We’re finally seeing some new faces in the harvest baskets here in mid May. For a while it was pretty much the same players: asparagus, lettuce, arugula and kale. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, mind you! We cut the last of the asparagus last week, bringing our 2012 total to a nice round 30 pounds. I already miss it, but we had a great run for 8 weeks and we have some in the freezer for later on. It’s now time to move on to other seasonal goodies.
blueberries and cherries (click on any image to enlarge)
The new faces are a little more colorful, bringing shades of red and blue to the party. Most of our pie cherries have been harvested by now. We got about 4 pounds of them, “enough for a pie” as we like to jokingly say. Of course that will make several pies or cobblers. But since the birds like them too, we don’t like to count them until they’re safely indoors!
Patriot blueberries
The blue is coming in the form of blueberries. Ahh, now that’s a welcome treat! It was early June before any ripened last year, so they are coming in 3 weeks early like everything else so far this year. The bushes are nicely loaded, though we lost one plant that had to be replaced. The first ones to ripen are Patriot, and some from an unnamed plant that was here when we arrived. It could be Patriot too, since the berries are similar in size and flavor. I guess we’ll never know for sure.
first garlic scapes
The garlic scapes are green but another welcome treat. They came in 3 weeks earlier than last year too. I’ve made two batches of garlic scape salad dressing already. And I plan on making some pesto when I have the time. Time is one commodity that seems to be in short supply right about now!
garlic scape salad dressing
The arugula is pretty well played out. It’s all bolted to seed. But the lettuce is looking great. We’ve enjoyed some of the Oakleaf this week. It has an amazing, almost buttery taste to it this year. This variety has been around for over 100 years and it’s still hard to beat when it’s fresh from the garden.
oakleaf lettuce
Radishes are lending a little color to things as well. So far they have wound up on salads and eaten with a little yogurt dip. I’m going to try some pickled ones soon. We went to a cooking class last week and sampled pickled turnips, which were quite dee-lish. I was thinking radishes would be good as well, and lo and behold Mother Earth News has a timely recipe for them. For some reason I have really been enjoying crunchy things lately. I am looking forward to the kohlrabi for that very reason. It shouldn’t be much longer.
assortment of radishes
That’s a look at what we’re harvesting here in mid May. We’ve hauled in 77 pounds so far this year, for which I am always grateful. To see what other gardeners are hauling in, visit Daphne’s Dandelions – host of Harvest Mondays.