Monday 20 April 2015

Harvest Monday - 20th April 2015

Hooray! My Harvest Monday post has something in it other than PSB. (Blink, and you'll miss it though...). These are the first of this year's Asparagus.


Yes, so far just three spears. There are several more visible already, but they won't be ready for a few days yet.


So for the time being we have to make do with more PSB. I expect everyone will be mightily relieved when my garden stops producing PSB...

PSB "Red Arrow"
These spears are mostly from one of the two "Early Purple Sprouting" plants - ironically the last of my four varieties to mature!




I am particularly proud of this head of "Red Arrow" broccoli. It is huge!


This is the main growing-point of the plant. When disassembled it will produce about a dozen decent spears.


Other than the above, the only produce to come out of my garden this week has been a load of Parsley and some Chives. The Parsley is particularly fine at present, so we have been using a lot of it. We have so much of it that at the weekend I gave a big bag of it to my daughter Emma. Preserving surplus Parsley is not easy. When dried it is utterly tasteless, and when frozen it goes mushy.We do actually have a big bag of it in the freezer ("for emergencies"), but we seldom use any of it - especially if we have any fresh.

Linking up with Harvest Monday, hosted on Daphne's Dandelions....

8 comments:

  1. I both freeze and dry parsley for the winter. I wouldn't say it is tasteless when dried (though you have ot be really careful drying it), but certainly it does lose a lot of flavor. And I use the frozen stuff for mixing into food or soups. I'd never put it on a salad. Though I suppose I could whiz it into a green salad dressing. But I have no choice. Parsley doesn't grow here over the winter. I can't wait for fresh though. Fresh is so much better.

    After seeing your first photo I was thinking the asparagus stole the show from your PSB this week. But nope. That first Red Arrow photo is so stunning. Unlike what you think, I'm going to be sad when your PSB season ends. I love seeing photos of them every week.

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  2. The first asparagus here is always a cause for celebration too! I'm with you on the dried parsley. I do dry it occasionally but it never gets used - not as long as there's any bit of the fresh kind around. Fortunately parsley does well here much of the year.

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  3. I'm going to miss seeing the PSB when it is gone, it is so pretty. What a treat those first spears of asparagus must be. I get excited when I see the first local asparagus at the farmer's market, I won't buy anything but local, nothing else tastes as good.

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  4. The taste of the asparagus must be so good. I only get to eat them on my trips to Delhi but they are pretty expensive!

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  5. I want to pot up some chives and bring them from the allotment so I have a fresh supply on hand at home. I think herbs are more useful close to the kitchen.

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  6. What a luxury, PSB and asparagus. We have had the imported stuff in the stores since Easter buy it is never as good as fresh. There were a lot of farms around here that specialized in asparagus and you can find a few that still grow it. Bought the same day it is picked, it is so sweet and juicy compared to store bought.

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  7. Hurray for the first asparagus! I preserve parsley in much the same way as Daphne. One of my favourite parsley treats this past winter has been chimichurri, an Argentinian green sauce. It freezes exceptionally well and is so delicious. My son is going to grow a couple of parsley plants in his bed this year because he loves chimichurri so much!

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  8. Mmm, asparagus. It's a great crop to grow yourself as it's expensive to buy otherwise. Same for the PSB, especially the amount you've had! :)

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