Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The harvests here are starting to get a bit sparse. I made a cutting of Prizm kale from the cold frame beds. This dwarf, curly kale is a 2016 AAS winner, and has proven to be hardy as well as tasty. Some of it wound up in the pot of Minestra Maritata (aka Italian Wedding Soup) I made last week, and some joined up with cauliflower from the grocery for a cauliflower/kale mash I made for a side dish. It had a few aphids hiding under the leaves, but other than that it was clean and quite lovely for a mid-December harvest.
Prizm kale
Another fresh harvest came from the greenhouse, where I cut more of the Mei Qing and Vivid Choi pac chois. They went in a stir fry side dish I made. I usually do a simple treatment on these, cooking a few mushrooms first then adding some grated ginger and the chopped greens to the wok and cooking just until wilted. I gave them a splash of umeboshi vinegar, a dash of toasted sesame oil and they were done. I also sometimes add a bit of garlic, but I skipped it this time.
Mei Qing and Vivid Choi pac chois
We are doing some taste-testing on the sweet potato varieties I trialed here this year. That’s Barberman on the left and the red-skinned Garnet on the right. Both have moist, orange flesh. I baked them whole, and my wife and I tasted them straight up with no seasoning to obscure the flavor. Both were good, but we rated Barberman as being a bit sweeter and more flavorful. Neither were terribly productive for me so it is doubtful I will grow either of them them again. I still have a few more new ones to taste before I do a full-blown review of them.
Barberman(L) and Garnet(R) sweet potatoes
My other fresh harvest also came from the greenhouse, this time from one of the salad boxes. It’s a mix of different lettuce varieties, and this batch was headed for some bean tacos I made for dinner. I snagged some cilantro micro greens for that meal too. I have to add it has been handy having cilantro growing inside under the lights. For my next experiment with micro greens I am sprouting some popcorn seeds, so I can grow corn shoots. I’ve never eaten those, but if they are as tasty as the pea and sunflower shoots they will be a welcome addition to our meals.
lettuce from salad box
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!
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