TGIF! Who’s ready for the weekend? This girl is. And since it’s Friday, it’s time to take a peek in the garden. Let’s get started!
Aquaponics Update
The aquaponics system is doing a lot better. Though we were thinking about sticking to goldfish only, we did end up getting more tilapia. We were able to find a breeder down in Los Angeles, and since I was down there last weekend, I was able to pick 35 of them up from him on my way home. We put them in the system and so far so good.
We also bought some duckweed from the breeder and set up a little tub to grow it. The tilapia are vegetarians and love duckweed, so growing your own feed makes the system even more closed and sustainable.
We pulled out some of the plants that weren’t doing well or were too aphid infested to save. Then we planted a whole bunch of new seeds, many of which have already started sprouting. The chard, tomatoes, carrots, basil, dill and jalapeños are all still doing super well. We finally have a few red San Marzano tomatoes.
And look at these cute jalaps!
Traditional Garden Update
If the last update was all about tomatoes, this one is all about potatoes. Check out the harvests at the end of this post. We’ve pulled up a ton of potatoes. And planted new ones in their place. The three sisters garden is still doing well. I’ve harvested one zucchini, and have a couple yellow squash almost ready to pick.
In another bed, I have some okra, eggplants and tomatillos just sprouting, so hopefully they will catch up and start producing in a month or so. I think we planted a lot of the outdoor garden late this year. At this time last year and the year before, we were already harvesting a lot of summer veggies.
My pumpkin plant in the yard is getting huge. No pumpkins yet, but lots of flowers, so hopefully we’ll get a couple soon.
And check out all the pears on our Asian pear tree! Grow, babies, grow.
One last experiment: we’re sprouting some microgreens on paper towels. We planted a bunch in dirt a couple months ago and they grew really well, but they were kind of a pain to harvest and clean. By sprouting them on wet paper towels, we can just dump them on top of a salad without having to do any prep work!
The Harvest
Lots of potatoes harvested in the last couple weeks. Garden potatoes are one of the best things in the world. They are so creamy and flavorful. They’re really easy to grow and we’ve had tons of success, so I definitely recommend trying it!
One night I made an omelet almost completely from the backyard. Quail eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, chard and dill. I just added cheese!
It was so good, I made the exact same thing for lunch the next day.
These tomatoes and basil became margherita pizza.
I also pulled up a few onions. They didn’t bulb as much as onions normally do. Anyone know why?
And last but not least… my first zucchini!! Plus some more tomatoes and potatoes!.
Your turn– what are you planting, picking and eating this week!?
I love these updates. I’m so curious about the potatoes (and other underground foods). How do you know when they are ready? You can’t see that they are good to go like you can with a tomato. I wouldn’t say that we eat a ton of potatoes, but enough that planting our own would be worth it.
For potatoes… when the plant above ground withers and dies, it’s time to dig up the spuds! It’s super easy! 🙂