Garden Goodies

This has been a good couple of weeks for garden goodies! I harvested Broccoli and Asparagus, the last of the carrots from last year, and I have snow peas and strawberries that look like they are almost ready to pick!



Broccoli

I harvested the remaining three heads of broccoli.  They were starting to flower, so I knew it was time.  Honestly, I should have picked them a week or so ago, but I was hoping they would hang on longer so I could enjoy fresh broccoli over a couple of weeks.  But they all seemed to come ripe in the same week. As a result, I have one in the fridge to eat this week, and I blanches and roze the remaining two heads to enjoy later.

Asparagus

I have been closely watching my asparagus heads, and many of my strongest crowns seemed not come up this year. I was very sad! But on Thursday, I just put the hose on the area for a few minutes and gave it a really deep soaking, and a few days later, a few more heads appeared, including my strongest one! 

Of my third year plants (the thick strong crowns), I seem to have around nine plants. I am still hoping one or two more might show their heads after the rains forecasted for Monday.

Of my second year plants (from the crown I planted last year - as evidenced by their thin stalk) - I have only three

Of my crowns planted this year, I thought I had only four of the six take root, but looking today, I have found life on all three plants!

And, maybe even more exciting, I have found three baby asparagus plants that must have reseeded from other plants, as they are very, very small, and close to (but not directly next to) larger plants.

The problem with my asparagus is that I don't have enough plants to have a dinner portion all come ripe at one time.  I seem to have four to six stalks pop up at once, but by the time others appear, those five or six have gotten too big. And now I am not sure if I should cut down the big ones.  I think I should, even if I can't eat them.

But, counting up all of the live stalks, as of right now, I have a total of 21 plants! Now, only nine of them are currently harvestable, but it is a good start to a long term bed.  Woot!

Strawberries

I have one strawberry that is ready to pick, one more that will be ready tomorrow or Tuesday and many more on the plants that are green and growing. Fingers crossed!

Snow Peas

I even have a few snow peas appearing on the plants.  Having never grown these before, I am unsure when I should pick them.  They are sort of yellowish-green, so I am thinking they are not ripe yet. I am afraid I will have the same problem as with the asparagus - not enough ripe at once for a meal. Fortunately, snow peas keep for a little longer in the fridge, so maybe I can pick and hold for a bit?

So, all in all, the garden is doing well. With only warm weather in the forecast, I am going to pick up some tomato plants and put them in the ground this weekend.  With a 60% chance of rain (the first rain of the year), maybe now is a good time.