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.