Salad by the handful

The boy did a great job of tending the balcony solo in my absence and I returned home to happy, healthy garden. Given the nature of balcony gardening, our yields have been by the handful.

The radishes are literally bursting out of the soil. I think because I couldn't bear to thin things out enough, the plants are all fighting each other — so instead of yanking the young seedlings, I am making them suffer in their teen years, hah! Many of the little radish tops are above the soil and none of them have gotten very large. I suppose that's to be expected of a root vegetable planted in a window box. That said, they are spicy and delicious. Yesterday I made a salad with tuna and Bibb lettuce, radishes and parsley straight from the garden:

In the space where I pulled the lettuces, we have spread out our basil collection in the hopes that they will grow even bigger than they already are. Our snap peas have been growing tall, though with only four plants, the harvest was small:

Yes, very small. Eight pods, in fact. (Seven shown above, one eaten straight from the vine.) The boy doesn't eat these, so thankfully we didn't have to split them down to four a piece — these beauties were all mine!

The one area where the growth has been booming — surprise, surprise — mint. We whipped up frozen mojitos as part of our Fourth of July celebration:

These things are addictive. My brother made this recipe for us a few years back and with all the mint growing and hot weather, it is the perfect summer drink. I don't know where the recipe came from, but try it!

Frozen Mojitos
Makes 2.

4 shots light rum
1/2 can frozen limeade
1/4 cup mint
1/2 tray of ice cubes

Whir it all together in the blender and serve.