Chard and turnips... &c.

The chard and turnips that I sowed back in October are ready for harvest, so about sixty days from seed to harvest. That's considerably longer than the times listed, but of course those are days-to-harvest numbers for spring sowing. I pulled up some of the turnips two nights ago--the size of golf balls and sweet enough to eat like radishes. I browned them in butter, then tossed in their still-tender leafy greens and cooked them for a few more minutes. A dash of vinegar and plenty of salt, and that was supper.

Squirrels have played havoc with my radishes and carrots... I don't know how the know, or why they do it, but every time I sow those two seeds, the darn beasts spend the night digging in those rows. This has happened at least half a dozen times this fall, and as a result, I have hardly any carrots or radishes growing and I had to order more seeds...

On the plus side of the ledger, my lettuces are finally doing well, Jericho in particular. The warm weather has quickened the tomatoes and I harvested the first Jetsetter a few days ago. Very tasty and much better quality than I'm used to for winter tomatoes.

Latest seed order...

From Pinetree. Cheap seeds, good selection. These have all worked well for me.

Pinetree Garden Seeds
PO Box 300
New Gloucester, ME 04260

Product #: SP17-MUNCHING MIX 4 OZ
Product #: 431-TOKYO CROSS TURNIP (F1 hybrid 30 days)
Product #: 303-FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH (25 days)
Product #: 7201-SUGAR SNAX CARROT (F1 hybrid 63 days)
Product #: 189-CRESS-UPLAND (25 days)
Product #: 19102-DINOSAUR KALE (53 days)

March in December...

Not feeling much like Christmas out there... but compared to what other parts of the country are suffering now, I'll take the warmth and sun. Funny that I was just complaining about the cold.

A quick update in pictures...

Some Apollo Arugula, window boxes with salad greens, blackberries, Dinosaur kale, Jetsettter tomatoes, and cassava canes for next year.

Florida in December

Yellow Oncidium orchid...

Cassava cuttings

Jetsetter in December...

It's been an exceptionally cold winter: No frosts yet, but still, very cold. It seems every week we get into the mid- or upper-thirties. My tomatoes, though, have been setting lots of fruit, which is slowly ripening. If we get through the winter with no frosts (doubtful), or I nurse these plants through them, I'll have a great harvest this spring.

Cassava harvest...

Harvest from my first try with cassava. I got some cuttings from a gardening friend (thanks, Felix!) back in, what, May? Made numerous cuttings from the original piece and shared with friends, then planted what was left in the garden: three small pieces.

From grazing in your garden

(You can see the cassava cutting in the lower left corner, beginning of June.)
If I'd gotten it planted in the garden earlier, I would have had a better harvest. Still, considering the space I gave it and the total lack of water, fertilizer, etc. -- not bad. Certainly no worse than sweet potatoes. And now I have fifteen linear feet of cassava stem to make cutting from.