the bed on the east end...

out to the garden after work to do a bit of watering and to have a look around at the beds...the bed on the east end of the garden's back row was the first one planted back on the second day of spring ( thanks for all the help parker! hope you're feeling better soon )...the spinach that was planted that day is fast approaching the end of its season( second photo ) it has begun to flower and will soon go to seed ( third photo ) which is fine with me because it means seed saving and truly local organic spinach next season...or later this autumn for that matter ( more on cyclical planting in a minute here )..the row of turnips ( fourth photo )is doing a fair job of producing as well with some jumbo roots ( fifth photo )...but just because these two rows are reaching terminal maturity doesn't mean the bed is idle...the beets on the north end are still chugging away and the collards in the bottom photo are just getting started...the idea is to have no bed completely idle at any time all season...but rather rotate both produce and green manures through them until the first hard frost does all but the hardiest in...there are seeds coming for fall planting and there are still spuds to plant and some egyptian walking onions that my friend fern has sent along and which will find a presence in the garden...we're at the beginning really...still lots of time to join in.