Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. I’ve been busy lately planting, weeding and mulching in the garden. At least until the rain came Wednesday, and we’ve had measurable rain every day since then. We’ve had 26 inches of rain so far this year, making it one of the wettest I can ever recall. The rain is making everything grow, including the asparagus. The below photo show a typical daily harvest, this one weighing 13 ounces. We’ve harvested 15 pounds of it at this point.
daily haul of asparagus
So far we’ve grilled it, stir fried it, fermented it, and even given a bit away to friends. We’ve also steamed it several times to use for Asparagus Mimosa. It makes for a great light lunch, especially when paired with a slice of crusty homemade bread.
Asparagus Mimosa
Inside the greenhouse I pulled the rest of the overwintered kale plants to make room for planting cucumbers. It’s a mix of True Siberian, White Russian and Western Front in the tubtrug, about a pound in all. I’ve got spring planted kale and mustard greens now ready to cut in a cold frame bed, so we should be well supplied with greens for a while longer. I was anxious to get the cucumbers planted so they can hopefully mature before it gets really hot, though it’s already been hotter than usual around here. Since I had extra plants I set two of them outside, to hedge my bets in case the heat in the greenhouse proves too much for them. I want to make sure we have some cukes for pickling and fermenting.
overwintered kale from the greenhouse
I also pulled most of the remaining pak choi plants to make room for the cucumbers. Some of these wound up in a stir fry dish with Thai flavors my wife cooked up last week. It’s the white stemmed Bopak and the green stemmed Mei Qing in this batch. And some of it wound up in a frittata.
Bopak and Mei Qing pak choi
And there’s lots of lettuce in the greenhouse ready for cutting. We’ve been making it disappear by eating lots of salads!
Salanova Butter and Tango lettuce
This Pele lettuce was elongating and starting to bolt. It didn’t color up as well in the greenhouse as it does when grown outside, but it’s still crisp and tasty. I’ve got more planted in one of the cold frame beds, along with another Wild Garden Seed creation called Kilauea. Thankfully both are playing nice and not erupting like the Big Island volcano!
Pele lettuce
About a week ago I potted up three napa cabbage seedlings in a window box planter. They are getting bigger now and will likely wind up in a stir fry soon. The one with reddish purple leaves is called Scarlette. The plants were extras and I just couldn’t throw them on the compost pile. I set out six in the main garden, and they are starting to head up now. I’m hoping to make kimchi with some of them. Napa cabbage hasn’t always been my best crop but I think I possibly, maybe, perhaps have finally figured out how to grow it.
napa cabbages in planter
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 of any size or shape you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And please be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!