Andrew is Good Company in the Garden

Andrew is on spring break this week and arrived home from Asheville this afternoon.  It was nice to have company in the garden while I did my chores.  It was a gray afternoon, with little spits and spats of rain here and there while we worked and chatted.

He and I sowed four 12' rows of Detroit Dark Red Beets.  This is a popular variety, and one that I planted last year.  The roots are extremely sweet and perfectly round, measuring 3" across, with deep red skin and dark red flesh.  With color that intense you know they've got to be good for you!

When I first began dreaming and making plans for the garden I knew I wanted to grow beets because I love eating the roots.  But after enjoying a successful crop last year I realized that I would grow beets for the tops alone!  Beet roots boast folacin, vitamin C and fiber, but the real nutritional treasure lies in the green tops: they're packed with beta carotene, calcium and iron.  As the plants grow, I gradually thin them out, using the baby greens in fresh salads or tossed into a stir fry or pot of soup.  As the beet tops get larger and the plants are properly spaced, I pick the greens for cooking.  It's OK to cut up to 1/3 of the foliage from a beet plant at any time to use as salad or cooked greens without jeopardizing the development of the underground root.  My mouth is watering in anticipation of roasted beets, Harvard beets, pickled beets, beet salad....  maybe even something crazy like beet mousse!  Will keep you posted on that.  Expected maturation time is 59 days.

I put 16 Premium Crop Broccoli plants in the ground.  They should produce nice, broad heads, 8" across.  Expected maturation time is 58 - 65 days.  I added 4 Stonehead Cabbage plants to the four plants that wintered over.  This variety produces nearly round, blue-green heads that mature in 50 - 70 days.

I'll be sowing new patches of greens as the fall crop is spent.  Other than that, the spring garden is in.  All but one bed - the new one Rouse just built - is filled up!
It started to sprinkle in earnest just as I finished the planting.  I let the hens out into the yard while Andrew collected 8 eggs.  Tonight we'll eat Happy Chicken Egg quiche loaded with fresh-cut spinach from the garden with mushrooms and cheese from the Chatham Marketplace.