Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions
*click photos to enlarge*The longer days and lots of rain have made the lettuce in the mini-garden spring to life! Everything is growing well now.....well, not the spinach, which is still very slow. I only have nineteen more days here in Arizona. On the 27th of February, I'll pull everything out, wash and spin it dry, then store it in a damp cotton pillow case in the ice chest for the trip home. I may just leave the roots on some of the lettuce plants, and see if they might be transplanted into containers once I get home. If not, we and the rabbit will have a lot of fresh salads.
It will be such a shame to pull the carrots. The roots are forming now, and just perfect. You can see the one I pulled to "test" in the harvest photo above. I really don't think 19 days will be enough time to grow them to an edible size, but the rabbit will enjoy them in his salads, anyway.
This lettuce bed is still unharvested, but I'll begin cutting a few leaves this week.
The two larger pots of lettuce have been our only source of fresh cut greens so far, and were the ones picked for this week's harvest. The spinach and onion boxes are bottomless, just used to give more depth to the compost and soil. The pots will (hopefully) go north at the end of the month. Mr. H is already complaining of the shortage of room in the back of the pickup.
The carrots are just lovely. They have grown so well from their toilet tissue seed mats, showing perfectly formed little roots and extremely good germination. The beets have finally started growing, and are looking quite good! I've picked a few of their leaves to use in our salads. The spinach is only growing in spots, where it was accidentally planted atop the beets. I'm thinking this might have been last year's seed, as germination of a new packet of seeds, in the box (photo above this one), was excellent and had to be thinned out a bit.
What wonderful looking lettuce! Maybe you should offer the carrots to a neighbor. If they water them then they can harvest them.
ReplyDeleteThey look so good, it's a shame you won't see them harvested.
ReplyDeleteWow, Granny! What a good looking harvest! Fresh lettuce in February - oh my am I jealous. I hope my lettuce containers look as wonderful as yours!
ReplyDeleteOh it is so sad that you won't be able to eat the carrots. The lettuce in your bead looks great though. At least you will have some wonderful salads.
ReplyDeleteEmily, last year the neighbors ate my lettuce for two months after we left! This year, however, I'm going to be selfish and pull up everything. Even though they won't be mature, they make very good greens for our house rabbit.
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The Mom, I'll have plenty to look forward to in my WA garden! I've decided to plant an entire 4'x4' bed to spring carrots, which doubles what I grew last year. No doubt I'll find a similar sized plot for as many fall planted carrots.
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Caffienated Mom, I'm sure they will! We've been eating that Red Romaine for over two months, and it's still growing well ( it made the trip down with us in October). I thought it was going to bolt a month ago, but it has surprised me. If it goes back to WA the end of the month, it will have had 2400 miles of travel under its belt!
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Daphne, the lettuce makes it all worth it. I just wish I'd brought my kitchen scale....none of this winter harvest is getting weighed and added to my side bar :-(
It all looks so great. I can imagine wanting to pick up the entire thing and bring it all with you -- room for other things be hanged.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, maybe a neighbor would be inspired to water and eat carrots? The rabbit will enjoy them.
How on earth do you keep your potted plants looking so nice? Every time I come to your blog all I see is perfection. I asked you once before about your potted tomatoes (I think), and you gave me some good advice that I used. But those little containers in Arizona? You, my friend, have a green thumb for sure. I do not and freely admit it, persistence is my virtue...that and learning from experts like yourself. Honestly, I am always in awe of anyone that can grow such nice potted plants, something I seem to fail miserably at.
ReplyDeleteAdmire your beautiful vegetables, I like the idea of bottomless container to build up soil depth, I'll have to borrow this idea someday.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous lettuces. They're so lovely and just perfect really. You've made me wonder if I ought to try growing lettuces in containers. Goodness knows I have enough pots sitting around here doing nothing in the late winter/early spring.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you will be able to take your hard work with you and feed the rabbit. I bet those teeny tiny carrots are so tender, like gourmet treats for him. :)
Everything is really thriving and growing well. The lettuces and carrots in particular are really eye catching. I am glad you are going to take most of the bounty home with you - it would be a shame to leave all that behind you after all of your work on it this winter. Bunny at a minimum will be grateful for your taking it with you!
ReplyDeleteThe greens and bread look great. The garden has really taken off too. I wish I could grow greens like that during the winter. Your new photo looks good! Sporting an Arizona tan? :-)
ReplyDeleteAG!! Nice new profile pic :) I think I may have to try the toilet paper seed bed for my carrots this year. Planting them last year took so long.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, I'm actually trying to get Mr. H to tie the two garden beds to the top of the pickup, sans the contents of course! I really need two new raised beds at home, just those sizes. I'm losing this battle, of course.
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Mr. H., those containers are actually 12" and 16" pots, a bit bigger than they look in the photos. And they are all nearly bottomless, as they were used in my summer garden. I've just recently moved them into the mini-garden, where they can retain moisture a bit better and be slightly shaded by the nearby palo verde trees. I'm not good at all when it comes to growing plants in pots, the exceptions being lettuce, peppers, impatiens, cucumbers....and maybe cilantro. I can't grow a houseplant to save my life! That mixed lettuce pot is filled with the leftover toilet tissue sheets that I glued seeds to for the mini-garden. I just scrunched them in a bit closer. And it's not all perfection, just search my blogs for Garden Blogger's Death Day!
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Mac, I was getting too much money into soil (or maybe I should say sand) improvements, so I cut the bottoms out of the containers and used them, rather than fill the entire bed with compost. It's working well!
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Meredith, it's easy to crowd the lettuce into the pot and cut the outer leaves as they grow. I've really been surprised at how long it has lasted, and I've been able to move the pots to sunny locations on cold days and semi-shade on warm days.
Cookie gobbled up that teeny carrot so fast! He loved the radish leaves, and is also fond of beet greens, so anything we can't/don't eat is his. Actually, he's rather spoiled, and usually gets first choice.
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Kitsap, Cookie was my main reason for growing veggies down here (with the exception of the tomatoes). It gets expensive driving 50 miles round trip every time he runs out of his greens, and he's spoiled...he only likes the expensive baby gourmet lettuces! My little garden saves me a lot of money through the winter. I've only been showing the salads we eat, he's had many more than we have!
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LOL, Dan...it's an old picture, showing off the garden hat that I never wear. I wore it fishing one day, and bumble bees kept landing on the flowers! I stay quite tan year round. I tan very easily (and very dark) for a natural blond. Well, a white-haired natural used to be blond!
That French bread has to be one of the easiest to make, and it sure is good. I'll be finishing off that loaf for tomorrow's French toast at breakfast, then I'll make a loaf of white bread (Mr. H likes white) and hamburger and hot dog buns. I bought bread flour on sale, and I'm determined to use the entire 10 pounds before I head home!
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Kalena Michele, do try it! I don't think I'll ever plant carrots (or lettuce) any other way! After you lay the carrot mats down, cover them very lightly with soil (I just sift on enough to cover the paper), spray very gently to moisten, then lay a board over them until they begin to germinate, so they don't dry out. Check under the board often, and remove it as soon as you see little carrot sprouts. I'm so anxious to get home and start my seed mats! I had to pack my seeds and put them out in the pickup, just to keep my hands off of them ;-)
ReplyDeleteGran, your veggies look amazing! The lettuces look absolutely perfect. One definite advantage to square foot gardening is the ulta neat look you can achieve. I think I will grow most of my lettuce in containers this spring to leave room in the garden for other veggies.
ReplyDeleteI am really excited to start carrots and beets using your seed mat method. Yes, your carrots do look wonderful.
Thomas, I'm trying to figure out where to put another lettuce bed at home, I have so many varieties to try this year! I'd like one bed for mature lettuces, and the other as a cut and come again bed, and I want them to be side by side so they can be easily shaded and later hooped! I might be known as the crazy tomato and lettuce lady next year....the one who plants toilet paper and napkins :-D
ReplyDeletehmm french toast!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest AG....travel safe on your trek back to WA. Btw I spoke with my aunt (from Pasco)....turns out the Mclures are her neighbors....been there almost as long as she has.....she said they have a beautiful sunken backyard garden...take care
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sunny. For the complement and the well wishes. I just hope the East keeps the snow on their side of the states!
ReplyDeleteYes, I looked up their addresses after our conversation, and saw they live right next to each other!
I like the look of those leaves! I thought that I'd be limited to growing salad in the summer only, but apparently with the right choices the season can be properly stretched, so salad is back in my good books!
ReplyDeleteOh, I do hope the carrots mature a bit more...the weather has been lovely, hasn't it?
ReplyDeleteIf it tastes half as good as it looks, you'll be doing fine. Great example of container gardening.
ReplyDeleteTIG, this is only the second winter I've grown greens. Of course, our winters in Arizona are rather warm and mild, our average temperature through December and January is probably around 50F (10C). Next winter I'll be trying them under a hoop house or tunnel.
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Noelle, it was a bit cool over on this side of the state today. The day began cold but sunny, then turned gray and windy. A perfect day for baking bread!
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Ottawa Gardener, it tasted as good as it looked. Maybe better! I picked a few more leaves today, for our grilled hamburgers. Lovely, crisp, sweet leaves.
those are just great looking lettuces.My first attempt was not like that.
ReplyDeleteMayet, my spring lettuce was not so good, as the birds ate most of the seedlings! I had these surrounded by netting to keep the birds from eating them.
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for the sunshine award;-]
ReplyDelete♥xOxO♥