Measuring Up: May 2012

The past ten days have been a whirlwind in my little corner of the world: weddings, graduations, birthdays, dance recitals, community events... you name it, we've been there.  Add to that being out of town most of last week, and well, now you know why the May garden totals are coming in a few days lately. As much as I missed being able to check in on my garden last week, I must admit it was fun to come home after several days away to see the difference. There has been so much growth lately, it's really starting to look and feel like a summer garden!

And the harvests!  The harvests are really picking up as well!  This is the stuff that makes all the time and effort and every mosquito bite worth while.  You gotta love it when you're less than a couple of feet into the strawberry patch and realize that you've completely underestimated the size of bowl necessary to hold all the berries.  The strawberries, along with the various salad greens (lettuce, mesclun, pea shoots, and spinach), are the biggest addition to this month's totals.  The fridge is stocked with a week's worth of garden salad lunches, and last night I made the first batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam.  The very best time of year is just beginning!

I was really hoping that I might squeeze the first radish or two, and maybe some peas into this months' report, but they didn't quite make it (but it shouldn't be long now!).  Also on the horizon are the garlic scapes, which have just started to emerge, and soon there should be a few leaves of basil to start plucking out of the garden as well.  There are also a handful of green cherry tomatoes on the vines that I dare hope might ripen in the next month.

What did you harvest in May?