In The Garden

This has been a strange year so far in the garden.  Never before have I had tomatoes and peas at the same time.  This one (below) was a seedling from a green house and quite big when I got it so it had a head start--but still.  The ones I started myself are flowering.  The garlic is nearly ready to harvest, but the green beans have just begun to flower.  Strange.  But I'm not complaining.  Its been a great year so far for peas and greens (all those cool weather crops) and these past two weeks of sun and heat are making everything else happy.  

But, what I'm really psyched about right now are radish pods.  Every year I plant radishes, and they end up small, woody and deformed.  This year was no different.  After pulling up three or four gnarly ones I decided to leave the rest to go to seed (radish flowers supposedly stave of cucumber beetles--plus they look pretty).  Then, the newest issue of Mother Earth News arrived highlighting the virtues of radish pods. What? These are the little seed pods produced after the flowers, and can be eaten raw like snap peas, or sauteed in a stir fry etc.  They have a spicy bite to them eaten raw, are sweeter cooked, and are pretty darn cute just to look at.  Yum.   So, if you're like me and can't seem to grow a decent radish; or maybe you don't even like radishes but plant them to mark your carrots, and now you've got a bunch of gone to seed radishes taking up space, well--you're in luck.  Pretty blooms and tasty pods.  Who knew?

Tomato, shell peas, lettuce mix, chard

radish pods and flowers, caged nasturtium, snap peas