garden update: late March progress

Spring is officially here in the vegetable garden. We've had a good stint of alternating rain and sunny warmth, so with this great weather and some sprinkling of fish emulsion, it's been baby veg heaven out there. This being our maiden voyage into gardening at this new house, I'm happy to report that our site is very warm (for SF) and not very windy so far. Looks promising for my cherry tomatoes this Summer... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

As for the Spring veggies, most everything is popping up like crazy... peas are reaching and grabbing, climbing higher and higher. The favas are super eager, growing an unbelievable amount each day (Seriously, what's not to like about growing fava beans? They're ultra vigorous, I love eating them and their roots feed the soil. Win win win). Spinach, carrots, leeks, chard, kale, beets, garlic, shallots and many others are happily chugging along. I was a little tardy with thinning, so there's a little wonky legginess going in the chard patch. But I think they'll make it to my sautée pan OK. 

Speaking of tardy, the Mexican Sour Gherkins FINALLY emerged from the soil. (Maybe they heard my fingers tapping on the edge of the raised bed?) Someday soon, they'll probably steal the show: they're a vining plant that looks like a micro-watermelon but tastes like cucumber.

And speaking of cucumber, I recently planted some rare-ish herb seeds, including Blue Borage (fuzzy foliage and tiny blue flowers that taste like cucumber), nigella sativa (sometimes called Black Cumin, the seeds can be harvested and used in baking), plus two types of bee balm. I'm all about tempting Mr and Ms Bee to the garden.

Most recently, Toby completed the beautiful redwood slatted benches for the bluestone paver patio. I love them and can't wait to add a table, umbrella and tasty grilled dinner. 


Late March in the veg patch. I recently moved some container roses up here, as they're about to start flowering. I think flowering non-edibles are fabulous in an edible garden -- why not?



'Windsor' Favas and 'Sea of Red' Lettuce



Stained-glass effect: 'Sea of Red' Lettuce



Mexican Sour Gherkin seedling. Come on, little buddy.



Beautiful red beets



Fabulous favas



'Laxton's Progress' Peas. I just love the tendrils of all climbers, but especially peas. So graceful. They do, however, bring out the micro-manager in me: I crouch down in the garden and attempt to "help" them find a good support to grab onto. Silly.



OK, this is one of the most exciting parts of the garden. I've planted 3 baby, heirloom apple trees, two of which ('Gravenstein' and 'Ashmead's Kernel') will be trained against the grid support, as espaliers. The third apple ('Hauer Pippin') is planted out in the open ground.



The new benches! Beautiful redwood slats. Now I just need to finish planting between the pavers, huh. I'm using edibles here too: intensely aromatic Corsican Mint, super micro Elfin Thyme, and some variegated creeping Oregano. (Though I really don't think we're be garnishing dessert with this mint.)



...and what it's really about: the harvest. A couple of the radishes I planted beneath the peas. These were chopped up, quick pickled and made a tasty taco garnish.


More late-March photos here.