Last Garden Update of 2011, I promise!

I actually grew this!

I know, I know, most of you read 'garden update' and our eyes get heavy. But I had a request, so what am I supposed to do?  For you non garden peeps, I promise another blog soon. I have multiple topics written on my bamboo 'white' board so I won't forget.  And if those of you non garden folks are patient, you may be rewarded with a joke or two and at the end of this blog with some extra cute Daisy and Otto photos!

Overall, I'm going to rate Garden Project 2011 a success!  There were some challenges:

Peppers - So tiny they aren't even worth discussing.
Broccoli rabe - nothing, but it's quite possible I was not patient enough with these. They bolted and I pulled the damn things.  That was in the early days. Do you remember those very sad days of summer 2011. There was NO sunshine and everything was NOT growing and I was getting frustrated. Perhaps they just needed time and space and not to be yanked from the ground.
Beets - They flowered pretty quickly and ended up being very fibrous and not very good.


But, let's not dwell on sadness and tragedy, let's jump to the good news.

Onions - I grew some kind of onion from seed and I haven't tried those yet (they are small and were slow), BUT the walla walla sweet starts I got from PCC have been insane! I think I only have about two left and will be very sad to see them go. Though, maybe my co-workers won't mind, as I tend to eat copious amounts in my daily lunch salad and may be fragrant post lunch.    
Basil - Mmm delicious salad addition
Lemon Cucumbers - They were awesome and cute.  Though stressful because there were just too damn many of them!  And how many lemon cucumbers can one person eat?

The remnants of lemon cucumber (with a basil leaf thrown in), cute!

Broccoli - nothing to say but awesome! Oh, wait, I just remembered the aphid crisis, it was rather brief an did not effect the overall crop! Though I did spend lots of time murdering aphids.
Purslane - Ah purslane. It finally grew, but unlike the succulent lemony stuff at the farmer's market, mine was completely bland and tasteless!
Kale - kale was my super star. I ate (and am still eating) lots of my kale. There was an aphid thing for a bit (the aphids moved from the broccoli to the kale), but overall a success.
And finally, Squash!  I am finally eating my squash; delicata and spaghetti. OMG, so good. Even the animals eat them. (BTW, special shout out to Tracy and MB, the spaghetti squash was purchased with a gift certificate from them!!!!)
 

I know, my meals all look the same, but kale, broccoli and spaghetti squash fresh from the garden, how could you not eat that every day, all day!   

File under, completely gratuitous. As promised, this was Daisy and Otto hanging on the porch in the sun yesterday. Even cuter than a lemon cucumber!

So that's the garden story. Until next spring when I get to bore you all again.