The spinach harvest for 5-4-12. Dinner will be fresh pasta w/spinach and sauce from last summer’s tomatoes.
I just looked back through this blog at the garden entries from May 2011, 2010 and 2009. I can’t quite believe I’ve been blogging this long but I’m also amazed at what a helpful chronicle it is of my gardening learning curve. Each year I have remade the garden beds, reshaping the area in significant ways. This year I feel like I’ve finally gotten Steve engaged with the area and because he’s used his machinery to heavily prune the trees, remove brush and clear overgrowth, as well as plant grass in unused areas, the garden as a whole is large, open and looks much more well-maintained.
I’ve also learned lessons about when to plant things. Each year I’ve suffered over the wind and lateness of spring and delighted in the first fruits– rhubarb and last year indoor arugula. But this year we’ve benefitted from the early spring and intensely mild winter. I had spinach winter over and was much more bold about putting lettuce seeds in the ground early. Whereas last year I had my first crop, radishes, on May 8, this year we have already been eating spinach.
Last night I cooked the last of the brussels sprouts from the grocery store, the night before the last of the kale. The produce in my refrigerator now includes a bunch of carrots, some yellow onions and new potatoes. My goal is to eat produce from our garden, and eat it several times a week, from now until next March. I’d like to eat from the garden and cold frame through December, and then rely on frozen and canned veggies and cellar storage. (I don’t have a proper root cellar yet, but I have a plan.)
I will keep track of what I buy from the farmer’s market and food co-op to supplement (one more year of market asparagus…). Mostly, though, I will try to use what I grow. We have enough spinach for two weeks, and already I have baby lettuce that will only get more prolific in coming weeks. By mid-June we will have peas (maybe earlier for snow peas) and beet greens and maybe even chard. Tonight I’ll make the Thai curry butternut squash soup from frozen butternut squash I put up last fall.
Three years ago I would not have thought this was possible. Three years ago I had no idea how to do any of this– what to start indoors, when, when to put it out, how to protect it, how much, paired with what, etc. I’m thinking in three more years I’ll have it down and it will be unthinkable to be eating store-bought potatoes, even in May and June!
Above is my garden plan as of today. Even with 12 raised beds, I struggle to find a place for everything. But wait until you see the front “flower” beds with their new edible additions!