It doesn't get much better than this...

These are the ingredients from last nights dinner:

Coho (Silver) Salmon I pulled straight from the ocean 2 days prior,
Turnip, Broccoli, Garden Peas, Radishes and Summer Squash, all fresh from my garden, mixed with a little olive oil and herbs from the herb garden.

I grilled the whole thing, and served it with some Basmati Rice.

My son thinks I'm the best cook in the whole world!

Harvesting the garden...

I can't believe that we are eating out of the garden already!  Last night, we ate our first head of Broccoli with dinner!  Broccoli is so yummy when its fresh from the garden!

Lily and I decided to do some more harvesting today... Lettuce, Turnip, Radishes, Lemon Balm and Cucumber for lunch, and more Broccoli for the freezer.

The tomato plants have all set fruit, and some of them are getting rather large already.  The squash has the biggest blossoms I have ever seen, and the little squashes are dark green and beautiful!  I'll follow up with some more pictures soon!

Already thinking about next years garden...

So, with the exception of a few plants, this years garden has been a real failure for me. I need to start thinking about next years garden and what I will (and won't) plant in it. I'll start out with a list of what grew and what didn't.

Grew Well:

Snap Peas
Cucumber
Onion
Strawberries
Rhubarb

Didn't Work Out:

Beans
Zucchini
Broccoli
Carrots
Radishes
Spinach
Kale
Cabbage
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomato
Beets



I have to start by asking myself how much of the failure could have been prevented? I need much better soil in the raised beds, that would make a difference all the way around. I neglected my garden for 2 weeks during the beginning of the hottest part of the summer. This was due to Lily being born, but it was neglect all the same.


So, what am I definitely NOT growing again next year? Eggplant, Peppers and Beets for sure.

What am I definitely GROWING again next year? Snap Peas, Cucumber, Onion, Strawberries and Rhubarb, for sure, obviously. But what am I not willing to give up on quite yet? Cabbage, for one. I love cabbage, I cook with it all the time, and Alaska is know for its ability to grow prize winning cabbages, which tells me that I am just doing something wrong. I also know that even if I say I am not going to, I will end up with at least 2 tomato plants again next year. I think I will try Zucchini again as well, as this is just something I really want to have an abundance of in the fall. I think that next year I just need to scale it down a bit, and try to focus on a few so-far-unaccessable-to-me vegetables, and a few tried and true favorites. I will not give up, and sooner or later I will have an amazing vegetable garden every year to feed my family!

Time flys...

Hard to believe that Lily is almost a month old already! I've severely neglected my blog! Here is a quick garden update...

The broccoli and spinach bolted, due to the 85F+ temperatures. The cabbage hasn't grown at all in the last month. The peas are blooming and the beans are doing well, as are the carrots. The radishes have met a similar fate as the cabbages. Cucumbers and zucchini are looking good, and I have 1 tomato. The peppers are covered in aphids and the eggplant seems to be a wasted effort. The onions, beets and strawberries are looking good, and the rhubarb is ready to harvest again! This crazy weather has just messed with the garden too much this year, but next year will hopefully be more productive! I'll post some more pictures next time!

Garden Happenings...

Here's some photos of the progression of the garden so far...

Mixed Radishes

Wild Raspberries

Sitka Roses (behind them is where my Rock Garden will eventually live)

Lots of Cabbages!!!

Snap Peas

Broccoli

Zucchini

Rhubarb

Spinach

Kale

This is not everything in the garden, obviously, but gives a pretty good representation of how things are doing.... And remember, its only June 4th, and this is Alaska... I have no complaints so far!

Spring has sprung!

The weather hasn't been all that nice for the last several days, but the plants are sure loving it! Here's one of my Lilies... finally blooming! This plant has several buds, one other Lily has already bloomed, and the other 6 or 7 show no signs of blooming yet, but are looking very healthy. The radishes have officially broken ground this morning, so the only thing I haven't seen sprout yet are the pole beans and the carrots... all in good time I suppose! I'm pretty sure I'm going to be inheriting 3 more tomato plants from Mom, she just sold her house and doesn't want to plant the garden or greenhouse now. I'm not sure what type of tomato they are, but they are blossoming, so we should get some produce from them!

Rob just got the new coils in the boat motor, so were off to the lake to see if that fixed the problem... here's hoping!

Is it summer? No... its still May

I can't believe it, it got up to 84F here yesterday! I was not enjoying myself! I guess I'm a real Alaskan... 65 to 70F is perfect for me! At least the temps in the 80's only lasted for a few hours, then came the thunder storm! I love thunder, and you never used to get it around here, so it was a special treat. The dogs had other opinions, however. It didn't actually rain until early this morning, but has been raining on and off since then. I don't think the temperature has gotten above 50F all day today. I think this rain is what the beets needed, though, because the little seedlings have decided to make their first above ground appearance today! I expect to see the radishes within a day or two as well.

One more and I'll be done!

Everything except the radishes got planted today! I planted 4 red cabbage, zucchini, pole beans and carrots... and the snap peas are already starting to poke above the ground!!! The spinach and kale are making an appearance in the greenhouse as well. All in all, a very productive Saturday! Tomorrow I'll plant the radishes, and the garden will officially be in!

Got some beets planted!

I just finished planting the beet seeds I have been soaking for the last 7 hours or so. My garden layout continues to get tweaked a bit as I go... no big deal. I decided to plant the beets in the barrel I had delphiniums in last year, and they will be accompanied by the sunflowers that my son has started in the kitchen window. I decided to plant them here because the foliage is so pretty, I figured it deserved a bit more of a prominent place in the landscaping. I also purchased some radish seed and some green onion seed today. The radishes will replace the beets in the raised bed with the snap peas (which I am soaking tonight to be planted tomorrow,) and the onions will be planted in containers (I don't know where I will have these yet.) I think that it will be safe to officially plant the raised beds this weekend, but I will be watching the temperatures overnight for a few more days, just to be sure. If I have to wait one more week to be safe, so be it!

Seeing as how I am trying to save my family some money by growing our own vegetables, and some of the motivation is due to the current financial crisis, I think I can classify my garden as a Victory Garden, or maybe a Freedom Garden would be more appropriate. Here's to freedom from pesticides, high food prices, and letting others dictate what chemicals go into my family's bodies!!!