Monday, June 20, 2011

Lots of Leaves Harvest Monday

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Speckled buttercrunch lettuce.

It's salad time! We've been filling up on lettuce, peas, green onions, arugula, rattail radish pods, garlic scapes, wild greens, orach, magenta spreen, mustards, kale, haskap / honeyberries, even a few ground cherries! Tonnes of herbs too like dill, parsley, lovage, sweet cicely, thyme, sage, oregano, anise hyssop, tarragon and I'm sure I'm forgetting loads.

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A nice specimen about a few days before I cut off the centre, leaving the outer leaves.

My favourite early summer salad is to mix lots of bulky mild greens like the goosefoots (magenta spreen, orach, spinach, strawberry spinach, chard, beet greens, regular spinach, lamb's quarters, amaranth), lettuce, or mild tasting brassicas (some mustards, chinese heading cabbages, young kale), or corn salad and mix that with lots of herbs. Delicious.

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It regrew a mini head of crisp leaves.

For a spicy, sweet salad with crunch, I also like masses of chopped up edible podded peas mixed with a smaller amount of rattail radish pods. What's your favourite spring salad mix?

8 comments:

kitsapFG said...

That's a beautiful lettuce variety you are growing. Nice regrowth after the central core was harvested too. My favorite salads are a mixture of very early spring greens - corn salad, lettuce, young baby kale, and baby swiss chard leaves. All picked when young so it is light, delicate, and full of interesting colors and textures. My second favorite salad is baby spinach - just that with fresh crumbled goat cheese, sliced and toasted/salted almonds and some plump cranberry raisins - served with either a raspberry/walnut vinegarette or homemade ranch dressing (real buttermilk).

Unknown said...

Your greens look nice! We grew a Rocky Top Lettuce Mix from Bakers Creek this spring and really enjoyed it.

Barbie~ said...

That first picture is simply stunning. WHat a bed of lettuce!

Barbie~ said...

That first picture is simply stunning. WHat a bed of lettuce!

Paulette Whitney, Provenance Growers said...

I love reading your Summer posts while we're entering Winter! Your gorgeous green photos are getting us inspired to put in the groundwork for a good Summer here. The pea and rattail salad sounds great. Thanks!!!

Daphne Gould said...

With all the heat we had earlier, my lettuce all got bitter so it was pulled and replanted. At least the new batch is starting to get big enough to steal leaves from.

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking said...

Oh your peas look awesome!!

RandomGardener said...

You have unique lettuces! Where do you get the seeds from?