There’s something very heartwarming about an unexpected harvest. We all like to see and gather the fruits of our work, but when these fruits come earlier than expected they cause real joy in us. I wasn’t planning to do any harvest, but coming to the garden after the rain made me realize that my strawberries and lettuce need to be harvested. So I rushed back to the house to gather the needed bags and containers and went on my first strawberry hunt.

The old strawberries are still producing high-quality strawberries. The amount is smaller than in previous years, but the taste is still the same. The Alpine strawberries are also producing well,  although they are a real pain to harvest. Harvesting them takes ages.

On the new bed, most of the strawberries are still too young to produce anything. The only difference is the Korona strawberry, which is already producing fruits just a month after I’ve transplanted the plants to the garden.  The fruit of Korona strawberry isn’t huge, but it’s very sweet and full of flavor. The fruits can last for a couple of days when harvested, and they don’t turn soggy.

While I was harvesting strawberries I decided to get some lettuce for the lunch. This year I bought a bunch of different lettuce varieties, but only the All-year-round lettuce is a variety that makes heads. The rest of the lettuce varieties which I’ve chosen are the cutting lettuces and leafy lettuces. It seems this was a great choice since my garden is full of lettuce and none is bolting. I have one bigger bed with cutting lettuce, which is completely full and ready for harvest, and two mixed beds.

On the two mixed beds, I’ve mixed different varieties together with the other vegetables like onions, radishes, and herbs like mint and poppies. These two beds were sown in February, but due to the bad weather, they are just starting to be ready for harvest.

I also have one new bed which I’ve sown recently. I plan to use this lettuce during July if the heat doesn’t kill it.

So after a small harvest, I ended up with 3 bags of lettuce, strawberries, and a couple of carrots for cooking. I have still plenty of carrots left from last year which I’m taking out when I need them.

Soon, the brassicas will be ready for the second leaf harvest. This could be a really good year if the weather doesn’t kill everything.