This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Thursday 4 July 2013

VegEdibles on 4th July

Lots of veg being harvested this month. I've had some plants bolting but I think the main reason is I've planted them too close together and they become stressed. Seems I've enough lettuces to last the whole summer! However, I imagine they'll begin to bolt / flower if I don't use them soon. Lunch is generally tuna salad and dinner is chicken salad,  with celery, radish, turnip, spring onion and whatever else I can harvest.

The celery grown last year and left over Winter is a good size to harvest. However I've noticed flowers coming so I think my time is limited to get it eaten. I had a look on the internet about freezing celery and it seems do-able so I will try this.
Chive flowers are lovely added to salads.
I keep replanting radish as per the seeds coming up below. Radish looks great in salads or sliced on top of pasta dishes. 

Above: Flowers begin to show on my Radish Hilds blauer Herbst und Winter, a German type of radish I'm trying out this year. So I pulled two of them - pictured below with Turnip 'Purple Top Milan'. The turnip are tennis ball size.  
I had said goodbye to rhubarb a couple of weeks ago but the plant produced more stalks and I decided another harvest was in order - more crumble and ice cream for me!
Lettuces everywhere ready to eat! A learning point - sow every few weeks rather than all at one time. Above is Lettuce ‘Verpia’ I bought by mail order. They're a lovely elephant sized lettuce leaf! 
Happy Independence Day to all Americans! Have a great weekend!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

6 comments:

  1. Your harvest looks great!I can imagine pretty and delicious salads. Thanks for the 4th wishes; there will be lots of fireworks going off here to celebrate America's birthday.

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  2. Hi Kelli; I have to say that your veg-growing skills have certainly "blossomed" in the time I have known you! Those radishes look perfect. So do the turnips. And the celery...

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  3. Some lovely harvests there. I've never eaten chive flowers, though I've got plenty in the garden, the bees are loving them. The German radish looks interesting, it's a lovely colour.

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  4. Your vegetables look so great. Love your lettuce. I guess it's too hot here to have so lovely lettuce heads.

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  5. Hi Kelli, we have been succession sowing lettuce but the sudden onset of sunshine and salad weather has depleted them and it will be a few weeks before the next lot are ready to eat! I have grown radishes for the first time this year as I have a new plot helper and he 'thinks' he would like radishes?!

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  6. The garden looks great. You are having a great harvest.

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