Summer Update with Broccoli

Compare the first two photos with the ones from the garden tour post. These were taken Thursday, July 15, 2010.

The largest corn stalks are the three from the seed I had planted. The rest are from the Wells' garden. The little cuke plant has a tiny 2" cuke developing. That monster broccoli plant yielded a 1 lb 3 oz head. The largest carrots are about pencil thick but long and straight and well formed. Notice also two more tomato plants. A third nestled in with them is for a topsy turvy hanging planter. I may put some beans in that space where the dog dug up two corn plants, between the corn and the cucumber/broccoli, and between the corn and carrots. Double-dug beds allow closer spacing.

The potatoes have recovered from their fall now that I've braced them with wire (thanks Frank!), the broccoli plants are producing well, lettuce is still going (hidden beneath the broccoli and potatoes) and the sweet potatoes are really taking off in this warmth.

This broccoli became stir-fried Broccoli Beef. Thanks to Kathy M. for raising the beef. New York Strip makes a nice stir fry beef when thinly sliced. It's so nice to know where your food comes from in this age of lax corporate quality control (e coli on lettuce?), and pesticide & herbicide laden soil.

This was what I found inside the stalk of that 1 lb head of broccoli. Don't worry, the stalks are so good roughly chopped and stir fried with the rest of the florets. What didn't make it into the dish goes back into the soil via the compost. Very little is wasted.

The broccoli I planted was started from seed. It was a Territorial Seed Company blend of four varieties, if memory serves. So I'm not really sure which was which, but the smaller head shown above was a different variety than the larger one. The smaller one had a spicier kick to it raw than the larger, and the stem was a darker green. Both were delicious.

More to come as the summer continues!

Galen