Tag Archives: Herb Garden

Lettuce’s Last Call

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I think this week will be the last harvest for my lettuce. It’s big, full, floppy, and crying out to be put into a salad before it’s way past its prime. My arugula has flowered, and while I still think its flavor is quite yummy, I think I will be harvesting that, too.

Does anyone have a great recipe for arugula, besides the typical salad? I’m open for suggestions! Once the arugula is out of the bed, my bush beans will have more room to stretch out…

They are growing up fast. But I think something is nibbling on the leaves…any of my garden expert readers have any suggestions as to what might be doing this? These are in my raised bed enclosure, so it’s got to be a smallish bug in order for it to get in there.

I bought some additional bush bean plants today to supplement my chewed-on, from-seed beans, but I’m holding off on planting them until I find out what’s snacking on what’s already in the Grow Camp.

Once the arugula and lettuce are out, some eggplant and a sweet yellow banana pepper plant are moving in, too. That’s about it in the garden for now – I’ll leave you for the night with a parting cabbage and herb garden photo. :-)

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Meanwhile, on the Deck…

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I have just a few more garden update photos to share:

Parsley, chives and lemon thyme have really taken off in the herb garden. I’ve been putting fresh parsley in everything, the chives will be front and center in a ranch dressing I’ll be making (and posting) this week. And the lemon thyme? Well, mainly I just like snipping it and rubbing it on my hands. Have I mentioned I’m a little crazy-in-love with the smell of lemon thyme?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planter the basil is taking its sweet time, but the cilantro is making great progress. We sprinkled cilantro on our chicken chili last night, and today it’s part of a marinade for our salmon dinner!

This blurry little guy is a sprout of dill I found in the Grow Camp. Every time I see a volunteer sprout pop up in the Grow Camp, I haven’t the heart to toss them! So this guy I transplanted here. He seems to be fairing OK so far.

Take a look at my brussels sprout plant! On the advice of many of you dear readers, I decided to keep one and placed it in a random planter I had in the garage. I’m so glad I did! I’m looking forward to watching its progress.

On the flower front, we also have some petunias on the deck. I’m really pleased with the health of these plants. I have a sketchy history with petunias. LOL

So that’s everything that’s going on out back! It’s been very rainy the past two days, so I’m looking forward to some sun (and weeding – not looking forward to that) in the coming days.

Heirlooms and Chives, Oh My!

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Time for a garden update! We’re still flirting with a frost each night, so I’ve been covering up the Grow Camp and the herb garden most nights. Here’s the latest:

The “salad bowl” lettuce plants have been great. I can barely keep up with them! They have made some lovely salads and added the perfect crunch to our sandwiches.

The little lettuce blend I planted from seed is coming along well, as is the swiss chard, which is showing it’s true leaves (far right of the photo, in shade.) It’s time to thin out the chard. I’m going to try to transplant what I thin, since there is still room in the camp. Crossing my fingers and hoping they survive!

The spinach seems to be aphid free for now. I’m still noticing some white specks under the leaves, but I think these are just calcium deposits. Notice the yellow bowl hanging out between them?

The red cabbage seem happy and bug free. The yellow flowers are the ranunculus I planted to lure the aphids. Ironically, I see no aphids on them. They’re pretty, though, either way.

The microgreens have sprouted, but they have been a bit of a pain in the toosh. On Easter Sunday, I neglected to water them in the morning and about a third of my containers bit the dust. I’ve been trying to nurse the survivers back to health ever since.

In the herb planter, the parsley and thyme have weathered the cold nights with the help of a cardboard cover my husband made for the top. The basil and cilantro sprouted, but the chives never did. So I bought some! So there, chives!

We finally have some activity in the light hut. My bell peppers have been major slow pokes. Three out of the six are finally sprouting.

These are Paul Robeson heirloom tomatoes my dad gave me from his seed collection. They were a little slow to sprout as well, but they seem quite happy now.

Dad also gifted me with some Dagma’s Perfection heirloom tomato seeds. They too have sprouted. In the background, those are Sugar Sweetie cherry tomato sprouts. These are the bad boys that took over my Grow Camp last year. They will have a home on our deck this time around.

So that’s the latest! Have a fantastic weekend!!

Garden Goings On

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I realized today that I’ve been at this blog for a week and have yet to actually post a photo of how the garden looks so far this season! For shame! So here it is!

On the left side, I have a row and a half of red cabbage plants (nursery bought,) a row and a half of spinach (also nursery,) onion seed that is yet to sprout, and a stubborn but beautiful oregano that refused to die this winter.

The oregano just liked its home too much to leave.

On the right, I have a row of swiss chard that has sprouted (no true leaves yet,) a row or “salad bowl” lettuce mix which has sprouted, a half row of arugula that’s just peeking up, and a row and a half of lettuce plants I bought at the nursery. I’ve already gotten a salad and a sandwich from those plants!

A little oil and vinegar and you're good to go. Scrumptious.

and this is where I’ve decided to try some micro-greens. I planted the rest of my lettuce mix, arugula, and chard densely in these takeout containers in the hopes that in a few weeks I’ll have some lovely little baby greens ready for harvest. Can’t wait!

Up on the deck, I have my herb planter stocked with nursery bought parsley, lemon thyme (my absolute favorite and the inspiration for my blog title) and there is a half row of basil just peeking out (not pictured.) No sign of my cilantro and chives yet. But they are old seeds so who knows.

That’s it! It’s been a bit of a challenge keeping all these guys warm this week, but so far they are doing great.