Monday, May 17, 2010

Harvest Monday - 17 May 2010

This week was a sad week. I had to pull up all my overwintered spinach. This made for a good harvest though. We had some of the smaller spinach and some unphotographed lettuce for dinner last night with the relatives. The gourmet lettuce blend and tasty radishes were much loved, but I did add some store bought carrots and tomatoes.

In addition the Chum Soy and Ching Chang bok choy was starting to bolt. So it was harvested. I hope it tastes good and isn't too mustardy for my tastes. Right now I'll add it into the harvest totals, but if it turns out inedible (which it probably isn't), I'll remove it later.

I pulled out a lot of radishes. They aren't bulbing up as well as the French Breakfast radishes, but some were good. I still weigh all of them since with radishes the leaves are just as important as the roots.

This is why. I make radish top soup in the spring. I find it rather tasty. It is basically just onions and butter sauteed. Then I add potatoes, broth, and the radish tops. Puree them all. Some people add cream to make it even tastier, but I don't always do that. I also like beef broth over chicken now. I used to always make it with chicken broth, but the strong flavor of the beef holds up better to the greens.

  • Lettuce: 0.13 lbs
  • Bok Choy: 0.30 lbs
  • Choy Sum: 0.35 lbs
  • Spinach: 0.84 lbs
  • Radish: 0.85 lbs
  • Total week: 2.48 lbs
  • Total year: 5.45 lbs
  • Spent this week: $0
  • Tally: -172.01

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 like to Mr Linky below.

38 comments:

  1. You can tell that spring is here - your weekly harvest totals are starting to grow in amount. That soup looks good, I have never actually heard of eating radish tops - might actually have to grow some radishes soon just to try this recipe!

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  2. Is your wiki up and running? I think I see last weeks up still.

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  3. I'll update the totals on the sidebar as soon as I get time.

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  4. Your soup sounds very interesting, I should try it one of these days. Sorry you had to rip out some of your spinach Daphne.

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  5. I am so sorry now that I have composted all my radish tops. I would so love to try this soup.
    My radishes are not bulbing up, also. It because they were planted too close.

    Is Mr. Liky working? I’m seeing last weeks links. If it doesn’t change, I will just add link for this weeks harvest later.

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  6. I am so sorry that your greens are all bolting. I hope that the flavor of all the ones you had to harvest is still to your liking.

    I am lucky that I still like bolting greens. I just cut off the flower stalk and leave the plant in the ground until I am ready to eat it. Yes, they taste stronger, but I still like them, so I don't loose the plant.

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  7. The soup looks really good, I imagine it tastes something like watercress soup. I'll have to remember that for the next time I grow radishes.

    Bolting greens really do accelerate the harvest, that's why there has been so much lettuce in my harvests lately, it's on the verge . . .

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  8. The soup looks yummy.....will have to try that in the fall!

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  9. Do you know if you can use any variety of radish leaves for this soup?

    Nice total this week!

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  10. Oh no! Things are already starting to bolt for you? That stinks. I mean, my stuff bolted long ago but I live in the desert. It's going to be close to 100 degrees today. I like to see the rest of the country growing and harvesting spring crops to keep me in denial about the weather.

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  11. Daphne... I didn't know that you could eat radish greens! What a great idea to made radish soup!

    Thanks for sharing the idea... wonder if I could get my radish loving husband to eat radish soup????

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  12. Mr. Linky is wonky this morning ;-) I just changed the link on mine to show this week's total.

    Just wait until you see the size of the lettuces I'll be picking this week :-D

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  13. Wow your soup and Asian greens look great! Good thing I had a Harvest Monday post to upload this morning LOL!!!!

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  14. kitsapFG, they are quite edible. I don't like them raw as they don't have a good texture. Too prickly. But cooked they are quite tasty and I love having a double harvest. Though if you hate the roots, I'm wondering if there are any varieties just for the leaves.

    Ottawa Gardener, I just didn't have the time to do that this morning. I was lucky to get my post up.

    Kelly, well if you grow radishes it is great. No reason to throw out the nutritious leaves.

    vrtlarica, Mr Linky is being wonky today. I've removed it temporarily as it was causing issues. I tried to log into their site to leave them a message about it, but I can't even get in. I'll try to get it up again later.

    Angela, some bolting greens I like and some I don't. Most of the Asian greens taste fine when the bolt. I can even eat the flower stalks. A few have too strong of a taste for me though. I never know until I try.

    michelle, I hope the rest of them get picked at their peak, but you never know. Some years are good and some years are just bad.

    Robin, :>

    Thomas, I've never tried diakon radishes, but just regular radishes, but I've used all sorts of varieties for it.

    Hannah, I think I would die in 100F weather. I melt in the heat.

    Toni, lol they taste nothing like a radish. But you can always try.

    Annie's Granny, yeah, I'm going to try to put it back up again and see what happens. I hope it starts working soon.

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  15. I was wondering about the Mr. Linky when I checked your site this morning. It was up with what looked like last weeks names I thought good thing I have a new post as some weeks I don't have one!

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  16. My radishes are not that far along. I think I originally came across your blog with your radish top soup recipe though I've yet to try it. Maybe this year will be there.

    Here's link to my post since Mr Linky isn't working.

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  17. The greens look good. I'll have to try the radish leaves soup someday, looks yummy.

    I salt pickle radish leaves, diakon leaves, mustard greens etc for Chinese dishes, they are delicious.

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  18. Never heard of radish soup but it looks beautiful. We've been able to eat most of our Asian greens that started bolting. Hope you can too!

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  19. Just planted Breakfast Radishes as companions to my Lemon Squash. I chose this variety of radish because of it's long root. The root should help aerate the soil around the squash.

    Do you know if the radishes, in fact, repell pests to the squash plants?

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  20. A Kitchen Garden in Kihei Maui, I think it is all up and running now. Monday is a bad day for Mr. Linky to mess up my site.

    Emily, Hopefully your radishes will get there soon. Radishes are so fast.

    Mac, I've never had pickled greens like that. I hope you write how you do it on your blog someday.

    villager, I probably will get to eat them all.

    To All: sorry about the Mr. Linky issues today. I think it is back up and running right, but no links from before.

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  21. The soup does look good! I'd be apprehensive about trying it, but anything with butter and onions can't be too bad :)

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  22. The bok choy looks really really good. I'm a big fan of the stuff. Makes me want to go out and plant some. Yum!

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  23. Though I've never tried cooking radish greens, your soup sounds pretty convincing, especially with the beef broth rather than chicken. I can taste it in my head, meaty, radishy-sharp, salty. Sounds fantastic on a drizzly day like today.

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  24. That soup looks delicious. It's hard to see a crop come to its end but you had a good run with the spinach. Mine seems to be getting leaf miners or something similar; just can't win.

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  25. I missed another harvest monday. I'm been such a slacker lately! Your harvests look good and the soup too. All my asian greens bolted as well, they are a bit of a pain in the spring.

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  26. Hmmm. I've never heard of radish soup. As always, you rock my world.

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  27. Megan, it is a very simple soup, but sometimes the simple ones are the best.

    Richard, I can't wait for the fall season with the choys. They are always more sweet and succulent in the fall.

    Christina, we have been having a bit of cool weather and the soup was great for warming up. Thursday our weather changes. Maybe Wednesday I'll have to make more soup (highs of only 56F) before the summer type heat hits.

    Sally, I did have a good run with the over wintered spinach. Now that I know it works so well, I'll have to do more of it, but next year I'm going to put it in a rotation that will have tomatoes later on so I won't have to mess with the broccoli interplanting.

    Dan, well me too, I barely got Harvest Monday up yesterday. Then oh the Mr. Linky issues. Life is crazy right now.

    Stefaneener, so many hadn't before. I'm glad to teach people that they don't have to throw out a large part of their radish harvest.

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  28. I didn't get to post my photo yesterday, so I am late...but I finally had a harvest! It was the best salad ever!!!

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  29. Daphne, your harvest looks great, as does your soup! I won't be able to chime in with a harvest until fall when my citrus, mango and bananas ripen. I hope I have a good report for you!

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  30. Yum, gotta try that radish green soup. I've eaten radish tops in stirfrys and in a Chinese salad. The sliced radish tops marinate in a dressing of soy, rice wine vinegar, mirin and sesame oil. It takes the bitter right out of those greens and makes them palatable. But mostly I feed my radish tops to the chickens. They love them.

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  31. Lisa Anne, whoohoo! Salads from the garden are the best.

    Kimberly, anything with fresh mangos would be a good report. I just love them, but not the hard things you get from the supermarket up here. I love the real ones :>

    Lou, I've never tried them in stir frys. I bet they would be good that way.

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  32. It is funny, because I have never really enjoyed salad. I mean, I will eat it, but I wouldn't choose it. This is the first bit of greens I have ever grown. It was the best salad ever. I guess everything tastes better if you grow it yourself ;)

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  33. Grrr, Arrgh.

    Now I'm gonna have to try radish tops. We've decided that we don't like beet green tops enough to cook them anymore, but now here you come and point out something else.

    Our "harvest" has been mostly lettuce in the past month, but we also got the last of our spinach this past week, as it too was bolting. And there is the continual slow harvest of radishes, carrots, green garlic and some greens. Snow peas are coming in with a vengeance, and the sugar snaps are now pretty much gone out.

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  34. Didn't know about radish tops either. Will definitely try them ! Nice harvest and soup !

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  35. Hi Daphne!

    So glad to find your garden blog! (Through Skippy's blog) I love that you blog often just as I do and show your recipes as well. I counted by harvest last year but I didn't weigh them. That's a great idea. I was planning on taking the extras and selling them after church lets out.

    I added my Chicken Escarole soup to the linky. I also made Portugues Kale soup which I have yet to post but there will be more to come as the season progresses.!

    Happy Gardening!

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  36. Better late than never (it's Harvest Thursday at my house... oops!)
    Found your blog thru Annie's Kitchen Garden and will definitely come back more often. :)

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  37. lisa anne, It always tastes better when you grow your own (well except those radishes that get too hot).

    FoodGardenKitchen, I don't eat them any other way but soup, but every spring that soup gets made and relished.

    miss m, thanks

    Pink Thumb, I love Skippy's blog too. I need to find a place at my new house to donate. I'm hoping there is a close food pantry somewhere. I figured that would be a great place to give away the extras.

    Jamie, lol well yes better late then never.

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  38. Damn, that soup looks amazing! I've never eaten radish greens - I'm sorry now.

    I just had the brilliant idea of a weekly post that would record what I'm harvesting, but I see you're way ahead of me! I'll join in the fun from now on.

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