For the last week or so, my Merlot leaf lettuce has been getting slowly "leggier" -- the stalk has been growing longer, usually a sign of impending bolt. This morning when I went into the garden, I noted that a couple of my spotted Romaine were also starting to get a bit leggy, so I decided that today was the day to harvest.

I filled two bottle flats -- you know, the kind the vending machine service technicians carry the bottled Coke in -- full to overflowing with lettuce. The count:

Today's Harvest

5 heads of Romaine
9 heads of Spotted Romaine (I left one on the stalk to bolt)
6 heads of Merlot lettuce (I left one on the stalk to bolt)
9 heads Australian Yellow leaf lettuce (I left one on the stalk to bolt)

Why did I leave three heads to bolt? Well, last year some of my lettuce bolted before I got it harvested; this spring when I went to prepare my garden beds, I found 9 little Australian Yellow starts, 5 spotted romaine starts, and 3 Merlot starts. And yes, they all survived the transplant into small pots, then the subsequent transplant about 3 weeks later into the ground. They formed the bulk of my lettuce crop this year. I'm hoping that by allowing my lettuce to bolt again this year, I'll get a fair number of small lettuce starts again next spring, and be able to start at least my lettuce without having to buy transplants!

I also harvested:

4 artichokes
About a pound of snow/snap peas
About a pint of strawberries

Sadly, it looks like my strawberry crop is coming to an end. We've done well, though -- we've managed to harvest a couple of pounds of strawberries, which have made a pleasant accompaniment to ice cream in the evenings. I want to make strawberry jam soon, but I suspect I will be doing that using strawberries from a U-Pick, since I don't get nearly the necessary harvest off of my little patch.

First broccoli and some more artichokes!

Current garden count:

4 gallon bags of lettuce -- 2 Monday, 2 today
40-50 sugar snap/snow peas
30 strawberries
3 artichokes
3 green onions

First, the good news -- the lettuce is still going strong and not showing any signs of bolting yet. We had a spell of cooler weather from Friday of last week through now -- still sunshine most days, but interspersed with some rain and coolness as well, which seems to have helped to keep the bolting at bay. The lettuce is producing well -- evidenced by the above -- and the romaine is really starting to develop the full, oblong heads which are their trademark. The spotted romaine is producing madly -- every day when I go out to pick it looks thicker and leafier than it did the day before!

The peas are on the same burgeoning path as the lettuce. Every day when I go out, I see more peas to pick. It's as if they grow overnight from a pod the size of my pinky to ones about 4-6" long. I staked the mammoths better last weekend, so it's a little easier to see the smaller peas, but I suspect the smaller peas are never going to produce very well, since their much larger relative seems to have taken over most of the garden space! At least getting them staked better means that we can actually see the corn plants and they're getting a little more light than they were!

All the beans seem to be up now, and heading toward the light. The cucumbers have some minor issue that involves a white streak on the stem, but for most of them it doesn't seem to be impacting them unduly. The one sad little one looks like it may give up the ghost, though. I sprayed with an essential oil anti-fungal treatment, and gave them some more worm tea this weekend, so we'll see how that works. The squashes are recovering nicely from whatever was ailing them previously, I think thanks primarily to a liberal weekly dosing of worm tea. The first broccoli crown is about ready for picking, and looks to be followed shortly by the first bunch from the purple sprouting broccoli.

Potatoes are flowering; artichokes are growing at a rate that makes me start looking for recipes for marinated artichokes . . . tomatoes are setting rapidly. The yellow tomato Taxi has 5 tomatoes set now; Speckled Romas have one tomato each; two of the cherries have about 5 tomatoes each. Haven't looked too closely at the rest yet. Beets are beginning (barely) to come up. Peppers are flowering. Mustard has thoroughly bolted -- about time to pull it out and drop some rutabagas in its place. Once the lettuce bolts, I'll plant rutabagas and brussels sprouts in its place.

I finally got around to putting something in the front flower beds. I bought four perennials this weekend -- a pink hydrangea, blue and white mixed delphinium, purple/white penstemon, pink bearded tongue, lavender/pink pincushion flower, lavender, pink cranesbill (true geranium) and veronica (speedwell). My color theme is apparently purple, blue, and pink . . . The intent is to also plant some annual seeds and a few perennial seeds (columbine and coreopsis). We'll see if I manage to get them in the ground!

Current garden count:

2 gallon bags of lettuce picked yesterday
8-10 strawberries
10 or so peas
3 artichokes

I think the lettuce is going to bolt soon. It's hard to remember, since I haven't kept track of it for the last two years, but I think this is the earliest yet for the lettuce to bolt. The giant red mustard is already flowering, as is the bok choy. The bok choy again has been really disappointing. The first year I had bok choy it did really well -- the spring must have been substantially cooler -- but the past two years the bok choy has bolted really early and been lackluster as far as production. I've moved its location around the garden, but nothing seems to protect it from the excess heat in our garden. The artichokes are producing beautifully -- there are 17 more artichokes on the plants at various stages of growth. The tallest of the artichokes is over 6 ft tall now! They seem to love their location -- right up against a wall facing the sun from the south.

I've been lucky enough to find people at work who will relieve me of my excess produce . . . a good thing because once the first lettuce head bolts, I will need to harvest and store 30+ heads of lettuce. Always good to know that I have friends willing to take it off my hands!

I've discovered that Mammoth snow peas grow beautifully in my garden, but seem to take over and crowd out all the other peas. Perhaps next year I'll just plant the Mammoth snow peas and find a good variety of sugar peas that also grows reasonably large, so that it can hold its own against the Mammoths!

All the beans are up now, I think, or close. I'm hoping to get a good crop of beans so that I can do pickled green beans again. Missed doing them last year, and once we ran out of the previous year's stock, we were very sad.

I watered the squashes, cucumbers, and tomatoes with worm tea last weekend. It seems to have given them some renewed vigor. The cucumbers in particular were looking quite pathetic, and not putting much on in the way of growth. But they've suddenly sprouted a few new leaves and a couple of inches of vine. The squash -- summer and winter -- are looking better and growing more too. The tomatoes are flowering nicely, and the yellow tomato -- Taxi -- has already set three tomatoes. I'm hoping for a good tomato crop this year in order to make that excellent roasted tomato sauce from two summers ago. That was marvelous. Now I just need to get a pressure canner to can my harvest safely!

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

Fresh vine-ripened tomatoesOnions, chopped
Garlic cloves, minced
Sweet peppers
Chili peppers
Herbs of your choice (such as basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme)
1-2 T. of water to cook onions and garlic until soft
Coarse salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Granulated sugar (optional)*

1. Preheat oven to 350, and center your rack.
2. Cut tomatoes and peppers into chunks. Seed the chilis if you don't want the sauce too spicy.
3. Chop onions and mince garlic, and saute in a large pot or dutch oven (with ovenproof handles) in a little bit of water in order to soften. You can use oil instead if you don't plan to can your tomato sauce, but if you do plan to can it, make sure you use water, as the oil isn't safe for canning.
4. Add tomatoes, peppers, herbs, salt and pepper to the mixture. Stir to combine, and place the pot in the oven.
5. Roast at 350 for 4-5 hours. As the sauce cooks down, add more tomatoes and peppers for the first 3 hours.
6. At the end of the 5 hours, your sauce should be a reddish brown with large, soft chunks of vegetables in it.
7. Allow to cool. Put the sauce through a food mill if you have one; if you don't, press it through a strainer.
8. This sauce freezes well, and is beautiful when added to cream to make a rose sauce.

Today's Strawberries

One week of rain followed by a weekend of sunshine:

6 bean plants sprouted yesterday, followed by 20 more today
Approximately 3 gallons of salad greens picked today -- I shared half with my neighbor
About 2 pints of strawberries
About a gallon of mustard greens
2 cups of pea pods

Strawberries are about a week earlier than last year. The tomato plants are growing well. Squash are looking markedly improved from last year! Onions are growing rapidly, cucumbers are hanging on. Old batch of chard is bolting, new batch of chard just about ready to start picking. First broccoli head is about the size of a two-year-old's fist. I've had to cut back the parsley so that it doesn't choke out the coriander, most of which volunteered from last year. Same with the arugula in its relationship to the basil . . . I was beginning to lost sight of my basil plant!

The potatoes are growing like crazy, and the first one has started to flowers. Flowers starting to set on most of the tomatoes. And an abundant supply of bees -- honey bees and bumblebees -- are busy pollinating our garden. They seem to have a particular affinity for sage flowers. How stupid did I feel -- I never knew that sage had flowers! They have these lovely purple flowers . . .

My neighbor asked me if I enjoyed gardening . . . I think my garden answers that question!

Sage Flowers