..My Weekly Garden Highlight Photos

Monday Photos above.

Sharing a few photos I took this morning of my favorite veggies that are finally taking off in my garden.

1: jalapeños
2: cherry tomatoes
3: chamomile
4: dinosaurs kale (Lacinato)
5: curly kale
6: red mustard greens

The chamomile and jalapeños are new and this is my first experience growing them.

The tomatoes, curly kale, and red mustard are not new to my garden. I have a few sections of each of these.

*Im still waiting on my first section of cherry tomatoes to turn red. This am I see that a few are looking slightly orange and that it’s producing new flowers. 🙌🏾👩🏾‍🌾🤞🏾

I suspect by the end of the month I will be able to harvest from it weekly.

My two purple basil plants have started to produce larger leaves. I’m hyped to taste them fresh and to use them dried/persevered. 🙌🏾💕

I spent most of my morning this day harvesting 90 percent of my first section of veggies. I also did a lil preserving of herbs.
💕👩🏾‍🌾

Wow. This week we harvested a little over a pound and a half of produce from the first section of our garden.

This first section of just lettuce and herbs inspired me to start the five other sections we harvest from daily.

We ate 80 percent of this yesterday. I preserved some of the herbs and replanted some roots I felt still had tons of life in them. About 80 percent of what is pictured could have lasted until summer however I now know which lettuce is my favorite and which ones I won’t ever grow again. I also know some lettuce was ready to bolt (more on that later). I have moved lettuce seedlings to take up all the space I just cleared.

The last photo of lettuce is a peek into how many of these greens and heads of lettuce look up close. I harvested leaves from these veggies and herbs daily so you can see the pattern of cuts from daily harvest. You can also see that despite the cuts, the lettuce produces crispy and fresh lettuce weekly.

I have spent over three months harvesting leaves and herbs from this section daily before harvesting what you see being weighed. I would assume we have been getting about a pound every other day since we have grown large enough leaves to gather daily.

In November, I mentioned this section to you all. I said: “In a few weeks, the leaves will be twice this size and something I hope to harvest from 4-5 times. This is what some would call the cut-and-come-again process. “

The “cut and come again” method is when plants are 4 or 5 inches tall. You can cut as much lettuce as you need, using scissors to shear off a patch of leaves 1 to 2 inches above the soil level. Because I took care of my plants & watered them well they continued to regrow for several more cuttings.

Today is the first official weigh-in, and ill make sure to continue to weigh the simple salads, greens, herbs, and veggies we harvest daily.

Gratitude for those who’ve walked with me since sow date 10/10/2022

Sharing a few ways I extend the life of/work with the herbs in my garden

1) Drying
2) Tinctures
3) Ice cubes for tea
4) And olive oil cubes

Yesterday’s 1.5 pound harvest included tons of fresh dill, mint and Thai basil.

I replanted the Thai basil and dill after harvesting a large amount.

The mint was NOT minting enough for me lol…so I will try a different kind in the garden next month.

Thai basil olive oil cubes
Dill olive oil cubes
Mint ice cubes

I plan to test out a few recipes and dressings with the Thai basil and dill this month. 💕 I’ll keep you updated 👩🏾‍🌾

I also made large mint ice cubes for our hibiscus tea this weekend.

What are some ways you use and store the herbs you grow?

Happy Sunday!

My first chamomile flowers have made an appearance. 🙌🏾🥰

Also, I moved the older cherry tomatoes to the same section as the new cucumbers and tomatoes.

Two days after moving it I finally spotted a fully red cherry tomato! I pray in the next few months I can gather daily cherry tomatoes and at least one cucumber a day! 🤞🏾🙌🏾👩🏾‍🌾🥰

I hope y’all are doing well and enjoying your weekend. 💕👩🏾‍🌾