Bok choy stir fry

Last night, my wife made stir fry with some bok choy from the garden and an onion.  I had two types of bok choy out there, one that was very leafy and looked similar to the mustard greens.  This was the other one, more of a heading variety.  I have read that brassicas will cross-pollinate readily, so I pulled all of this variety up when it started to flower.  Since the other type and the mustard are so similar, I'm not worried about their genetics getting mixed up.

We took some to our meeting on Sunday, but ended up having more than we needed and had enough to cook again last night.  Since I had let it start to flower, there was a lot of textural variety from a single ingredient.  We had taken mostly the leaves with us on Sunday, since that's what people are used to eating.  Last night we ate what was left of the entire plants: leaves, stalk, flowers and unopened buds.  It was all great!  The buds especially were very similar to broccoli, but maybe even better.  Above, you can see it chopped up and in the pan with the onion and then the second picture is after cooking (and seasoning!).

Rosemary flowers

The rosemary flowers have started to open this week!  This plant bloomed for the first time last year, but only had two flowers and not at the same time.  A half-dozen or so have already opened on three different boughs and I'm sure it's going to get more spectacular, with at least 5 boughs already budding.  I'll try and post a picture when it seems to be peaking.

A day of pruning...

  

Yesterday, I spent some time pruning and weeding around the perennials in the center of the garden.  We've had the rosemary and sage for probably six years (we brought them from our last house) and I've never seriously pruned them before.  I've cut off enough to use here and there, but made no attempt to shape them or keep them healthy through pruning. 

The sage was very rangy.  There were a lot of dead leaves and stems on it and weeds growing up from underneath where I couldn't reach them.  In the picture above, you can see the result of yesterday's work just to the right and a little behind the rosemary.  I have never dealt so severely with a plant before.  It was probably 18 to 24 inches high in places and I've cut it back to maybe 8 to 10 inches.  I cut each stem back to a place where there was new growth starting.  Looking at it this morning, I believe that growth has already increased.  I realized when I was finished that I should have taken before and after pictures...oh well.

The rosemary was huge!  Because of its large size, it was starting to lean out from the center, leaving an empty space in the middle.  I would prefer a more erect, bushy plant.  It was also overhanging and shading the meadow sages and thyme that are planted around it.  The variegated thyme I planted last year had died, likely at least in part to being overshadowed by the rosemary.  I cut two huge baskets worth off of the plant and it's still quite large.  I'm sure that I'll cut it back even more later in the season.  I probably would have taken even more yesterday, but it's starting to bloom and I didn't want to risk losing any flowers.  Rosemary flowers are among my favorite things in the garden.  Several of the stems have buds on them and should be flowering soon.  

With it being cut back, you can now clearly see the meadow sages and thyme.  In the picture the largest of the sages is in front of the rosemary and to the right and the smallest is to the left.  It has white flowers and is a replacement for a previous salvia that didn't survive that spot.  Behind that sage, between the rosemary and the flowering bok choy, you can see the thyme.  It was starting to lean out from under the rosemary, so hopefully it will be more full this year.

Kofta burgers

These are some kofta burgers I made Tuesday night using mint and parsley from the garden.  I usually make them as meatballs and cook them in a tomato and onion sauce to serve over rice, but we had a few buns we needed to use, so I tried them as burgers.  They were good, but I prefer them with the sauce.  Also, the turmeric makes it hard to tell when they're done.

Speaking of parsley, most of what I planted in the closet has sprouted.  Also, one of the peppers is starting to break through!

Onions and spinach

On Saturday, I was able to get out into the garden for a couple of hours.  In addition to weeding my garlic and lavender, I also got some onions and spinach into the ground.  Pictured above, you can see some of the onions in the foreground.  Behind them, most of the mustard greens are in bloom.  I'm watching them closely for seed development, since I would like to save the seeds to plant again this fall.  The spinach seeds are planted between the onions and the mint in the middle of the circle.

A week's progress

Eight days after planting some seeds in my closet, all of my tomato and chia seeds have sprouted.  There are also a few marigolds and two chamomile, but still no sign of parsley, cumin or peppers.

Aero pepper

I finally have a fruit on my Aero Garden jalapeno pepper plant!  I was beginning to worry that it wouldn't happen.  I still probably won't do vegetables on this garden again.  The idea of fresh tomatoes and peppers in the winter was exciting to me, but it hasn't really panned out.  I suppose if I learn to can this year, I can have canned peppers and tomatoes all winter!  When these plants are done, I want to try a salad mix in the Aero Garden.  One of my new dreams is to eat a fresh-picked salad every day.

An update on the seedlings in the closet: as of this afternoon, all 12 of the chia sages and all 12 of the cherry tomatoes have sprouted.  The slicing tomatoes are starting to break through and the second chamomile has come up.  There are several marigolds, but still no parsley, cumin or peppers.

Ch-ch-ch-chia!

It's kind of hard to see, but some of my indoor seeds started sprouting last night.  This is one of the chia sages, eight of which have sprouted.  This morning, when this was taken, a chamomile had also started.  Since then, some tomatoes and marigold have come up.

Bok choy flower

It turns out bok choy flowers look a lot like mustard flowers.  That's actually how I knew the other one was a mustard.  It had been part of a "salad mix" seed packet and I wasn't sure what it was until both plants started to flower and looked so similar doing it.  I knew that they were in the same family (brassica) and that nothing else in that mix was.

Arugula?

The first of the seeds I planted last month have started to come up.

Indoor seedlings started

Yesterday, I finally got around to starting my seedlings inside.  I usually end up buying some seedlings from the nursery and there are a lot of vegetables that I direct sow later in the spring, but I like to get some things going inside to plant out after the last frost.  This is probably the most I've ever tried.  I had actually hoped to plant more, but I ran out of space in my closet.  In the egg cartons I planted 18 marigolds, 6 parsley and 12 cumin.  I've never grown cumin before, so I don't know how it will turn out.  I actually just planted some seeds from the spice drawer in the kitchen.  They may not even germinate.  In the cups, I have planted 6 jalapeno peppers, 6 piri piri peppers (a frutescens from east Africa), 12 chia sages, 12 slicing tomatoes and 12 cherry tomatoes.  I had wanted to start more tomatoes, some jalapenos that may have cross-pollinated with an ornamental pepper and a lot of cayenne, but I'm going to have to find somewhere else to put them.

Winter clones

These are the last two clones that I've tried to keep indoors during the winter.  Last winter, I was able to keep a few tomatoes alive, but none of my basil survived.  This year, all of the tomato clones I took died early in the winter.  One basil, on the left, has survived and so has one of the pineapple sage clones.  Hopefully, they can make it another 6 to 8 weeks so I can put them outside in the sun.

Aero Garden

During the winter, I had to satisfy my desire to garden with the indoor Aero Garden.  In the past, I've grown various herbs in it, with varying success.  With a variety of herbs, the taller ones would shade the smaller ones and starve them of light.  Also, you don't use every herb an equal amount.  This is the first time I've tried vegetables and I'm probably not going to do it again.  The main two problems are size and pollination.  In the picture above, the light is at maximum extension and there's not a lot of room left for growth.  The tomatoes are spreading off of the garden base, but the pepper in the middle threatens to reach the light.  The main problem is that there are no bees or wind to pollinate this garden indoors.  I've tried to compensate by shaking it and blowing on it, but it's just not the same thing.  The tomato on the right has a lot of fruit (and one that's almost ripe), but the one on the left has only 3 fruits.  The pepper plant has flowered repeatedly, so far without producing fruit.  After these plants are done, I'm probably going to try some salad greens.  The idea of picking a fresh salad without leaving the kitchen really appeals to me.