Micro Greens - Thinning Seedlings

Thinned Radish Seedlings

One of the more difficult things for me to do is thin a row of directly sown seeds.  It always struck me as wasteful, and contrary to my gardener's natural nurturing of plants instinct.  So I would either not do a very good job of it, which affected the crop, or I'd spend too much time painstakingly placing individual seeds the proper distance apart to avoid having to pull too many of them.  Then I learned that most seedlings of food crops are edible, and absolutely delicious.  Radish seedlings are particularly good, giving a nice "sprout-like" texture to top off a salad, and with that uniquely peppery radish flavor.  Carrots, peas, and beets are other examples of micro greens that make a nice addition to spring salads, and are available almost exclusively to home gardeners.

Spring 2012 Vegetables

Rhubarb

Lest you think I've somehow given up on vegetables, and totally gone over to the ornamental side, rest assured.







Here are some pictures of my edible stuff

Peas Sprouting

The warmth, and lack of moisture allowed me to work the soil early this year, so I was actually able to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day, something that I have only rarely been able to do. Usually, it's not until the Easter weekend that I get enough time, or energy to get going in the garden.

More Peas Sprouting

 This year - the peas are up for Easter weekend.

Lettuce and Radishes

And I seeded some lettuces and radishes the same weekend, seen here coming up in a hastily created raised bed.

Horseradish

Asparagus

Perennial plants Rhubarb (top of the page), Horseradish, and Asparagus.  All of these were planted 6 years ago and will provide bounty practically forever.  I need to divide the Rhubarb and Horseradish. 


Self Sowed Cilantro

 And here is some self-sowed cilantro.

Garlic

Last fall's planting of onions and garlic is doing well.

Multiplier Onions

The many leaved ones are the multiplier onions.

2nd Year Garlic Clump (Unharvested from 2011)

Given where it's growing, I must have missed harvesting this garlic clump last year.   I googled around trying to learn what to do about it.

This Mother Earth News article  offers one possibility - Garlic Greens:

To grow garlic greens for cooking, plant whole bulbs 12 inches apart in the fall. In spring, when the greens are 10 inches tall, grab them with one hand, and use your other hand to lop them off with a knife. You should get two more cuttings before the plants give out.

Another article suggested digging and dividing them for a regular, but later, garlic harvest.  Me - I'm gonna leave them alone and see what happens.  I'm not sure if the clump is a soft neck or hard neck variety, or if it matters.  From what I've read, there will be multiple, smaller heads, with smaller cloves.  We'll see.

Garlic is not biennial, like regular (not the perennial, multiplier) onions.  Regular onions will flower and produce seeds the second year if you missed harvesting them and left them in the ground.