Strawberries and Radishes

Despite my garden slacking, I am managing a tiny, tiny harvest. From my winter garden, every few days I get a strawberry, if the squirrels don't get to it first. Here's a strawberry flower:


And every few days I get a radish:

Homegrown radishes are spicier and fresher-tasting than store-bought ones. And I like putting the greens in a salad. They're kind of spicy and fuzzy--too bitter to eat alone, but mixed with spinach/mixed baby greens and cilantro, just right.

The winter gardening season ain't over yet (Tom says it ends in February), so if I can find some daylight time soon I'm going to plant some more seeds (lettuce, radish, broccoli, collards, onion, and carrots, et al).

I just have to do a few small things first. I decided that the problem with the vegetables I already planted (most of them died off when they became small plants) is that the soil in the containers is too compacted. It's been in there for over a year, after all.

So I'm going to gather the pots from work and bring them home (still haven't done that...), empty them several at a time into a giant bucket thingy, stir them up with a shovel, and put them back into containers. That'll aerate the media and also get rid of some of the weeds that have been colonizing the containers.

Before I do that I will start some more seeds in small containers. And not leave them under the house gutter.