Egyptian Onions...surfacing after the
long winter
Garden Log 2013
Notes and quotes from The Living Way
backyard farmer
5/4
It was a beautiful but windy, chill day, and
late in the afternoon I went out in the yard to
pick some fresh greens for dinner. Taking
a small basket in hand, I harvested some
dandy dandelions plus some fast-growing
stinging nettles. The nettles are still babies:
so soft and tender that they have little 'sting.'
While picking, I noticed that our chives had
shot up tall! Wow! I quickly clipped some
and then decided to also clip some Egyptian
onions. They are small but they will add a
special touch to our salads tonight. Since
the harvesting was going so well, I kept
shopping around. Lovage! It was ready to
pick. What a surprise! I then continued
surveying the yard for more green candidates
and gladly spotted a few, short stems of
mint and Tarragon. With a basketful of
'backyard goodies' I marched proudly toward
the house. On the way and much to my
surprise, I spotted a blossom on one of our
strawberry plants! What a thrill!
5/2
We juiced today, so I went out to the garden
and pulled in some dandelions and baby
nettles for the mix of apples, beets, and
celery. The fresh 'wilds' added zest and
power to our juice! The juice was
excellent
as well as exciting...definitely gourmet!
4/29
Today marked the first harvest for nettles!
They are babies (only 4-5 inches tall) but
they made a delightful addition to our daily
raw soup at noon. What a healthy thrill!
4/25
The garden is waking up. I noticed this to be so
when I went to empty the compost today. There
were bursts of green peeking through the dead
growth of last year's garden. I spotted the early
come-ups of oregano, marjoram, thyme, and
lemon balm. More conspicuous are the nettles.
Already they are at least four inches tall and
proudly displaying dark, rich leaves. I can
hardly
wait for the first harvest. I can taste them
already
in smoothies, raw soups, snacks, pestos, and
more. We love our nettles! I also saw many
strawberry leaves. They seem to be growing all
over the place. Even in the cold of winter, I
noticed that the leaves were still green. Is this
common? Wouldn't it be great to have
strawberries growing in the snow? Our lovage
is now about four inches tall and leafing out.
How lovely (no pun intended)! Greening up,
also, is one of our Valerian plants and our new
(as of last year) Heritage Rose. What a treat!
Last but not least, dandelions are everywhere!
Before coming into the house, I harvested our
first handful. After giving them a good bath,
they became part of our salad tonight! O, how
sweet it is to once again food shop in the
backyard!
3/31
While on a compost run in our backyard, I took
a casual glance at our garden and much to my
delight our nettles were greening up! Tiny,
green leaves were happily emerging from last
year's dead stalks. What a thrill. These 'early
risers' are welcomed friends that keep returning
each year. Hooray! With warmer weather on its
way, we could be harvesting healthy nettles
soon! Likewise our Lovage is shooting up and
assorted perennials are showing signs of life.
Another garden year has begun!
