Monday, April 16, 2012

More Greens..and reds

Immature Spring Mix
Can't say enough about this lovely lettuce, speckled, red, green, delicious, hardy..but what variety is it? Not sure! I haven't saved the package as usual, but the tag in the soil says Lettuce 'Spring Mix'. Whatever ....the camera loves it as much as we do.

Late September 2011 this same unknown variety germinated in the bed we put the row cover over in winter. We didn't harvest any of it as it had barely begun to grow so the patch was covered with fleece, straw and the plastic, and forgotten about until spring. This below is last autumn's sowing, a bit ahead of this year's sowing and ready to pick.
Mature Spring Mix
The dwarf Pak Choi below, germinated very quickly this spring, so needs a bit of thinning soon. It will be yummy in salads, as will the thinnings of the French Breakfast radish.


You know, I find radish one of the hardest things to grow. Well, yes, they germinate but it's getting that lovely root to grow into anything substantial that seems to be the most difficult. Perhaps I don't thin as much so have been doing that this year. Still, I have seen other gardens where those red balls are just pushing themselves out of the ground, so closely grown, like bouquets for the table. Maybe our soil is too rich, or too acid...or?  This is my second year trying Heirloom Watermelon Radish, again, all germinated but...will the root form to an edible size?

I am pretty excited about something that is growing in the raised bed and it's new to our garden.


Do you remember I started pea and broad beans in the house in February, growing the shoots to add to salads. Well, after soaking quite a few of the Windsor broad beans, and seeing them sprout their little white root, I jammed as many as I could in the pot on the kitchen windowsill. However, there were six or seven I just couldn't get in there so, they went outside in the raised bed with the cold frame cover. At the time, I could barely get my finger tips in the frozen soil, but enough to cover the seeds and ...well it was a test, just to see. A few times, the frost below pushed them out of the soil but now, they are all growing. Amazing! You know, I have never grown or tasted fresh broad beans but my Italian friend Carla says they are delicious and are very popular in Italy. I wasn't too pleased with eating the shoots though especially as I read online they can be toxic if you have a low tolerance to something in them but they didn't seem to bother me. Nothing to write home about though; the pea shoots were much more to my taste.

Building on 'bean success', I ordered Sweet Lorane Fava from Annapolis Seeds which I had planned to try but didn't notice they can grow up to seven feet tall. Do I have room for them? After all, there are only so many beans one can eat, and with Blauhilde Pole, Fortex, Bush Pencil Pod and Ruckle from Salt Spring Island, the latter also from Annapolis Seeds, think this year's bean plate is full.



26 comments:

  1. tasty!!!!
    we use radish sown in the same drill as parsnip as a marker as they grow faster.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! Your greens look delicious. I have never planted Dwarf Pak Choi or Pak Choi of any kind but want to get some seed. It looks a little like spinach to me. Does it taste like it?? If you have time to look at my post for today I did get a couple things from my garden to have with my meal tonight! Love it! Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome! Pak Choi doesn't tastes anything like spinach..it is much crunchier and almost refreshingly peppery, but mildly so, at least to my palate. Thank you for visiting my blog Nancy, and I really enjoyed seeing your mealtime harvest. I love that!! Going out and picking supper just outside our door!

      Delete
  3. Omg Brenda...when I get to Ontario tomorrow, and I get wifi...I am going to gaze on your gorgeous greens and really check it out. Today I babied the starts in the greenhouse. I am so worried leaving them in non gardening hands, but , I know he can do it. I planted a few Speckled buttter lettuce seeds and today they got just big enough that I can see the teeny tiny little red dots on the green sprout. I was grinning ear to ear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I am grinning ear to ear reading your comment! Yup..he will do a grand job taking care of your babies...not to worry. Write when you return.

      Delete
  4. Wonderful, you can't beat home grown salad. Your leaves look very happy.
    Amongst other things I'll be trying Amaranth this year.
    In the past we had a problem with radishes not attaining good size, mainly because everytime we passed by we'd pick one or two or three to munch round the garden:)
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amaranth...I only learned last year all Amaranth are edible and last night, learned that spinach is in the Amaranthaceae family from a great book I am reading called "How Carrots Won the Trojan War" by Rebecca Rupp...wonderful read I might add. Hope you blog about your garden growing. Last year, there was one Amaranth the birds particularly liked..a bronze upright one that came in a mixed packet.

      Radishes are just so difficult for me even though we all grew up knowing they were easy to grow..but...but...I did just pull up a few tiny French Breakfast and am thrilled with that!! Might not make it to maturity, like you both, walking through the garden munching ))).

      Delete
  5. Our broad beans are desperate to get outside as they are still in pots in the greenhouse.

    As for the lettuce - I'm sure we have grpwn a similar mixrure. We often sow them in modules and plant them out and you can dreate quite a decorative effect with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You blogged about your broad beans being set out and how great they look Sue. I saw ants on mine just the other day and read somewhere that placing curry plant leaves around them would deter the ants and the inevitable aphids (which I am trying and it does seem to deter them). My Uncle R gave up on broad beans because of the aphids...sure wish I could say to him...this might be the answer????? maybe!!

      Delete
  6. delightful post Brenda! Everything looks so yummy!
    ~Michele

    ReplyDelete
  7. trouble with radishes? Isn't it funny how what is easy to one person is hard to another. Onions baffle me but radishes get so big they split before we can eat them all. Your baby greens look so good. I can't wait to fresh garden salad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Onions..this is the first year I am putting out sets. Fingers crossed!!

      Some radishes are growing..high five!! Thanks for your comment Marguerite.

      Delete
  8. Lovely looking greens and good luck with your beans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Cathy. Your weather is so different than ours, it amazes me what you grow!! Thank you for your good luck wishes.

      Delete
  9. Everything looks delicious! I like the idea of eating pea shoots - in my garden the birds ate the shoots on my peas so there they are, about an inch high and now they won't grow any more. I grew some broad beans in the greenhou are very popular in Italy. we eat them raw with pecorino cheese and salami as an antipasto, my husband will have so many it is the main dish. He also likes them cooked in the pod if they are nice and young, I'm not so keen so maybe I'm one of those who are not tolerant to whatever it is. Christina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christina...thank you. Sorry to read the birds ate the pea shoots but...if they were snipped high enough, the peas should sprout new shoots. Fingers crossed!!

      Was so pleased to read your commented from Italy. I was there about seven years ago and not able to speak the language was watching carefully in every restaurant what others were eating. When a lady at a table nearby was served these fat green pods, unadorned on a plate, I was taken back and surprised. Only this year did I realize the speciality of the fava/broad bean.

      Your antipasto sounds wonderful.

      Delete
  10. Your greens look delicious. I always thought that radishes were super easy to grown, that is until I decided to grow them last summer. They ended up being weird corkscrews. Hopefully, I do better this spring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jennifer..I also thought radishes were a zip to grow...not so I have learned. Fingers crossed for both of us this spring. Just getting little baby ones now!!

      Delete
  11. Hi Bren, I am working in the garden too, ..... in Fall!!! :-)

    In regard to your query, I answered you on my blog but I copy here just in case: the bean is Wonder of Venice runner http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+A+to+B/Bean+Wonder+of+Venice+Runner-7058.html I eat the whole beans (in their pods) when they are young and yellow, but I left a few get too big and this was the result. The sellers says that they should be black, but these were definitely blue :-).

    Ciao
    Alessandra

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Alessandra. I loved the blue and blue variegated beans...just beautiful. Thank you for the link to the book as well!!

      Delete
  12. I am envious of your homegrown green and reds. I have a little while to wait for mine.

    ReplyDelete
  13. It looks great! I must admit to not liking radishes that much owing to their texture. However, growing them as a salad leaf in trays this year has been a revelation.

    Have added your post to the Salad Challenge round up over at mine today - Niki tweeted a link to your post a few days ago and I favourited so I'd remember to come here for the link :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh my Brenda! These are beautiful and very yummy looking pictures! You are certainly keeping very busy!
    ~Michele

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those greens are making me hungry!! Gorgeous, as always Brenda..

    ReplyDelete