Amaranth

PHEW! Today I planted amaranth in three 3-foot "crop circles" in the front yard. We have two varieties: red garnet (6-8 feet tall) and love lies bleeding (3-4 feet tall). I put the tallest variety in the center of the circles with the other around the border. So amazing to think that out of this pin-head sized seed such a nutritious, large, eye-catching plant will form. I didn't realize it when we bought the seeds, but amaranth leaves are also edible and taste a little like spinach (is that a bit like any mystery meat just tasting like chicken?). Looking forward to trying it! I'm hoping to plant one or two more amaranth circles, but I may be running out of steam.

I also realized that I had neglected to plant my red kuri hubbard squash when I planted the rest of the winter squash. Fortunately, on two of the three winter squash hills only two of the five seeds germinated (NOT from Baker Creek!), so I just put three hubbard squash seeds on each hill. Now there are four types of winter squash on three hills.

I did a little research and it looks like if we stake the tomatoes really well, we can plant them two feet apart instead of three feet apart without affecting production levels. So, yes, I moved all the recently-transplanted tomatoes and added in more so we could have thirty tomato plants instead of twenty. If we're inundated, we'll just have to offer a tomato CSA. :)

I also tripped on some boards and fell square on my face today. Didn't even have enough time to put my hands in front of me to break the fall! My whole body feels just a bit off, but nothing injured or anything. Just jarred.

We now have 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables growing in the yard! Hard to believe how much can be squeezed onto a 10,000-square-foot lot, especially after some major tree and bush removal.

We're doing so much better than last year! Last year we didn't even start thinking about the vegetable garden until April (we were still on Oregon time). Now look at how much we've already finished this January/February/March. I do wish I had gotten our seeds going sooner and that the top hadn't blown off the hooped row, but I'm still quite happy with how much more on the ball we are this year.

Exhausted, but in a really good way!