Monday, June 10, 2013

My Radishes were a disappointment

I got my radish seeds from Gurney's.  I picked an unusual variety instead of the normal round red ones. They sprouted up fine and grew like crazy, with the stems and leaves getting almost a foot high.  Problem was, every time I pulled one to check on the radish end, it was small and no more than a half inch in diameter.  Huge stalks and leaves, little bitty radishes.  I cleaned one off and tasted it, and it was hot and stringy, not tender at all.

After three tries, I decided to pull them all and toss them in the compost pile.  I replanted the squares with Leeks.  I did that today.  Hopefully I will like the leeks better.  I also got a pack of seeds for the traditional radishes, and planted them in and around some of my cabbage and pepper plants.  If they grow that will be a bonus, if not then I'm out less than two bucks for a pack of seeds.

This past week I also made a couple of SIPs (sub-irrigated planters) from 5 gallon plastic buckets.  You make them by using one as a water reservoir and the second one inserted into the first as the plant container.  There's quite a bit more to it than that, but I won't bore you with it here.  Look up Earth Buckets on line and you can learn all about it.

I'm tempted to try the rain gutter self-watering method, but it's getting late for planting new stuff.  I guess I will just continue with what I have and see how the garden does.

By the way, I am now harvesting kale, beet greens, and strawberries.  My herbs are also available, but I haven't used any just yet.  I also have lettuce, but I didn't plant much, and spinach.  My tomatoes are producing fruit too, as are my snap peas.  My garden is much more productive than it was last year.  The jury is still out on some of my carrots and onions.  They are growing but still young and weak, and the temperatures are getting hotter.

Nuff for now.

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