4 weeks of rain!

It did nothing but rain in the month of May. But we went from having the heat on to having the AC on. Summer arrived in a flash and there was finally, some nice weather for memorial day weekend.
The warm temps have brought out all sorts of flowers, and the veggies are cranking along.
Signs of life from the potato patch.
More beans have emerged, but still a sad showing all around. I think I will plant some more seeds this weekend.
Brussels sprouts and broccoli have come up.
Finally some signs of life from the parsnips. Wee sprouts have emerged over the warm weekend.
we can probably start eating the spinach already. There's still not as much as I would like. I could get perhaps 4 servings of spinach from our still young 3 SF patch.
The strawberries are coming along nicely and the raspberries are starting to flower.

Growing strawberries

Growing strawberries might be my favorite part of the food garden. The perennial strawberries come back year after year and the biggest issues I face with them are that they spread like crazy and the birds love them. So, I have to pull out a few stray runners and cover the patch with bird netting as June approaches. Those two things aside, they are pure joy. They grow easily and don't seem to have any insect pests. Even when I don't remember to water regularly, they turn out fine. The flavor of garden strawberries is unlike anything I have ever found in a store and the kids gobble them right out of the garden. I love to see the strawberry juice running down their chins as their cheeks bulge with berries.

Growing strawberries

Growing strawberries in the garden is one of the most rewarding food crops I've ever grown. We started our strawberry patch last year with about 6 plants donated from our friend Gus.

They spread like crazy last year. Every plant sent out 5 or 6 runners for new plants. This spring, I rearranged them in their 3'X5' area. They are planted pretty densely - spaced about every 6 or 8 inches. I threw down a sprinkling of composted manure - about 1/2 inch deep and mulched them with pine needles. Strawberries prefer slightly acidic soil in the 5.5-6.5 range and pine needles will help lower the pH. That said, the pine needles had no immediate affect on the soil pH. The soil in the strawberry bed is still just over 7.

I watered them 2-3 times per week with the rest of the vegetable garden, and I put netting over them once the berries started to set to protect them from critters. (It's important not to put the netting on too soon, because the bees were not too keen to go through the netting to the flowers, even though the holes were plenty large enough for them to fit).

Now, in early June, we are pulling in a bowl of berries every day! 3'x5' feet is just enough for everyone in our family of 4 to have fresh strawberries in the morning, but not enough to justify making jam.

The total cost for our strawberry endeavour was about $2 for netting and maybe $1 in compost, and it will yield several pints of strawberries over the course of 2-3 weeks. And WOW! these strawberries taste like... STRAWBERRIES! I've gotten used to the giant, red, flavorless variety that comes from the grocery store. These taste like strawberry candy - they are so intensely strawberry-flavored and so juicey.

After the fruit is finished, they will again send out runners, and we will have more strawberry plants than we have room for. Anyone want to start a strawberry patch???

See more of our strawberry growing adventures in Boston!

First June strawberries

The first strawberries are in, and they are sweet and lucious and smallish. Mmmmm.

Don't let those fools at the grocery store sell you on that nauseatingly sweet spongey yellow cake and instant whipped cream. Real short cake is more like a biscuit, sweet and a little bit tender, and it's super easy to make.

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe:

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. sugar

1 stick cold butter in 8 pieces

2/3 cup half and half

In food processor combine w/ several pulses:

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. sugar

Add butter and pulse several times

Transfer mixture to bowl and add enough half and half to make dough moist

Transfer to counter and knead 3-4 times.

Flatten dough to 3/4 inch thickness and cut with bisquit cutter or drinking glass.

Bake 10-15 minutes at 425

Serve with fresh, halved and hulled strawberries and cream whipped with bourbon and honey. (The secret to great whipped cream is having the bowl, the beaters and the cream really cold.)

Ripe strawberries

The first strawberries are starting to ripen!

Strawberries

The strawberries are coming along nicely. There are 5-8 berries on each plant and flowers still forming. Greg put up the bird nettings today.

Strawberries in Bloom

Strawberries in bloom May 12th in Boston.

Strawberries mulched with pine needles

These strawberries have been mulched with pine needles to lower the pH of the soil. Because the plants are already established and its close to fruiting time, it was too late to amend the soil directly.