Tag Archives: Nigella

Garlic! and Other Garden Goodies

Garlic Harvest I’ve been eyeing a rather large plot of garlic being grown by one of my fellow gardeners at Rock Farm. He seemed to know what he was doing so I was taking my cues from him. I came in this weekend and saw that he had harvested his garlic. I had read to harvest when half of the leaves have started to die back but mine wasn’t to that point yet so I was really unsure if they were ready. I ended up asking him to look at my plot and he felt they would be ready to harvest. I pulled a couple and was very pleased with what I found. Nice big heads of beautiful garlic. Only one head was split open and past its prime. I am so glad I didn’t wait.

Nigella

Very early in the season I had planted some Nigella and Dill together. BIG mistake. Their leaves are so similar it would be easy to mistake the nigella for the dill. Not sure if it is poisonous but thankfully I didn’t harvest any. I had thought it odd that my dill seemed to die off and then come back. I guess the nigella waited to come up till after the dill was all but gone. Still, I won’t make that mistake again. I love their beautiful flowers and hope to save some seeds from this batch.

Sowing carrots in July

July has been fairly warm so far. I’ve been at the garden watering EVERY day. Trying to get carrots to sprout in this heat is an exercise in futility. They just lie there and laugh. Wanting to keep the soil shaded and cool I decided to try to cover them loosely with some kale branches from the overwintering kale I recently removed to make way for some cucumbers. I can water through the branches but the soil should stay cooler than the surrounding soil and help with germination. At least that is the idea.

First tomato of the season.

I tried growing tomatoes in the garden last year but while I got a lot of green tomatoes, there just didn’t seem to be enough heat or sun. My plot is in a far corner that doesnt’ get late afternoon sun. I also tried a container tomato on the balcony last summer and that seemed to do really well. I’ve opted to do the same this year. I have one Celebrity and one I’ve never tried. A dwarf indeterminate called Iditerod. The Celebrity, as expected, will have the first tomato. Makes my mouth water just looking at the photo.

Lady Beetle

One of the garden protectors hanging out on a zucchini leaf. Hello little lady.

Lessons Learned: NEVER mix plants with similar looking leaves if one is edible and one is not.

About that Broccoli-Raab

Once again I did something I tend to do a lot.  Purchase plants or seed for something I’ve never eaten and give it precious space in the garden.  I swear I am not going to do it and year after year I just can’t resist trying something new.  This wasn’t a real problem in KY as space was not an issue.  When trying to garden in a 10’x20′ space however, every square foot is precious.  I did it with several items this year.  The perennial kale has already died so that isn’t an issue.  Currently the broccoli x can’t_remember_what is going strong as is the broccoli-raab.  When I saw the seeds in the catalog I thought, great, another broccoli (which we tend to eat a lot of) and ordered a packet of seed.  They were the first to bolt while still in the container on the porch.  At that point I had to make a decision.  If we were going to have this broccoli-raab I would have to buy transplants.  Fast forward to now and the eight (yes eight) transplants that went in the ground about five weeks ago are ready to harvest.  Oh my, talk about strong.  I know I have gene that tastes some veggies as bitter but this stuff is killer raw.  It does cook into a still bitter but edible veggie when I add vinegar to mask the bitterness.  When the baby broccoli harvest begins the b-raab will be pulled.  Add one to the ‘not growing again’ list.

I finally planted the Nigella in the spinach spot today.  Also, my first radishes, more overwinterd broccoli, lettuce and spinach were harvested.  Thank goodness for a friend who agreed to take some off of my hands.  Still learning about the amount each veggie needed.  The yields of some things are so much greater here.

May’s Lessons Learned:  1. One can only eat so much spinach and lettuce.  For the love of God stagger the lettuce plantings.  2. When trying out a new plant try one or two, not eight. 3. When planting radishes don’t plant them between rows of something that will overshadow them.