We have chard! I’ve been planting it for a few years, and this is the first time it’s grown. It’s beautiful – big dark green leaves and thick crunchy stalks.
I planted multicolored chard–you can see some yellow and red stalks if you click through to the larger photo–but most of what came up is white. That’s ok. It all tastes the same. We sauteed some last night, and it was good. I’m so glad it decided to grow this year.
The front garden is looking good:
The chard is happy, the mesclun is happy, though the arugula, mustard, and something else have bolted. The lettuce is in great shape. I removed flowers and picked a bunch of things for my lunches this week.
The dill is gigantic–taller than me. There are actually three plants, two tall ones and a third smaller one. I cut off some of the flowers in hopes of getting more leaves, but I like having the seeds too.
And my purple coneflower is blooming!
Two flowers today, and a ton more buds. It has so many stems that it looks like a shrub, and it’s almost as tall as the dill.
I might not bother planting the back garden next year. It’s very shady, and doesn’t produce much, so it doesn’t seem worth the effort.
I’d like to add a second bed in the sunnier front yard, though not until next year or 2014. I do have some large pots that I didn’t plant this year, so I could use them next year for whatever I would have planted in the back. Mostly more green leafy things.