Time for a garden update! We planted our starts and seeds the beginning to mid of April, and things are starting to take off now at the end of May.
Our bush green beans came in spotty, so we went ahead and replanted new seeds in the gaps. Second time was the charm. We now have two full rows, with a few "extra" seedlings in the corners as back ups, and a row of runner beans in the middle.
The strawberry bed has filled out, with flowers and strawberries well on their way!
The raspberry bushes continue to grow. By the end of the season, they'll be to the top of the wood stakes and we'll probably have to tie them up. For now, I whisper sweet nothings to them, hoping that this will be the year I'll get berries! I've waited patiently the past few years since replanting the whole bed. Fingers crossed.
We wound up planting radish seeds in two beds, because we love them so much. First, in the old strawberry bed. We planted a few rows on the right side of the bed, then planted cauliflower starts on the left side. We will be able to pull up whatever radishes are ready, and then pop a new seed in it's place. That way we can have a never ending rotating harvest of radishes all summer.
The second place we planted rashes seeds was in the middle of the herb bed! We are really trying our best to fully utilize all available space in the garden this year. For garden herbs, I have mint on the right, and....I'm gonna be honest, I don't remember what is on the left. I'll have to ask Sam to remind me, haha.
Ok, so the carrots have been infuriating. I don't know why it is always hit or miss with carrots. Well, I do know why, the seeds are so fucking small! And don't plant too dip or too shallow. Yeesh. Anyway, just like the beans and the beets, the carrots came in spotty. Really spotty. Like, only half the bed spotty. So we've gone ahead and replanted in all the gaps. Carrots take forever though, so we will have to wait awhile to see how the second round of planting went. In the mean time, I will just sing to them to help encourage them to grow. I really want to have a ton of carrots to pickle this year! Don't disappoint me, carrots! The whole garden!
Along with the two herbs in the garden, I also have herb and pepper pots up by Molly's window on the porch. From left to right, I have lemon balm mint, lunch box peppers, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, and rosemary.
I've already done a bit of harvesting!
I've done multiple rounds of mint, drying the leaves in my kitchen bay window. Once dried, I crush them and I've been slowly building up my mint spice container.
I've picked some lemon balm mint for tea. I used the leaves fresh. It was good, but not very strong. So next time I will use more leaved, and also mince the leaves a bit. I'm also going to dry some lemon balm leaves as well.
I've picked a handful of radishes a few times already, washing and slicing them for on top of salads!
And my lettuce....amazing!!
I've also harvested some cilantro for on top of tacos, and taco salads. And I've cut a few sprigs of my rosemary to hang to dry.
I am looking forward to continued growth and more harvesting come June!
With love,
Mama Hauck
