We had what passes for a heatwave this week with a couple days in the high-20s. That’s not too bad all things considered, except we hadn’t yet bought fans for the house. Lesson learned after a couple very warm nights of mediocre sleep.
Our tomato plants were grateful for the heat and kicked into high gear. We have 4 different varieties planted, and the “red alert” bush tomato is, true to form, the first to fruit. So far I’m convinced a polytunnel is a hidden wonder of the world for how easily it allows us to grow delicious food in an otherwise mild, rainy climate.
Since a few weeks ago the kale has gone…absurd. We’ve gone from these tiny, fledgling starters to a forest of kale trees that is rapidly outpacing our ability to eat it. This was the kale on May 1st.
And this is where we’re at on May 31st. We have so much that the subpar leaves just get thrown to the chickens (who seem grateful for just about any scrap we throw their way). Thankfully homegrown kale makes for incredibly good salads, which have become a weekly staple in our rotating meal plan.
We were a week or two late on mulch this year (learning curve of doing all this for the first time) and seedlings stayed in their containers for a little longer than anticipated. The broccoli didn’t mind. The carrots…did. We have stumpy, all-root-tendrils carrots that are probably not salvageable. The little bits taste good, but we’re doubtful the rest grow into anything all that edible. At least they make for a funny visual (this little guy kinda looks like he’s sitting down on a bench).
The sheer number of flowers around makes for a fragrant property (and the bees love it). There’s lavender, California poppies, and more. Near the polytunnel we have a particularly abundant lupine in 3 different colors. Eventually there’s a rose bush in the center of it all that’ll flower. In the meantime this is lovely to stare at.
