Longer days and warmer weather means the overwintered veggies are going through their final growth spurts.
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| Merlo Nero Spinach |
I cut down all the Merlo Nero Spinach which looked good even though it was bolting.
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| Syrian Medieval Card |
The Syrian Medieval chard is also bolting so I cut most of it. That photo doesn't do the pile of chard justice, it weighed in at 5.7 pounds! 1.5 pounds of it is going into a chard and rice gratin. I blanched the rest of the leafy parts and froze it in portions. The stalks await some inspiration.
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| Gustus Brussels Sprouts |
It was also time to start cutting down the Brussels sprouts. The 4 Gustus plants were the first to go.
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| Pea Shoots and Fava Leaves |
I cut a good amount of pea shoots from the plants that are growing in the cover crop for the future tomato/pepper bed. And then I picked a few fava leaves as well. I just realized that I didn't photograph the first harvest of Robin Hood fava beans. We enjoyed those first favas sauteed with some shallots and a mix of pea shoots and fava leaves piled on top of toast with ricotta all drenched with some homemade chicken broth. That is comfort food to me.
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| Pink Plume Celery |
All the celery is bolting now. You can see a flower stalk at the top of the photo. The celery is still quite tasty though and even the young flower stalks are tender enough to slice up and enjoy.
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| Gladiator Parsnips |
The parsnips were putting on some new leafy growth so I figured that the flower stalks would be close behind. That's the final harvest of all the remaining roots.
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| Nelson Carrots |
All the carrots need to be pulled also. There's some funky looking roots in the mix but they still taste great. There still some carrots left in the garden so I'll have more to show next week.
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| Bolero and Nelson Carrots |
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| Batavia Broccoli |
The overwintered Calabrese broccoli hit the compost bin this weekend but the winter planted Batavia broccoli is putting out some great side shoots.
Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog
Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.
Some of those sprouts look like mini cabbages! Chard is so productive, I wish I could learn to like the taste of it. The pea shoots sound yummy though.
ReplyDeleteThe tops of the plants are just like mini cabbages. I think I'll shred them to make a slaw.
DeleteGood idea about eating fava leaves. I've got them growing all around my garden plus love the beans. Do you use chard stems? Recipes always say to discard but seems like such a waste, especially when you've got rainbow chard!
ReplyDeleteI usually used the stems. I chop them up and saute them until they are tender and then add the leaves and whatever other seasonings I feel like using. The stems make a great gratin all by themselves with cream, eggs, cheese, and a breadcrumb topping.
DeleteLovely harvests. Chard can get huge so I'm not surprised those leaves weighed as much as they did. I didn't realize that you could eat fava leaves. Can you eat them raw or do they require cooking?
ReplyDeleteThe very young fava leaves are very good raw used in a salad alone or with other salad greens. They're also great cooked, wilted like spinach or again, mixed with other greens.
DeleteThose carrots still look very clean and pest free.
ReplyDeleteAhhh... you are really Broccoli master. The spinach is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you that your trail by Brussels sprouts in nearly ended.
ReplyDelete