I went away for 4 days and came home to a booming garden. Beginning of July and already I am harvesting beets, zucchini, lettuce, arugula (still!), herbs, beans and peas. So exciting. The pictures speak for themselves. Veggies are so good they barely need any help from a recipe. I find that beans are best with a little butter and salt, beets are roasted and topped with olive oil and salt and pepper and zucchini is grilled or baked into a loaf.

I got good news about some of my6 potatoes that I was growing in pots on the deck. The plants died so I decided to dig in and see if any grew. I got about 20 beautiful potatoes!

June - Growing

It is so exciting to see the garden grow. It seems it grows double in size everyday. The cutworms seem to have resided. I am sure they have turned into moths and will return to make more babies on my plants next year. I'll be ready!

My favourite items to watch grow at the moment are the peas, pumpkin (because I have been trying to grow one for years with no success), the potatoes (because it is working; growing them in pots) and my fig tree (I got it with only one leaf). All the pictures are attached.

We have been able to enjoy eating out of the garden more than I thought. The 2'x1' arugula patch has been quite productive. I can take a salad bowls worth every night. The Pak choi grows very well and we have had 4 meals so far. My favourite at the moment are the beet greens. So great that you can eat the greens and then have a beet at the end of it.

This is what we had last night for dinner:

Olive oil

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 portobello mushroom, trimmed and sliced thin

1 large bowl of small beet greens (I used the greens from red, striped and golden beets)

Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Add beet greens and cover until starting to wilt. Remove cover and cook for about 5 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

We served it with beef tenderloin, arugula salad with tomatoes and goat cheese, smoked paprika shrimp, and clam chowder. Yum.

My Surprise

I went away for work and my husband built me a beautiful Adirondack chair. Putting stuff together is not his passion, to say the least, so it was extra special! Thanks:)

Problems...

So, slowly some of my plants are getting chewed off at the base of the leaf. So far it is cauliflower, brussel sprouts and swiss chard. Originally I thought it was birds. So we hung old DVDs to scare the birds away. Things did not get better. I looked up causes and it seems to be cut worm. A larvae of the turnip moth. I hate them. Ironically their natural predators are birds!

See their lovely pictures here: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/00-055.htm

www.oisat.org/downloads/AgorEcoCutworms.doc

Basically the advice is to dig them out and place a cardboard sleeve around the base of the plant. Brussel sprouts has been saved but the cauliflower was not so lucky. You are also supposed to place wood ash on the dirt. Not sure where I can get this? Anyone?

Growing

That big dose of hot summer-like weather has really given the garden a growing burst. It is exciting to see everything sprout and grow. The few plants I bought give instant eating gratification. My favourites at the moment are arugula and basil. We have been eating arugula salads every night. This is my favourite recipe and I am going to plug some great PC products...ummm wonder why?

Arugula salad recipe

Dressing

1/4 cup PC EVOO from Chile

3 tbsp PC 4 leaf aged balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper

Arugula

Tomatoes

Red onion

Basil leaves

Goat cheese

Mix salad dressing in a small bowl. Toss with arugula. Top with the rest of the ingredients and serve.

Planting

I started planting indoors about 8 weeks ago. I planted pumpkin, lettuce, basil, cilantro, and potatoes. Unfortunately I lost most of what I tried to plant due to mold. Pretty sure I over watered. Plus I went on vacation and could not watch them as closely as I should have.

Basically all I had left was pumpkin and potatoes. I am trying three varieties of potatoes in pots. From what I have read it is possible. Time will tell.

I transplanted my pumpkin and they too are not doing well. Did not take well to the transfer. Although, they may have gotten their second wind as they seem to be looking slightly healthier.

The rest of what I planted was from seed, nursery plants or donated from a friend. My friend Mike gave me some peppers that he grew in some sort of grow farm in his basement. They were already 12 inches high! I took the plants and didn't ask any questions.

It has been about 10 days since I planted the first seeds and so far everything is starting to show. SO gratifying. Can't wait to watch them grow!!

Planning the Garden

Planning the garden is very inspirational especially when it is March in Ontario. I could spend (and have spent) countless hours reading about what I could plant. Through my research I discovered square food gardening. Since I was already going to have a perfect rectangle this option made a lot of sense. Basically you divide up your garden into squares and then plant a different vegetable per square. The number of each plant depends on its size. So you could plant 4 lettuce, 16 carrots or 1 tomato. My friend Heather told me about a great site; http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner/kgp_home,default,pg.html. You can drag and drop the vegetables you want to plant and it will tell you how many you need to plant in that square foot. Here is what I plan to plant. SO exciting!

Tomatillos, (1) Tomatillos, (1) Tomatillos, (1) Tomatillos, (1) Brussels Sprouts, (1) Brussels Sprouts, (1) Brussels Sprouts, (1) Brussels Sprouts, (1) Swiss Chard, (2) Swiss Chard, (2) Swiss Chard, (2) Cauliflower, (1) Gr. onion, (6) Cauliflower, (1) Celery, (2) Cauliflower, (1) Spinach, (9) Spinach, (9) Spinach, (9) Basil, (2) Basil, (2) Basil, (2) Basil, (2) Gr. onion, (6) Head Lettuce, (4) Head Lettuce, (4) Head Lettuce, (4) Head Lettuce, (4) Golden Beets, (9) Arugula, (16) Arugula, (16) Arugula, (16)

Beans, (4) Beans, (4) Peas, (8) Peas, (8) Tomatoes, (1) Not Planted Tomatoes, (1) Not Planted Summer Squash, (1) Bok Choi, (1) Bok Choi, (1) Bok Choi, (1) Bok Choi, (1) Tomatoes, (1) Not Planted Tomatoes, (1) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Beets, (9) Carrots, (16) Carrots, (16) Carrots, (16) Carrots, (16) Not Planted Not Planted Cucumbers, (2) Cucumbers, (2)