The garden is doing great. You’ve seen me talk about my lettuce “bolting” and for some of you non-gardeners, I can only imagine what you might be thinking.
Bolting Lettuce
This is what it does. One day, it’s about the size of the lettuce you see in the grocery store and the next day . . it has bolted! It’s up over my shoulders! Really! And it has a huge stalk/stem in the middle. Sometimes the leaves are still tender but sometimes, by the time it bolts, the leaves are tough, bitter and stringy. Shortly after bolting, if the whole plant is not pulled up, a flower head will appear. I could leave it, let it go to seed and harvest the seeds for next year but I need the space for planting okra so the bolted lettuce plants are pulled up and given to the chickens.
It bolts due to a combination of the longer daylight hours and the extreme heat. Once daytime temps are reaching 90º to 95º, there’s no stopping it. There are slower bolting varieties but summertime in central Texas is no place for growing lettuce.
Lettuce
The buttercrunch and this lighter green leaf lettuce have not bolted yet and I’m still getting way more lettuce than we can eat.
The lettuce has now all been pulled up and I’ve planted okra in it’s place
Okra Planted
Okra needs a warm ground to germinate and I wait til at least mid-May to plant it. This year, it was even later but it will grow and produce right up til we get a frost.
Radish
Last year I planted this long radish, called a French Breakfast Radish. It grows well and gets large quickly but doesn’t get tough or woody inside. I like these a lot and every 2 or 3 weeks, I sow a few more seeds so I have a continuous supply of radishes. On a hot day, I love snacking on radishes dipped in blue cheese or ranch dressing.
Popcorn
My few popcorn stalks seem to be growing nicely. No sign of any ears of corn yet but at least they’ve survived some high winds, lots of rain and a minor grasshopper infestation.
Kale
The kale is doing great. I cut my kale while it’s very young and tender . . nothing like the tough, huge leaves found in our local grocery stores. Last year, the kale produced right up til frost so I’m hoping for the same thing this year. The grasshoppers weren’t very interested in it last year.
Chard
The chard is amazing. I can’t believe I had never grown or eaten it til last year.
Tomatoes
Looks like this is going to be my first ripe tomato for 2014. We have about 55 plants . . don’t ask me why! I guess it’s kinda like chickens at Tractor Supply . . there are so many varieties, you want some of each variety and you don’t want just one.
Potatoes
The potatoes are blooming. You know what’s weird? Remember when we had the late freeze and I only had enough boxes to cover the potatoes in the first half of the row? All the potatoes in the back half of the row froze back. I cut them even with the ground and they were kinda spindly and sad looking for a while but now, they’re bigger, greener and blooming more than the ones that didn’t freeze back. I’m anxious to see if one group produces more potatoes than the other group.
Beets
Some of the beets should have been harvested this week but I would like to set up one big pickling operation and do them all at once so I’ll probably harvest them all next week . . give the smaller ones another week to grow.
Squash
I planted yellow squash from seed but apparently last year, everywhere a squash plant was, they dropped some of their fruit and those seeds planted themselves because there are volunteer squash plants everywhere. I think I planted 12 plants and I believe there are about 30 plants now growing.
Volunteers
See the tomato? I planted that. In front and to the left .. that’s a squash plant that came up on its own. In the front and to the right . . those are carrots that came up on their own. There are probably 75 or more carrots growing and I didn’t plant a single one in the summer garden but they’re all producing so we have fresh carrots in our salads every night.
Onions
There are onions everywhere. I had planted this little section, then planted several other varieties in rows. We won’t run out of onions this year!
Artichoke
What I’m most excited about is this! The artichoke. I’ve never grown them before. There are 5 plants that I bought and 4 that I started from seeds. I’ve heard they grow here but when I read about them, the info says they prefer cool, moist summers. Hmmm . . I don’t think they stand much chance of getting what they prefer but really . . who does these days? 🙂
I’m real happy with my garden and I love spending time out there.
Vickie VanDyken says
Your garden is beautiful! No wonder you love spending time there 🙂 Nice group of “volunteers you have. I really should do this….You inspire me. The Artichokes, I wonder if they would do well here in damp NW Wa.?? Where are they grown in the country? I better look that up!! We have hauled a lot of produce, never any Artichokes and I love them…hmmmm I think my thumb is greening up. Thanks for the inspiration, lovely details and the pictures.
Joyce says
I always plant Kale with good intentions of using it, but then I ignore it and the bugs eat it all. That means I have bugs with really good eyesight! 🙂 Yesterday I noticed I have a rogue tomato plant in the middle of the squash…I guess I left a tomato behind last fall when I cleaned off the garden! I’m going to have to figure out a way to stake it up pretty soon.
jennifer says
wow! your garden looks great! it’s growing so well! we have a large garden for our CSA- enough to feed about 40 families. most folks start out so enthusiastic, but their garden goes downhill the hotter it gets- it’s hard to work outside when it’s so hot! great job!
FrancesB says
Oh, serious Garden Envy… What an inspiration! Thanks for sharing.
Linda Enneking says
Your garden looks great. You should try beets cooked and served with a little butter,, salt and pepper, they are so good.
Something is different with your blog today, the ad at the top and the title bar will not move, so I can only see part of your pictures. I measured, on my laptop there is 3.25 inches of viewing area below your title bar. I realize your pictures are not very big, but I can’t scroll to see the whole picture.
Helen says
Every thing looks lovely. Most of our lettuce bolted a while back. I’m not fond of lettuce (but my husband is) so I’m always happy when it bolts!
I’m surprised to see your onions flowering. We’ve always picked ours once the flower stem starts.
Cookie E. says
Beautiful garden. Love seeing all that you grow. We live on in a place that is rocky beyond belief so it’s a few raised beds and a few Earthboxes for me. What I don’t grow myself I get at the Farmers Market.
I got a little carried away with cucumbers this year, so lots of varieties of pickles will be canned. Finally got the okra into the ground from seed too. After you mentioned that you dehydrate it I’m very anxious to do the same.
Phyllis says
I have learned to love greens but have never had chard. For some reason my store never had is. How do you fix it? Is it a cold weather crop also?
Gayle Bong says
Hi Judy, I just love hearing about your garden and your chickens. I love both. I enjoy our neighbors chickens when they visit me while I am in my garden. But my garden is no longer vegetables. I have planted a prairie filled with native grasses and wildflowers instead. I know, you can’t eat the flowers. Oh well. I love spending time out there fussing over the weeds and every little bloom.
AmyM says
fantastic!
Donna F says
I love your garden! Have you tried to grow peanuts yet? I wonder how well they would do here in TX? We have a small garden just tomatoes, squash, cukes, & red cherry peppers. Mine doesn’t look as good as yours! For some reason my squash haven’t flowered yet…waiting patiently.
Kathy C in OR says
I am green with veggie-eny. I try so hard to grow a garden here in the Northwest. I always had a big garden wherever I lived but here I struggle to keep 4 tomato plants, some herbs and Kentucky Wonder beans. I did plant a tomatillo plant this years and it seems to be happy.
Luckily I have an abundance of farmers markets and farms to supply my needs.
Your garden looks amazing, happy eating.
Rebecca in SoCal says
Artichoke!? My first thought was that your climate is nothing like Watsonville! (Vickie: north of Monterey Bay, mostly).
Another way to enjoy radishes is to dip into lime juice, then a chili powder/salt mixture. (I think 6:1…1 Tbsp:1/2 tsp). My “menfolk” really like that.
Dar in MO says
Your garden is wonderful looking. I’m so envious. I can just taste that first tomato.
Amy (NW WI) says
LOL…
only 55 tomato plants;
….so much for cutting back 😉
Great looking garden, Judy!
Shelley says
Wow–what a garden! We had a killing frost yesterday and I lost all my squash and basil. Replanting today and hoping to get a few before first frost!
Brandy M. says
Judy – it looks amazing!!! So excited to see your garden posts throughout the ’14 summer!!
🙂