Star of the show this past week was the Rhubarb, about which I have written separately:
Of course there have been more Radishes. This batch represents several.
We have been eating Radishes almost every day. As well as eating them in our usual way (as a pre-dinner nibble), Jane used some in a salad she made to accompany a Middle Eastern pilaf.
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| Lettuce, Radish, Mint. Walnuts, Feta |
Twice during the week I took another cut off the Baby Leaf Salad patch.
As previously noted, very few of the Lettuces came up, so it's mostly oriental brassicas - Mizuna, Pak Choi, Komatsuna, Red Mustard etc, with a little bit of Rocket.
Four days after cutting that first batch, this is what the patch looked liked:
As you can see, it was certainly ready for cutting again, so I harvested another big batch:
I say a "big batch", but in terms of weight it is still tiny. However, it's at least as much as you would get in one of those bags of Florette salads you see in the supermarket, possibly two, and each of those is priced at about £1.50. I reckon you can easily get four or five pickings from a salad patch like mine, so in terms of Value for Space Rating (VSR) I think it scores highly. And remember, that little mini-bed is only 18 inches square, so if someone says "I don't have room to grow my own salad", tell them about this!
Incidentally, Radishes are also a good crop to grow if you have limited space. Mine just keep on coming! Here we have "Scarlet Globe" (left), "French Breakfast" (centre) and "Lada" (right). The latter are from seeds sent to me by Dominka in the Czech Republic. Thanks, Dominika, they are lovely!
I'm linking this post to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres, where I'm sure you will be able to read about lots of other beautiful and tasty harvests.
I have noticed that the brassicas germinate a week or two before the lettuces. Some seed houses ship two separate packs of mesclun seed so you can start the lettuces earlier.
ReplyDeleteWonderful harvests - I'm hoping to catch up with you in terms of variety in another week or so if my radishes & lettuce continue to grow at a good rate :).
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely agree with you on the VSR for lettuce - I harvest all of my lettuce on a cut & come again basis (i.e. leaves instead of heads) & it just keeps going and going - I often have a hard time keeping up with the harvest and one year even made lettuce soup to use up the excess (which sounds a bit strange but was actually pretty good!).
Salad greens are indeed a great use of space in a small garden, and not only are they great value, the fresh factor is supreme. Kudos to Jane for that beautiful salad.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of salad mixes too, though I usually make mine up from transplants. Yours look lovely, so fresh and crisp!
ReplyDeleteI#m watching out for ripe rhubarb in our shops.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the feta, walnuts, radishes and lettuce and also growing 3 different varieties of radish. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice green mix. I usually get at least 5 pounds of lettuce from an Earthbox. You are right, for those with limited space greens are one of the best choices, and packed with vitamins. The rhubarb looks delish.
ReplyDeleteWe are harvesting similar things except spinach which we haven't grown but intend to for next year.
ReplyDeleteYour lettuces are gorgeous, it's amazing how tender they look. I should make an effort to grow them, especially since the mulch would keep them fairly clean.
ReplyDeleteMint in salad sounds delish, I am going to have to try that. Yours looks yummy. I'm harvesting nothing yet other than cilantro volunteers. I grow my lettuce in partial shade to try and hold off the bolting. It generally works but it takes me longer to get my first harvest.
ReplyDeleteA delight to see your radishes and other harvests. Radishes in our part of the world are very pungent and the thought of having them raw isn't appealing at all. Love your lettuce patch!
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