Local Delicious

You either love or you hate brussel sprouts. I don’t think there is an in-between way to feel about them.

I happen to love them, though until about 2 years ago I didn’t know how they grew. I never really thought about it, to be honest.

This year I planted a couple of them in my community garden plot but only one took off. Low and behold if it didn’t become a huge, thriving plant. Hurrah! (Everyone thinks I know what I’m doing, but I got the plant started from the nursery and stuck it in the ground. Aside from a little mushroom manure and keeping it watered, it did not get any assistance from me.)

I’d heard that you can wait until the first frost to harvest the sprouts, and that this makes them sweeter, but after I experienced some garden theft, I decided I better get them out while I could.

I trimmed off the big leaves first and, after mucking about with a knife and accidentally slicing into a couple of them, I figured out that you can snap them off horizontally.

I got quite a haul — a least a few meals worth — and tried them for the first time last night. I may be a little biased, but they were the sweetest, most tender Brussel sprouts I’ve ever eaten. And that’s many years’ worth.

Local and delicious!

I grew a beautiful plump head of cabbage and was waiting for the mood for soup to strike before harvesting it. However, before I could get there, it was stolen from my community garden plot. They planned ahead and seemed experience. They’d brought a knife, and it was a clean slice that took only the head and left the outer leaves.

If the individual in question was truly hungry, I’m happy to have my cabbage go to a good cause — though apparently even the starving don’t like Brussel sprouts, as these remained untouched.

I had a tarp go missing as well. My thought is that if someone is truly hungry enough to take a cabbage, then maybe they are exposed to the elements on a daily basis and the tarp will aid in keeping them dry.

That’s my hope, anyway.

The tomatoes are happily enjoying the heat wave and ripening at a delightful pace.

The rhubarb, not so much (top middle of photo, completely wilted leaves).

The marigolds never skipped a beat despite the mid-heatwave transplant — I think they’d survive a nuclear attack.

When I planted what has turned out to be my transitional garden earlier this year, in addition to the many vegetables, I also planted a variety of flowers to attract bees and other pollinator types.

Now that I have a more local plot, I decided to move some of them into the city to brighten up my new garden. In addition to half a dozen, bug-repellent marigolds interspersed among the brassicas, I transferred a few snap dragons, and a couple of fuschias.

I also brought along 3 sweet pepper plants that have not done well in the big garden’s climate, a clump of rhubarb, a lemon thyme perennial, and a giant pot containing 2 tomato plants.

We’re in the midst of a heatwave, and the rhubarb is decidedly unhappy, having made it’s displeasure known immediately. I’ll give it a few more days to see if it rallies, but it’s not looking good. The clump of pink snap dragons were looking a bit wilty, but haven’t given up just yet. As for the rest of them, they all look pretty happy to be in their new home.

I have sprouts! Again, the radishes are the first to make a move.

Before I planted this time, I spoke with a farmer at Kits Farmers Market who said my first radishes probably bolted because the sprouts were too close together. If you don’t catch them in time and thin them right away, they get stressed and bolt.

This time, I seeded them really far apart.

Despite the late start in the season and with some encouragement from my fellow community gardeners, I’ve decided to try seeding a few things in the newly launched plot.

I tried radishes, beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, and a number of other items in my temporary garden earlier this year (when I didn’t think I’d be getting a spot at 16 Oaks Community Garden), but they just never took off, for whatever reason. Or, as in the case of the radishes, they took off running and completely bolted!

I’m hoping to have better luck this time. It will help that the community garden is in close proximity to where I live so I can check on it more regularly — in contrast to my first garden attempt, which is located in a friend’s backyard a half hour’s drive away.

When transplanting the nursery seedlings I bought, I left 2 open spots for seeding, one on either side of the box. This time I’ve seeded 2 kinds of radishes, 2 kinds of beets, some lettuce and some spinach.

Gotta go, it’s time to water my seeds again…