Around The House And Gardens

Kitty footprints in the garden. We were having trouble with a rabbit nibbling the cabbages as you might have seen in a past post. Not any more. Our dog Camira helped herself to a nice yummy rabbit. Byron scooped up the remnants and tossed them over the levee.
Frost kissed Asian Red lettuce. It has been unusually cold around here. My tomatoes sadly are a thing of the past.
A very chilly Vivian Romaine lettuce. I have picked quite a bit of this crisp yummy lettuce lately.
Beets. I used to always plant beets and not really know what to do with them. Now I peel them and eat them raw when they are young and small, roast them when they are larger, put the baby greens in salads, and toss the larger leaves and stems in a yummy pot of greens. I even pickled a few last year. This year I planted two varieties, Dutch Baby Ball and Bull's Blood beets. I've only harvested the Dutch Baby Ball so far and they were delicious, sweet and nicely rounded.
My peas are popping out and standing smartly at attention in my new long narrow beds. I just need to cut some bamboo poles and give them some support.

A recent harvest of arugula, Vivian Romaine lettuce and Rosita Romaine Lettuce.

A word about lettuce. Lettuce is so easy and simple to grow. Everyone can grow lettuce. You can grow it in a pot, crate or in the ground. It's not much more complicated than tossing some seeds on good soil, patting them down, keeping them watered and waiting. Just clip what you need for your salad without disturbing the roots and the lettuce will come again. If you do not have time to garden extensively, this is certainly a crop you can grow for yourself with little effort.

In Maryjane Butter's idea book she describes the interesting way in which she serves salad. I tried it with my family and they love it and eat a lot more greens this way. Instead of randomly chopping the greens in large chunks purposely chop the lettuce in smaller pieces. I cut mine in about half to a fourth of an inch squares. Toss in a few seeds, nuts, fruit, shredded cheese, etc....and a little dressing then stir it up. She suggests eating it with a spoon, but I still use a fork. I find you do eat a lot more greens this way.

The wonderful part of growing your own greens is that you are not limited to what you can find in the grocery. You can grow an amazing array of lettuces and greens. Don't forget you can put other greens in your salad too such as beets, arugula, spinach, mustard,.......

A recent salad we had:

Chopped Vivian and Rosita romaine lettuce

Chopped Arugula

Small pecan halves

Honey Orange chunks (this is a new variety the local growers are growing and I love it!)

Finely Shredded Cheddar

Herb Balsamic Vinaigrette

Seared Salmon chunks