Post by sorellina on Jun 3, 2010 7:39:15 GMT -5
Ciao all-
I know some of you in hotter regions have been enjoying wonderful harvests for a while, but even those of us in the tundra are starting to get more than herbs now.
I've been enjoying cool-weather crops for several weeks including Red Russian, Dwarf Curled Blue Vates, and now Dinosaur Kale is starting to be big enough for regular harvests. I've also had just a bumper crop of Asian greens..Ruby Pac Choi, Tatsoi, and Giant Red Mustard all make it into salads and stir fries. I had tons of over-wintered white bunching onions so we grilled those to have with grilled Italian sausages and they were outstanding. I also made a wonderful breakfast cake with the early rhubarb. The radishes have been better than they ever have, I think largely due to how early the beds were tilled and ready to go. Those were planted in early April and are just sweet and crispy like they should be. The mint always comes in early and I've made a few batches of tabouli with it and the scallions.
Now, though, I'm getting regular harvests of a very dark red cut and come again lettuce called Sea of Red from Renee's Garden. It's both beautiful and delicious! Some of the brassicas are trying to bolt so I've been adding the buds to salads and stir fries as well. I've been cutting off the buds forming on the radishes to hopefully keep them going a bit longer. Scapes are just forming on the garlic so I've been adding those to stir fries, too. With the recent rains we've had, the peas are finally waking up and producing huge amounts of snow and snap peas.
I always grow lots of edible flowers and I found some great recipes for violets this spring, including a wonderful wild violet jelly. I made 2 batches of it just in time for Mother's Day. Violas and pansies also make it into salads as well as hot pink dianthus and red gem marigolds. All of my basils are still very small, but I've added little tiny bits of leaves here and there to stir fries and salads, enough to give a hint of what's to come later. The chives and sage have started flowering, so those flowers go into salads, omelets, whatever those herbs would be good for. If I'm cooking with them, I like to put them in at the last minute so their colour and beauty remain.
Right now is salad and Asian food Heaven. Probably the next edibles to be harvested will be the Rainbow Chard and the big Daikon Radishes. The chard was small when it was transplanted and then we got a very warm spell, so it hasn't really grown as fast as maybe it would have if I'd planted earlier. I'll make some adjustments for next year.
I know some of you in hotter regions have been enjoying wonderful harvests for a while, but even those of us in the tundra are starting to get more than herbs now.
I've been enjoying cool-weather crops for several weeks including Red Russian, Dwarf Curled Blue Vates, and now Dinosaur Kale is starting to be big enough for regular harvests. I've also had just a bumper crop of Asian greens..Ruby Pac Choi, Tatsoi, and Giant Red Mustard all make it into salads and stir fries. I had tons of over-wintered white bunching onions so we grilled those to have with grilled Italian sausages and they were outstanding. I also made a wonderful breakfast cake with the early rhubarb. The radishes have been better than they ever have, I think largely due to how early the beds were tilled and ready to go. Those were planted in early April and are just sweet and crispy like they should be. The mint always comes in early and I've made a few batches of tabouli with it and the scallions.
Now, though, I'm getting regular harvests of a very dark red cut and come again lettuce called Sea of Red from Renee's Garden. It's both beautiful and delicious! Some of the brassicas are trying to bolt so I've been adding the buds to salads and stir fries as well. I've been cutting off the buds forming on the radishes to hopefully keep them going a bit longer. Scapes are just forming on the garlic so I've been adding those to stir fries, too. With the recent rains we've had, the peas are finally waking up and producing huge amounts of snow and snap peas.
I always grow lots of edible flowers and I found some great recipes for violets this spring, including a wonderful wild violet jelly. I made 2 batches of it just in time for Mother's Day. Violas and pansies also make it into salads as well as hot pink dianthus and red gem marigolds. All of my basils are still very small, but I've added little tiny bits of leaves here and there to stir fries and salads, enough to give a hint of what's to come later. The chives and sage have started flowering, so those flowers go into salads, omelets, whatever those herbs would be good for. If I'm cooking with them, I like to put them in at the last minute so their colour and beauty remain.
Right now is salad and Asian food Heaven. Probably the next edibles to be harvested will be the Rainbow Chard and the big Daikon Radishes. The chard was small when it was transplanted and then we got a very warm spell, so it hasn't really grown as fast as maybe it would have if I'd planted earlier. I'll make some adjustments for next year.
