Radishes are rad

This year we decided to direct-sow radishes.  We interplanted them with lettuces, kale, spinach, and peas.  Radishes are an early harvest so we knew we would clear bed space for the other crops.  

Mike took this ground level shot of the baby plant forest.

Radishes almost harvest themselves.  They begin to "shoulder" or let some of the firm, root body emerge above the soil line.  They grow in a variety of shapes and colors, but are usually pretty simple to gently draw from the earth.

Kevin cleared a ton of bed space when he harvested our crop last night.

He immediately made a raw radish and radish green salad, dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and herbs.  The 5-gallon bucket in front of him is filled with radishes.  To make the most of the harvest, we stole another idea from Mike and made several batches of radish kimchi, a fermented Korean side dish.  The kimchi can become a garnish or addition to sandwiches and salads.  There are a ton of radish greens that didn't make their way into the kimchi.  I plant to dice the greens and include them in stir-fries, pastas, salads, and pestos.

Happy harvesting!

Prepping the veggie garden

On Easter Sunday Kevin & I laid out the seed packets we'd acquired & began plotting.

We haven't done starts during the winter because we usually travel.  Also, our house gets very little sunlight so if we ever do start from seed during the winter, we'll need grow lamps.  Instead, we usually direct sow, get cuttings & starts from friends, & buy a few starts.

Consulting some books & online, we figured out the best companion plantings.  We're doing interplanting of several plants in the same bed to save space.  We're also doing this to get sequential harvests from the same beds.  Last year we planted strawberries, which were harvested in June.  In August we planted spinach in the same bed to get a fall yield.  Due to the mild winter this bed is giving us another round of spinach & we're finding fresh strawberry leaves!  Perfect.  We can keep successive plantings of both crops in the bed.  The strawberries may prove to be too invasive for the spinach, but then again, maybe not!

So delicious!  I was a nerd who loved getting the course catalogue before each college semester.  I imagined each class & was sure that it would be my most stimulating, thought-provoking learning experience.  Planning my veggie beds feels somewhat similar.  All of the sudden I'm sure this will be the year when I'll have bountiful harvests of healthy plants.  Probably, I'll continue to better plan & care for the plants in my midst.  And as I do, weather permitting, I'll gradually receive greater yields.  And I'll learn as I watch, observe, & stay consistent.  But I probably can't plan the miraculous.