Harvest Monday

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First Homegrown Artichoke

Monday, Monday, Harvest Monday.... I look forward to this time each week, where we can share our successes and commiserate over the not so good stuff (I refuse to call them failures; if nothing else they are compost!) Thanks Daphne's Dandelions, for being our hostess and getting us all together!

I think my most exciting news this week is picking my very first homegrown artichoke. As you can see it's a bit on the small side and I may have picked it too soon (there was absolutely no 'choke' in it at all). But I was worried about our temps hitting 96 and it going past it's prime too quick. Well, it was tender, delicious and absolutely wonderful.  I don't think I've eaten a fresh arti since I was a kid and we lived in California. I always thought it was great fun to be able to eat with my fingers and get messy and nobody said anything to me because they were doing the same thing!

After I cut this one I could see that there are three more little ones hiding underneath it! Soooo looking forward to more!

Of course I had lots of eggs, (and sold my first dozen!) lots of salad, the Mammoth Melting peas are coming on strong too. And I discovered that even when they are getting lumpy they are still sweet and delicious, they just get a string like an old fashioned green bean. There were a couple of bug eaten strawberries (discovered the culprit, it's the pill bugs aka potato bugs aka rolly polly), a couple of spears of asparagus and a big of broccoli.

The chicks have a good time playing in the greenhouse.

The chicks are growing fast, losing their fluff and growing real feathers. Every day that I can, I put them out in the greenhouse where they are reasonably safe as long as I'm around the yard. At this time it isn't predator proof so I can't leave them out there all the time. Besides which, the far end is where the rat hole is, so I couldn't leave them in there at night, large rats have been known to attack sleeping chicks.