We spent the morning cleaning up the weeds in the parking strip gravel. The leeks, favas, and artichokes are looking robust too.
3We went to the Seattle Tilth March Edible Plant Sale this weekend, which, for the first time (in our experience), was in Georgetown, our sister neighborhood across the Duwamish River (thanks, Tilth!). The March sale is not nearly as insane as the May sale (staid onions, kale, & herbs vs. sexy tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplants…), but it was still busy enough to warrant wrist bands.
We, of course, failed to stick strictly to our shopping list (onion & leek starts) and bought nine sets of starts:
- Fennel bulbs (I’ve added them to the area where I planted the fennel seed — it hasn’t emerged)
- Bloomsdale Spinach (those seeds have emerged, but I added these to the row to stagger things)
- Miner’s Lettuce — a native edible that I tried last year, but it got crowded out, so I’ve stuffed it in the planter with the chives
- Mizuna
- Endive
- Red Baron Scallions
- Bleu de Solzaize Leeks
- Walla Walla Sweet Onions
- Rosso de Milano red onions
The onions and leeks are supposed to go in the back bed, in front of the new bean trellis, but now that we have four varieties, we need more room! I have no idea where to stuff the endive and mizuna. (Pity the over-zealous gardener.)
Fava negreta beans sprouting, after being in the ground for three weeks.
We spent the day of good weather cleaning up the garden beds after our first few days of real frost. The nasturtiums are a reliable indicator of the severity of the frost - they turn into a pathetic wilty mush and look like yesterday’s salad greens as soon as it’s really cold.
Fava Negreta seeds collected from our plants. I finished sorting the kale and fava seeds last night.
This evening I cleaned up one more bed in the parking strip to free the squash plants from the California poppies and harvest the last of the favas. I also collected seeds from the Lacinato kale and Collards.
I spent the early afternoon cleaning up the beds in front and harvesting the garlic, shallots, and what’s left of the fava beans. We got loads of shallots again, but I’m not sure that I planted quite as much garlic this year, so I hope we have as much as last year (we’re just finishing it right now). The oregano plant in the front bed is totally out of control and I had to free the alliums from its overeager seedlings. I also pulled up what was left of the fennel and leeks — they were much too big to harvest and were crowding out the potential winter squash. (We also have fennel offspring growing in the gravel next to the raised beds, so we won’t go without.)
Fava bean mint spread: combine fresh fava beans, whole garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, mint, salt, & pepper; blend in food processor.
The fava harvest continues.
The warm evening was great for cleaning up the veggie beds up front. I hacked back the parsley, while Nathan trimmed the rhubarb and harvested a huge pile of stalks for making jam. This freed the green onion starts and fennel from its smothering leaves. We also tackled the fava beans, harvesting another grocery bag’s worth of beans that we now need to husk, and pulling up plants that were done producing. The pile of compost for the chickens is huge!
I also hacked back the kale, cabbages, and collards - making room for the tomato that I planted there two weeks ago. I’ve left a few plants so I can harvest the seeds once they’ve dried out. The pile of strawberries (and a handful of tiny alpine strawberries and blackcap raspberries) that I harvested were a great addition to dinner.
In the new plant department, one of the hubbard squash seeds has sprouted, and one tiny basil, but I couldn’t find any other seedlings poking through yet.
