The waiting game is over...

...which means the harvest begins!!!

Note: I am writing this post retroactively.  The event being discussed here occurred the week after Memorial day (around May 27th 2013). 

For those of you that garden or frequent the farmers' markets you know that June signifies a substantial increase in available produce.  March and April have always kept me busy with sowing seeds, pulling weeds and tending beds not to mention doing lawn and other landscape maintenance.  Then May comes along and although the slightly slower pace is much appreciated, the month seems to drag on forever.  It might be because my birthday is at the end of the month...but more likely its because May is a waiting game in the garden.  Lucky for me this year I had the opportunity to go on a four day vacation to the San Juan Islands.  While the weather was decent there (check out the pretty beach and harbor scenes below), back home it rained substantially the first two and half days I was gone and was nice and sunny for the final bit.  That meant no one had to water the garden in my absence and upon my return everything seemed to be bursting at the seams. 

A stop in Port Townsend before heading to the islands.

This is Deception Pass.  Great place to stretch your legs before waiting in line for a ferry.

When I arrived home late that Monday night I did a quick check to make sure none of the animals had done any damage and I locked up the chicken coop which had been left open in my absence (luckily the racoons hadn't noticed!).  It wasn't until the following day after work that I actually got to tour the jungle in my backyard.  Now, in all reality it hadn't grown that much.  However, when you are closely examining a garden two or three times a day everyday its hard to notice much of anything in the way of dramatic change.  Sure I see a new stem of parsley unfurling and the mustard greens beginning to bolt, but it all happens in slow motion.  After four days though, its like a whole new sight!  I got so overwhelmed with my harvest that afternoon that I forgot all I went out there for was a few greens for dinner, but more on that story later!  For now, enjoy the pleasure of harvesting daily (or weekly if you're a farmers' market type) and be grateful that the waiting game is over.

From the back, left to right: celery, leafy lettuce, chive flowers, johnny jump ups, Russian red kale, curly blue kale, all sorts of peas and maybe more, but that's all I can see and recall!