Early eats from the garden

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Here's a quick tour of what I'm growing and eating in the garden these days. First things first: the strawberries are ripening! I ate the first one yesterday. It was still warm from the sun and had a fragrance and soft texture like nothing I ever get from store-bought strawberries shipped from who-knows-where. I definitely need to expand the strawberry patch in future years. I also need to do a better job of keeping the birds out so I don't end up with dreadful scenes like this:


I do have netting over the strawberries, but this particular berry was close to the edge and got nibbled by a feathery (or furry?) visitor. I wait and wait and patiently observe the berries' every transition in color from first blush to blood red, and then this. I hate it when the birds get them.


The garden is spilling over with onions and garlic right now. I enjoy having both, not only for eating but also because the plants give a nice green heft to the garden in the early spring before the summer veggies get going. They make the garden look full, even when it's not quite so. Here's the view from the opposite angle.


I sometimes cut the green onion tops and use them in salads. Here they are on top of my own-grown lettuces.


I have a nice selection of greens growing right now -- enough for fresh salads every day. The red ones on the right side of the photo below were in the 'Valentine' Mesclun Mix from Botanical Interests. Left of that is Green Oakleaf from Seed Savers Exchange. After that, I don't know what the frilly green kind is. Once again, in my typically excited haste to get seeds in the ground in early spring, I failed to label everything. I'm trying to be more diligent about using labels, but I still have my failings.


My radishes have been a delightful addition to salads. New this year, I planted the 'White Icicle' variety. I like them just about as much as the 'French Breakfast' variety, which is always a favorite of ours.

I discovered recently that I like radishes cooked -- sauteed, greens and all, in a little butter and olive oil with salt. Cooking takes away a bit of their bite. I'm going to experiment some more and see if I can come up with some interesting radish recipes. Suggestions welcome!


Elsewhere in the garden, the first pea pods are shaping up. I enjoy checking in on the little ones' progress every day.


The green beans are up now too. See? I did a good job of labeling those. I got those fancy copper labels in gift kit from Smith & Hawken years ago. They're of no use sitting in a box in the shed, so I finally started using them -- even if they are a little fancy for ordinary green beans.

I'll close out with my belly-on-the-ground shot of a pair of wax beans. Up, up and away they grow!

14 Comments:

Blogger Faith said...

Really nice! It's so great to eat the fruit of your labors. :)

I got a very late start to my garden, due to all the rain. With our only drier days usually falling on the times I had to be away, working the soil got to be a difficult thing to accomplish.

Our berries are just beginning to ripen as well the sugar snap peas, but everything else is either just sprouting, or (gasp) not even planted yet!

We are working on it! LOL

~Faith

8:30 PM  
Blogger Chiot's Run said...

My strawberries are still tiny & green. I can't wait.

And my peas were eaten by a deer - GRRRR.

9:30 PM  
Blogger Jo said...

You've got plenty of things growing. We got our allotment in March so we're still trying to get the beds sorted out ready for planting. We do have some things planted but there's still lots of hard work to do.

12:33 PM  
Blogger Gardenista said...

The nice warm fresh strawberries sound fabulous. I hope you get more than the pests do! You're way ahead of us in northern Canada.

9:04 PM  
Blogger The Mulch said...

Beautiful pictures from your garden.

My strawberries in the South east of England are just beginning to ripen too. They were covered until the flowers developed with a polytunnel then opened up to allow for pollination. Hoping for a first taste this weekend.

Im guessing that you overwintered those onions? Not sure how your zone compares to mine but they look like they are at the same stage.

Happy to have found your blog.

Cazaux

9:35 AM  
Blogger gumboot goddess said...

Thanks for the wonderful garden photos ~ especially the view of beans from the ground. We have had such a cold Spring here on Vancouver Island - all the seedlings are shivering and waiting for the sun!!
but lettuces and peas are doing well.

1:06 PM  
Anonymous Herry said...

That's a nice article.I think it will help me for my garden.

3:44 AM  
Anonymous Emily said...

Thanks for the yummy shots of your strawberries. We're a few weeks behind you, so it's so encouraging to see the work pay off!

9:01 AM  
Blogger Lisa Carroll-Lee said...

OK, I never thought about cooking radishes! I'll definitely try that!

1:16 PM  
Blogger Christina said...

Hooray! Crops! Doesn't it feel so good?

I just picked a couple warm strawberries when I got home from work today too . . . so nice.

7:10 PM  
Blogger TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

It is looking so good, love all your edibles. They are truely my favourites. / Tyra

2:43 PM  
Blogger Lisa Carroll-Lee said...

It all looks fantastic!

3:30 PM  
Blogger momomom said...

If you like cooking radishes you might also enjoy letting one go to seed and cooking its seedpods. Next year maybe try the actual podding radishes. I've only gone the first step (letting the French Breakfast go to seed and eating its pods) but they were great stir fried.

10:11 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Came across your blog via google and read through your posts. I thought I'd pass on a local seed company I think you'd like - Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - http://www.southernexposure.com/

They are located in Louisa, VA. They specialize in unusual and heirloom varieties. Even if you don't buy from them, their catalog is an extremely interesting read.

1:35 PM  

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