A Little Time in the Garden

I finally had some time to go out and deal with my garden today. I had time yesterday but since it was pouring all day long with no let up, I stayed inside. Today the nor'easter moved a bit farther north, so we are staying mostly dry.

The first order of business was to harvest all those greens that were patiently waiting for me. Though it isn't a harvest news day, I just had to say, I picked over four pounds of food. The above photo shows all of it except some green garlic, two serranos and the peas. The first two are very exciting. I picked the first green garlic of the year. Basically I needed garlic and I think it is silly to buy it when I have tons just growing in the garden. The cloves aren't all that big yet, but if they were picked today they would be usable. Which is good. The garlic is starting to get brown around the edges. The first of the bottom leaves are brown.

The serranos (I think, they could still be my jalapenos due to a labeling mishap) have been amazing. I can't believe they have been setting in this cold cloudy weather. Three were of a size I could pick, but I only needed two so left the other on the plant. There are little serranos everywhere and a couple of cayennes. The jalapenos haven't started to set. They have been flowering, but their blossoms just fall off.

If you notice in all that harvest greenery, there is a small head of cabbage. I have three cabbages, but elected to pick the middle one now. The other two will have more room that way. This is Gonzales cabbage which produces small heads when planted closely together. And yes they are planted just a foot apart - or were. Now they have a touch more room.

The lettuce is amazing. I love the looks of the different kinds. The Merveille de Quatre Saisons is always the prettiest. I thought it was only a loose leaf lettuce, but it has started to head up. It looks a little like a buttercrunch lettuce in the middle. I picked four heads of lettuce today of four different kinds. I now have space for the next set of seedlings to go out.

I'd been debating what to do will all my excess peas. I gave some away. I thought about freezing them, but then I read a post on From Seed to Table and Michelle was pickling her excess peas. What a wonderful solution. Plus I was wondering what I'd bring to the July 4th BBQ. Well I'm bringing pickled veggies. I used my regular pickling recipe, I just used other veggies besides cucumbers.