After taking last summer off from growing vegetables, I was excited to return to food production. Don't get me wrong, planting flowers for the wedding was a lot of fun and a memory that I will treasure, but there's just something to be said for eating from a garden plot that you have lovingly tended.
My first harvest from the garden was a bunch of radishes, which I used in a salad and enjoyed as a snack. This variety was pretty spicy, but I didn't mind.
I tried bok choy for the first time and was happy to see that it grew quickly. Unfortunately, it also bolted in the heat a lot faster than I was expecting, so I had to harvest every plant early. I have it in the fridge and plan to use it in a stir-fry.
My pole beans are giant and seem healthy, but have yet to set the flowers necessary for bean production. The plants have also been invaded by Mexican bean beetles, which I am battling. In the past, I planted bush beans, and I never had a pest problem. I also never had a very high yield of beans, which is why I decided to try my hand at pole beans. I'm starting to wonder if beans are simply not in my wheelhouse.
The beets I planted had a germination rate of about twenty-five percent, which is also unusual for me; I generally do really well with beets. I harvested a bunch and replanted. The new seed is starting to germinate, so I am hopeful that I will get a late harvest.
My tomatoes are all doing really well. I chose the ugliest heirloom varieties that I could find in the nursery, and it's been interesting to see how the fruits have developed. I also planted a yellow pear variety, which always does well in my garden, and a couple of purple cherry varieties, which are producing. I'm excited for all of the tomatoes to ripen so I can taste them.
My herbs are all doing well, including the basil that I planted from seed...
..and the dill that I planted next to my cucumbers.
This weekend, I harvested a bunch of beets, one green bell pepper, a handful of herbs, one medium-sized tomato, and a bunch of cherry tomatoes that weren't ripe but were on a branch that broke from a plant in the high winds that recently blew through. I don't know if they will ripen on the counter, but I'm willing to see what happens.
And that's the first garden update for the summer. We'll have to see how the rest of the season plays out.
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