It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The harvests here were slimmer than usual last week. We had an ice and snow storm hit us that left a layer of frozen ‘stuff’ on the ground which kept me from opening the greenhouse door for several days. Fortunately I got what I could before the storm hit. We still have plenty of lettuce ready, and I usually cut just enough for fresh eating but in this case I got enough to last for a couple of meals. Panisse and Sea of Red are two of my favorite leaf lettuce varieties, and they make for a good contrast together for salads.
Panisse and Sea of Red lettuce
The purple sprouting broccoli is not doing that much yet, and I only got a small handful of side shoots from Burgundy. Not enough for a side dish on their own, but we enjoyed them anyway! That was the extent of my fresh harvests last week.
Burgundy broccoli
We are well supplied with preserved food in the freezer though, and with fermented veggies. Kohlrabi kraut is one of my favorites, and we ate some last week as a side dish and had some another day on a sandwich. We’ve also been enjoying the bumper crop of sweet potatoes on a regular basis.
kohlrabi kraut
Since outside activities were limited due to the ice storm, I took advantage of that to do more indoor activities. I baked a couple of loaves of sourdough bread using all-purpose flour instead of my usual high-protein bread flour. The one on the left in the below photo had 30% whole wheat flour/70% all-purpose, while the one on the right was 100% all-purpose. Both were baked in a small loaf pan (8.5 x 4.5 inches) after an overnight ferment. I was pleased with how they both turned out, and they were certainly tasty. However I’m not sure they were an improvement over the ones I usually make with bread flour. I think more baking and experimenting is in order – not to mention more exercise to work off all those bread calories!
sourdough sandwich loaves
two versions of bread
I also worked on seed starting activities. Sown first was the parsley, follow by lettuce and other greens. I need to start petunias and brassicas next, and plan to give an update on those activities soon. And in case you are wondering, it is safe to say I sowed too many of the Cilician parsley seeds in the pot since I only need about three plants! I usually give a few away to local friends too, though I count more than a dozen of these coming up and I have other varieties sown too.
parsley coming up
And lastly, I have (finally) started posting on Instagram. In addition to this blog, and on Facebook you can now follow some of the Happy Acres happenings at @Dave.HappyAcresBlog. I’ve already found a few of the Harvest Monday folks there, and would be happy to follow readers and others who post there.
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!
Nice germination of your parsley seeds. Mine tend to self-sow to almost be weedy. I leave them to flower for the hover flies and other pollinators that prefer the tiny flowers. And again Sea of Red comes through for you. It’s been a good performer for me this year. Sturdier than Marvel of Four Seasons or Freckles which I’ve grown other years. Another sturdy one for me is Pomegranate Crunch.
I cut some of the Sea of Red on the early side, but I have more maturing. It is my favorite red leaf lettuce these days.
Yes, Parsley here is almost a weed, but I am not complaining! Lettuce is good here in the Winter Dave… I love the Sea of Red… with Marvel of Four Seasons and Winter Density, which I pick leaf by leaf to spin them out! Great to have fresh harvests in the Winter too, isn’t it?
Even small harvests are precious this time of year Kathy!