Dig It

Root veggies are delicious and good for you too.

I really get a kick out of root crops, or veggies grown underground, I should say. There's just something about digging down and coming up with something that you can actually eat. You never know exactly what you're going to get either. Okay, so when I pull on a carrot top, I know it will be a carrot on the other end, but how big will it be? Sometimes I pull on a bushy looking top thinking it will be a biggun' and end up with a skinny little root.

Now, you'll notice in the picture that there's more than one type of carrot shown. The somewhat regular orange one is a Sugarsnax. A nice enough carrot. But the one that really gets me, is the purple one. I've shown a few of these before. No, you don't need your monitor calibrated, it really is purple, at least on the outside. Some of them are a deep, deep purple and some more of a reddish color. I've noticed that the smaller more immature ones tend to be less purple, although not evident in this bunch. Most of the earlier ones I picked were of the lighter color and Hubby was calling them, "striped carrots". If you were to slice the carrot, you'd see a few millimeters of purple and then an orange core. I suppose if I peeled it with one of my more aggressive peelers, I'd be back to orange carrots again. I like to leave that purple part on and give it a good scrub under the water and a light scraping with a knife. After cooking, they remain purple.

A closer look at Purple Haze Carrots freshly pulled from the garden.

Potatoes are a total mystery. The plant can be big or small and that's no indication of what's growing below. I have to dig down deep to find my potatoes and I never know how many or how big they will be. These few pictured at the top of the page would be considered "new" potatoes. They aren't fully grown. The red is "French Fingerling" sometimes called Roseval or Nosebag. An heirloom variety, the story goes that these potatoes made it here in a horse's feed bag. To harvest new potatoes, I try to leave the plant undisturbed and gently dig down below into the soil and sneak a few potatoes out. This leaves the plant intact and able to bring the rest of the crop to maturity.

Beets seem to be a less favored veggie it seems (by others, not me!) and I can't figure out why. They taste good, a sweet veggie, and good for you too. They're high in folic acid, potassium, calcium, and antioxidants. The tops are edible too, full of vitamins, and can be used like any other green. Although, I must admit, I haven't tried them...yet. I also recently came across a recipe for a raw beet salad. Beets are pretty hard when raw, so I bet it would be crisp. I may give it a try some time soon. As for my beets, I've grown golden beets, which are orange on the outside and strikingly yellow on the inside. Also the more well known dark red beets, which are a deep fuschia that I think is beautiful. The juice of which can be used as a dye.

Say Peas!

It certainly has been a weird weather year, hasn't it? I mean, we had a relatively warm winter, and then spring was touch and go and took forever to warm up, and now July 4th was cool and rainy. Weird weather. But, that's the thing about Mother Nature, she's unpredictable. I'm sure there have been years past like this as well, but we just choose to remember Christmas as snowy, spring as rainy, and summer as hot and sunny. Funny thing is, in the garden, it all seems to even out.

99 Pea Pods Yielded 1 Cup of Peas

Spring of 2006 I planted peas on April 12 & 13. The peas matured and reached peak on the week of July 4th. We were away that week and so missed it. We missed the whole pea harvest. One look when we got back home and I knew, they were too big, starchy, and well, flatulent. We tried to eat them, but they tasted bitter and starchy. Not good eatin' and a big disappointment. This year, I was delayed in planting my peas, and with the cool weather, I doubt they would have germinated any earlier anyway. I planted them April 22 & 24, and guess what? They reached peak the week of July 4th again! This time we were home. We got to eat them. Not all are ready on the exact same day. I pick a few that look ready each day or two and add them to whatever we're eating. Last night, was my biggest harvest yet.

Last night's dinner fixin's.
Green Arrow Peas, three kinds of baby carrots, and mixed lettuce.

Peas add a touch of sweetness and contrast to savory foods. I like adding raw fresh garden peas to a salad. I also added them to angel hair pasta with fresh from the garden sautéed garlic, Parmesan cheese, and my homemade tomato sauce earlier this week. I think that was our favorite. Since I got a good amount yesterday, I decided to cook them and eat them with cut up baby carrots, cooked for only a minute and tossed with one pat of butter. Yum.

While photographing my harvest last night, with my head bent down over the camera and tripod, I heard a hum overhead. Looked up and a hummingbird zipped away. Too fast for me. Bent down again and heard that buzzing again, too loud to be an insect. Looked up, again, the hummer zips away. I shouldn't be surprised since I was on the back patio beside his feeder. Earlier in the evening, from inside the house, I spotted three at the feeder in succession. But I am always delighted when they come right up to me. Curious creatures and a bit playful, maybe he was just teasing me. "There you are photographer person, with your camera at the ready, but you won't capture me!" Maybe not tonight, but I don't give up easily.

Here is a hummingbird taking a drink from my 'Humzinger' feeder.
They are tiny birds only a few inches tall, resembling an insect more than a bird, when in flight.

Oh, and the bluebird family is now living in my front yard trees. The parents eagerly come to the feeding station and gather food for the babies still hiding in the tall trees. I know they are close by, because the trips are many and quickly accomplished.