Ramble Bramble: radishes

Monday

Curried Radish-Coleslaw

I'll admit, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with all the radishes we will soon have. I took this first (small) harvest home, washed them and stared at them.

What do you do with radishes?

I'm not a huge radish fan but maybe that's because I've only really had them sliced in a bad iceberg lettuce-filled salad.

It was a hot day so I didn't want to roast them, although I've heard tell they are good roasted.

So, instead of an iceberg lettuce salad....I did coleslaw. Here's the recipe.

Warning for this and all future recipes: I don't really measure. I dash, pour, mix and taste. Then I dash, pour, mix and taste again. The measurements listed below are estimates.

1 small head cabbage, cut into strips
10 radishes, cut into small pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1-2 Tbs Vegenaise (or mayonnaise, if that's your poison)
2 Tbs curry powder
1/2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp turmeric
1-2 tsp mustard powder
1-2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sage
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (This definitely got better over time.)

We put some on Boca patties and ate them en route to the farm. If I made it again, I'd add green bell peppers instead of yellow and I'd add a minced red onion for a little kick.

Monday

Lunch Break Gardening

Over that last few weeks I have been speeding out to the garden during my lunch break everyday. I usually get about 30-45 minutes of time to poke around in the garden in my office clothes. While I sit at work I usually find myself thinking about the garden: weather, water, soil, creatures and all the gray, white and brown of the garden turning green.

This is an example of what I did during my lunch in the garden the week before last:

Monday:

-Planted Melons
-Watered

Tuesday:

-Planted Red and Romaine Lettuce

-Fertilized Tomatoes and Peppers (I fertilize every two weeks)

-Watered (I water whenever I plant seeds, sprouts, seedlings or established plants)

Wednesday:

-Planted Black Beans and Swiss Chard
-Mulching with Dead Leaves (Ongoing process as we continue to collect them off our neighbors curbs)
-Watered

Thursday:

-Fertilized Sunflowers
-Spotty Weeding (I usually focus on the weeds that are closest to my young plants that would compete the most for resources)

Friday:

-Planted Carrots (I plan on planting a line of carrots and radishes every two weeks to provide a continuous harvest)
-Watered

Black Beans that look like ancient reptilian aliens emerging from the earth!

Powerful little lettuce seedlings breaking through the very crusty soil.

This is an example of what I did during my lunch in the garden last week:

Monday:

-Planted Chives, Dill, and Green Onions between pre-existing plants throughout the garden.
(I plan on peppering the garden with these to ward off pests, attract beneficial and fill empty spaces with deliciousness)
-Watered Seedlings

Tuesday:

-Put up Trellis for row of Purple Pole Beans made from flattened tomato cages, electrical ties and 4' wooden stakes (We are using corn and sunflowers as a natural trellis and bamboo tripods for all of the other beans)
-Watered Seedlings

Wednesday:

-Photographed the garden
-Spotty Weeding

Thursday:

-Removed Aphids from Asparagus Beans by hand. You can use a jet of water to knock these little guys off your plants or you can run your finger tips along the stems and leaves to remove/squish these little squashy guys. Ants had placed them on the plants and were "farming" them for their honeydew. Check this out!

These little Fire Ant tended cuties have been deforming the new growth of my Asparagus Beans and have to go.

-Removed beetles from my Kentucky Wonder Beans that had been turning these plants into Swiss cheese.

Friday:

-I surveyed the damage and looked for any remaining or replaced Aphids but there were very few and the beetles may be a continuing problem.
-Planted Dill and Cilantro
-Watered Seedlings

I am fascinated by all of these creatures and I hate having to squish them but my bean plants are too young and wimpy for me to allow there first leaves to be munched and deformed. Every bean plant has been affected by beetles or aphids except for those growing amongst the Sunflowers. Hmmm...interesting. All in all I think the Asparagus Beans and Kentucky Wonder Beans, aside from being a little perforated are going to be just fine. Erin and I plan on losing at least 10% of our plants to pests so a few holes here and there is nothing to freak out about but I'm keeping my eye on you aphids.

I love these 30 minute trips, and in the future I hope that I can spend my entire work week in the garden.

Sunday