The Bean Dilemma

It's that time of year. The summer garden blasts into being while the spring garden wanes. Sometimes in protest. I'm working on not planting too much stuff. planning for growth. I like lots of greens so about now I always have this dilemma. What do I move to make way for the tomatoes, tomatillos, bitter melon, and beans.

I really like beans. I find that the most prolific are pole beans; this year I'm growing Emerite and Fortex. I also have some bush beans called Provider kind of like mortgage lifter tomatoes but beans. I like to plant some bush beans because I get beans earlier but in the end the really good, continuous crop is from the pole beans. I couldn't help myself, this year I bought some red yard long beans. Last year one of the gardeners grew them and they're so cool looking. I'm going to grow a few in the Chris plot along with bitter melon. I thought I might also put some in a pot in my front garden. They're dazzling.

It's time to pull the big celandine poppy plants in the Chris plot. They're going to seed. I'll leave a small plant for the seeds but I need room for lettuce transplants from the Eliot plot so I can plant Tomatoes and tomatillos.

On the greens front, since lettuce will only last another month I've got the radicchio coming in thick, a replanting of arugula, some late supposedly heat resistant lettuce (we'll see) and ta da something new in the works. In the Abundant Life catalog I found Strawberry Spinach, supposed to give spinach like greens then crunchy red berries, AND Huanzontle red Aztec spinach "each plant yields up to a pound of delicious tender green raw when young and sauteed when mature. The fiery red leaves were the kicker. In they go on the west end of the Chris plot. I'll track the progress. I may do a tester in pots in my backyard.

The sage is even more glorious, a blaze of blue. I'm ready to plant out parsley, basil and Thai basil from the flats I started a month ago. The basil plot is ready to go. I need to pick a place for the parsley maybe next to the thyme. I need to get the lemongrass plant down there maybe on Memorial Day when Elliot and I are both home. I also need to buy some rosemary. The plants from last year are barely hanging in they may survive but I just have trouble keeping rosemary going through the winter. It looks pretty good until March and them it gets zapped.

the nigella is beginning to bloom its bright feather foliage is a nice foil for the sage. In the medicinal back herb triangle the Valerian umbels are forming. They re 5' tall as sway in the breeze.

It looks like the lovage that I started is hanging in. I also planted chervil a few plants made it I have more in the back to plant out. The flat of sorrel is sprouting more sorrel for all. The Vietnamese coriander is perking up, I'll plant some under the bamboo structure in the next week or so. I want to make sure that it's thriving. It does best in shade thus the funky shade structure.

In the Elliot plot, I've been harvesting salads of arugula, red mustard and radishes. I love a salad of arugula, shaved Parmesan cheese, splash it with balsamic vinegar, olive oil a little salt and freshly ground pepper toss a bit. That's all it needs. The strawberries are coming in thick. I picked a pint of sweet ripe ones yesterday. It's time to aggressively thin the turnips. They re very thick because of the double planting.

Georgia patiently waits to go home after a rollick in the cofee bean bag land.