Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Hope springs eternal ... in the garden

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.
~Lou Erickson


It also requires a slew of expletives directed at those slugs and weeds and other obstacles standing in the way of my vegetables' happiness :)

In spite of the vagaries of the weather this year, the abysmal lack of spring and warmth, my veggies have managed to survive. Really well, I might add. And yes, it takes some work to build those beds, plant those starters and tend to them every couple of days. But none of this would've happened without those fabulous saplings to start off with! This year's crop comes with starters from these places:
  • Molbaks - the king of nurseries out here in the greater seattle area. Somewhat pricey, but their quality remains blemishless.
  • Seattle Tilth - a fabulous local non-profit dedicated to urban gardening. Their organic techniques, demonstrations and classes are truly fantastic!
  • Seattle area farmers' markets - Life doesn't quite function without the CSAs and organic gardeners who populate these markets - their seeds, starters and crops are the best, the very best!
So, without further ado, I present a partial snapshot of the vegetable garden as of this evening :)


Thai Chilli Pepper



A few of the zillion tomatoes (heirlooms, sweet million, cherry, plum, roma)


One of the veggie beds, the plants in front are chives, garlic, fennel and basil


Greens - radicchio, braising greens, arugula, butter lettuce ...


First snap pea of the season!


Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and other leafy green things!


Yellow squash


Zucchini


Italian Parsley


Rapini flower

These rapini flowers have been a fabulous discovery this season - we stumbled upon them at the Madrona farmers' market and have been hooked on them since. Fragile-looking, but intensely flavourful and refreshing - they remind me of Bri. The incredibly strong and resilient Bri - we're all thinking of you and rooting for you.

Hope does spring eternal.

23 comments:

amna said...

oh god!! i want ur garden!!!!!! I Want it!!!!!!!

notyet100 said...

nice pics...

notyet100 said...

nice pics...

Divya Kudua said...

nice garden..great pics too!!!

J said...

Lovely to see your garden growing!

SMN said...

Lucky u to hv such lovely garden back home v had huge one and i love farm fresh veggies..

Bhagyashri said...

Wow! great pics & such a lovely garden! I so want to live on the ground floor right now :) and Nags said it for me, I want it too!!!

sra said...

These pics are such beauties! I see you've been on an unplanned break, me too just returning from one.

sunita said...

You've done very well, dear Kay :-)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

So beautiful. I've been seeing so many gardens my green fingers are itching!

FH said...

OMG!! They are already giving you fruits too, lucky!! I had a huge crop of Red Chards, few Eggplants, few tomatoes so far. Enjoy, good job!:)

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures and lucky you.

Sunshinemom said...

Beautiful pictures - Loved the zucchini the best!

Revathi said...

fabulous garden ! The pictures are out of the world - The freshly watered plants and the pics just transported me to seeing them in ooty or bangalore !!

superb captures !

Srivalli said...

Kay!!!....how dare you flaunt your garden like this!!!!...I want it right now...I don't mind sharing it with Nags..she is my friend alright!!!!..:D

Kalai said...

Amazing garden! My mom's been gardening this year and it's so beautiful to see! :)

bee said...

i flew through seattle this morning and thought of you. glad to see your post.

Y said...

What an amazing garden. If only mine was half as fertile as yours! I'm resigned to the fact that my plants will always struggle somewhat, due to my lack of green thumbs.

TBC said...

The parsley looks beautiful!

A, mama of twins said...

wow amazing k, look at all those delish plants and veggies.

Anonymous said...

your garden looks really amazing!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I love rapini flowers too. They're wonderful in salads. And the zucchini blossoms are making me swoon!

Cham said...

Beautiful garden.....