Vegetable time!

Since last year went so well, I've doubled up on Earthboxes for 2013. After buying plants from multiple sources last week/weekend, the rain finally stopped long enough to do the planting.

The deck is now covered in a thin layer of potting soil and spilled water, so it's not at all photogenic, but here's what went in:

HERB BOX: Tarragon, cilantro, Italian parsley, lime basil, Thai bssil, epazote.

PEPPER BOX: Chocolate bell, golden bell, heirloom Korean dark green hot, Anaheim, poblano, jalapeno.

VEG BOX 1: Green zebra tomatoes, Japanese eggplant

Cheap food can be cheap for a bunch of different reasons. Well, OK, it's generally cheap for one reason - it's not very desirable. That reason can be for a bunch of different secondary reasons. It might not be very good. It might be difficult to work with. Or it might just be a secret - nobody knows how good it is.

Clearly, things have gotten completely out of hand. This is a two week post, with the final box just days away. I have to say, the downside to not getting fresh produce every Thursday is not having to drive to pick up the fresh produce every Thursday.

Overall, I've kept things under control. Not a ton of long-term preservation other than the tomatoes, but the stuff in the last few weeks will stretch for months cough cough winter squash cough.

I'm back to a full fucking week behind on these posts, which you can blame on Borderlands 2, because it's the fault of Borderlands 2. My free time serves multiple masters.

Anyway, everything's still being managed properly. At this point, I'm so into the groove that, three weeks from now, I'm going to be FUCKED. I'll be back to buying vegetables in stores and it will mess me up. Here's where things stood as of last Thursday:

USED: W14 tomatoes, arugula, cilantro, W14 cherry tomatoes, W15 shallots, garlic

TOSSED: W14 green beans. Also, not every tomato survives to be used, but that's more the tomatoes than my ability to use them.

PART USED: The eternal carrots, sweet peppers, and hot peppers, W9 Savoy. W14 pickling cukes, W15 cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, pea tendrils, cucumbers.

STILL EXTANT: W14 watermelon, W15 sage, beets, broccoli, delicata squash,

WEEK SIXTEEN:

USED: W10 thyme, W12 Yukon golds, W12 and W13 cherry tomatoes, W13 tomatoes, W13 dragon tongue beans, W13 kale, W13 red potatoes. W14 Bonus Romas, pea tendrils, rainbow chard.

PART USED: The eternal carrots, sweet peppers, and hot peppers, although the hot peppers got a serious dent due to both salsas and freezing. W9 Savoy. W14 tomatoes, arugula, cilantro, pickling cukes

STILL EXTANT: W14 cherry tomatoes, green beans, watermelon

WEEK FIFTEEN:

CHERRY TOMATOES: Two more pints.
ARUGULA: One bunch with stems.

Another pretty good week in terms of vegetable use, thanks to some serious Labor Day cookery.

TOSSED: W12 Arugula, about 1/3 of it. The victim of crushing by an overstuffed fridge.

USED: W10 broccoli, W11 sage, broccoli and watermelon, W12 tomatilloes, W12 tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and yukon golds. W13 tomatillos, cilantro, onions, corn

PART USED: The eternal carrots, sweet peppers, and hot peppers, although the hot peppers got a serious dent due to both salsas and freezing. W9 Savoy. W10 thyme. W12 arugula, yukon golds, cherry tomatoes. W13 tomatoes, dragon tongue beans

I was halfway through overwriting the notes for Week 13 when I remembered I hadn't posted it yet, because goddammit, I wasn't gonna post it until I posted about the smoked salmon.

Oh well. Here's the list of what came last week anyway, since that part, I still have.

WEEK THIRTEEN:
KALE: One bunch
BONUS TOMATILLOS: Another ten.
PURPLE CARROTS: One bunch:
CHERRY TOMATOES: Another container
TOMATOES:One overflowing bag.
CILANTRO: Good timing on that one.
SWEET PEPPERS: "Only" five.

How the fuck did it get to be Wednesday already? Oh, I know. Broken dishwasher, amateur woodworking, emergency basil harvest, and general purpose tiredness, that's how. But hey, I got it in before tomorrow afternoon's box pickup, right? Here's the status as of last Thursday.

USED: W9 cilantro. W10 onion, garlic, tomatoes, collards, green beans, cucumber, watermelon. W11 cucumber, corn, dragon tongue beans.

PART USED: Carrots. W8 Celery, W9 Bell peppers, hot peppers. W10 hot peppers, thyme, broccoli. W11 cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, garlic, sage, onions.