A little more than a month ago, Reiko and I started growing vegetables. We planted baby bok choy, Mesclun sweet salad mix (Bull’s Blood Beet, Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, Red Salad Bowl Lettuce, Black-Seeded Simpson, and Tendergreen Mustard), lettuce, arugula, wild arugula (stronger taste than regular arugula), and shiso. The only non-vegetable we have is a small pot with a couple Forget-me-nots that I brought back for Reiko from Alaska. The funny thing about them is the seeds were encased in a chunk of moose turd.

The baby bok choy, lettuce, salad mix, and Forget-me-nots were all started from seeds, whereas the rest of the plants we picked up at the Torrance Certified Farmer’s Market. All the plants started out doing well, but 2 weekends ago we spent the weekend at my place and it just happened to be the hottest weekend we’ve had thus far. Needless to say our plants struggled a bit due to heat and lack of water, but most pulled through. The arugula and shiso don’t seem to be doing that well, but the guy we bought the seedlings from said they should come back. I think it’s too hot inside for them and we don’t have a good spot for them outside where they won’t be in direct sunlight. The rest all look really great and we’re both excited to be able to eat everything we’ve grown, minus the Forget-me-nots. The lettuce and baby bok choy look the best. I have to admit that I’m more proud of the ones we started from seeds than the seedlings we bough from the market. I also have to admit that Reiko has done most of the upkeep since we planted everything. I guess her thumb is a little more green than mine.

Although the growing season for each of the plants varies, we’re both hoping to have several harvests through the rest of the summer.