HARVEST!

I went out to trim back some of the poor veggies who have been just SLAMMED with rain in the last couple of weeks (please oh please let the rain stop and my garden have a chance to grow!!!) and I found these radishes poking RIGHT OUT of the ground!!  They are lovely.  And they were delicious!

And there was this lovely spinach that I sauteed with garlic from the recipe here:

That huge amount of spinach was enough for ONE side for ONE dinner, but still!  It came from our garden!!  It was a small accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless.  My son, who likes NOTHING, even gobbled it down.

THE Garden - Week Three.

It is all coming together!  And things are beginning to show growth - I think I can tell the difference three weeks makes??  First, here are some of the photos I hadn't posted yet:

Last weekend we planted the herb garden:

And the "fruit planter box":

Around the corner from the fruit planter, we planted blueberries in the GROUND - shocking concept...

And here are all four planters so far:

We will still make one more this summer to plant another wave - hopefully staggering the "harvest" - and then maybe another large planter next summer.  My husband is building trellises as we speak.

AND THESE ARE THE SEEDS WE PLANTED!!

and radishes!!

and CARROTS!!

I've planted exactly 4 things from seed in my life.  One was sweet little clover my husband and I found in Ireland on our honeymoon, complete with tiny "pot of gold" to plant them in.  I made a miniature tent out of toothpicks and saran wrap just like the instructions told me to.  The teeny little clover sprouted and grew sturdily until about three inches high when I was instructed to remove the itty bitty little tent just in time for the leggy greens to flop over and die on me!  Every. Last. Clover.  I threw the whole damn pot in the garbage.

For our wedding favors we shared Forget-me-not seeds with all of our loving family and friends.  These flowers grow like weeds in Alaska where I grew up.  Think THEY survived?  Not one. 

My third try is on our windowsill right now.  It is a princess terrarium my daughter received as a birthday gift from her dear friend.  It has already been dumped on the floor, and I'm telling you, if those little buggers don't grow, I'm buying a giant hanging basket of impatiens and shoving them in the damn little princess container and lying to her about the whole thing so she'll escape the curse.

Number four?  THE SEEDS YOU SEE GROWING ABOVE!!!!!!

THE Garden

We've finally done it!  We have planted a garden!  Of course since the weekend we've had wind storms, hail storms, and rain storms, but everything still seems to be alive and growing.  Can't see the seeds yet (yes, SEEDS, seriously, EEK), but I'm confident they will be showing themselves soon!!

Here is our original plan for the back yard:

(oy the new formatting in blogger is GREAT, and stubborn...)

We've decided to go with just 3 of the large planter boxes and 3 of the thinner boxes that will be against the fence.

We bought this great book at Powells and learned SO much - I highly recommend it!

This is the thin box before it gets a bottom:

After the bottom is put on, we but down the 3/4 - rock for drainage:

This is a barrier to stop the dirt from sifting down into the rocks, but water flows freely:

Then a compost/dirt/sand mix that was recommended:

Our little garden:

Our trusty little trailer:

AND the final wall garden!!:

Our first big bed!!:

I just checked and there is nothing to harvest yet....  maybe by this evening?!

Community Supported Agriculture - LocalHarvest

I’ve been wanting to do this for years, and have never gotten around to it.  Sunday's Oregonian had an article about the difference in prices for a bag of fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, a discount grocery chain, a local Wholefoods, a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture subscription.

You can find one near you here: Community Supported Agriculture – LocalHarvest

They concluded that of course the retail chain store was the cheapest, but you won’t get organic, and who KNOWS where your food is coming from.  The farmers’ market and Wholefoods were basically the same price, but the lowest was the CSA!  The food is coming straight from the farm – often picked that morning – and the money is going straight to the farmer.  LOVE IT.

I’ve had friends who have done this over the years, and they’ve always loved getting the fresh surprise basket each week. 

I’m making the call.  Have you done this?  Were you happy with your surprise grocery basket?  What did you do with all of the LETTUCE in the spring??