Candy-Striped Beets

Perhaps the defining characteristic of the chiogga beet is that the interior of the beet is candy-striped. Quite striking to look at and fun to eat, though they are absolutely the same as a red or a yellow beet in terms of flavor and such. Party! As to why some of our beets are mostly white, I have no earthly idea. They still taste the same.

Peche, Je t'aime

Really. You are my favorite fruit, by far.

We have two peach trees and one nectarine tree, and they have finally ripened. So far they have been juicy, sweet, tart and floral. Wow. What a treat.

Turn and Burn

This is a hot compost bin we maintain at the P-Patch. It's filled with weeds and other stuff pulled from the garden, green grass clippings and brown leaves. The deal is, if you mix green and brown you get compost (nitrogen plus carbon equals humus). The beauty of hot composting, which is what this is, is that you can put things like weeds in and the heat will cook the seeds, not to mention that all of it breaks down faster. Compost is about the best plant food you can use. This bin has been hot for over a week, meaning that steam rises from it and it's warm when you stick your hand in it. To keep it hot, it needs oxygen, so I turn it every few days or so from one bin to the other. How do we have brown leaves since it's the end of summer still? They are saved from last year!

Tomato Envy

These belong to a fellow P-Patch gardener. They are about the size of baseballs. Then again, since fall has already arrived in Seattle, who knows if they will all ripen?

Good Output from the Allium Family

We picked these on Sunday. Two Italian heirloom varieties of onion, Yellow of Parma and Red Florence, and Blue de Solaize leeks, a French heirloom variety. Not bad!