As I mentioned previously, we have had a lot of rain. My informal rain gauge is a 5 gallon bucket from Lowes Home Improvement Center. I just leave the bucket sitting out in an open area of the yard. Open area means, no tree branches overhead. Every day, when I go outside, I check to see how much rain has fallen since I looked the day before. Nearly every day, for the last month and a half, I have emptied 1/2" to 1" of water out of the bucket! That is quite a bit of rain!
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Also, I mentioned previously that the rain has really made the garden grow. This has done a great job for the vegetables. It has also contributed to the lush green growth of the weeds! As you can see from the next picture, the weeds have taken over! One can hardly tell the difference between the radishes, lettuce and the weeds in this bed!
As I was gazing at this mess, I noticed something red in amongst the weeds of one of the raised beds.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Could it be true? Might it be a strawberry at last? Yes! Hidden down in the weeds I found a large strawberry with two others developing next to it!
Last year, with high hopes and big plans, I set out 50 strawberry plants in two 8' x 4' raised beds. They really did not do very well. Alot of them just died. I had grown strawberries successfully in Texas, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. I wondered if maybe there was some secret to growing them in Vermont!!
Over the winter even more of them died. I speculated that I should have mulched them to protect them from the severe cold.
This Spring I found that the ones that survived were the new starts that had sprouted from runners which the mother plants had sent out into the bark-mulched garden paths.
I transplanted all of those wanderers (about twenty plants) back into one 8' x 4' bed. They seemed to do well, and quite clearly the rain has done wonders for those strawberry plants.
Further hunting rewarded me with one dozen of the beauties! Oh Yum! What a treat.... one dozen organically grown, freshly picked, super sweet strawberries!
Have a nice day!
As promised, here is the recipe
for Sauteed Radish Greens and Roots
Wash the radishes really well removing all the soil from the roots and leaves.
Cut off and discard the root ends and the part of the plant where the stems attach to the roots. Slice the roots and the leaves.
Slice one clove of garlic and sautee the garlic in olive oil until it is barely golden brown.
Add the sliced radish roots and stir fry briefly until you see the slices begin to become transparent. It only takes about 30 seconds or so. Add the leaves and stir fry just until the greens are slightly wilted.
Serve immediately. Salt to taste and/or add Bragg's Liquid Aminos for seasoning.
Enjoy... It is delicious!
Have a great day!
If I could characterize the last half of May and the month of June... I would use two words... Radishes and Rain!
We have had a lot of rain! It seems as if we have had only five or six days of sunshine for a month and a half! The rainfall has really helped the garden to grow. I have not had to use any supplemental water from the household water supply to keep everything going.
The Cherry Belle radishes are doing great!
I have had enough radishes to eat them out of hand, sliced in salads, sliced in vinegar and even tried them stir fried after reading of such a thing from another gardener, Mark Ridsdill Smith, who blogs about growing vegetables on his small balcony while residing in London, England. He also has a facebook page which I encourage you to check out. It is called "Vertical Veg". Mark recommended using the early thinnings of radishes by lightly sauteeing them for greens!
I stir fried the greens and the sliced roots with garlic and they were delicious! For those who are interested, I will post pictures of this recipe in the very next blog.
Have a great day!
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