During the first week in March we managed to harvest around 1-1/2 pounds of greens for salads and cooking. We’ve been averaging a little over a pound of greens each week so far in 2011, which has been enough to keep us from having to buy any. That’s over twice as much as we harvested during the same time frame in 2010. Growing greens in containers has helped us increase our winter harvests, and the new salad boxes and cold frames should help even more for the winter season next year.
bowl of Space spinach (click on any photo to enlarge)
The Space spinach came from plantings in the greenhouse and cold frame. So far we’ve been eating the spinach in salads, but I should be able to get enough later in the week to have enough to cook some. The mesclun mix below is a mix of tatsoi, pac choi, lettuce, and arugula. There are a couple of little dill plants in there too and I have no idea where the seeds came from! I used transplants for this planter, not a seed mix, so they must have been in the compost I mixed in.
mesclun mix grown in container
The Lingua di Canarino (Canary Tongue) lettuce is an Italian variety that looks a lot like Oak Leaf. I need to get them side by side for a photo op and see how much difference there really is between the two varieties. Fedco calls Canary Tongue “a refined oakleaf that grows larger and stands longer than the original Oakleaf without bolting or getting bitter”. It reminds me of a shorter and less wild looking Radichetta. At any rate, it’s a nice, crisp, mild tasting lettuce and we’re happy to see it in our salad bowls. I got my seeds from Seeds From Italy. The red lettuce next to it is Sea of Red. It’s done well for us this winter, coloring up nicely, and surviving the winter in the cold frame.
Sea of Red and Lingua di Canarino lettuces
Our root cellar supply of sweet potatoes, winter squash and garlic is holding up well. The potatoes and onions are long gone, since we don’t currently have enough growing space to grow enough to last us all year. We can always expand to the front yard someday! And speaking of garlic, I opened up jar of pickled garlic recently and it is quite tasty. I’ve never pickled garlic before, but I have to say it won’t be the last time. The flavor really mellows out, and it great to munch on or to use on salads.
pickled garlic
Not helping one bit with harvesting chores this week was Puddin, who would much rather take a nap in the recliner. Come to think of it, she may be on to something!
Puddin in the recliner
To see what others are harvesting this March, head over to Daphne’s Dandelions.