Harvest Monday Apr 24, 2023

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. Asparagus season is in full swing here now, and we have cut over four pounds of it so far. Gardeners who grow it will know that the spears come in all sizes, and we eat all that’s big enough to be usable. Unlike some vegetables, I find the larger spears are more tender than smaller ones, which are often tough and stringy.

asparagus harvest

We used some of the harvest to make Asparagus Mimosa again. It’s a seasonal treat, and we will get our fill of it during asparagus season and that will be it for another year. Add a slice of my crusty sourdough bread and we make a meal of it.

Asparagus Mimosa

For the Asparagus Mimosa we steam the spears until just tender using a bamboo steamer. Our favorite treatment for asparagus is to roast it in the oven, either on a sheet pan or in a cast iron skillet. We had that for a side dish one night for dinner, served with pan-seared cod and roasted potatoes.

roasted asparagus

I also got another cutting of collards from the plants that have sprouted from the stems and roots. It’s a mix-up of several varieties, including a few rapini from the flowering plants. I used the collard greens in a pot of Tuscan Bean and Farro Soup (aka Zuppa di Farro) I cooked up for dinner last night. It’s a hearty soup, and the tender collard leaves held up well in the slow cooker.

young collard greens

Tuscan Bean and Farro Soup

The early plantings of lettuce are about done for, but I found another decent head of Starfighter last week. It had a lot of aphids though, so cleanup was a bit tedious. It made a tasty topping for our black bean tacos we had for lunch on Saturday.

Starfighter lettuce

black bean tacos

The second planting of arugula is still producing, and I made a cutting last week to go on pizza. It was a mix of Speedy and Dragon Fire, both planted in containers in the greenhouse.

mixed arugula

We used pita bread for the base of the pizza, and other toppings included olives, homegrown tomato sauce and pickled Aji Rico peppers from last year’s garden.

pita pizza with arugula

In other news, the baby bluebirds fledged the PVC nest box about a week ago and mama bluebird wasted no time in building another nest. There were three eggs in there last time I looked, though she has probably added a couple more since then. I have seen the babies once or twice, and no doubt the parents are keeping busy feeding them.

bluebird eggs

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 please check out what everyone is harvesting!


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More Spring Planting

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

This week I got a few more spring crops planted in a bed behind the greenhouse. Early last month I started kohlrabi plants indoors under lights along with other spring brassicas like cabbage and broccoli. They are now ready to plant, and the kohlrabi was the first to go in since the planting spot was mostly ready. Before planting I amended the soil with compost and some organic fertilizer and forked it in lightly to incorporate.

radish and kohlrabi seedlings

I set out 20 kohlrabi plants in the bed, which is roughly four foot square. Then I interplanted radishes between the kohlrabi plants, like I did with the kale I planted last week. The radishes will get pulled before the kohlrabi needs the space, and I did this last year with good results. This year I planted Beas, Kolibri and Terek kohlrabi, and the radish varieties were Rover, Crunchy King and Pink Beauty.

after planting

After planting I spread Sluggo Plus on the soil to help prevent slug damage, and I put new bird netting on the cover of the bed to keep out the critters. I will mulch the bed with shredded paper in a few days to help keep down the weeds and conserve soil moisture.

Kolibri plant

Meanwhile, the kale I planted last week has taken off as I predicted and is growing fast. I could get baby kale leaves now, but I think I will wait until they size up a bit. I actually have Tuscan Baby Leaf kale planted in the greenhouse as well, and I can use those leaves any time now as needed.

young kale plant

And as an experiment, I set out some Forum onion sets in the main vegetable garden. I planted the sets where collards were planted last fall. These sets can be planted in the spring and can be pulled for a green onion or left to grow for a dried bulb by the end of July. I will likely use most of these as green onions, and perhaps leave a few to grow longer. I got the sets from Roger and Mary Winstead of Beautiful Edibles farm for a swap with some of our Korean avocado squash seed.

Forum onion sets

planting holes for onions

Next it will be time to plant the spring brassicas in the main vegetable garden. That bed still needs to be prepped, and I plan to cover it with weed barrier material I used last year for the same crops. I hope you have enjoyed this update on the happenings from Happy Acres!

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Harvest Monday April 17, 2023

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. Greens are still abundant here, and I cut both lettuce and pac choi for our use last week. I’ve cut right at 10 pounds of lettuce so far this year, and we have been well supplied. The greenhouse plantings should last for another month or so, depending on how fast it heats up here as spring progresses. So far we’ve had hot and dry days followed by cool and wet ones, which is pretty typical for us for April weather.

pac choi and lettuce

Lettuce salads have been on the menu here often, and last week I made a Mediterranean themed one with artichokes, olives and feta cheese over the base of lettuce. A few pistachios and some grated hard boiled egg added protein, and I made a lemon vinaigrette for a dressing.

lunch salad

I used the pac choi in a stir fry we had for dinner one night. The Violetta did not color up as well as the Purple Gem did this year, but both were tender and mild tasting. We also sometimes add the pac choi to salads or soups.

pac choi

The asparagus is still coming on, and our 16 year old patch has slowed down production the last few years but still giving us lots of spears to eat. We’ve cut almost three pounds so far in two weeks of harvesting.

asparagus harvest

I used some of those spears in a one-skillet meal of crispy Parmesan/Panko Chicken Cutlets. The chicken cutlets got coated in a mix of fresh grated Parmesan cheese, paprika and panko bread crumbs, then cooked in a little oil in the skillet in the oven. When the chicken was done, I removed it then added the asparagus and some mushrooms and returned them to the oven to cook. The original recipe called for a lemon butter sauce to be poured over the top, but we find it is tasty enough without the added sauce.

One-Skillet Parmesan Chicken and asparagus

I also made a cutting of the overwintered collards growing in the main garden last week. These froze to the ground in December, but this year new growth sprouted from the roots and stems. These young leaves are tender and tasty, and I braised this batch to serve as a side dish for dinner.

overwintered collard greens

In non-harvest news, I baked a loaf of sourdough rye sandwich bread last week. I used my Pullman pan, and the bread turned out just like I like a sandwich bread. Bread with big holes in it is in vogue in some circles, but I prefer a tighter consistency and closed crumb for a sandwich loaf. This should serve well as a base for future sandwiches, though I have to say the crusty heel end was quite yummy eaten on its own!

Sourdough Rye Bread

And last but definitely not least, the annual parade of irises has started. The first to bloom was a dwarf bearded iris called Riveting, followed closely by the shade-tolerant Iris cristata ‘Powder Blue Giant’. The only thing giant about the latter one is the bloom, which comes on plants barely a few inches tall. More irises are budding up, so before long there will be more to join the parade!

Riveting dwarf bearded iris

Iris cristata ‘Powder Blue Giant’

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 please check out what everyone is harvesting!


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Spring Planting Begins

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

This week I got the first of the spring crops in the ground in one of the beds behind the greenhouse. After pulling a few weeds, I amended the soil with compost and some organic fertilizer and forked it in lightly to incorporate. Back in February I started a few curly kale plants, including Starbor and Winterbor which are two of my favorites for spring planting. They are ready to plant, and should make edible leaves in a month or less.

kale plants ready to be set out

This bed is four foot square, and I managed to get a dozen kale plants set out with ample room between the plants. So much room in fact, I interplanted them with radish seedlings. Lettuce would also work for an intensive planting like this, but I already have lots of lettuce growing in the greenhouse. The radishes will size up and get pulled before the kale plants need the space. I interplanted radishes last year with kohlrabi, and they did quite well.

bed after planting

kale plant

I got the idea for starting the seeds indoors from Steve Richards (Steve’s Seaside Life) who has LOTS of good ideas and videos on his website. About three weeks ago I sowed three or four radish seeds per hole in a Pro-Tray 38 cell flat, and planted all the seedlings in each hole without thinning. This time I sowed seeds for Celesta, Roxanne and Bacchus, which should all mature fairly quickly.

radish seedlings

After planting and giving all the plants a drink of water, I covered the bed with bird netting. That should protect them from deer and other mammals as well as birds. I also spread some Sluggo Plus to help keep the slugs from eating everything first. The netting is secured with clothespins to sections of PVC pipe I have bent and stuck into the ground. It’s not an elegant solution, but it works! The netting can be lifted up when harvesting.

bed with bird netting

Next up in my planting schedule will be kohlrabi, in another bed behind the greenhouse. Then it will be time to plant the spring brassicas in the main vegetable garden. It’s a busy time of year here, but one I always look forward to after winter has loosened its grip on us. I hope you have enjoyed this update on the happenings from Happy Acres!

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Harvest Monday April 10, 2023

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. Lettuce is still the star of the garden here, although a very welcome newcomer joined the harvest parade last week. I’ll save that for last. I’m still replanting lettuce as room becomes available, and we should be well-supplied for at least another month until the weather heats up.

Strawberry Oakleaf lettuce

Salanova Red Butter lettuce

I also made a cutting of Asian Greens for salads, which included Beka Santoh, Purple Gem pac choi and Miz America mizuna. All added a bit of zip to an Asian-themed salad I made which had a ginger/sesame/vinegar dressing and was topped with slivered almonds and crispy chow mein noodles.

Asian greens for salad

Asian themed salad

And I made another small cutting of arugula for pizza, though I didn’t get any pics of the finished product this time.

arugula for pizza

I don’t post photos of every bit of parsley I harvest, but last week I cut a generous amount to use in a Mediterranean Farro Bowl we had for dinner one night. This Skinnytaste Recipe is definitely a keeper, and my wife and I really enjoyed eating it. It featured farro I cooked in the rice cooker, along with cucumber, sweet red pepper and some of last year’s dehydrated tomatoes that I re-hydrated and chopped up. Feta cheese, parsley and a lemon juice/olive oil dressing completed the ingredient list, and this one will be good to make again this summer when the peppers and cukes are homegrown.

Mediterranean Farro Bowl

Another dinner needed kale, and I cut a decent amount of some of the Wild Garden Mix I had planted last fall in the main vegetable garden. Like the collards, all the kale froze back to the ground but a few plants have re-sprouted and are now giving us tender new leaves.

Wild Garden Mix kale

The kale went into a Ribollita Soup I made for dinner. I cheated, since ribollita means “reboiled” and this batch was neither reboiled nor reheated. I slow-cooked it in the Instant Pot, using cannellini beans I had previously cooked.

Ribollita soup

The Ribollita called for bread, and in keeping with the Italian origins of the soup I made a loaf of sourdough Pane d’ Altamura bread using durum wheat flour. Durum wheat is usually used for pasta, but in bread it gives a lovely golden color and a chewy texture. I cut slices of it then tore them into pieces and toasted in the oven before adding to the soup. The cannellini beans served for protein, and the combo of beans and greens in soup is one of my favorites.

Pane d’ Altamura bread

I saved the best news for last – we got the first asparagus harvest last week! And that was followed by the second cutting, and the third, until we had almost a pound harvested. We saved it to make Asparagus Mimosa, one of my favorite uses for fresh asparagus. That and a sliced of the sourdough bread made for a tasty lunch, one that I will likely never get tired of eating.

first asparagus of 2023

Asparagus Mimosa

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 please check out what everyone is harvesting!

 


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