First Harvest!
Posted: 3/16/2009 1:43 AM
It's been one month since I planted the garden. Although it's been unseasonably cool here in San Diego, everything is still growing beautifully.
The garden is beginning to fill up. At the back of the garden, the peas have grown to about 8" high and their tendrils have latched onto the trellis.
Meanwhile, on the left side, the lettuce heads have reached about half their full size, the spinach plants have also filled out, and some of the radishes are ready to be pulled.
On the right side of the garden, things are looking a bit bare. The beets, bunching onions and carrots are growing so slowly. I couldn't stand how empty it looked, so I added a few plants. I had two romaine lettuce plants that I had started from seed in Styrofoam cups. I planted them between the garlic and potatoes. Still not satisfied, I went to Home Depot and bought arugula, a Serrano pepper plant and a red bell pepper plant. I added those to the right side also. Finally, I planted some more radish seeds and bunching onion seeds along the hose line. With today's additions, there are now 23 different types of produce growing in our 8'x8' garden.
I must say, there is nothing more satisfying than picking the first home-grown veggies of the season. Today, I harvested a strawberry and some lettuce and spinach leaves. I cut about three of the outer leaves from each lettuce and spinach plant. Taking just a few leaves doesn't hurt the plants a bit. The inner leaves will continue to grow for several more weeks. We have enough for a salad, but when you look at the garden, you can hardly notice what's been harvested. I also pulled about five small radishes. The smaller they are, the sweeter they taste. I can't wait for dinner!
