This year I’m on a mission to grow 4,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in my suburban backyard. In 2012 I was able to grow 2,028 pounds, and in 2013 I’m going double or nothing. I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be able to achieve my goal. But, as with any adventure, half the fun is getting there. ~Mavis
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Lettuce and radishes were the super stars in the garden this week. We harvested 1 pound 7 ounces of lettuce for the pasta feed we hosted over the weekend, as well as another 9 ounces of radishes. We munched on our radishes and also used them in a delicious asparagus salad I’ll be posting a little later today. Things are really starting to look up in the backyard garden these days and I’m loving it.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the herbs. We snipped chives, basil and oregano from the garden this week too. Wahoo!
~Mavis
Here is what I have harvested so far this year:
Basil – 4 ounces
Beets – 14 ounces
Carrots – 3 ounces
Chives – 7 ounces
If you have never grown chives before, you should. They are seriously super easy to grow from seed.
Egg Count – 1,091
We collected 78 eggs this past week. Piggey, Awkward Martha and Squirrely are all still broody. Either that or they’ve decided the nesting boxes are their new clubhouse. I’m not sure which at this point. All I know is they puff up like turkeys when we try to steal their eggs then cluck loudly so everyone knows we are a bunch of egg thieves.
What a bunch of characters!
Lettuce – 2 pounds 5 ounces
Microgreens 5 ounces
Oregano – 2 ounce
Potatoes – 2 pounds 9 ounces
Radish – 1 pound 2 ounces
My favorite radish of all time is the French breakfast radish. The taste is very mild and they are fun to look at.
Spinach – 3 ounces
Sprouts –1 pound 2 ounces
Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.
Swiss Chard 11 ounces
Wheatgrass – 7 ounces
Total Food Harvested in 2013: 10 pounds 13 ounces
Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 1,091
Botanical Interests is offering $5 off any orders over $25 {discount automatically applied at checkout} now through May 31st. I recently purchased their new seed sprouter and I’m loving it!
Erika says
Some friends of ours recently gave us a tour of their chicken coop (they have about 20 chickens). They have a “cage of shame” for broody hens. It’s about 3′ x 2′ in a shaded spot and she said they get over being broody after just a couple days. Good luck with your girls!
Maggie says
I had a broody chicken once. We dunked her in water with her head above the water. It worked. Good luck. Your garden looks great.
Keiran says
When our chickens got broody for too long, we just locked them out of the nesting box for a couple of days, and they got over it