Harvest Monday - 23 May 2011

This week featured purple. On Thursday I pulled a whole mizuna plant (middle) to make more room for the others to grow. I love the purple mizuna since it is so pretty. I also pulled the first purple kohlrabi (left). I hadn't had this vegetable since I as a kid. I don't remember it then, but I do remember the funny looking plant. I ended up liking it as it tastes like a cross between a radish and cabbage. On the right side was a Fun Jen that was starting to get shaded out by the Michilli Chinese cabbage (seeds from Mac). Also picked in this batch was a Shanghai bok choy (top), a head of Yakatta-na, Komatsuna, choy sum, Chinese broccoli. The last four items were buried in the bottom of the basket. The basket was way overfilled.

Also buried in the basket was the first turnip. I had to take a photo of just it as I love salad turnips. Like radishes they come early in the spring and are something I can add to my salad besides greens.

Saturday's harvest was lettuce. I was out and needed my huge salads. I picked two heads that were getting crowded. One of Paris Island and one of Red Sails. I should have taken the time to pick some Deer Tongue too, but that is leaf lettuce that I pick the outside of and I was just too lazy to do it this week. I'll get to it. Really I will.

Sunday's Harvest was spinach. The winter spinach (no photo) got pulled as we were mulching the asparagus bed and it was in the way. In addition I saw the first leaf miner eggs on the back of the leaves this week and this spinach was not protected from them. So it is now gone.

Also the spring spinach was finally big enough to pick. If you remember this bed had a lot of damping off. Many of the plants died, but there was still more than enough for a good harvest.

This is the pile that I picked. There is over two pounds here. I needed three trips with my basket to pick it all. That table is my kitchen counter and is over two feet wide. Some of the spinach is Gigante D'Inverno (seed from Granny) so the leaves are very large. About as large as my overwintered spinach leaves were.

Also in the spinach bed are some radishes. The ants are really doing a job on the roots, but I can get some good root by cutting parts out. In addition I get one of my favorite spring meals - Radish Top Soup (Chop one onion and saute in 3T butter. Add a full colander of washed radish tops with ribs removed. Cook down. Put in a blender and blend with 4c of chicken broth until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Optionally add 1/2c cream. Heat through.). In years past radishes have been one of my first harvests so it was always a welcome meal. This year I have so many other things to pick and eat that it didn't have quite the allure, but it was still good. I'll probably freeze some for the winter.

Before I get to the tally I want to remind people of the mushroom growing giveaway. I'll pick a winner on Friday, so make sure to have your name on the list by Thursday.

• Greens 6.86 lbs
• Radishes and Turnips 1.84 lbs
• Weekly Total 8.70 lbs
• Yearly Total 22.58 lbs
• Still in the hole $-412.04
  

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 show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.