I made my first toy choy stir fry this weekend almost 6 weeks after planting my first toy choy seeds on March 20th. In truth they could be a little bigger before harvesting (they were about 2 inches tall), but I actually needed to thin them a little and decided they shouldn’t go to waste, so I made a chicken stir fry.
The beets and radishes are growing well and I have started to thin a few radishes. These were sown in mid-April, so about 3 weeks on, this is what they look like. The radishes should be ready in another 2-3 weeks, while the beets will be another month or so. The beets, like the Swiss chard, seems to have multiple seeds in one pod, so I had to thin the double beets.
The mesclun mix is also growing well, and I transplanted the stray lettuce that was growing amongst the buckwheat. I’ve been thinning out the mesclun every few days, as they can grow to be full-sized heads of lettuce if I let them. I’ll try to keep them around the size of the plant in the foreground so the plan is that we’ll have salad greens once a week or so.
The Swiss chard is a bit of a mystery to me. I wonder if I should have just direct-sown them into the pot rather than starting them indoors and transplanting. They started out quite tall and spindly, though they are starting to grow their second and third sets of leaves and beginning to look like Swiss chard. However, they are still very floppy and fall over whenever I water them. I’ve since sown a few more seeds in case some of the transplants don’t make it.
My two varieties of peas are really starting to do well. The Little Marvel that had struggled with our cold, wet spring is starting to fill in, though again, I may have to sow one or two more seeds. And the Oregon Sugar Pod in the hanging basket is also doing well. I notice they have tendrils for gripping and climbing, but I’m hoping the vines will trail downwards. I’ll have to keep an eye on them and train them to trail (if possible!).
The squash seedlings I started indoors for my dad’s garden, Baby Blue Hubbard squash, are doing well… almost too well because they’ve started blossoming already! I have moved them outside to start hardening off the stems and readying them to be transplanted soon. The early butternut squash are also being prepared for transplanting too.
The buckwheat has also struggled with the cold spring, and they never really did a good job as a cover crop because they didn’t flourish. However, they will still work as green manure, adding nutrients and improving soil composition as they break down once it is turned-under into the soil. After rescuing the errant mesclun, I turned the buckwheat under to prepare the soil for my butternut squash experiment. Buckwheat can apparently break down within a few days, but I will give it a week or two before planting the squash. I’m also tossing the thinned seedlings into this pot for additional compost.
Aside from veggies, my flowers are doing well. Still no sign of blossoms on the crocosmia, but the columbine is in full bloom now and I’ve spotted a few pollinating insects checking out the flowers. I also have an alpine columbine that is a dwarf version planted in the same pot. I thought it was done-for as it has struggled in past years, but lo-and-behold it is blooming this year! As well, I have FINALLY seen the first sign of life of the butterfly bush (Aesclepias), so now I know they won’t generally pop up until the first two weeks of May.
