More from the garden

I'm getting the last of the lettuce from the garden. The redleaf variety is pretty snazzy if I do say so myself...

 

My potatoes were attacked by some sort of pest or disease, so I only got several colanders full. And they were really, really ugly. I mean the wartiest, ugliest potatoes you have ever seen.

Carrots! Small, but cute.

 

My dinner harvest - lettuce, beets, potatoes, basil, carrots...

... and green beans! Lots of green beans.

Aren't beets pretty?

Bouncing back

All is well in the Colorado garden, despite the insane hailstorm that hit last month. I'm pleased to report a full recovery.

The butterhead lettuce is looking beautiful. Although, it's a bit bitter from the sweltering heat.

We've been eating a lot of salads.

 The basil is thriving.

Look at that gorgeous swiss chard.

The beets are looking pretty happy.

If you look close, you can see it pushing through the ground. YUM.

The potatoes, however, are not so lucky. I think they were subjected to some sort of disease. They plants died before they even flowered. Which means not a whole lot of potatoes for me (boo!). I'll dig around this weekend and see if I can find anything.

Up to my eyeballs

For some reason, I ended up with tons of peas this year.

I planted Oregon Snow Peas and Sugar Snap peas. And for whatever reason they flourished.

Was it the weather? The compost? The wet spring?

I sure am thankful for the large harvest. I have a freezer full of pounds and pounds of peas.

Some got tough because of the heat, so I shelled and froze them.

To be honest, I'm a bit sick of peas right now. But a full freezer is a happy freezer!

Wreckage.

We got hail. Lots of it. Penny-sized hail pummeled my garden the other night. Along with over an inch of rain in one night (we usually don't get an inch of rain in an entire month!).

I went outside to scope out the damage the next morning and here's what I found:

The spinach and chard seedlings were trampled and tattered. I could barely find the lettuce seedlings.

The baby beets were smashed. 

Carrot tops broken in half.

Broccoli stripped.

My tomato plant looks like a stick with a leaf. (cue tear...)

Somehow, amazingly, the peas were untouched. Still had the flowers and everything. And, of course, the indestructible potatoes look good as new.

I guess this is just part of gardening in Colorado. And you never know, nature is pretty good at bouncing back...

New Beginnings

Well, it's that time again. I'm finding it hard to believe I started this gardening blog a year ago (where did the winter go?).

The grass is green and the trees are coming back into their own and that's my cue to get out the gardening tools from hibernation. This year I'm excited to mix my very own homemade compost into the garden beds. I still find it amazing that kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and eggshells can somehow turn into rich soil.

I planted a lot of peas this year since we enjoyed them so much last Spring. This time I have them growing all along of the chicken-wire fencing - Oregon Snow Peas and Sugar Snap.

I've also got the spinach, beets (a wonderful variety with purple leaves), swiss chard (neon lights), carrots (white, orange, and purple!), broccoli and several varieties of lettuce in the ground already. Apparently I'm going for a more colorful garden this time around.

I planted three rows of potatoes this season. Oh how I luuurve potatoes.

Seed potatoes ready for planting

We will have a short gardening season this year since we're moving to a new house August 1 (gasp!). So I'm staying away from veggies that take a long time to mature - peppers, winter squash, etc.

There's still plenty of produce to be had in the garden, and I can't wait to taste my first homegrown veggie!