Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. Once again I relied on an indoor crop to give us a fresh harvest last week. I made two cuttings of sunflower shoots, which I had growing under lights in the basement. I pre-sprout the seeds first in a jar, planting as soon as the roots begin to emerge. To keep the sprouts clean I don’t cover the seed with soil, I just sprinkle it over the top of the moistened potting mix.
sunflower shoots growing
We mostly use the shoots on salads, though they are also good on sandwiches or as a garnish on soups. I haven’t made any green smoothies lately but I bet they would be tasty in there as well.
harvest of sunflower shoots
I also made bread for the first time since we got our new countertops installed. Actually I made buns, and it was a treat to put the dough on the counter and work on it there. I spritzed the counter with a bit of oil to keep the dough from sticking.
dough for buns
golden sandwich buns
We are finishing up the month of February with record amounts of rainfall. So far this month I have dumped 9.31″ of rain from my CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network) official rain gauge. It’s the wettest February on record in our area. I hope it’s not a sign of things to come weather-wise. We’re only about a mile from the swollen, flooded Ohio River but thankfully we are high and dry. Others are not faring so well. I’ve got the rain gauge mounted on the post by the entrance to our garden. It’s a daily ritual for me to go out to the rain gauge at 7AM, dump out the water, and go back inside to record the amount. It’s about time to plant peas here, so I hope the soil dries out a bit otherwise I will be mudding them in!
CoCoRaHS rain gauge
I’ll close with another wildlife pic, this one of a Cooper’s Hawk that showed up at the feeders. I just happened to be sitting at my computer when it flew into the dogwood tree. I grabbed my camera and got the image just before it flew away. All the little birds left the scene when it showed up, exiting quickly before they wound up on the lunch menu!
Cooper’s Hawk
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!