It’s all growing well in our raised bed experiment. Except the leeks, which are spindly little pencils so far.
I will be patient.
I’m mainly delighted and surprised by the profusion. It seems to have come all of a sudden. We’re cropping lettuces, potatoes, kale, sorrel, purple sprouting brocolli, chives, parsley, dill, mint, and rocket.
The beets, shallots and onions look nearly ready. The garlic is coming along, and the mammoth red cabbage leaves are starting to turn in. The parsnips are growing, as are the carrots.
It’s the rain, long hours of daylight and mild temperatures. Suddenly everything is leaping up as if wanting to make up for the slow, cold start of our late spring.
Ravencroft Skye 
Your veg is looking great. Be patient with the leeks. They take forever to get going, but they get picked on demand throughout the winter and we were harvesting leeks in March/April. They’re frost and snow hardy.m
Like you our onions are now ready to harvest. As for the garlic, I’ve seen scores of people harvesting now which is too early in my opinion as the bulbs haven’t swelled enough. Mid August seems the right time for us.
I’m curious. What do you use sorrel in? We have some and at this point I don’t when or how we will cook with it. Same question about chard (which I don’t think you’re growing), but any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Thank you, and yes, I agree regarding patience with the leeks and garlic. I sowed my garlic in the spring, so it definitely needs a few more months to grow.
Sorrel – I use this in salads as a leaf. It has a sour, citrussy taste and the red veined variety is so pretty in a salad bowl. Plus it’s a perennial so I’m hoping it will be with us for years.
With chard (which I do have a few of. I sowed too early and most of the seedlings didn’t make it, but I have about three plants doing well now) I chop the stems and leaves and toss it in a wok or saute pan with olive oil or butter and garlic. It just takes a few minutes to cook.Maybe a squeeze of lemon juice or some seasalt or black pepper. I do the same with kale, beetroot leaves and Broccoli leaves. Delicious!
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Our new favorite is Swiss chard. It’s the ultimate spinach replacement. Did you guys grow any this year?
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Oh yes. Well, rainbow chard. Gorgeous. Husband is less impressed and prefers kale, but I love it. I’ve just sown more to over winter!
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We have rainbow chard too. It’s such a fab spinach replacement. We love our kale too, but chard is currently veg star of the month.
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Your veggies are looking so healthy and beautiful! Lush!
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Thank you! All that rain 🙂
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Yum! Well done.
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More luck than judgement in this first year 😉
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Lovely veggies!
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Thank you! Gives me hope that we can scale up next year and almost grow enough to feed ourselves for the year 👍
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We don’t have enough space to grow enough to feed ourselves for a year but with some canning we have had some things last us for a long time.
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I’m looking forward to experimenting with preserving. We’ll have a freezer, but I’m drawn to canning and pickling. Once we have the house ready I’ll have built a pantry just for that, so let the fun begin! There seems to be much more of a culture of canning in the US than here, but I’m really looking forward to learning 👍
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It’s a bit time consuming but well worth it in the end.
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What riches!! Your hard work has certainly paid off. Next year it’s on to bigger and better things.
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Thank you! Yes, more of what worked. And a polycrub to extend the range of what we can grow. And an orchard!
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