March is really turning into the month of greens. I pulled all the early planted pac choi in the greenhouse beds as they were showing the start of flower buds. There were still plenty of edible greens though, and it didn’t affect the quality one bit. I made a batch of Green Choi Soup for our lunch Friday. And I harvested half the komatsuna plants, which I combined with pac choi for a stir fry. I replanted that area with seedlings of mizuna, tatsoi and Vitamin Green (a new tatsoi relative from Johnny’s).
komatsuna and pac choi
I also started harvesting the mature spinach leaves. I usually pinch off the larger outer leaves and let the rest of the plant keep growing. My notes say the overwintered spinach in the greenhouse started bolting on 4/3 last year, so the season will be short. I do have some that I planted this spring in the coldframe, and hopefully we will get a brief harvest from it too before it bolts. I cooked this batch of spinach, giving it a quick saute in olive oil along with some garlic and mushrooms.
spinach saute
It would be great if we have enough spinach to freeze some, but usually we eat it all. We already have a list of things to do with the fresh spinach, so it remains to be seen if any will make it to the freezer.
sifted compost
One other big thing I harvested this week was a lot of compost. I turned our two bins that had been slow-cooking all winter, moving from one bin to another and sifting what was finished. I got over 9 bushels of sifted compost. I didn’t really track how much we made last year, and my garden log has only vague entries like “sifted 5 wheelbarrow loads of compost” or “spread compost around fruit trees and berries”. This year I want to track the amount of compost we make, since it is a valuable commodity that feeds our gardens and ultimately feeds us.
So this weeks harvest tally is:
Asian greens(52 oz)
Spinach(9 oz)
Lettuce(6 oz)
Total Harvest 4.2 lbs
To see other gardeners’ harvests, or to add your own, visit Harvest Monday at Daphne’s Dandelions. And thanks to Daphne for hosting!
Well the compost is pretty great harvest. I should check mine what with the unusually warm weather we’ve been having. I love that greens are amoung the first thing we have after a winter diet of roots and squash primarily.
Your greens have been doing so well…and your spinach saute looks very tasty! We just harvested compost this weekend too, and I know my garden will be thrilled to see it!
The spinach looks delicious. I would pick spinach over lettuce any time for a salad. I am sure that you are the envy of many gardeners with all of your beautiful compost.
This is a pretty good harvest, and when you count in compost – it is a great harvest!
Lovely looking spinach saute!
That spinach looks delicious. I have some now we bought at the store. I’m sure it doesn’t compare!
Over 4 lbs of greens, that’s a great harvest not to mention the compost too.
You’re good at sauteing greens, the spinach mushroom dish is so lovely and delicious.
It’s one of my favorite ways to fix greens, though tomorrow we are going to try some different ways to use the spinach.
Compost is an important part of the harvest cycle, you’re so right. I’d never thought of it that way before.
Your spinach saute looks and sounds mouth-watering. 🙂
That is a very nice harvest. It is nice seeing that I’m not the only one that likes komasuna. My problem is that I like so many of the Asian greens and I have trouble picking what to go into the garden.
Everything looks great, the greens, the saute, the compost. It is amazing how quickly the overwintered greens start bolting with warmer weather and more sun.
That spinach looks delicious! I spread compost this weekend as well and my back still hasn’t forgiven me.
Yes, my back was complaining too after working the compost piles! But it was a worthwhile effort for sure. I gave my raised beds a thick layer of compost and I’m sure the veggies will appreciate it.