Harvest Monday March 7, 2016

Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. If I could sum up my recent harvests in one word, it would be “green.” As the days get longer, it seems the greens planted in the greenhouse and cold frames have picked up the pace of growing. Last week I made a cutting of the True Siberian kale I have growing in the greenhouse. This is my second year growing it in there, and it overwinters quite well, giving us a taste of kale early in the year.

I paired it with some Runner Cannellini beans for a main dish meal. I braised the kale in a little olive oil, and it was tender in about five minutes. It’s a simple treatment, just the beans and kale, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a little crispy bacon on top when I plate it.

I had enough of the kale to make a second meal out of it, as a lunch side dish for me. I cooked it briefly in a little olive oil along with mushrooms. It kept its green color, and was sweet and flavorful. There is such a difference between homegrown kale and what you buy at the grocery, and I suspect more people would like it if they grew it themselves.

Also in the greenhouse, I made a cutting of mixed lettuce and spinach. We made a meal off the salad I prepared with them, adding a little hard boiled egg for protein plus some homemade whole wheat croutons I made with a bit of leftover bread. To make the croutons I cut the bread into cubes then bake until crispy. I also sometimes use the dehydrator if I am making a lot of them. At any rate, it was a simple, light meal where the lettuce and spinach were the the real stars.

And speaking of spinach, the spinach planted in the greenhouse has really taken off. I have three varieties planted in there, Viroflay, Giant Winter and Space. All the spinach was started indoors in plug flats, and transplanted to the greenhouse bed in December. It’s mostly Giant Winter in the below photo. It went into a pot of bean and barley soup.

I also pulled the first of the green garlic that I planted back in December. This one came from a container planting I made that has overwintered in the greenhouse. It was showing quite a bit of green leaf, and made a nice garlicky addition to a tofu and veggie stir-fry I whipped up for dinner one night.

I’ll close with a welcome sign – the early daffodils are blooming! I don’t know the cultivar, as they were already here when we bought the place. That’s a good sign that spring is right around the corner, isn’t it?

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!