Leeks and Beets

No, I am not.

I am NOT holding these veggies so that they look humongous.

 I'll prove it. There they are, on the ground with a quarter for reference.

I really wanted to show the scale because I think I have figured something out.....

When I am out in the garden, harvesting, I will pull a leek or a beet or a carrot and think to myself, why isn't it as large as the ones I see in the grosch? Then I get them inside and really understand just how big they truly are and I think the reason may have to do with SCALE. When I am outdoors, I have all this huge space around me so what I might be looking at in the ground doesn't look particularly impressive but bring it indoors and I can really grasp the true size of a leek. Or a beet. In these cases, they are wonderful in size! Not so big that they are woody and not so small that I think, hmmmmmm... what didn't I do right here?


So, the question(s) is/are: How did I get them this big this year when our winter growing did nothing until March? Why did the half the blueberry bushes not bloom out when there was every reason and evidence it was going to be a terrific flowering? Why did the plum tree grow and fertilize massive amounts of fruit this year and nothing on the peach trees?

I have no idea. 

We planted beets and carrots four time during the fall and NOTHING came up. until March! I planted the leeks in Mid-February. We planted potatoes in early March & I planted more beets and carrots in March after the last hard freeze. 

The deal here in this sector of the South is we are too far north of Lake Ponchatrain to get any warming benefit from that massive body of water during the winter months and not far enough North to get there right number of chill hours for certain trees. And timing is everything when you grow in the South. Well, anywhere this is probably true but down here, we have the added bonus of growing something to eat year round and this is NOT true of lots of States. But, again, timing is critical and if you miss the time-frame or if we have an unusual weather event, even the best-timed plantings can go awry.

Now, we've grown some nice leeks in the past but this year is awesome. Everything timed out perfectly for them and I think it helped that I have been diligent in fertilizing every three weeks. The results speak for themselves.

Ditto with the peas and carrots. I love that combination and for the first time, we managed to have them ripen at the same time. Yeah Yeah, I can always freeze one or the other but fresh peas and carrots are outstanding!

AND NOW!!! for the potatoes..... We did plant these in March and here it is the fourth week of May when these gems are being harvested. This is the yield result of 12 plants. You can see four more rows behind the trolley. 

All I know is, we're gonna be eating like kings and trolls this year! hurr hurr hurr!

I just have no clue where I am going to store them all!!!!