Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Garden Tuesday: Individual Progress

Shhh. Don't tell the weather people or they'll spoil it on me. We've had sunshine since Saturday. Lots of wind, but sunshine! Oh happy day!

I thought I'd show some garden progress of my individual plants this week. First up is my spinach. I know the tall blur is a grass. I pulled it out. Is the spinach supposed to look like this? How tall will it get? Here's what I know about spinach: (a) Enter your supermarket. Stay to the left, in the fresh produce aisle. Scan for dark green leaves in a cello bag. That's spinach. It needs to be washed a LOT. (b) After you leave the produce, head for frozen foods. Search for the brick. That's spinach. Cook slowly, and work hard at breaking it up as it cooks. More spinach wisdom is needed, I'm certain.

Mesclun Mix. Sorry, Christo, I won't be sending this, because it doesn't look ugly. You specified that you wanted the ugly mix.

Kale. What is it anyway? I'm not sure, but I planted it. Maybe I'm a bonehead, but I'm optimistic that I can think of something fun and exciting.

Red lettuce. Woo-hoo! It's looking good. Carrots above it, chives to the left, the edges of a tomato plant above the chives. Do you feel like you're playing in the dirt yet?
The boys pulled a couple of test carrots. Small, but fabulously sweet. Do you feel more like you're in the dirt? The boys did, and being boys, loved every second of it.

More mesclun mix. This is so pretty it doesn't even deserve the name, I think.
And I found a perfect way to wash said lettuce. Fill the sink with cool water. Dump in leaves. Stir gently. Fish out one by each. Grubby ugly things get left behind, including a drowned slug; you can see the dirt particles in the water if you look really carefully. But I'm enjoying my salads, even though I still have to buy tomatoes and cukes to put on top of them.

How are your gardens growing?

9 comments:

SissySees said...

Sigh. Looks lovely. Except for the kale. I've never met kale that I could choke down. I just don't care for it, no matter how it is fixed.

Paula said...

So glad that the sun has found your patch of land. Looks like the garden loved it, too! Hurray for the carrots (and for the boys who like digging them up!). That's a great way to wash the lettuce. I can't stand slugs *shiver*. What great purpose do they fulfill in the eco system anyway? Everything looks great in your garden!

Unknown said...

Okay - so I don't know about kale and I'm not growing any. But I did see Emeril cook it with garlic, red onions and beans. It looked good. I'm going to try it. Good source of iron.

I can't recognize spinach in your garden - how sad is that? I've got Swiss Chard growing and don't know what to do with that. My spinach is getting really big, but I've only got 2 little stalks - not enough for anything. g

Pam said...

I love your garden shots - everything is looking so good. The only thing I am growing is thyme and basil. We are on the go too much in the summer to have a big garden like yours - you lucky girl.

The Blonde Duck said...

I grew kale for a science project once.

~~louise~~ said...

Sadly, I don't have much of a garden this year. Thank you so much for sharing yours. There's two things I have to say about Spinach, Popeye and an old saying, "Spinach is the broom of the Stomach." Okay, one more. Spinach immersed in gently sauteed garlic and oil, simply delicious!

The carrots look promising!!!
Don't care for kale either.

noble pig said...

Beautiful lettuce! I am so jealous! Next year I swear I'm doing a garden.

pam said...

Marjie - I am so envious! Everything looks great!

buffalodick said...

You are by all accounts, amazing! The quality and volume you cook at is imprssive- to say the least! You are doing great good here, do not stop for anything...