Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Jumping the gun on Bull's Blood beets

I should probably be slapped on the wrists for doing so, but I read somewhere that when the top of the beet root is clearly visible above ground, then it's time to harvest. How pitiful this beet looks, nowhere near the 2-3 inches in diameter that it could've been. The thing with yanking something out of the ground early is that you learn not to do it again, so I am happy to leave the rest where they are until well after summer.

These mirabelle plums are almost ready for picking; they just need to turn a little more yellow in color. The persimmons, on the other hand, have a long ways to go. Typically they appear on supermarket shelves around November, but have shown up earlier in the season if it has been a particular warm year. We have never gotten anything from the tree since it was planted 2 years ago, so it'll be the first harvest if strong winds, bugs or hail don't get to them before they reach full maturity.

Average daytime temperature: 23°C / 73°F

6 comments:

Jude said...

Hi Rowena - oh, why didn't it dawn on me before you had this beautiful other gardening blog?! Really lovely, I admire anyone who can garden (I do NOT have a green thumb). I'm excited to check-in every now and then with your beautiful garden :)

Rowena said...

Jude - ha! I've been found out! Actually I had to start this blog because I became so obsessed with weather conditions from year to year (we are so spoiled in Hawaii with no seasons). I don't now...gardening is very therapeutic, very calming for someone who is prone to her over-stimulated Gemini traits. I can spend hours in the dirt, thinking about nothing except pulling weeds, smashing slugs and observing bugs. I just wish that we could successfully grow mangos here!

K and S said...

the beet still looks great! and you have kaki! can't wait to see them all orangy.

Rowena said...

Kat - I really hope that the kaki and nashi pear pulls through. Fortunately no pest issues but when we have those blasts of wind that runs through the valley....you just never know what's gonna happen.

Julie said...

Well, sometimes it's just hard to wait! One nice thing about my clay soil is that the beets push themselves up out of the ground as they grow so it's pretty easy to see what size they are.
Kaki=persimmons? If you can't grow mangos at least you can grow persimmons, yum.
Prealps? Sounds cold Rowena...

Rowena said...

Julie - the moment I tasted that tiny beet, all was forgiven. Roasted fresh beets are AMAZING! I'm doubling up on the sowing for fall's crop.