Spring Vegetables

“We come from the earth,

we return to the earth,
and in between we garden.”
-Anonymous

My grandfather had a good day today. He was lucid for most of the day, which was wonderful, and I was able to have a nice, short visit with him. We talked about our normal subject: how the garden is growing. Between these ups and downs, it’s a really serene retreat for me. I spent most of this evening walking around just checking on the progress of everything and thought I should share some of it here.

Those raised bed cloches (also called cold frames) I fixed up in March really paid off for me. I highly recommend this next Spring, and I will probably put them up even earlier in the season. One vegetable bed is brimming. I have red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, and butter lettuce in neat little rows. The arugula, also called rocket, is taking off behind them. I have to keep chopping some off to feed to the chickens, as I afraid it might flower if I don’t keep on it. Behind the argula are about nice collard greens and six spinach plants. The spinach needs to be picked too, as it looks like flowers might be developing on it. I just need to get through what I already have in the fridge…

One vegetable still holds the leeks from last year. I really need to pull those suckers and make up lots of soup. That bed will eventually hold tomatoes and peppers, which are still not big enough to go outside yet.

A third vegetable bed has been half planted with carrots and beets. I planted Nantes and Chantilly carrots, along with Purple Haze which is a purple carrot on the outside, orange in the middle. The beets are Bulls Blood, which I plants last year and were incredibly rich and delicious. It seemed like summer before they were big enough to eat, but maybe the bed covers will give me a head start.

The fourth and final vegetable bed was recently planted with basil and bush beans. The beans are already a couple inches high, while the basil is just now breaking through the ground. The other half of the bed is planted with a few swiss chard bunches and broccoli. Leeks were planted in the middle as transplants, but they got fried with neglect on a hot day. I am just going to direct sow seeds though instead – I don’t think it’s too late.

More updates on the garden later. Things are just growing all over the place. Made for good conversation with Gramps today.