America’s Gardener

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. It’s still lettuce season here, and this time I cut Slobolt and Sea of Red for use in salads and such. Sea of Red is one that colors up for me nicely, and makes big tender leaves even when grown in containers like I usually grow it. Slobolt is a green looseleaf lettuce that was introduced in the 1940s and as the name suggests, holds well without bolting. I had it planted in one of the greenhouse beds.

I cut more purple sprouting broccoli too, a mix of Burgundy, Santee and Rudolph. There were lots of side shoots, which I think are good candidates for steaming or sautéing since they cook so quickly. It will be all side shoots from now on, but that’s not a bad thing since we like them as much as the main heads.

I thinned brassica seedlings last week, and they were too pretty to put on the compost pile so I harvested them for microgreens. It was a mix of cabbage, broccoli and purple pac choi, which will be tasty on salads.

I love homemade tortillas, and I made a batch last week using white and blue masa harina. My wife and I decided the blue ones has a little more flavor, though I was happy with how both turned out. I use a cast iron tortilla press to form them before cooking. This time I used the electric skillet to cook them, which gives me a controlled heat and doesn’t set off the smoke alarm like when I use a cast iron skillet!

The Sea of Red lettuce and the corn tortillas came together for a meal of fish tacos we had for dinner. We used mild tasting tilapia for the fish, with crumbled queso fresco and pineapple salsa.

The daffodils shrugged off the snow last week and continue to bloom. Even Friday’s rain didn’t knock them down much, and they are a cheery reminder that spring is coming.

Another sign of spring was the first bluebird egg. Mama bluebird got busy building the nest in one of the PVC nest boxes. She usually lays five to six eggs for this first clutch.

And in another sign of spring, our Merrill magnolia tree is blooming. We have two of these, and they are the earliest of our trees to flower. They perfume the air with their sweet scent. The blooms will be gone in a week or so, but we will enjoy them while they last.

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!