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Vegetable Patch
March 31, 2007 | 11 Comments
Watercress Sprouts
I started writing this on March 12 and have been updating since..
March 12
Well, its that time of the year again…time to get our hands dirty. The biggest question this year is do we enlarge our vegetable patch or not. That would depend on what we want to grow. Last year we had lettuce, spinach, raspberry, strawberry, banana squash, four varieties of tomato, three varieties of chili, savoy cabbage, bok choy, basil, cucumber, and an assortment of kitchen herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, dill, parsley, spearmint…)
This year we want to try our hand at peas, lima beans, okra, watermelon, potato, swiss chard, watercress, and maybe some others as new entrants. In addition we are growing methi, garlic, mustard, and coriander indoors. We’re ambitious, but with a little bit of luck we’ll get something !
We have 2 small patches 8 ft x 4.5 ft and 8 ft x 5 ft. The raspberry and strawberry are threatening to take over more than a third of one patch. So there may not be enough place for planting all the new additions, especially if we still want to grow banana squash and tomato which tend to spread everywhere. The chilis didnt grow particularly well because they didnt get enough sun in the overcrowed patch. We can cut down the number of tomato plants and plant the squash and melon outside the patch elsewhere in the garden (if Bee will support it), which certainly will create some space. but still we might need a new patch.
Last year I swore that I wouldn’t extend the patch ever again, since it was back breaking work. See, we have gravel all over the place and landscape fabric underneath it…so creating a patch means moving and hauling gravel away, cutting the landscape fabric, and loosening the rock hard soil, bringing at least 15 cu ft new soil in bags, creating a boundary to keep the loose gravel away, extending the watering system etc etc..But here I am trying to convince myself that its OK, and that the results will more than make up for the insanity.
Update – March 17
After some serious/heated discussions, we agreed to extend the patch. Part of B’s issue was with the 50+ lb of banana squash that we got last year…the last of which we consumed in February. For a while it was pumpkin soup [recipe coming], pumpkin sambar, pumpkin erisseri, pumpkin bread [recipe next week], boiled pumpkin 
etc.. Well, my compromise is that if we end up with too much then we’ll either give it away or I’ll cook! So we are adding another 11 ft x 5.5 ft area which is a tad larger than I originally envisioned it.
Update – March 23
So we did it. We made our new patch
The new patch is dug up over the course of the week. The stones are in place and we have added the compost, new soil, and peat moss to finish the planting area for about 40% of the patch. Costco ran out of the compost (we didnt have enough of our own either) and so the rest of the patch will be completed this coming weekend. when they get new stock.
In the old 2 patches we have already planted spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts saplings. We also added couple of June bearing strawberries to the existing strawberries and the raspberry plant. In addition we transplanted some swiss chard, radish, bok choy, and four varieties of peas (only two varieties have sprouted though).
Update – March 26
Well we are not too confident with the peas that we transplanted, so we got a strip of green arrow peas from the nursery. Also got some parsley and spearmint to grow indoors. It suddenly has turned very cold over the past couple of days with high winds too. A quick about turn from 70s to 40s/50s. In the past couple of years we have been hit by sudden bad weather that we are a bit gun shy this year. I am also looking into some cheap way of protecting the plants from the elements. Short of building a greenhouse I dont see a good alternative. I have seen some “plant caps” which for the life of me I cant believe will stand a day in the winds here. I am thinking of building a small enclosure for one of the three patches myself. I have some old curtain rods lying around which can proxy for a frame. Need to find some good material to fashion around the frame. Will keep y’all posted.
Update – March 28
Cut up two seed potatoes in quarters, dried them and put them in a pot. Potatoes cannot stand soil temps less than 50F (10C), so it wont be until May that we put them in the patch.
Update – March 30
So here it is.
You can see how big the raspberry has grown in a year if you compare to the second picture in this post. We have planted spinach where you can see lettuce. Red and green lettuce, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower take up last years’ extension. The new patch has peas so far. Most of the saplings indoors are doing fine and will be transplanted when the time is right. Fingers and toes crossed!
Filed Under: GARDENING, lifestyle, vegetarian recipes
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11 Comments
Dear Jai and Bee,
Such a lovely and lively post…..the sprouts are a sign of hope and positivity…..
and completely agree about Pumpkin months
. We had that a few times when i was lil’-infact the whole gali was celebrating pumpkin time 
. same was the case with turai/tori and all kinds of gourds 
Thode pumpkins hain to bhejo…..i’ll make this delish daal with pumpkins-i had that daal often in hostel mess: moong+pumpkin-its was yummy 
Peas, beans are quite fine to grow, so are mustard and kitchen herbs…..and anyway you’ve grown stuff like Strawberries etc.
BTW, i loved your ijjat papad joke
pumpkins are over now. i refuse to eat pumpkin for a long time. – b.
Oh you do have enthusiasm! I haven’t yet fertilized my yard – it rained and then we got 3-4 inches of snow and with the wind blowing the way it has, I didn’t want any of the weed killer blow into the flower beds. And it was c-c-c-cold. Today was also very very windy. Ya, excuses!
Jack the okra and his siblings are now all between 3-4 inches tall in the expanded peat pellets. Is this the cue to transplant them into small pots with regular soil/compost? How may okra plants should one even consider having for a decent crop? We need about 35-40 pods for one meal of okra kichadi
And how much before planting the seedlings outside should the patch be prepared? Is it Ok to do it at the same time? Like in May? It snows here in April, too. We get a lot of hail as well.
Oye Musical, what ijjat papad joke?
keep jack the okra indoors until end-may or even th 1st of June. prepare your patch in mid or end-May. as of now, thin them out to one seedling per pellet, and put the pellet with some extra soil into a small pot. we killed our watercress seedlings by not watering them enough. so we’re not off to a good start. – b.
I should be living next to you all, that way I can learn some more and not have to go to the market
I am battling to keep my scotch bonnett pepper tree alive, it was growing fine then it got infested so I have been spraying it was insecticide. I hope it helps.
i love going to the market, to buy stuff that i don’t need. b
“I love going to the market, to buy stuff that i don’t need”.
Bee, you are ever amazing
So, you are enjoying cooking with organic home grown veggies…..beautiful picture of watercress sprouts
lol @ Pumpkin series in your kitchen. Patch looks nice and beautiful picture of Watercress sprouts.
So are you trying Red Swiss chard too? I am planning to as I love ‘Cheera’ and red chard is closest to cheera. This time I am bringing cheera seeds from India but till then red chard it is.
You have my address rt?;) So shall I expect those veggies and herbs in my mail.:)):))
the chard outside seems to have died in the windy cold spell. need to start new seedlings again.
JB,
Where do you live, pray tell me!!! I might drive down to your place(please be somewhere near Seattle). First of all the watercress shot is an awesome snap. Second of all you commitment is extremely inspirational. I am honored to be meeting people like you through the food blogging ecosystem.
Great job guys!!
Cheers,
Mythili
we’re 8-10 hours from you, mythili, and it’s nowhere as gorgeous as seattle. – bee
Oh! I feel your pain about those darling watercress sprouts and the chard.
I repotted Jack and siblings in a wide mouth largish planter. I cut one tap root in the process and that really hurt. And, I also fertilized my yard today. And, two coneflower seeds germinated. A very good day. But now it’s turned into an achy day.
Guys, I openly admit I’m jealous!! I’ve tried my hand at coriander, methi, mint and chillies. They grow a bit and then die, I can’t figure out why as I water them regularly. They grow in pots in my balcony protected from harsh sunlight. First I blamed the unseasonal rains,winds and dust storms. Now its the heat, its summer here in Dubai. Can you suggest something? My only saving grace is my curry leaf plant which gives me my regular supply of leaves!
jytosna, can you move them indoors to a bright spot near the window? maybe the dry windy weather is too harsh for them. – bee
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