Bolting

This spring I planted a bunch of things for salad and greens, knowing that some would probably bolt by mid-summer. By the second week of June, I was seeing seed stalks on the following:

Arugula
Daikon radish
Rat-Tail radish (Purple, yellow and white flowers on different plants!)
Wild mustard
Spinach

In the case of the Daikon, I planted it in spring even though the seed packet clearly says for late summer and fall. It has grown right in step with the Rat-Tail radish, which makes sense since the Rat Tail is intended to make seed pods for stir-frying. I got a couple of salads out of the arugula before it went, but what surprised me was the spinach. I don't think I will try spinach again in the spring unless it is advertised as a slow-bolting variety.

Oddly enough, the other mustard (Mispoona) isn't bolting yet, though I should expect it to soon. Either there is a very broad continuum in the brassica family when it comes to growth rates, or some are distinctly biennial. Basically the spectrum is from wild to civilized - at one extreme is the vigorous daikon and arugula, which are ready to flower and set seed before midsummer, and at the other is the highly-bred lacinato (Tuscan) kale and Brussels sprouts, which are still very tiny seedlings. But then again, the Wild Garden kales, another fall variety I planted this spring, are growing well but show no signs of bolting.

The pole beans seem to be pausing for a while at the seed leaf stage before they grow a stalk. I have hilled both types of potatoes again, and the Green Mountains are about to flower already. I have been cutting flower buds off the shallots, but no sign of garlic scapes yet.

There is at least one woodchuck still around. All but three of the Brussels Sprouts replacements have been eaten. I am thinking of trying some dent corn in their place, even though it's getting late.

Ate a fantastic baby chard and Forellenschluss lettuce salad last night from thinnings. Nice and photogenic - no sign of any bugs on either the chard or the lettuce.

Fetilizing: I have been hitting the garlic and shallots pretty consistently with a fish emulsion soil drench, but last night I brought out the pressure sprayer and gave everything but the ready-to-eat-lettuce a foliar feeding: Liquified seaweed for all solanums (tomato/potato/pepper/eggplant) beans and favas. Everything else (Sunflowers/Brussels sprouts survivors/squash/chard/kale/parsley/carrots/garlic/shallots) got seaweed with fish emulsion.