Harvest Monday 1.17.11

Linking in to Daphne's Dandelion's for this week's Harvest Monday!
'Finally something to post. Well - I can write about it but unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and the pictures didn't save on the card. To say I'm disappointed is not even scratching the surface. Especially considering it's less than a year old and cost a small fortune. So- back to the cell phone shots.

My harvest this week was one single cabbage head and 5 deformed carrots. To which I am supposed to be cooking tonight. Stuffed cigars or dolmades, or... many names but meat and rice and seasonings wrapped in parboiled cabbage leaves and baked until delicious. 4lbs 3oz after the guard leaves were removed and the head was cleaned. To whit- is there anything you can do with those outer, tougher leaves? I myself don't care for cabbage much less would I know what to do with them beyond composting them.

Ah, and that brings us to the next topic. This weekend was absolutely stellar. Weather wise you just can't ask for much better. It was in the upper 60's and clear on Saturday and Sunday n the low 70's and sunny as well. I did manage to whip up a sweat even though it was nearly perfect out. But sweat equity is one thing I don't mind putting into my garden.

I was hoping to empty my compost bin that had been filled in the fall but my not so wonderful memory means I didn't exactly remember to turn it on schedule nor did it get watered in regularly. The compost was not entirely ready and as such I didn't add it into the beds yet. This also co-insided with the moving of the compost bin, and setting up the second one. In the fall I had completely filled the large tumbling composter and stopped saving my kitchen scraps and such. Now I'll be able to have one cycle finishing while beginning to layer the second. The new bin was ubber cheap - found it on clearance at the beginning of winter when all the rest of the summer and gardening supplies had been sold out for a while. If the store would have had more of them I would have bought several. It's an inactive/laying style as it is a large bin that doesn't allow you access to turning the entire pile so it will certainly take longer for each cycle but with 2 bins now both 60 gallons I should be able to continuously cycle them.
Back to the story. I  assembled the new bin, dug out the part of the garden they would be located in, put weed prevention fabric down, put the new composter in, removed the nearly completed compost from the tumbler, and put it into the new bin, then drug the tumbler across the yard to it's new resting place. (Pictured above) It won't be the very best place for advancing the compost cycle but it will be the best place for keeping the yard cleaned up and the kids out f it. It's also much more pleasing to the eye there. I still need to put mulch on top but funds prevented me from spending to do any improvements this pay check. 2 bags of much for this area and it will be complete. The good news is while I did give up part of an existing bed the area formerly occupied by the tumbler is better/longer sun and it will be part of a much larger bed.
I also added the few bags of hummus I had left  into one of the main beds. When the compost cycle is completed it will go to complete raising that bed. While I was there I went ahead and seeded a few more carrots, radish, and lettuce- both loose head and leaf lettuce. Lettuce is probably the one thing I don't particularly see much benefit to growing in my garden. If it competed for space against any of my spring or summer crops it would be out in a heartbeat. As my beds are mostly bare in the winter I grow them from fall until my first spring plantings. Carrots as well. But that is an entirely different story. I don't grow them any other time because I can't seem to grow them. My carrot skills are severely lacking. I guess I figure if I keep planting them eventual I'll find something that works for my climate/my garden. 

'Till next time!

Barbie~