Harvest Monday February 27, 2023

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. Salad season has begun here, and I made two modest cuttings of lettuce from the greenhouse this past week. The plants are beginning to size up now, though still not quite full sized. I cut red and green oakleaf types, and a red leaf lettuce called Hyper Red Rumple Waved.

Some of that was used to top fish tacos we had for dinner one night, and it also went on bean tacos one day for lunch.

I’m already getting ready for the next wave of lettuce. I transplanted lettuce seedlings one morning, plucking them out of the plug trays and setting them into 3.5″ pots. That makes for big plants with a well established root system that take off quickly when set out.

In other news, it has been over 10 years now since we put up new fencing around the vegetable garden, and the chicken wire I put around the bottom is badly in need of repair. The wire keeps out rabbits and other small animals who could easily slip through the holes in the galvanized fencing. Right now they could get through in a number of places!

I am running two foot wide chicken wire around the perimeter of the garden, lapping about six inches down on the ground and the rest up on the fencing material. I am securing it all with zip ties. The zip ties usually need replacing before the wire, though I am using ones that are supposed to be heat and UV resistant. It’s not hard work to run the wire and secure it, but it is time-consuming for sure. I’m about half way done and hope to finish soon before planting season begins.

And in the shade garden, the hellebores are still putting on a show for us. We only have a few planted, but they brighten up the area in early spring. The deer also leave them alone, which is a big plus since they tend to eat a lot of things we plant. They are definitely blooming earlier than usual, which I think bodes well for an early spring.

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!