rainbow carrot harvest begins

One of the boys couldn't wait any longer and started pulling carrots one afternoon, while I was inside.  This is not as bad as the day I left out a can of spray paint and they began painting their fort while I was inside cleaning.  Troublemakers those boys.  ;-)

This is how it goes when school lets out in the afternoon -- They grab a snack when they walk in the door, throw their backpacks and some of their clothing in their room.  I've managed to keep them in shorts or pants most of the time.  But the shirtless thing is not a fight I care to make yet.  They run around the house, play some computer games, wrestle, maybe do a little homework.  And when they begin climbing the walls (I'm almost serious), I send them out to play in the backyard.  I often try to line this up with cooking dinner.  That way I have a little peace and quiet, even if it only lasts ten minutes.

Back to the carrots.  Wish they would have stayed in the dirt a little longer, but they weren't so early.  I think we're onto something -- carrots in containers.  Whatever works, right?  The night these were picked we made roasted rainbow carrots.  Not from our own carrots, but from the farmers market.  Ours were perfect for snacking.  I sliced up the KYV carrots and drizzled olive oil over them, added a little kosher salt, some freshly ground pepper, and a tablespoon of brown sugar. 

Also, this morning I spied a broccoli head.  The size of my pinky fingertip, but it's there! 

Softball lemons

Generally speaking we go to a farmer's market to pick up healthy food to prepare healthy meals.  But, how about dessert?  Last Saturday we took the boys to the St. Johns River Farmers Market.  We visited the KYV Farm booth and picked up some goodies -- kale, rainbow carrots, and softball-size meyer lemons.  At first I thought I was holding a grapefruit.  I had to check the sign twice to make sure I was actually looking at a lemon. 

Although the recipe called for more, it only took one gigantic lemon to make a pan.  They had a perfect balance of sweet and tart. Lemon Bars never tasted better.

Two Months of growth

The kale is almost ready to pick.  One of our favorite things to do with kale is make this soup -- substituting kale for escarole.

BROCCOLI.  Still haven't produced heads yet.  Hoping it's not too warm here.  I know there are others in my area having success growing broccoli.  Hopefully I didn't plant too late.  I have read that broccoli doen't like the heat and the temps have been in the 80s this week.  I'll keep peeking inside and gently pulling the leaves back in the center of the plant.  Perhaps I am just being impatient.

 BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE.  Time for some salad!

RAINBOW CARROTS.  I love to see the vibrant purple head peeking out from the soil.  We're getting close to harvesting carrots.  I wonder what is beneath the soil.  How can you tell when a carrot is done?  

 Curly KALE.  Curly headed baby.  Mouthful of juicy orange.

 Two months of carrot green growth.

 Carpet of parsley. 

There you have it.  Two months of growth.  Time to harvest some things and time to sit back and patiently await others.  I'm thinking about another locavore challenge.  One month of eating one locally grown food each day.  Any takers? 

Here we go again

Although the gardening here has been continuous, my blogging hasn't been so steady.  I hate to be inconsistent.  I enjoy posting our little garden happenings.

I've decided I need a gardening journal.  My Florida Gardening book has notes illegibly scribbled throughout.  My handwriting has never been neat, and it's hit an all-time elementary school boy low {no offense males}.  And, those marginal margins just aren't cutting it. Every growing season brings new ideas, mistakes to amend, sketched garden layouts, and much more than the minimal white of my book pages can hold.

Here are the green beginnings of rainbow carrots.  Next post you will see two and a half months worth of growth.  It is a whole lot greener now!

Last fall my carrots, along with other root vegetables, had a difficult time growing in my garden.  I'm still unsure if that was something I did or didn't do, or maybe my soil??  This year I tried containers and the outcome is much better than last year's.  * Note for future garden journal * --  NEED many more containers for next years carrots!  I am anxious to pull these babies out of the garden and see the beautiful spectrum of colors.  I'm hoping they continue to grow as they should.  I have noticed some colors peeking through the soil beneath the carrot foliage.  Fingers are crossed here.

The children are also growing well.  Just as gardening is an ongoing experiment and learning experience, so is raising a child.  Sometimes our parental methods have to be switched up, and new strategies tried.  Each child is different.  What works for one may not work for another.  Too bad kids don't come with instructions as my seeds packets do.  I guess that is part of the fun of parenting.  When you were a child did you ever like to pick the brown paper surprise grab bag?  I did.  You just never know what you're gonna get. 

 

Last year the kale failed, and we were very disappointed.  Two years ago it was like a weed we couldn't control.  Well, I'm happy to say I'm feeling good about this years' kale.  I think last year was too warm, halting our vegetables' growth.  We've had some cooler days this time around and I think it is making all the difference. 

We harvested 16 satsumas last month!  That's right, 16.  I had to count -- because each one of those satsumas meant so much to us.  Lame, I know.  But our tree is young and gave us one lonely satsuma the previous year.  We were thrilled when these sixteen grew.  We took our time with them and enjoyed them. (Well, as much as we could with little ones jumping up and down, tugging at our clothes, while we peeled them.)

Pictures to come soon of the garden -  two and a half months in....