
I planted seven rows in a raised bed by the house and pretty much left them alone for the next two and a half months. By February, I had turnips and parsnips in the rows and (thanks to our generous rains) a jungle of weeds and poppies everywhere else. I pulled some of the weeds, left some of the poppies and thinned some of the turnips and parsnips. Then it rained some more and I left the entire bed alone for the rest of the month.
A few days ago I noticed that I could see the white and red shoulders of the turnips sticking up beneath their foliage. I pulled some up and am thrilled that they look exactly like the picture on the seed packet.
This attitude of amazement is in large part because most of my plantings wind up looking like nothing at all, thanks to gophers, chickens, insects, lack of water, weeding mistakes and big feet stepping in the wrong place.
What a wonderful harvest! Only thing edible coming up here are chives and Egyptian onions, plus garlic and horseradish. I need to check and see if the rhubarb is coming up now, too.
ReplyDeleteI adore rhubarb (The tartness! The color! The pie!), but don't think it would grow here. Sniff.
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