It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. It’s another year for Harvest Monday, and while harvests are always slim this time of year we are still getting a few. Last winter we had fairly mild weather, and enjoyed greens for most of the season. This year the weather has been much colder, with ice and snow storms as well. I was able to harvest a big batch of collards in January before the weather got really nasty. They kept up supplied for a couple of weeks. I have no idea if or when we will get any more from the fall greens.
collard greens
I also took advantage last month of the bounty of turnip greens and froze a few batches of them to enjoy for later use. We especially enjoyed the Turnbroc greens, and I froze two bags of them. I blanched the greens first in boiling water then cooled before putting in the freezer.
Turnbroc greens for freezing
Just as the greens took a break, the purple sprouting broccoli in the greenhouse started flowering. Burgundy is an early variety I’ve grown several years now, and Jacaranda is a new one I’m trialing here. Both made small main heads about the same time, with Burgundy being a tad bigger. Even the broccoli in the greenhouse is struggling with the unusually cold weather we’re having, so future harvests might be smaller than typical.
Jacaranda and Burgundy broccoli
The lettuce is still going strong in the greenhouse though and keeping us well supplied. It’s one thing I can generally rely on in the cold months, though the short days slow down the growth considerably. It seems to recover quite well from the freezing/thawing cycles.
harvest of assorted lettuce
The red Navara and frilly green Frisygo make good companions to the smooth leaves of Salanova Green Butter on our salad plates. With added egg, beans, seeds or nuts for protein these make for a light lunch meal for us. I make our own salad dressings using a variety of vinegars and oil, which keeps the salads from getting boring.
lunch salad
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!
I managed to source some collards in the UK last year and sowed/planted them a bit late. They are just starting to get a little sun now, so I’m hoping to try them before they go to seed! If all goes to plan we will be eating them a year from now!
No harvesting here as we haven’t been to the allotment. The salad looks tasty.
The salad looks wonderful. At this time of year I start to crave green, crunchy
Whoops – sorry. Not finished commenting!
I start to crave green, crunchy things at this time of year and so your salads look perfect.
I’m so thankful to have found ‘Jacaranda’ broccoli too this year. I even see some side shoots sprouting. I think I’ll plant next year and maybe plan a second crop since it matures faster. It’s my PSB substitute now. I have been surprised how durable lettuce can be in freezing temperatures, though I rarely see temps less than 35 F in my garden.