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The first round of hakurei turnips are maturing nicely and should be ready in the next couple of weeks, and I can’t wait! These turnips are so sweet and tasty that I’m betting they’ll quickly become a favorite. There’s a second planting just popping, and I hope to get a third in this weekend. These turnips are one of the few hybrids (won’t reproduce true from saved seed) I choose to grow simply because they are so incredibly tasty.

Radishes are all coming up, so we should have a couple more months of those before it becomes too hot. I’ve planted three different varieties: d’Avignon, a long red French variety; white icicle, the white radish; and black Spanish, a dark variety. We may also be seeing some cherry bells this spring or maybe come fall, depending upon how the weather holds out.

I have several varieties of lettuce in the ground, and I’ve already put up the shade cloth in the kitchen garden to help see the lettuces through the coming 70° days. I also ordered several heat tolerant varieties, most notably Jericho, an open-pollinated (will produce true from saved seed) romaine developed in Israel to withstand the heat, and Anuenue, a crisp leaf lettuce developed at the University of Hawaii.

Also in the ground are beets, kale, chard, leeks, onions, carrots, broccoli, broccoli raab, michihli (an Asian green), white kohlrabi, peas, and endive. Potatoes will go in this weekend, and soon it will be time for the first planting of sweet corn!

This past week we’ve also been expanding our berry garden, transplanting approximately 350 strawberry plants and 50 raspberry plants. The drought last year knocked out nearly all the raspberry transplants, but about 15 or so made it through. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for a kinder season this summer and an abundance of berries next year.

I’m a bit concerned about the 70° and 80° temps predicted for this early in the season. It reminds me of the four long months of 90° weather and dryness we experienced last year. Each year, though, brings its own unpredictability to farming, making it always interesting, often exciting, and at times, excruciating.