Here we are at the beginning of July.
We have gorgeous snow peas this week. It’s a fluke from our spring weather that we even have them at all in July, but they’re tender and flavorful. Also, the pea tips (the greens from the snow pea plants) are still lush.
Today, in anticipation of the hot weather to come this week, I shocked the pea plants by picking every single pod I could find. I hope they might produce another round of pods this week before they wilt and call it quits. So, I mean… we have snow peas right now. Please call or email if you would like to buy some ($3.00/pound grown with organic methods, which is half the price of the organic snow peas from Mexico that a large natural grocery chain is selling them for this week).
But take a look at this…
Since I have good luck keeping peas crispy in kimchi, I’m experimenting with a garlic-dill-snow pea pickle. I’ll know in a couple of days if it’s going to turn out, but it’s pretty, yes?
Other things like beans and squash are just beginning to grow. And I finally planted the cucumbers last week. I know… that’s crazy because it’s July… but cukes are so fussy that I couldn’t afford to plant them until these 49-degree nightime lows end. I am amazed that the beans (most) are starting to grow finally after languishing in suspended animation for two months. I feared they would just rot, but they are perking up. What a weird year.
Yesterday and today I weeded the pathways and beds in the garden. It took about six hours to do all of the areas you can see in the picture on top of this post. I hadn’t weeded the pathways since I finished the beds at the end of April because it’s been tidy enough until recently.
I have to say that my instinct to re-organize the garden into these mounded beds (some double-dug) was right on. The weed problem is a fraction of what we’ve had to deal with in previous years. And actually tackling the weeds isn’t overwhelming and heartbreaking anymore. I can tackle a bed at a time and do the pathway around it in less than an hour. When I tidy up one bed like that, I feel inspired to dig into the next bed. This works for me.
I still don’t have an answer yet about which bed-making method (double-dug vs. layered/lasagna) produces the highest yields for us. We’re getting intense productivity out of the double-dug beds, but I planted those beds earlier with cool-weather-tolerant crops.
Anyway, I wanted to say hello. We’ve been working really hard out there and weren’t seeing results for awhile, and then all of a sudden we have all of these peas and the mustards are flowering, and I’m ripping out broccoli plants that have given enough, and wow…
Eggs soon, friends.