Super Local

Okay, so this spring has left a little to be desired as a growing season. I'm down to eight of the eighteen tomato seedlings I grew from seed. They just didn't make it through the transplant into the chill and torrential rains of last week. I made a quick trip to Mother Earth Gardens to buy a few more tomato plants so there will be an acceptable (i.e., excessive) amount of tomatoes come August. I also picked up some pumpkin plants for the boonies (our term of endearment for Charlie and Ellis) with hopes that jack-o-lantern time will also be super local. Cross your fingers for the plant that Charlie yanked out of its pot in excitement to transfer it to the bed. It's looking a little sad.

Despite the cold spring, one can always count on rhubarb to grow prolifically. I took my first harvest of the lovely, tart red stuff and baked two strawberry rhubarb pies:

The strawberries were store bought, since our strawberries still look like this:

Even if the fruits were out, the plants aren't quite established enough to produce a sufficient number of berries for pie and for direct picking and eating, which is the greatest pleasure. Our patience has paid off a bit this year, however, with the asparagus crop, planted four years ago:

The herbs continue to be our best producers. We already have relied heavily on the tarragon, sage, thyme and chives. I got my basil seeds in last week and eagerly await the soil getting warm enough for them to grow. The mint is just dying to be put to work in mojitos as soon as we clear this nasty virus that is making for sore throats and swollen sinuses:

And, finally, the lettuce is just the right size to start harvesting tender leaves for salad. One upside of this cool weather is that it will be a while until the lettuce shoots and becomes bitter:

Which also makes me think that it will be a good year for peas. Soon we'll be eating them right out of the yard and I'll take a rare opportunity to get green things into the kids: