing? I recall you found some sort of issue with the cloves when you planted them last year, but judging from the scapes you are harvesting, everything seems to be looking good now.
ReplyDeleteI moved my starting schedule back 2 weeks because of the nasty winter, but that was a mistake. The garlic is doing fine. Last fall I was concerned about the Duganski garlic I purchased because the heads were dug too late and were opening up. The skin was falling off the cloves so I was planting bare cloves. Everything came up OK this spring.
DeleteWhich of the chards do you like the best? I tend to grow just one here, but I do miss the beautiful stems with my white variety.
ReplyDeleteI don't notice any difference in taste, it's more in the eye appeal. In all three varieties I have plants producing white stalks, whatever the technical term is for that.
DeleteYour spring harvests look amazing. And I can't get over how good your peppers looks, and they're not even in the ground yet!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about growing Jimmy Nordello and Lemon Drop peppers next year, they sound really tasty.
Jimmy Nardello is an Italian heirloom from Connecticut and is very productive and very tasty, definitely worth growing. This is first year for Lemon Drop so I have no idea how it will do.
DeleteI imagine the radish leaves would be super tasty wilted in bacon grease with a splash of vinegar. Mmm, it's making me hungry.
ReplyDeleteGrowing peppers from seed can be incredibly problematic for me also. I always start far more than I need because it is guaranteed that some (or more) won't germinate and others will fail to thrive (not always my fault, but often so). But I endure the process every year because it's just about imossible to try interesting peppers without growing from seed. Right now I would be happy if I had one pepper plant that looked as good at that one good Jimmy Nardello.
You are right, you can't find the varieties you want at the garden centers. Have to start your own. But what if they all germinate OK? I have a bit of that problem with the spice peppers - have more than I can find room for.
DeleteYour chards are so pretty. I frequently plant crops for the colors as they add interest to the garden. I am planting German white and the scapes are fat also.
ReplyDeleteI'm growing jimmy nardello for the first time this year, looking forward to them (mine are tiny as well, but I bought them elsewhere so not sure how old they were). Chard is beautiful - I usually just do the rainbow chard mix to get the variety of colours (my chard is taking it's sweet time to come up this year!).
ReplyDeleteHope you like the Jimmys. I used to buy Bright Lights from garden centers and never, ever got it to grow, who knows why. Now I just pick chards I think are attractive and have been pretty successful.
DeleteWhat a nice varied harvest! The chard is so colorful. I like the way your pepper plants look; mine get so leggy. Maybe I start them too soon.
ReplyDeleteNice to see someone else growing Endives. They seem not to be popular. I love them though, especially when blanched.
ReplyDelete