palatable progress

out in the yard yesterday, it was gratifying to see how far the garden has come in the past few months. it was also amazing to see and feel the sun, and to finally greet summer with open arms. we set out to complete a few projects - mainly to build a couple of bamboo staking structures to support some cucumbers and a kiwi plant. we're most interested to see how this kiwi fares, given it seems like such a tropical fruit. we've gotten a lot of use out of the forest of bamboo in our backyard - it's also holding up the fava beans, and was used to create a tomato trellis. here's an overview shot of the garden where you can see it all (well, everything except for the kiwi):

the closest bed right here has about 6 rows of corn going - planted in mid-may. every seed shot up a little stalk, but once that happened, we lost about 1/3 of the plants to an unknown critter. we've also been noticing little bites missing from our strawberry patch. both beds are doing well to date, though. here's a close up shot of some berries i picked earlier this evening. (more on corn soon. those who know me, know of my obsession on this one)

i love that the berries are not uniformly shaped. and because they're so much smaller than conventional strawberries you'd find at the store, they're terrificly sweet. mmm. strawbries (i love how the brits say it - just rolls off the tongue). these guys didn't last too long - just ate 'em over a bowl of ice cream - perhaps the best way to end a monday.


ah, and speaking of eating (we do a good amount of that here), we were able to integrate a ton of green goodness into tonight's dinner - pasta w/fresh basil, arugula, sorrel, snap peas and some pea vines, and of course, lots of cheese (pecorino romano). let's hear it for left overs.

we were recently introduced to sorrel via our good friend, adam. i'd describe it as a plant that looks a lot like spinach, but as soon as you take a bite of it, it releases an immediate lemony tang. it's really quite unexpected, but has become a welcome addition to salads and other dishes. i bought a couple of sorrel starters at the seattle tilth edible plant sale back in early may, and they've taken off. here's what it looks like:

it's been great to be able to try something new, and then decide to plant it. this process has really expanded our palates and broadened our knowledge of food. things that just a year ago we wouldn't have bought at the store, we're planting like crazy - kale, chard, broccoli raab. man, do we love kale and sausage - the best, jerry, the best.


yeah, we're eating a lot, but at least it's all leafy greens, right?