I had fully intended to make a massive post on Earth day on April 22nd. Nate really wanted to go on a picnic, but I figured I had plenty of time afterward to write about finishing my first batch of compost. However, our picnic turned into a long drive in the country, which turned into an overnight stay at the Edgefield hotel, which turned into Nate asking me to marry him. I said yes and the past few days have been incredibly busy and exciting. The only problem is that my Earth day compost story never got written and it probably never will. I guess sometimes blogging just has to take a backseat on the rollercoaster of life.
Anyway, May is almost here and the garden is looking lush! I just want to make a quick post with some photos from today.
Above is a close up of one head of butterhead lettuce. The specific variety is called “Tom Thumb”. I planted the lettuce seed in some biodegradable pots but as you can see it’s still relatively intact! Hopefully it doesn’t restrict those little lettuce roots.
The mesclun mix lettuce is flourishing in the garden and we’ve also planted a variety of romaine that is called “Freckles” which is light green with red speckles which is especially adorable. I think we can all agree that baby lettuce is undeniably cute!
We have two varieties of kale in the garden right now. This red Russian kale is in the front yard; there is also blue curly dwarf kale that I started from seed in our garden beds. I find it funny that both varieties have colors in their names, because they both look green to me! I picked up these red Russian starts from a local nursery and transplanted them in March but they have only just started shooting up in the past few weeks. I’m hoping to give them a good dose of fertilizer tomorrow to keep the rapid growth going. This photo is of the biggest and it stands at about eight inches tall right now. Kale is one of my favorite vegetables, but I almost always prepare it the same way (sauted with garlic and red pepper flakes). If you have a good kale recipe, do share!
I was completely shocked to see that little potato sprouts are already poking up through the dirt in my burlap bags. It has been 11 days since I planted these potatoes and everything I read suggested that they would appear dormant for up to a month. I guess my seed potatoes were ready to get growing. This photo is of an “All Blue” potato sprout and it looks quite blue in person. A few of the Russian bananas have begun to sprout as well.
Carrots, Brussels sprouts and fennel have all been recently added to the garden and there are a variety of tomatoes in the greenhouse that need to be transplanted. Nate also planted a variety of melons, summer and winter squashes last week. I hope to have more information on all of those soon!
