Occasional Basket #3

Some good things in here.
This basket actually warrants some closer inspection. I simply revel in the color and texture of these darker greens!
And Owen just adored picking "his" carrots.

Occasional Basket #2

Brought this one home Sunday.

The broccoli tasted stunningly delicious and juicy-fresh. You can't see here, but some small green onions and a bunch of snap peas lurk underneath -- in addition to the romaine et al.

I think this was my most varied bounty yet. So far I've mostly plucked lettuce/arugula/mesclun and such. These medium-sized heads of broccoli (about as much as I would get for $3 at the store) made me proud.

Occasional Basket #1

First in a series of boastful pictures. This is from Jan 6.

Frost. The cold, not the poet

While I was away for four days during the Thanksgiving break, my community-garden bed was visited by nights of bitter cold. For the Coachella Valley, that means low 40s, high 30s -- maybe even juuuust dipping down below freezing.

I experienced this cold firsthand in a nearby desert campground, sleeping in a tent. It was pretty brutal, but at least I had a sleeping bag, longjohns and two pairs of socks on. Without protection, my garden's tender tomatoes and young eggplant suffered even a bit more than I did.

I returned yesterday to a garden bookended by wilted, brown-leafed tomatoes and eggplants. Owen decided he would help by pulling off the only good unripe tomatoes I did have ("I'm going to bury these for you, mom." Thanks.). So far I haven't decided if I am going to trim back or pull out my warmth-loving plants.
This was an earlyish cold snap. I recently learned that the frost time for this region is Dec. 2 through early January. So it's likely that my less cold-hardy plants will be stricken yet again.

See, the good news is that my greens are going super-bonkers. I've been eating fresh salad now the past few weeks, and loving it. I may just pull out those tender veggies and put in some strapping ones. These greens (below) are mine.