We got the 2011 harvest season off to a good start yesterday with a small bit of salad greens. I cut some of the baby lettuces I have growing in the greenhouse, along with some arugula, mizuna, and a few baby spinach leaves thrown in.
bowl of baby salad greens
It was only 3.4 ounces but it will be enough for a couple of salads later in the week. For fresh harvests this time of year we have a pretty nice assortment of greens. In addition to the ones I mentioned above we also have pac choi, tatsoi, komatsuna, parsley, chives, chard, and some young scallions. I also seeded some mache just the other day. It’s so nice having fresh greens in winter to supplement our stores in the freezer and cellar.
I also harvested some kale, but it was added to the 2010 totals. We had it for dinner last night. It went great along with a big pot of white beans I cooked up, plus I baked some cornbread too. That made for a real comforting and filling meal!
For more winter harvests, visit Daphne’s Dandelions and see what other gardeners are harvesting this time of year.
Boy those greens look inviting!! I think that I over did it in the sweets department during the holidays!
I know I overdid it with sweets!
There is something so affirming about young fresh greens during the dark cold days of winter – a promise of things to come and an assurance that the winter does end (eventually!). The greens look very tasty. 😀
Great first harvest of the new year! Homegrown salads really are precious this time of the year.
Your salad greens look perfect! It’s amazing that the baby lettuce does not show any signs of frost damage at all.
Thomas, the lettuce is holding up amazingly well. It isn’t growing much though, so we’re spacing out the harvests to prolong our supply. It should take off in February when the days are longer.
Boy are we missing fresh cut greens right now. I just love how cornbread can round out so many meals- such a simple, inexpensive treat! Must have been a satisfying meal you made.
I am guessing the whole meal cost less than $5, including a ham hock for the beans. The two of us will eat on it at least twice, plus I am thinking there will be some leftover beans for the freezer.
Those ar esome pretty greens for your salad. And nothing is better than bean soup. I just love it.
That’s a great start to the new year. Thank goodness for winter greens, it’s so nice to have fresh veggies from the garden at this time of year. It sounds like you have a nice assortment of winter greens growing.
We really need to get our greenhouse up. I tried to sneak one last round of lettuces into the garden beds, under row covers, but last I looked, it was a bit grim under the covers after our last round of frost. Looks like you have a great little crop there though, especially for the first week of January!
Oh! I bet that salad tasted Sooo good!
Fresh salad in winter = living like a king!
That is a nice start to 2011! Awesome.
Looks lovely. I really, really miss my greenhouse. Maybe I should have thrown up a frame of some sort but I was so busy shifting dirt that I didn’t.