Thursday, April 26, 2007
Too Much Spinach
This bed of Spinach (Reddy Hybrid) has gone nuts and is way more than I can ever use. This is the third variety of Spinach that I have tried, the others being Bloomsdale and Correnta.
Those two varieties I like for both salads and stir fry. Reddy Hybrid has a much thinner leaf which doesn't do quite as well in a stir fry. In a salad by itself I just don't think there is enough taste there for me.
Will I discard this variety? No. I will be picking some leaves later today to use in sandwiches. They work quite well there. I will chop a bunch down later this week to use in a stir fry with other vegetables over a bed of either rice or pasta.
Reddy Hybrid is a variety of Spinach that I think is better used as a mixture. The green leafs with red stems and veins are beautiful. I used it with Romain (Vivian) and those two together were perfect.
I also have some seeds of a Micro Greens Mix and 2 different packets of Mesclum Mixes started and I think that what I like out of those mixtures I'll add Reddy Hybrid to it.
Another reason this Spinach has to be cut down is because this garden also contains 1 Snow Peas ( Melting Sugar), and six Cilantro (Santo). The Cilantro is important to me because I pick some every evening to use fresh with my diner. I love Cilantro. The Cilantro is planted around the Pear tree (Bartlett) and is being crowded way to much by the Spinach.
Labels: Bartlett, Bloomsdale, Correnta, Melting Sugar, Mesclum, Micro Green, Pear, Reddy Hybrid, Romain, Santo, Spinach, Vivian
Friday, April 20, 2007
Bodacious
OK. Right off the start I will admit that there is nothing impressive about the Corn (Bodacious) in this garden but it is something new for me. You would however have to plant it on the name alone.
I love corn on the cob but have never had enough space available to grow it. My brother gave me a boat load of seeds for Christmas and the only ones I rolled my eyes at while looking at the packets were two varieties of corn. It just wasn't in my game plan.
Well I decided I would sacrifice some room and plant corn. This garden is a circle on a 6ft center. I managed to get 18 plants in here which is closer than the recommend spacing, but that's what I have.
The other corn variety is a white Corn (Sugar Pearl), which I plan to plant in 4 to 6 weeks in another garden of the same size.
So for right now it's go Bodacious!
The garden was planted and photos taken on March 28.
You need to click on the photo tobe able to see that there really
is Corn here.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Swiss Chard Isn't That Bad!
I grow a lot of spinach. It makes a great salad and when I have too much a stir fry with other vegetables from the garden is quick, easy and good. Keep in mind I'm talking about a quick stir fry, not something that would turn out like that frozen stuff for the grocery store.
While buying some seeds I spotted Swiss Chard (Lucullus). I've never grown it or even eaten it that I can remember.
The description on the seed package was:
If Spinach has been hard to grow in your garden it's time you try Swiss Chard. The crinkled green leaves of this variety look and taste a lot like Spinach. But when hot weather causes spinach to bolt (go to seed), Swiss Chard keeps on producing. Use the thick crisp white stalks like Celery, or chop and cook with the leaves.
Well two things. First I wasn't having trouble with bolting. Second I don't really believe all of what they write on the seed packages. But I like to try new different things that I would not just pick up at the store, so they suckered me in.
I haven't used this in a salad or stir fry yet, but I have used it in soups. Not bad. The leaves are big, so just picking one or two is enough for the meal. I have three of these plants and can see that maybe planting one every two months would be plenty. Trying to give away some to the neighbors wouldn't work as they would probably turn up their noses.
It's ok, it scores in my garden.
Labels: Lucullus, Swiss Chard
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I Think It's Spring
One of these days I really need to stop and figure out what season it is and plant accordingly. Looking at gardening books and magazines I never really see pictures of the same grouping of vegetables that I have for any particular season.
The photo of this particular garden has Broccoli,Cauliflower, Brussels Sprout and a Tomato plant just for fun. Is it winter or summer? Oh yea it's spring.
I've been harvesting the Broccoli. The Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout are not close to being ready as I planted them late and it has just been too warm. I have ten Brussels Sprout planted in different gardens so having to pull a few up to make room for Tomatoes and Peppers won't kill me.
The tomato is doing great. I can't wait to start picking those. The last Tomatoes I picked from the garden were on February 1. My Goal this year is to be able to pick Tomatoes year round.
In Southern California it's possible.
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