oxheart carrots
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Oxheart is an old heirloom variety that grows enormous – short, fat roots up to 1 lb or more. I harvested a nice bunch of these last night for dinner. They tasted great. Daucus carota
beet greens
I thinned some beets and cooked them up. Delicious. There were even a few 1-2 inch roots. Its a mix of three colors of beets, yellow, red and purple. To cook, I wrapped the larger beets in foil and baked them at about 375 about 20 min. I sauteed some onions and yellow peppers (delicious ones from the Belmont CSA farm) in olive oil and butter, then sliced and added the cooked beets. Last I added the beet greens and cooked everything until the greens wilted. The best beet green…
birthday dinner
Last evening we had a little party to celebrate my birthday. I have been admiring my big bowl full of freshly harvest garden vegetables all day. An unusually good harvest for me. Truly a bountiful year! A selection of these was roasted to perfection on the grill. We especially enjoyed the whole grill chiles. Small bites – nice and hot! To finish, rich chocolate cake decorated with oregano flowers.
baby carrots
I pulled a plateful of baby carrots yesterday. These are a mix of Red Core Chantenay, Oxheart (the fat ones) and Cosmic Purple that I planted on April 25. Tiny but tasty! The farmers at my local Farmers Market are already pulling their second crop of big carrots now. I asked a farmer about them and she said they planted a couple of weeks earlier than me, they have full sun in their fields, and they plant very early varieties. The first variety she says most farmers in New England…
thinned beets and carrots
I thinned my carrots and beets again. The beet greens are yummy mixed with lettuce greens. A few of the carrots were big enough to eat. Daucus carota beets (Beta vulgaris)
no scapes 🙁
I keep checking my garlic for scapes, since I read about them on many gardening blogs and I see them now at the Farmer’s Market. This is the first year I have grown garlic. Last fall I planted some of my commercial bulbs from the local supermarket. Sadly, no scapes. I quess I have “softneck garlic”. As Farmer MaryJane explains: Commercial garlic growers from warmer climates (for example, in Gilroy, California) use “softneck” garlic varieties that are readily machine harvested and do not produce scapes. Garlics that are well adapted…
thinning carrots
I tried to seed the carrots more thinly this year, but still they have ended up very dense. I am starting now to thin them. They are still too small to eat. I thin them gradually – soon the baby roots will be large enough to munch on as I continue to thin the rows. Daucus carota
planting potatoes
A couple of weeks ago, I planted potatoes for the first time by sticking 15 store bought potatoes about 4 inches down in the ground. Many sprouted nicely. But then yesterday I read that potatoes should be planted deep and gradually covered over with dirt as they grow. So, I dug up my potatoes and replanted them 8 inches down using the trench method: Trench method: “Dig a shallow trench about 4 inches wide and 6-8 inches deep. Plant your potato seeds (8) inches apart in this trench. Place the…
carrot seedlings
I planted three types of carrots this year. Two orange varieties and a purple one. The orange heirloom called “Oxheart” is produces a 6 inch root, 4 inches wide and over 1 pound! I’m looking forwar to this. It looks like I’ll need to do some serious thinning of all of the carrots. I tried to scatter the seed thinly this year, but still a million little plants. Daucus carota
fresh garden carrots
My carrots get sweeter as the winter goes on. These are very sweet. Many are still in the garden. The lettuce, parsley and garlic are looking good. This week is bringing record warmth (in the 60’s!) and the plants seem to be growing again. Daucus carota
This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy thinks the garden is his, even though I do all the work. We're located near Boston, in USDA zone 6. I have bees, chickens, fruit trees and berry bushes, too. I use all sustainable organic methods and strive to grow all of my family's vegetables myself. -Kathy
weeks and counting until my last spring frost
My garden this week
Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!
