Kitchen Garden Notes: July 10, 2010

shelled peas and onions 2.jpgIt’s HOT.  It’s too hot to go out and water anything but it’s hot enough that everything needs watering.  Except for the peas and favas which I’m almost done harvesting.  I grew two kinds of peas and as soon as I can find the packages and finish weighing them up I’ll write a post about the total yields I got from them. 

I only plant peas for shelling.  Without intending to, one of the varieties I planted this year is a “pod pea” which is the kind you can eat pod and all- even after the peas have started growing large.  I don’t like to eat them that way.  I do like snow peas when they’re young and tender but I hardly ever grow them because the shelled peas are so darn good and so hard to come by in farmer’s markets or grocery stores that I devote all my pea space to growing my own.

Is it worth it?  Oh yes!!

lettuce head 2.jpgThis is the first time I’ve ever grown iceburg lettuce.  This is “Red Iceburg” which was really crispy and delicious.  I only got two heads of it because I wasn’t careful in my sowing of the seeds and had some cat interference as well.  I will definitely be growing more crisphead lettuces!

pile of favas 2.jpgThe favas didn’t get very large this year.  I attribute this to how late I planted them.  As always, they are very tasty and were effortless to grow.  No pests (now there are black aphids on them but there were none all season up until harvest time). 

pale poppies 2.jpgThe poppies continue to amaze me.  I find them mesmerizing and I look at them all day from my window while I work.  I love the scarlet ones, of course, but these pale ones may be my favorites. 

pea harvest 2.jpg

Right now my yard is waist high in grass and weeds.  We have no mower (ours broke and no one here in town works on electric mowers)* and I have not been making time for weeding between working and writing my novel.  This coming week I hope to work harder to tame the forest out there.  I have wild blackberries threatening to swallow half my yard too. 

This I am encouraging in part because I tasted them last year and they were really good!  I love blackberries and I had actually thought about buying a couple of cultivars to create a hedge of them in the corner of my garden.  Sometimes nature throws at you exactly what you crave.  They are probably the “Himalaya” blackberry which is considered a noxious weed here in Oregon.

I can’t consider anything a noxious weed that generously feeds so many animals, insects, and me!  This heat, though I loathe it, is exactly what the blackberry bushes need in order to ripen the buckets of green fruit they’ve got hanging from them. 

*This is a reasonable excuse, but of course we hate mowing and rarely do it anyway.

6 thoughts on “Kitchen Garden Notes: July 10, 2010

  1. simply.belinda

    Thanks for the info on the red iceberg.
    I saw them turn up in this years heirloom seed catalogues and was planning to offer them as part of my seedling CSA this year. To hear they are a good tasting lettuce is a relief like you wouldn’t believe.
    Kind Regards
    Belinda

  2. Angelina

    Aside from the differences in terroire (fancy language, huh?!) I’d say this one promises to be good for most people. I can’t believe I’ve never tried growing the crisp-head lettuces before!

  3. Ann

    Ah, more loveliness from your garden. I’m glad to see your voice. I’ve missed you at Dustpan Alley and have been wondering if you’re well. I hope so. Cheers!

  4. Robin

    Everything looks delicious. My peas are just about done and they are over 6 ft tall in the raised beds. We have been standing out there eating them. They are so sweet. The beans are coming on strong now…potatoes too. Good to hear from you…miss you.
    Robin

  5. mss @ Zanthan Gardens

    Lettuce, English peas, and Shirley poppies…looks like my garden in March. And it’s too hot for you to be outside watering ? (I know you don’t like the heat.) I long for those March temps. Summer here this year is a big improvement over last. We’ve had a lot of rain (unusual) and we keep going around being amazed at how green everything still is. Shockingly green for July.

  6. Angelina

    Ann- you know, I miss writing for DPA too and interacting with all my online friends there. But it’s been really healthy for me to take a break from the personal blogging. I am recharging myself. You know I’ll eventually be writing a personal blog again. But I will probably start fresh with a new blog. However, I haven’t destroyed it and it’s conceivable that I may return to it when I’m ready.
    Robin- it sounds like you got a good garden in this year! I stood out in the garden eating peas quite a bit myself. So delicious! What kind of potatoes did you grow? I seem to have settled on Warbas but next year I want to go back to doing a couple of different varieties.
    MSS-yeah, I’m a real wimp when it comes to being outside in the heat. I’ve told you I’d die from the heat if I tried to live in Texas. Even CA wore me down with the bright sunshine from February to October, 80 degrees in Feb and March might be like a cool spring temp for you but for me it’s just wrong! I’m glad you’ve gotten so much rain this year- it must be a nice break to not have to water as much. Your garden pictures have been gorgeous! Loved the poppies you got growing. The Shirley poppies are wonderful I think for the variety of colors they seem to pop up with.

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