Harvest Monday

It has been a while since I have done a Harvest Monday post so today seemed like a good day to do one. The heat finally broke today so I was able to get some work done that I have been putting off. I am starting to get the feeling it is going to be one hot summer. This should be good for the garden but not so good for the gardener, one can only remove so much clothing. Here is a series of photos of what I picked today:

Today I harvested all the garlic. It seems kind of early to harvest garlic put it was definitely ready. It is a little small this year, likely due to my December planting.

 

Amongst the garlic I had a bunch of potatoes come up from last years garden. I swear I got them all last fall :) I'm not complaining though because these mini potatoes will be excellent for dinner tomorrow.

Odds and sods are the first tomatoes of the season, sungold cherries. Along with a few broccoli side shoots and a mini zucchini. These will be added to a salad tomorrow.

 

Lastly here is a couple heads of broccoli I harvested last week. The broccoli has been great this year. The only issue I have had is I lost a few heads last week to the heat.

First Broccoli

Last Tuesday I harvested the first broccoli of the season. Fresh broccoli can not be beat! It was quickly blanched and served with slow roast duck and potatoes roasted in duck fat. All was cooked on the grill as it has been close to 40c(104f) for most of the week. 

The garden is doing quite well this season. The only thing needed at the moment is to pull some bolted lettuce and replant the area. I also have a bit of weeding to do. Once that is completed I will post an overdue overview of the garden.

 The last section of fencing was completed a few weeks ago and last weekend I completed the new retaining wall. Previous to the fence I had a garden tie retaining wall close to the tree and it had rotted out over the years. So I pulled that out and replaced it will a dry stone wall. All the stones were collected in the country (free!) and then I filled the area with triple mix hauled in by our truck. Once it cools down this weekend I will be dividing plants to fill the bed.

One bed down, All the rest to go!

May 3rd I planted the first bed of the season consisting of Broccoli and Pea's on the trellis behind. I also put in a few lettuce starts. The broccoli is doing well but it has not been the best season for peas. Hopefully they will catch up soon, it has been really dry this spring.

This weekend is the typical planting time for none hardy crops in the area. The plan is to get everything in, we'll see how I do. Lots of pictures to follow when I am done. I am looking forward to home grown veg again!

In other yard news, I have been continuing with my fence building. It has been a long hiatus since completing the north side in 2009. This year I am fencing off the entire yard. The back is done as of May 2nd and this week I am planning on starting the south side. Please disregard the sawdust covered patio....

Pea's

Well spring is here, so far it has been really dry and relatively warm overall (not today!). On march 18th I started my peas as I always do in rootrainers(Made in Canada!) and germinated in the cold frame. That way they don't rot and the squirrels can't eat them. They are off to the races now and I will soon plant them out under one of the trellises. This year I am growing "Pea Seeds for Peace" that were kindly shared by Yan at Soggy Creek Seed Co. Here is a series of photos I took:

I first presoaked the seed and then planted them out. 23
days later they are ready for planting. Unfortunately the
slugs got a few of them...

Also in the frame is a few cells of greens that are ready for
planting as well.

Better Late Then Never...

Back on Dec 13th I planting my garlic, a bit late but the winter has been very mild. This year I am going for a less fussy garden so I just planted out a whole bed of the stuff. The bed is mainly planted with a large cloved hard neck variety, the farmer it came from calls it Elephant garlic. I also put in a few soft neck cloves that have a purple skin.


The garlic is now just starting to pop up. A good sign spring is coming!


The last couple days have been so nice which has got me in the mood to plant. Today I started a few cells of hardy greens including mixed lettuce, kale, winter density lettuce, red pac choi, tatsoi and bright lights chard. They are now on a heat mat and at the first signs of life they will go out in the coldframe.

Soon things will start ramping up in the garden so I will actually have something to post about. First things on the to-do list is getting my grow light set up and completing a garden plan. Once mid March rolls around I will be starting all the tomatoes, peppers, brassica's and peas. Here's hoping this season is better then last!


To wrap this up, the snowdrops made an appearance a couple weeks ago. It sure will be nice when it is green outside again!