GREENS, BEANS, BERRIES, AND MORE

kale harvest

Over the weekend while I was inside fixing breakfast, Jim was outside busily harvesting kale.  We do love our greens!  Scarlet-bor, Russian red and curly kale came in... Tuscan kale needed a few more days.

Happy harvester

A couple of weeks ago we tried transplanting our beets, which were supposed to be chard but were apparently mis-labeled at the nursery.  We typically grow these from seeds. I suppose this is what I get for buying starts instead of planting seeds!  Anyway, after transplant, they looked great for about 2 hours then began to droop and continued to get flatter and flatter til they ultimately looked like they were goners. Unfortunately, I was so depressed over their demise I failed to take a photo of them at their worst. 

beets immediately after transplant (L) and a couple of days later (R foreground)

Over this past weekend, we were stunned to see how much they had grown and perked up.  They looked like new so we trimmed away the dead leaves and voila!  I am continually amazed by the resilience of plants.

 

Jim trimming the dead leaves (L) and final product (R)

The zucchini and bush bean seedlings have been happily under cover to protect them from predators.  They are doing really well and almost ready to be released to the sunshine.  There are a few spaces where some of the beans failed to germinate.  I just found some more seeds so hope to re-plant those spots soon.  

zucchini and bush beans growing well!

Speaking of beans, we covered the bush beans to protect them from grazing lizards and birds.  The prescience of this decision was evident as we watched the Christmas beans and Blue Lake pole beans germinate only to be eaten down to a nubbin.  I replanted those and created mini floating row covers to protect them.  

Louie helping me finish off the covers

Not wanting to run to town, I had to get creative with what was on hand.  I used old retired drip tubing to fashion the hoops, leftover frost cloth scraps for the covers, and clothes pins to clip them together.  The sides are weighted down with surveyor stakes which had previously doubled as tomato stakes.  So far, so good.  I'm trying to wait to the weekend to take a peak at them but it's killing me to not be able to see how they are doing.  

pole beans in hiding under floating row covers

We were able to do more harvesting over the weekend....

first sugar snap pea harvest

 

another harvest of spinach and Romaine lettuce

Finally, we made time to tackle the blackberries.  They were truly running amok!  The trellis we built years ago was not sufficiently anchored for the weight of the mature plants which pulled the end poles inward causing the wires to sag.  We bought some 8 foot fence posts, pounded them in (which required some interesting positions on chairs, ladders, and fences) and tied a guy line with rope between the original end posts and the new posts.  Worked lie a charm!  with newly straightened posts and taut wires, we were able to tie up the berry plants and begin to restore some order to that end of the garden.

  

before

 

and after

The fava beans are looking good and I am itching to harvest them!  They are really pretty plants with gorgeous flowers and tasty fruit!  I wish the season was a bit longer.  They are so much fun to grow and cook with.

fava bean bed next to the kale bed

fava beans almost ready for harvest

The chili pepper plants are also coming along.  They are all uncovered and quite a few have fruit set.  We have begun to stake them  up as needed and a couple are already nestled inside their supportive tomato cages.

three chili pepper beds

 

We continue to find volunteer tomato plants throughout the garden.  The latest was discovered behind the blackberry bed and was only accessible after we tied up the berries. Fortunately we have several friends in need of tomato plants.  Once they have been transplanted to pots and recovered from transplant shock,  off they go to their new homes.

more volunteers

Finally, as I walked around the corner of the yard to survey the weeding situation, I was pleasantly surprised to find some raspberries ripening.  These are were sooooooo goood!  They very seldom make it into the house!

raspberries.... YUM!