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Some Greens for St. Patrick's Day

Posted on March 17, 2010 at 10:51 PM

This evening after I got home from the office, I popped out to the greenhouse to move the tomato seedlings back into the shop and house and to harvest some chinese cabbage, a little lettuce, and quite a bit of mache.   It looks like the spring greens season has finally arrived!                                    

              

  

 

Since it is St. Patrick’s Day, it only seems fitting to harvest “greens”.    These went into a mixed green salad that was served with grilled steaks, and baked potatoes (Yukon Gold potatoes from storage).                                  

   

  

 

The spinach patch seems to have put on some real growth over the past few days as well.   The volume of available greens will continue to amp up as we move forward into the official start of spring.   However, the first harvest of spring greens each year is particularly appreciated because after a winter of mostly overwintered root crops and preserved items - fresh greens are like manna from heaven.                                                            

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Categories: Vegetables, Harvesting, Greenhouse

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16 Comments

Reply Dan
12:05 AM on March 18, 2010 
That salad looks good! Love nuts with my greens :-) I need to get picking greens soon.
Reply Sandy
12:30 AM on March 18, 2010 
Dan says...
That salad looks good! Love nuts with my greens :-) I need to get picking greens soon.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
01:04 AM on March 18, 2010 
Dan - The salad was quite yummy. The nuts add a little crunch and flavor to contrast with the buttery soft texture of these young greens.

Sandy - :waves Glad to see you! Hope you are getting some time in your garden too.
Reply Daphne
07:46 AM on March 18, 2010 
Oh I wish I were harvesting greens on St. Patricks Day. Yours look just beautiful.
Reply hsheather
08:21 AM on March 18, 2010 
They look really yummy! Maybe I'll get to do that next year.
Reply Mike
09:57 AM on March 18, 2010 
Now that looks good. In my mind there is just nothing better then fresh spring greens, so very healthy. I was kicking myself for not planting any mache last fall to assist with early spring greens but it has been coming up everywhere in my spinach bed and all over the garden for that matter. I guess we are finally at the point of mache naturalization.:) The ones that come up on their own are probably doing better than the ones I would have planted anyway.

Any advice on growing Chinese cabbage, we will be trying it again this spring but it always bolts on us. I think it is due to the dramatic temperature fluctuations we often have in the spring, probably not much that we can do. But I will try anyway.

Your greens look wonderful!
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
10:20 PM on March 18, 2010 
Daphne - I was actually late with the greens this year because I blew it with my overwintered spinach patch... did not get it covered fast enough and we had a really severe cold snap in December that took it down. Usually it begins really providing by mid February, but not this year. I will be more vigilent this fall with the overwintered spinach because it has been sorely missed.

hsheather - It's worth the extra effort to push the spring season hard. Spring greens are like a tonic!

Mike - I bet volunteer mache would be really hardy. Chinese cabbage is definitely tricky. I only grow it in the extreme early spring period (these were actually started in December believe it or not!) and have on occassion grown a fall crop. I tend to harvest everything when immature which helps avoid bolting as well. Decreases production because the young plants are smaller - but I think they taste better. Have you tried them as a fall crop? My biggest problem with greens is the ever present army of slugs that liive in our maritime densely forested area.
Reply Larry
11:11 PM on March 18, 2010 
Looks great! I got out and got my raised beds ready today. Got a nice soil blend and filled them up. I got my potatoes planted with a cover to hold in some heat. I also started some zucchini and sunflowers and acorn squash indoors. It sure feels good to get my hands dirty again!
Reply Larry
11:12 PM on March 18, 2010 
I forgot to ask... I planted quite a few Yukon golds. Sounds like you got them to keep all winter? That's great.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:21 PM on March 18, 2010 
Larry - I am blessed to have a cool slightly damp garage that I store my potatoes in (they are in cardboard boxes with holes in the sides for ventilation and layered with shredded paper). I can usually keep potatoes clear through until about April at which point the sprouting eyes just become too much and I am done for the storage for another year. This year, I am down to just a few "Buttes" and "Yukon Golds" left so I should not have any waste at all. The Yukon Gold's had small eyes starting to form but they are still quite good and tasty! Sounds like your garden is off to a great start! Good work!
Reply Mike
08:25 AM on March 19, 2010 
We have those same nasty slugs, last summer was very hot so they were not too bad but the year before was a nightmare.

I think I will try planting our Asian greens including the cabbages in the fall this year. Our ground is still a bit frozen and we will likely go from that to really hot overnight so I might not bother with them this spring.
Reply Thomas
08:29 AM on March 19, 2010 
Looks delicious! I hope you had a great Saint Patty's day. Things are always a bit over the top here in Boston this holiday.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
09:02 AM on March 19, 2010 
Mike - We could have slug races! :D

Thomas - I can well imagine that St. Paddy's is well celebrated in Boston!
Reply Sustainable Eats
02:32 AM on March 20, 2010 
Crumb, I am trying chinese cabbage for the first time this year. Do you think it will help if I get shade cover for it? I just put in 2 new beds in the shady back yard (3-4 hours sun/day). And hopefully the chickens will get tiny slugs but I've already found some big ones on my brussel sprouts.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:19 AM on March 20, 2010 
Sustainable Eats - I would not put shade cover on since they are planted in a bed that only get's 3 to 4 hours of sun a day anyway. Depending on the spring/early summer we get you may be fine or they may bolt. A coolish prolonged spring will work in your favor - a fast warm up would not. I would just carry on and harvest them very young and then do another crop this fall. As to the slugs - they are ever prsent no matter when you grow them. I did a whole post about slugs last spring. If you click on the "pests" blog category in the side bar menu on this blog page - it will bring up the posts tagged for that category and the slug post is one of them.
Reply Sustainable Eats
02:40 PM on March 22, 2010 
Thanks for your thoughts. I can't believe how many little slugs I am finding, and huge snails. They have discovered me!