Another Independency Days update. The garden is really starting to pick up steam. Spinach, lettuce and radishes are bolting, but the peas are starting to pull their weight, and herbs are only a couple of weeks away from harvestable size. I thinned the turnips and got a few baby turnips that we ate right up. Onions are going great, tomatoes are all looking healthy, kale is ready to pick up the slack when we exhaust our lettuce stores in the fridge. Beans all have 2 pairs of real leaves and the potatoes are growing so big I've run out of soil to mound on top of them and I'll have to go and buy a few bags this weekend.
It's been really rainy here, which means the slugs are out in force, I mostly just hand pick them off since I have enough of everything to share a few bites. Some garden friends have armies of slugs they're dealing with and I'm glad mine aren't that bad.
Plant the food: Various herbs got planted, Basils, oregano, mint, catnip, lavender and cilantro for Dave. I failed to get my squashes in, and I think it's probably too late now to mess with it. I'll just buy them at the market like everyone else. Although, if I'm really on the ball this weekend I might plant one hill just for kicks.
Harvest the food: Lettuce galore! Peas and baby turnips and radishes. Lots of greens.
Preserve the food: dried greens for potherbs, dried red raspberry leaf for tea.
Waste not: organized the storage area where soil amendments had been stacking up. Eggshells and containers of worm compost are now tidy.
Want not: finished some sewing projects with material from my stash. Used leftover pavers that my landlady donated to redo the East flower bed. I'll post pictures and details soon. Becky will be proud of my landscaping. :-D Dave finished the last of the yeast that I bought over a year ago and we invested in a large amount of yeast to restock that vital component. Honey was restocked with a medium sized container of local honey. I'd like to get a larger container before winter.
Eat the food: Rhubarb compote on pancakes, salads of every shape and size.
Local Food Systems: Still volunteering with the 3rd graders, I met 2 gardeners in my neighborhood this week. One is new to the hobby and one is a long time addict. I'm hoping we can trade excess veggies this summer.
A quick note to those who might be new, Independence Days is an ongoing activity sponsored by Sharon, over at The Chatelaine's Keys. The basic premise is we're all busy people. Sometimes the thought of growing our own, making our own and other such self-sufficient activities overwhelms even the most well meaning people. No one has the time to do it all. What we do have is the time to do little bits. Those little bits add up. I have the time today to plant a couple of seeds, tomorrow I'll dry a couple of handfuls of greens, etc. When you add up all the little things you end up with days where you are self-sufficient, Independence Days, and those make it all worth while. The blog posts get linked back on Sharon's site and we all celebrate the small things and know that they *do* add up and that every little bit helps. Join us! It's easy, there are no commitments, no minimums or deadlines, just people doing what they can to do things for themselves.
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