One Small Victory Garden

You know everything will be alright when Memorial Day arrives. It's warm and the threat of frost has passed. Hopefully. A lot was accomplished this long, holiday weekend. And while spending those hours in the garden, I often paused and reflected on how far this little garden has come and how much I've learned along the way. Now,with the weekend winding down, I'm able to sit down and share my garden with you.

Those brassicas are really growing now. The trunks are thickening and the leaves are bigger than my hand. The broccoli has yet to form a floret, so I'm hoping it will happen soon, before the summer heat. I'm afraid I started my brussels too early and they will be bitter before they are ready to harvest. Next year, I will start broccoli earlier to be planted in March. I'll wait until mid-summer to plant the brussels, so they will be ready to harvest after the first snow when they're tender and sweet.

We've eaten only two heads of lettuce thus far. Totally delish. I have two of butterhead that are actually forming soft heads. I want to harvest them before they become bitter from the heat. I cut the two Romaine stalks off just above the stem. Now I'm being rewarded with "cut and come again" style lettuce!
The potatoes are growing up quickly. I've mounded on soil twice, a little bit at a time. If everything is working correctly, I should have a decent crop.

I spent a good amount of time this weekend weeding and thinning the carrots. It looks like I should have about six dozen of them.

The three tomato plants that I put out before the rains (and then the heat) have required some nurturing. I added more soil, and mounted it up around the stem, then created a well around the base to collect water. There is new leaf growth, albeit small. I gave them friends, too. I added six more tomatoes, four bell peppers, and two basil plants, using the same method on all.

I planted radishes and beets between the potatoes and carrots. In the bottom row, I planted cucumbers and beans in a long hill I created by making a trench with my hoe, to hopefully collect some water and prevent all my new soil from washing away. In front of them, I sparsely planted Swiss chard and spinach.