Guess what we found while weeding the beans row?

Beans, ya beans, go figure.  It just shows to go you, it’s important to pay attention at all times.  They are not plentiful – yet, just wait a week or so.  It’s not that the middle of July is too soon for some crops to be ready, it’s just that it’s too soon to be the middle of July.  How did this happen and how come I wasn’t made aware of it? 

Spring and Summer are such wonderful times, the warming mornings and cooling evenings being the best of all.  Everything smells lovely, all colours are in full swing and we’re not slogging around in boots and heavy coats.  Ohhhhh, what a feeling – what a rush.

We’ve been picking snow peas and green peas regularly, stringing up tomato plants and for something completely different, yanking out weeds.  Between last Friday when we starting pruning the tomatoes and yesterday when we were propping them up with the cat’s cradle type of weaving, each plant had gained about five to ten tomatoes and they are colouring up nicely.  Shhhh, don’t tell but we actually ate two – they were really tiny first red paste tomatoes and we sliced them fairly thin and put them gently onto our veggie burgers the other night – yum.  Peppers are growing nicely and starting to colour as well.  You’ll be seeing toms and pepps on the menu sooner than I thought a week ago.

 Another thing that is doing tremendously is the row of white onions.  My memory is that white onions are sweet, but these are strong and oniony.  Shallots are ready for you too.  The green onions are the last of what we planted in the Greenhouse in March. 

All of the scapes are cut from the garlic now with the exception of these two sets in the picture.   So this is what goes on while we’re not out in the garden – cute.  Garlic should be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks.

Lettuces are going strong and this week’s upcoming heat will probably cause many of the heads to bolt so enjoy while you can.  The varieties are rich in colour and flavour, definitely quite a show on your plate.  Less handled is best so we pull the entire head out of the ground, cut off the root and slip it gently into a plastic bag for you.  We don’t wash it so it’s pretty fresh when you get it, several hours fresh.

Endive is an interesting vegetable.  It grows well, not too much bothers it and it just keeps on growing. We grow two kinds here: Frisee and Batavian.  You can look up recipes on the Internet and enjoy our endive from now until late fall. 

Celery, let me tell you about celery.  As I mentioned way back, all the celery in the greenhouse bolted, now it has bolted twice.  I think that’s due to the fact it is a bi-annual and seeds every other year.  So it’s seeding.  That’s not so bad.  We did plant new from seeds I had saved – um – two years ago – now it makes sense.  It’s chopstick-thin right now but I use it all the time.  I take a clump of it and chop up the stems and leaves, spreading all into salads of every kind, sauces, on top of anything you would otherwise sprinkle herbs.  I put it in your Salad Greens.  It’s quite flavourful so why not give it a try?

Basil is doing extremely well so I’ll make Pesto - so many strong flavours put together to make a great versatile sauce.     

Without further ado, I present to you: our Menu for this week:

Celery, tiny new  $2 bundle

Chard  $3 bag

Edible Flowers (mix)  $3 bag  I pack the flower heads whole but you shouldn’t eat them middles

Endive (frisee or batavian)  $3 bag 

Garlic Scapes  $2 bunch of 15

Herbs:  Basils (lemon, lime, salad leaf, genovese, greek), Citrus Thyme, Dill NEW, Lemon Balm, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme  $2  bunch or $5 mixed bag

Kale  $3 bag

Lettuce heads  (romaine, red salad bowl, green salad bowl, mascara, flame, speckled - variety mix)  $3 bag 

Onions, green  $2 bundle

Onions, white  $2.50 pound

Peas  $2 bag  They just keep growing and producing

Radicchio  $2 bag

Red Orach (spinach more nutritious than spinach) $3 bag

Salad Greens (washed and table-ready)  $5 bag

Shallots  $6 pound

Granola, with fruit  $8  500mL jar

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10  500mL jar

Pesto, garlic scape  $4.50 125mL jar (garlic scapes, parmesan and/or romano cheese, organic olive oil, walnuts, organic garlic, sea salt, pepper)

Pesto, basil $4.50 125mL (organic basil, parmesan and/or romano cheese, organic olive oil, walnuts, organic garlic, sea salt, pepper)

  

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

Trying to keep you up to date

which isn't easy when it's summer, we're outside from 6ish a.m. to 8ish p.m., mostly tending to the veggies out there and when inside tending to sprouts.  Then there's the weekend events, birthday celebrations, a little travel, July 1, etc., so much to do, so little time - oh my.

Here's a recap of what's been growing on here for the last few weeks, it seems like months.

June 8  WHAT TO DO ON COOL RAINY DAYS

Well, it’s been too hot to be in any Greenhouse in the daytime for the last several weeks so I took full advantage of today’s coolness.  I potted up some flowers and herbs, made a couple of salad pots and weeded the inside beds and some of the herb garden – no sweat, literally. 

The four baby robins learned to fly the other day and are gone.  I miss their dorky little faces in the nest by the back door but I’m sure the parents will have another brood.  The eastern kingbird and flickers are often around.  It’s a pleasure to see them amongst the chickadees, orioles, finches purple and yellow, the woodpeckers teaching their babies to eat and all the other teeny songbirds with such many-worded songs. 

We’ve been prepping and transplanting and prepping and transplanting (yes I’ve been saying that for weeks now).   We should be done by this weekend, seriously.   There are still a few (hundred) plants to plunk into the rows.

Last week was spent seeding rows of root vegetables.  

Remember how I said to lay your tomato plants on their side when transplanting them.  I was amazed once again, as always, when we went in for lunch and came back out about a half hour later, they had already straightened up towards the sky.  That’s pretty cool. 

We ousted the celery from the little greenhouse this week, which had grown up to 3 ½ feet when it bolted.  Now the basils, chard, parsley and others which plant themselves when I’m not looking are able to see the light and start their growing season.  The new celery we seeded is quite happy as you can taste, it’s in your lad Greens too.It's only about 2 inches high right now, but just wait.  

​

I slipped some honeysuckle into your salads last week.  It seems each type of bloom lasts one week so every week will be different, other than the edible flowers I grow like chrysanthemum, nasturtium, marigold, pansies, zinnia, calendula, sweet William . . . which you’ll see from time to time. 

Here are some pictures of the new and upcoming Salad Greens.  Aren’t they lovely?  Some are under cover, but don’t tell anyone. 

The corn is doing well, some planted outside, some started in, I started more today inside.  You know how sometimes you don’t see me mention something again that I may have started?  That means it didn’t work out, it’s all an experiment in the end. 

This is fun news, I’m starting carrot sprouts, they take 8-10 days which is twice as long as the others so they should be ready next week.   Apparently, they taste like baby carrots, go figure.    

Thanks to you who have been providing me with empty yoghurt containers.  I appreciate you saving them for me as I always need more.  The labels are endless as I’m now cutting them up for next season. 

June 15  HOW IS YOUR WEEK GOING? 

Well, well.  OMGoodness.  We’re almost done the Nightshade Garden.  We’ve been clawing, digging, weeding, amending, raking smooth and transplanting what seems like forabsolutelyever now and we have only two and a half more 50’ rows to finish.  We worked out in that cold face-pelting rain and the wind last weekend, as well as the heat of these last couple of days and will continue through tomorrow until we’re done.  We will be done tomorrow, I insist.  We’re actually running out of plants to put in, which is a good thing because we’re also running out of rows in which to put plants.  We now, not so affectionately, refer to the Nightshade Garden as “That Garden” and we’ll all be glad when it’s ready to leave alone for a few weeks until harvesting tomatoes, peppers and eggplant (and maybe fennel-we’ll see how that turns out).  But not to rush our excitement, I’m reminded we still need to pound in posts and string twine for the tomatoes vines, oh and pinch the new shoots between the main branches on an almost-daily basis.  The soaker system is set up and That Garden is being watered presently.

The corn, beans, cabbages and lettuces are growing like crazy right now along with the Red Orach (which you guys really really like-that’s good).  The kale isn’t growing as fast as you’re eating it so we’ll let it have another week to make itself better for you.   The peas are doing great in the Greenhouse so I have some, just little bags right now until the outside peas kick in.  The mustard greens and arugula are wonderful too.  You know that little holes in the mustards tell us that it’s so good the bugs are pleased to be enjoying bits of it too, right?  I did learn a new tip from a facebook group I belong to which I’m currently trying to see if we can keep those beetles out of our garden.  You’ll soon see if it works – I’m seeing a difference already. 

You may have noticed a green leaf in your Orach last week.  I did this to show you the similarity in the leaves between the Orach and Lamb’s Quarters a.k.a. wild spinach.  They are both loaded with nutrition and I know people pull the Lamb’s Quarters out like weeds.  Why are you doing that?  Eat it. 

About the carrots sprouts, I thought they looked ready, I put them in some bags, then tasted them.   They weren’t ready so I started a new batch which should be ready next week.  I’ll keep working at that until I get them right. 

June 22  DILEMMA

Definition of Dilemma:  a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two different things you could do. 

This is not as serious as it sounds.  It’s just that next Friday (aka delivery day) is also July 1.  As well, Tom is turning a certain age June 28.  The evening of June 30 is his big party, so everyone can have the next day off work.  We may have people coming from out of town and I’ll need to clean up and prepare for guests and do some shopping and cooking, etc.  We’re currently pressure-washing, mending and staining decks.  Next week is one of Tom’s busiest weeks at work so he’ll be office-bound for long days.  That said, I’m thinking of not delivering next week.  I can cut and wash a large amount of Salad Greens and Peas this week, cut and pick smaller amounts early next week for you to pick up at Heather’s and get back on track for you the week of July 4. 

In the meantime, back at the Farm, or Market Garden, all of the Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant plants are finally in the Nightshade Garden.  It covers 5000 square feet, a pretty good size.  There’s also a row of fennel at the end of this garden.  Fennel is not a friend to any plant, although peppers are not offended by it, so this garden seemed the most likely place to grow fennel. 

We’re back working in the Roots Garden: weeding, laying more straw in the aisles, weaving trellis for the peas, preparing rows for the cukes which are doing nicely in pots – we just started them last week, they are amazing.  I know peas and cukes are not roots but that huge garden (about 9000 square feet) is the one with the extra space as well as the iron t-bars so we’re just going with it this time.  All of the onion selections are doing wonderfully.  The carrots, beets and turnips have germinated. 

We’re still in the process of removing tired salad from the Greenhouse and replacing with hot peppers which of course I started from seed January 26.  What a long process, eh?  The new Lettuces in the Salad Garden are looking good and we should have a variety of heads of lettuce for you in two or three weeks.  The corn looks terrific.  A little rain sure goes a long way. 

I spent a glorious hour weeding out bolted arugula and mustards from the Salad Greens last night until the mosquitoes discovered me.  I’ll be back out there most of today pulling out unwanteds and tidying up. 

If anyone needs stinging nettle, I have a huge patch of it which you’re very welcome to take for free. 

July 7   WE ASKED FOR HEAT, WE'VE GOT HEAT - ENJOY

The long weekend proved to be a total surprise which my son and daughter had planned for about a month now, and was it ever a surprise.  We were starting Tom’s birthday celebrations Thursday evening, son Thomas arrived a little late with daughter Julie from the airport!  I had no idea.  We had an absolutely marvellous unplanned, busy, yet relaxing weekend.  I hope you enjoyed yours as well. 

The garlic scapes are ready.  If you’re not sure what to use them for -  pretty much treat them like garlic;  fry them up with your favourite recipes, add them thinly sliced to salads, chop them up for dips – just pretend they are garlic, which of course they are, really.  We remove them to ensure the bulbs themselves receive all the energy to grow larger over the next few weeks. 

I want to show you the lovely lettuces growing and the current weed-free state of the Salad Garden, but my camera is broken L  I’ll get another this week, but in the meantime, I can tell you what’s to eat:  You can see how the heat is making things happen around here.

July 13  FEATURE VEGETABLE OF THE WEEK

Heirloom Romaine Lettuce – before it bolts, it’s beautiful right now, there’s lots of it and the heat will hurt it next week.  The existing Salad Greens are starting to look tired so we’re about to seed new ones.  We’re not out of nice Salad, just giving you notice we might have less in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, we have Lettuces, several kinds:  besides loads of the Heirloom Romaine, we can fill bags for you of Mascara, Radicchio, Red Salad Bowl, Black Seeded Simpson, Speckled and Sunset, a mix is always eye-appealing and tasty. 

Everyone asks when the Tomatoes will be ready.  The extreme heat has been wonderful for tomato and pepper production.  We’ve pounded stakes in the rows and will string up the plants next week.  Each plant has many green tomatoes now and I can actually tell what variety most of them are from their size and shape.   That is exciting. 

The small greenhouse is out of control because it’s the one that gets care when it rains.  You can figure it out from there J

We were in Montreal at the Jazz Festival for the weekend so I did not get a chance to pick up a new camera, it’s on the list.  I miss taking photos of the lovely colours in the Gardens. 

For your dining and entertaining needs this weekend we have:

Chard  $3 bag 

Edible Flowers (mix)  $3 bag  I pack the flower heads whole but you shouldn’t eat them middles

Endive (frisee or batavian)  $3 bag 

Garlic Scapes  $2 bunch 

Herbs:  Basils (lemon, lime, salad leaf, genovese, greek), Citrus Thyme, Lemon Balm, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme  $2  bunch or $5 mixed bag

Kale  $3 bag

Lettuce heads  (variety mix)  $3 bag 

Peas  $2 bag  They just keep growing and producing

Red Orach (spinach more nutritious than spinach) $3 bag

Salad Greens (washed and table-ready)  $5 bag

Snow Peas  $3 bag

Granola, with fruit  $8  500mL jar

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10  500mL jar

  

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

If you pre-ordered Crunchy Bean Mix and/or Ancient Eastern Blend, I have those for you. 

I found a recipe for Bean Sprout Hummus, it’s quite good, but I can see changing it up a bit.  You can find everything you need on Google, eh?

Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

What smells more wonderful than lilacs?

In my world, the answer is honeysuckle blossoms with lily-of-the-valley running in close second place.  The lilac blossoms, which I tucked into last week's salads, are almost done.  The fresh blooms lasted a very quick week.  We enjoyed every single breath of loveliness they provided, taking a good deep whiff every time we passed the huge lilac bush on the way to the Greenhouses and Salad Garden, although we can smell both from most places near our house.

Now the honeysuckle bush is abloom and abuzz with several varieties of bees too.  I absolutely love the smell, it’s so sweet.  Thus the name I suppose.

I am so glad the extreme heat and humidity have subsided so we can get back to business here. The parsley, cilantro and celery have all gone to seed from the heat.  No worries, we’ve started more.  We’ve been seeding and transplanting outside every single day.  We got the outside wash station back into commission for the season.  It’s so nice to be washing the veggies outside now.  The kitchen was getting a little messy to say the least. 

With everything going full tilt these weeks, I can tell you I don’t remember my head hitting my pillow each night when I turn off the light. 

A couple of things you may not know:

1.      Iris roots should be exposed, as in not covered with soil, in order for them to bloom. 

2.     When you plant your tomatoes, lay them on their side in their plant hole, cover the roots and stems with lots of soil up to about the third set of true leaves (the first ones probably have fallen off by now anyway).  This will encourage the stems to form new roots making your tomato plant strong.  Don’t worry, the plant will rise up toward the sun and sky in a day or so.  Trust me on this one.  And remember to prune your indeterminate plants to ensure healthier plants for a better tomato harvest. 

Oh, can’t you barely wait until the tomatoes are ready to eat.  Well, we’ll be putting them into the ground this weekend, along with the sweet peppers and eggplant.  The plants are outside now waiting patiently on pallets and tables right by their future home – The Nightshade Garden.    

I was going to take a break from sprout production until we were able to get all plants into the ground, maybe a couple of weeks, but Heather sobbed so bitterly, I decided to keep them going.  She didn’t really sob, that’s an exaggeration, she just pouted a bit. 

Meanwhile, we’re not going hungry at all.  

Herbs:  Chives with flowers, Citrus Thyme, Lemon Balm, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Tarragon, Thyme  $2  bunch

Kale  $3 bag

Pea Shoots  $2 bag

Red Orach (spinach more nutritious than spinach) $3 bag

Salad Greens (washed and table-ready)  $5 bag

Sorrel  $2 bag  the little bugs have found it so it has holes, but if you’re looking to use it for soup, it’s great

Granola, with fruit  $8  500mL jar

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10  500mL jar

Plants

Please look under the "Prices" tab to see what plants you can buy for your garden - now is the time we've been waiting for.

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) 

Crunchy Bean Mix   (peas, lentils and garbanzos)  

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, I'd be happy to provide them if available after our regular customers have ordered.  Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

And remember you can pick up much of our deliciousness at Heather's Healthy Harvest in Kemptville.  

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

Plants for Sale

Hi, see prices section for list of plants for sale here, starting May 21, 2016 - thanks.

trying to get everything done this week and next

Okay, let’s talk about birds. 

First, last year I saw evidence of tomato hornworms (i.e. their huge poop on some tomato plant leaves).  Then there were the robins - every time I looked out there was a robin or two on the jute woven around the tomato plants.  I never actually saw a tomato hornworm the rest of the summer nor any evidence of one. 

In the past week, I’ve been seeing little sparrow couples and chickadee couples in the greenhouse close to the base of the celery plants.  A few weeks ago, I discovered mealybugs on the plants and had written them off, pulled some out and sprayed real hard with the water hose to blast those bugs off.  After seeing the little birds there, the bugs are pretty much gone. 

Birds are always a welcome addition to a garden.  They take care of business for you.  If you spray chemicals on your lawn for weeds or spray your plants for bugs or buy plants which have been raised with spray and “cides” – you are killing the birds which will do all of this work for you.   Please think before you buy or spray.  What’s a bad bug to you may well be a delicious bug for your bird friends.  Not to mention, it’s so wonderful to hear their songs and enjoy the beauty of their colours, isn’t it.

The big push is on now to plant, plant, plant.  This is what we’re doing every minute, aside from picking Salad Greens which we can only do in the cool morning hours before the lettuces begin to wilt from heat in the Greenhouse.  The one plant which grows like stink here is my red orach (spinach).  Check out the size of the leaves.  The small leaves are what goes into the Salad Greens.  The big leaves are as nutritious and add such lovely colour to any dish.  I’ve been using the large leaves by stacking them on top of one another and just making slices to throw into salads.  Flowers are become more plentiful now.  It’s always a delight to add them to the Salad Greens, so much variety of colours. 

It’s now late in the day Wednesday and I do want to get the menu to you for the weeks so here you go:

Herbs:  Chives, Citrus Thyme, Mint, Oregano, Tarragon  $2  bunch

Kale  $3 bag (this is the new kale, it quite tender)

Red Orach  $3 bag

Salad Greens (washed and table-ready)  $5 bag

Sorrel  $2 bag  the little bugs have found it so it has holes, but if you’re looking to use it for soup, it’s great

Granola, with fruit  $8  500mL jar

Granola, with nuts and fruit  $10  500mL jar

Sprouts:  $3 bag

Ancient Eastern Blend (fenugreek, lentils, kamut & adzuki) 

Crunchy Bean Mix   (peas, lentils and garbanzos)  

Sandwich Booster (clover, alfalfa, radish and mustard) 

Spring Salad Mix  (broccoli, radish, alfalfa & clover)

Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo

Catching up with you

Been busy prepping gardens, planting, up-potting and watering.  

We had an excellent Sunday, April 17th at the Sustainability Fair.  People stopped by to say “Hi”, some who regularly pick up our produce at Heather’s and some to whom I’ve been delivering for years now.  And we have many new additions to our Weekly Delivery List – I’m excited to have you on board.  We sold all pea shoots and sunflower shoots which we brought and most of the Sprouts I had prepared for the Fair. 

A couple of weeks ago now, I fertilized the hundreds of two and three month old peppers and will be starting the hardening off process this week.  The tomatoes are doing quite nicely in the Greenhouse and we’ll be up-potting yet again and again to let them create stronger roots for the up-coming transplant goings-on during those first days of June.  It used to be planting day here was the long weekend in May, but I find there’s still that last risk of frost so I plant out first week of June. 

If you’re interested in buying some of our vegetable plants for your own garden, please let me know and I’ll put your name on them.  If you have the means to harden them off, you’re welcome to take them about mid-May.  Otherwise, I’m happy to do that for you and keep them until end of May or first of June.  I’ll post a list of the varieties I have here on the blog once we’ve established our inventory (meaning once we can count all the survivors and ditch the weak ones).  There will be herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, and some edible flowers.  I’ll start some cukes.  

I bought some non-GMO Canadian corn seeds at TSC and will be starting some indoors tomorrow – I like a challenge.   

I’m also happy to put together some mixed herb pots and salad pots for you if you order them.  Again, I’ll post a list with prices on the blog in due course.  

I drove to Toronto and back this weekend and listened to several podcasts each way.  I didn’t know what a podcast was a few months ago, nor did I know I could save them on my Ipod to listen and learn while doing stuff like making granola, cleaning the house, driving from town to town, etc.  I picked up some earplugs so I can listen while outside too. 

There’s one called The Urban Farm and another called Farm to Table Talk. There are more but I’ve only reached this stage in my new technical world. Some great discussions and interviews take place and anyone driving beside me might have wondered with whom I was chatting or nodding wholeheartedly or laughing out loud. 

So, bottom line, I’m a little smarter today than I was last week.

Whilst picking Salad Greens I got to thinking there might be two particular things of interest to you:

1. What exactly goes into our Salad Greens mix? 

Our Salad Greens are different every time:  starting with seeds from a lovely mesclun mix which I purchase and grow, then we add more - mizuna, pepper cress and curly cress, spinach, lamb's quarters, dandelion leaves, baby celery leaves, baby carrot tops, more baby kale, lettuce varieties soft and crunchy, arugula, mache, mustards, red orach, parsley, batavian endive, sorrel, frisee, baby chard, tatsoi, various herbs such as lovage, thyme, basil, parsley, chervil, tarragon - pretty much everything green which is edible and which we grow on the property plus edible flowers when ready such as pansies, sundrops, yarrow, bachelor buttons, malva, daisy petals, edible chrysanthemum and flowers of many herbs - and probably more that I’m not remembering right now. 

2. When I say “washed and table-ready” I mean it. 

During these lovely months of picking in the Greenhouse and cool days, there are no bugs.  Well, there’s the odd earthworm which comes up to see what’s going on in its domain.  It just moves along watching us cut until it gets bored and returns under the soil.  Earthworms are very curious. 

We wash your Greens in a two-sink system.  We rinse back and forth from sink to sink until the water is totally clean while examining every leaf for blemishes, yellowing or limpness.  Bugs will be entering our lives soon and leaves with holes in them tell us that those are the plants with the most goodness.  After all, if bugs are eating them they’ve got to be good, right?  We try to remove every teeny tiny little bug that may have chosen to stay on a leaf or two, even through all of our picking.  Sometimes this is twice, thrice or after a rain while growing outside this might be up to five times.  When we’re satisfied all of the greens are clean, we put them in mesh bags and spin them dry in the brand new washing machine which I purchased (on a really good sale) specifically for this reason.  Nothing but greens have been in this machine.  We then bag the greens up for you, again looking for any unpleasant looking leaves we may have missed the first few times, and then they are table-ready. 

You don’t need to wash them, seriously, we’ve done this for you.  Just drop a tiny bit of oil, or dressing of choice, a little pepper maybe, or nothing at all, just enjoy.  Or you can make a complete meal out of the Salad Greens by adding something from each food group: toasted nuts and/or seeds, cheese, croutons, hard boiled eggs, meat, tomatoes, cukes, onion – endless possibilities. 

This is a remarkable week.  Yesterday I removed all of the heat mats from under the trays of seedlings and the extension cords are put away.  So, I’m calling it – no more cold nights allowed, okay? 

Also, the peppers are coming out of the house this weekend.  They are touching the lights on the shelves above them so they’ve got to go.  

The hot peppers will go into the Greenhouse raised beds and the sweet peppers will wait out there for a few more weeks to go into the ground.  Of course, that said, the rows in the new Nightshades Gardens will need to be prepped for that reason.  I’m planning on plunking the peppers and tomatoes into their spots the first weekend in June.  It seems like f o r e v e r away but I’m sure it’ll be like a few days. 

Speaking of vegetables which have to go, I`m selling the lovely Heirloom Romaine lettuce.  Usually I would let it grow bigger but I need the space in the Greenhouse for the Peppers and it`s just too hot for lettuce in there, it`ll go to seed if it stays.  I`ll start new lettuces next week and they will grow to full size over the next month. 

If you can believe it, this Kale was picked bare two weeks ago.  It`s also being evicted before it bolts. 

The brassicas (cabbages, kales, cauliflower, etc.) will be transplanted over the next couple of weeks to join the onions we planted last week.  We pushed some pea and snow pea seeds into rows last week and hope to see those coming up soon.  Those in the greenhouse are doing great. 

We’re starting corn seeds indoors tomorrow to be transplanted in two weeks – experimenting is the thought here. 

So, that's what we've been up to here in the last couple of weeks.  

Perhaps you might like to be added to our Weekly Delivery List.  I send my email out every Wednesday, collect orders Thursdays and deliver Fridays (or another day convenient to us and you if you're not too close to home).  See Contact information and email or call me.  Thanks.

Until next post, have a great every day.  

Jo