What we are harvesting in the late June garden

Garden at sunrise

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Right now, we are harvesting greens (lettuce, spinach, sorrel, peppers, sprouting broccoli, arugula, corn salad), peas, zucchini, strawberries, onions, garlic, herbs and potatoes.  This year we have gotten above average rain accompanied by way above average temperatures.  The rain was great for the lettuce and peas; not so great for any seed starting or summer veggies in the garden.  

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The lettuce and spinach is now bolting.  I am letting it go to seed so I can save the seed to resow.  The bees love the flowers, too.  I am still harvesting lower leaves for salads and smoothies on the Red Sails, Grand Rapids and Romaine.  Their leaves have remained sweet tasting.  Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces  Other varieties can become bitter and woody.  I throw in dandelion, burnet, and sorrel for added nutrition and taste.  Growing summer salads

Lettuce bolting

The cucumber seeds I direct sowed rotted.  I re-sowed in a pot on the covered deck.  They have sprouted.  I’ll wait until they have at least one set of true leaves before I transplant them.

Cucumber info and tips for growing

I have baby tomatoes and eggplants.  One of my Tangerine sweet pepper plants has full size peppers on it.  The rest of my pepper plants have baby peppers.  Peppers are for every taste and garden  All the tomato plants are blooming.  The Violet Jasper I planted in a pot is huge and has several small tomatoes on it.  I need to get a cage on it quickly while I still can!  Last year, the tomato I grew in the pot only needed a stake.  This one is monster and needs more support.  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

The tomatoes and basil are not growing as quickly as typical.  I assume it is from all the cloudy days we have had this spring.  The zucchini has just taken off in the last couple of weeks.  Growing zucchini and summer squash

At our old house, we had our garden edged in daylilies and they would be in full, glorious bloom this time of year.  You couldn’t even see the veggies behind them when standing in the yard.

Kitchen garden with daylilies in front

In our lake house garden, I interplant flowers with my veggies.  The flowers attract pollinators like bees which increases the amount of fruits you get off your summer fruits and vegetables as well as being beautiful.

The sprouting broccoli has little heads on it.  The leaves and florets can be eaten in salads and frozen.  For freezing, you just blanche them (throw them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then dunk them in cold water), pat dry, and put them into freezer bags.  Freezing the extras for winter

I harvested the garlic this week end.  The onions are ready to be harvested.  There is a debate on whether to remove the flowers to get bigger heads.  I leave them.  The bees love them!  Remember to save the largest and tastiest cloves of garlic to plant in the fall.  Garlic harvest time is near!

When the onion or shallot leaves fall over, then they are ready to harvest.  Pull them and bring them in a hot, dry area to season before bringing them in for storage for 2-3 weeks.

It is not too late to start a garden now.
It is not too late to start a garden in June!