After a week of lots of sun and water, the vegetables are looking great! Lots of growing took place this week (probably the most I have seen throughout this whole journey). The warmer weather has definitely been a helpful factor in the growth of all the vegetables!
Update on lettuce: The lettuce is ready for picking! It has really filled out and took over the garden box. I watered the lettuce each day with 2 cups of cold water and had the garden box sitting in the sun all day. Our deck faces South so the lettuce received sunlight box the majority of the day. To my surprise, the lettuce leaves feel soft and not crunchy, but I am thinking that once the lettuce is harvested and washed, and cooled, it may crisp up a bit. I can’t wait to try the lettuce!
I much prefer watching videos than reading articles so I found this YouTube video to learn how to harvest lettuce! It includes three different ways to harvest lettuce. I am going to cut the lettuce and leaves the roots in the dirt so they can keep reproducing lettuce leaves. The lady in the video also prefers the cutting method to harvest her lettuce in the earlier weeks of the season so her lettuce plant keep producing. However, as the plant decreases production in weeks to come, she eventually will pull the full plant out of the dirt.
Update on radishes: I can see the tops of the radishes! From what I can see, the radishes seem to be rooted fairly deep into the dirt and are growing properly. The radish leaves are getting quit tall, which is a sign that the radishes under the dirt are growing. From what I have learned about radishes in the past weeks, I would say they will be ready to harvest and eat within a week or so. However, the longer the radishes are left in the dirt, the larger they will grow, so I may only pick a couple to eat next week. I have been watering the radishes about 2 cups of cold water each day and had the garden box sitting in the sunlight for the majority of the day, which has been crucial for their rapid growth.
I found this article about radishes on a gardening and weather website, which I wish I would have found at the beginning of this learning journey as it has detailed information in point form about planting, growing, and harvesting radishes. In the article, it suggests thinning the radish leaves as they can get overgrown and thinning them allows for more growing to happen in the dirt. This week, I will thin the radish leaves by cutting the green off at the soil line, which is suggested in the article. The article also suggests that once the radishes are 6-8 inches tall, they can be harvested, but can be left in the dirt a few days longer if necessary. My radishes are currently about 6 inches tall.
Update on sprouts: The sprouts are ready for eating! Wow. I can’t believe how quickly sprouts can grow without any dirt. It took about 1 week to fully grow the sprouts to maturity of being ready to eat. The sprouts were simple to take care of. I watered them twice in seven days and had them sitting right near a window that receives sunlight for the majority of the day. Watering can be a bit challenging until you get the hang of it. You just have to add water to the sprouts until the water level reaches halfway up the red plug. Once this happens, lift the red plug and the water will drain down to the bottom level of the sprouter and just drain out the water. The Youtube embedded below was a great resource for sharing information about when sprouts are ready to be harvested and how to harvest them. This video is full of information from the time of planting sprouts to the time of harvesting them. For this week, I am focusing on how to know when sprouts are ready to harvest. In the video, the lady suggests they are ready when the green leaves are blossoming at the top and the sprouts have grown to the lid of the container. My sprouts have grown to the lid and have green leaves so I think they are ready to be harvested!
My goals for next week:
>Harvest the sprouts- find resource for harvesting tips
>Harvest the lettuce- find resource for harvesting tips
>Harvest a couple radishes to taste- find resource for harvesting tips
>Create my own salad with my garden vegetables!