Harvesting A Bit At A Time

My little square foot garden is finally springing forth some bounty.   This time of year can really make or break a garden, actually.  For several weeks there, I watched and waited and watched some more as seedlings grew more into plants.  I watched the spinach get a little bigger and a little bigger, and then finally, I could harvest some and turn it into salad for the dinner table.  I watched the broccoli begin to bud and then it was a matter of waiting patiently for those buds to turn into gorgeous broccoli heads.  I harvested a few kale leaves and some scallions a few weeks back to toss into pasta… and I have patiently been watching the bok choy and the tatsoi, waiting for them to get just big enough to harvest… and then it got hot.

Which is not good news for most of the above mentioned crops.  The spinach immediatly responded to the heat and shot up flowers and decided it was done.  The broccoli also shot up very quickly and got spindly.  I cut off the small heads, and while I’m hoping for more to develop, I don’t know if it will.  Here is some beautiful baby bok choy I harvested last week for a quick saute:

Two days later the rest of the bok choy went into the compost, as they shot up flowers and became bitter.  The cabbage seems to be managing the heat a bit better, but I think I better plan some things to do with my Caraflex cabbage over the next few weeks.  In fact, I was just chatting about this cabbage to some online friends.  You wouldn’t think there would be much of a difference between cabbage varieties, but if you happen to see Caraflex or Arrowhead cabbage- pick it up, it’s delicious and tender and buttery, and not harsh at all like cabbage can be sometimes.  Here’s the cabbage with it’s outer leaves:

And here it is with them removed.  It really is this shape, and it’s perfect for small servings of cabbage, which is really all we need:

At the same time, while the burst of heat wasn’t good for some of my vegetables, it ws very good for others.  My seventeen tomato plants have all gotten blossoms on them, while the cucumbers and zucchini have also taken off.  Yesterday was the best day so far though, because yesterday I plucked the first of my Swiss Chard leaves.  The chard will grow for me from now until we get a hard freeze, and it’s easily become my favorite vegetable.  Last night, I decided I could stand to harvest a dozen small leaves or so, and I sauteed it up with some garlic and used it to top a pizza. It was delicious and wonderful, I so love Swiss Chard fresh out of the ground!

If you’ve never gardened, but want to give it a try, I highly recommend the Swiss Chard. If you grow the Bright Lights variety, as I do, you can even plant it in your landscaping, as the bright colors are beautiful and pleasing to look at.

Hopefully today will also be an adventure for us as we look to the skies and wish away the rain!  The kids and I have a date to invade someone else’s garden- the strawberry patch, to be specific, and I really am looking forward to it!