Greens Harvest - Week #3

On Saturday I managed to find a window between the rain showers to harvest some salad greens. As I lifted the row cover from the first bed, I discovered that the Wasabi" arugula had bolted. It wasn't a complete shock, thanks to a warning I received last week from Dave at Our Happy Acres telling me arugula was quick to bolt when temperatures rose.

It was a little frustrating though, since I hadn't even harvested any yet. So I took some small scissors and cut what I could away from the bloom stocks. I couldn't resist popping two small leaves in my mouth to see if this really, truly did taste like wasabi. The answer quickly came as my mouth caught fire, my nose begin to tingle, and I started coughing. It tastes exactly like wasabi! My sister, the heat lover of the family agreed. She did comment though, once she mixed it with other greens and poured dressing on the salad, she could no longer taste the wasabi flavor or feel any heat. What a fun variety to experiment with. Thanks Territorial Seed!

The greens have really started to come on this week. Just two weeks ago it was difficult to pick enough for 3 small dinner salads. Today I could pick that amount from any one of the three raised beds.

 Along with my garden helper Padma, we harvested:

• "Heirloom Cutting Mix" Lettuce - 1.7 oz
• "Charger" Spinach - 1.7 oz
• "Sweet Greens and Reds" Lettuce - 2.0 oz
• "Catalina" Spinach - 2.3 oz
• "Wasabi" Arugula - .2 oz
• "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" Lettuce - 1.7 oz
• "Mild Mustard Mix" - 1.0 oz
• Total Harvest - 10.6 oz.

 

Second Harvest of the Year

"Speckled Troutback" Lettuce

Another beautiful Sunday, with the high hitting 80 degrees. It sure doesn't feel like April in Oregon! I finally had time in the late afternoon to head to the Kitchen Garden and harvest another round of salad greens.

When I lifted the remay cover off of the first bed, I was surprised to see some bloom stalks in the mustard. This is my first year growing mustard, so I am learning as I go. Perhaps it is very sensitive to heat, and these warms days that we have had in the last week has inspired it to bolt?

Next door, the "Wasabi" arugula is making a valiant fight against the "Catalina" spinach. The will to survive is stronger than the gardener's planting mishaps! I just might be able to harvest some arugula after all. So here is the summery of this weeks harvest:

• "Heirloom Cutting Mix" lettuce - 1.2 oz
• "Sweet Greens and Reds" lettuce - 1.2 oz
• "Catalina" spinach - 1.4 oz
• "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" lettuce - 1.0 oz
• "Mild Mustard Mix" - 1.1 oz
• Total harvest - 5.9 oz

"Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" lettuce

The First Greens Harvest of the Year

A bed of "Heirloom Cutting Mix" lettuce

Yesterday evening I harvested my first picking of salad greens. These three raised beds were seeded back on February 13th, as an experiment to see how early I could plant, and then harvest, salad greens in this mild El Nino year. Last year I planted seed on April 12th and had my first harvest May 25th. So, it took much longer for the plants to mature this year - due I am sure to cooler temperature and less daylight in February and March, but I was still able to push my first harvest date back 6 weeks. I would call this a success!

A vibrant bed of "Sweet Greens and Reds" Lettuce

My crazy bed of Catalina" spinach and ""Wasabi" arugula. Yes, this was a seeding mistake but I am rolling with it! May the toughest plants survive. 

" Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" lettuce

With the Spring "heat wave" we had this past week, with high temperatures reaching 80 degrees, all of the greens really took off. Their growth in just one week was significant.

"Mild Mustard Mix"

So, I don't have a huge harvest total to report, but I am pleased with my first harvest all the same;

• "Heirloom Cutting Mix" Lettuce - .4 oz.
• "Catalina" Spinach - 1.0 oz.
• "Sweet Greens and Reds" Lettuce - .5 oz.
• "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" Lettuce - .2 oz
• "Mild Mustard Mix" Mustard - .6 oz
• Total harvest 2.7 oz

The Salad Beds - Week #6

What a difference a week makes. This last week we enjoyed our first spell of nice weather this year, with the last three days all hitting at least 70 degrees. Suddenly, I needed to be mindful of the kitchen garden each day and water. But my young plants loved the warm days and their growth seemed to explode. My whole "Mild Mustard Mix" section is doing great. I Like the combination on rounded leaves and jagged leaves.

Next to it the "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" is also doing really well. I think I will be able to cut my first small harvest next weekend.

A close-up of those delicate young leaves.

In the next bed over I have my "mistake bed" where I under planted  the "Catalina" spinach with the "Wasabi" arugula. So far the spinach is winning this battle. Hopefully some of the arugula will get enough room and light to mature.

Next to those two I am growing  a 1/2 bed of "Sweet Greens and Red" lettuce. It is doing well but the red lettuce varieties are growing at a much faster rate than the green varieties in this mix. I don't know if that is common trait among all Red Lettuce or just the type in this mix. But either way, the pretty little green ruffled lettuce in this group better hurry it up.

A close-up of this bed.

The last raised bed is quite a bit farther behind than the other two. I did plant the "Charger" spinach two weeks after everything else, so it has an excuse.

But I am really disappointed in the "Heirloom Cutting Mix" lettuce. This variety did so well for me last year. But with the exception of the far left row, the germination was really poor this year. I guess the lesson learned is to always buy fresh lettuce seed each year. I do love this mix, especially the "Speckled Troutback" lettuce pictured below.

The Greens After 5 Weeks

We have hit the five week mark for many of the greens I planted as an experiment in February. It took it a week longer to germinate than the other lettuce blends but the "Heirloom Cutting Mix" is starting to take off now.

Next to it, the "Charger" spinach I just planted a couple of weeks ago is starting to germinate. It will be interesting to watch and see if it catches up wit the "Catalina" spinach which was planted weeks earlier in cooler weather conditions.

Here a group of "Sweet Greens and Reds" Lettuce blend. in the next raised bed over.

It shares the bed with this interesting mistake. The "Catalina" spinach which I accidentally under-planted with "Wasabi" arugula. We shall see if they are good companion plantings!



In the next bed over the "Mild Mustard Mix" is doing great. I read it does well in cold weather and it is proving that to be true.

I love the spiky new leaves it is setting.

Sharing the same bed are these rows of "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" . They too seem to be doing just fine in the wet and cold weather. I think as soon as we see a few sunny days in the 60's they are really going to take off.

The Salad Beds - Week #4

The rain finally let up for a bit right after dinner and I was able to take a quick peek underneath one of my raised beds in the kitchen garden. I was pleased to see, that even with all of the cooler temperatures and heavy rainfall of the past week, the different greens seem to be slowly plugging along. As you can see in the above picture, the "Mild Mustard Mix" is starting to get its first set of true leaves. That's exciting! And pictured below, a row of ""Renee's Baby Leaf Blend" lettuce. I hope to have some dryer weather next weekend so I can do some much needed thinning in the beds.

Greens Update

Yesterday, during a break in the bulb planting marathon, I planting some more spinach. I seeded the last 1/2 open raised bed with "Charger" Spinach from Seeds of Change. This is the variety that I grew last year that did so well. While I was in the Kitchen Garden, I couldn't resist lifting up the remay tunnels and checking on the other 2 raised beds. The "Sweet Greens and Reds" lettuce blend is growing a bit more each week. Now most of each row is nicely filled in with baby plants.

A clump of baby red lettuce.

In the other half of that bed I initially planted the "Catalina" Spinach. It didn't appear as though it was germinating very well, so I reseeded the area with "Wasabi" Arugula. Well guess what? Not only is the arugula up but now more and more of the spinach is germinating! I might need to do some spinach transplanting down the road.

In the next raised bed, both the "Baby Leaf Blend" lettuce and the "Mild Mustard Mix" are performing well. Especially the mustard. As you can see, some mustard seedling thinning is in my future.

Planting Spring Greens

Today I spent an overcast, but mild day working out in the Kitchen Garden. After looking carefully at the 15-day forecast, I decided to throw caution to the wind and direct seed my Spring Greens. It seems that the El Nino weather pattern is back and we are predicted to have temperature highs in the low 60's by the end of February. And there are no lows predicted anywhere near freezing. So, even though it's only February 13th, I decided to plant some Spring Greens and see what happens. In the worst case scenario, I am only out less than 1/2 of each packet of seed and can replant in another 6 weeks. In the best case scenario, I am going to be enjoying fresh salads by Mid-March!

I first brought in some new Nature's Best Soil to help rebuild the three raised beds that last held my Winter Squash last Summer. Then I slowly direct seeded each bed. In the first bed I planted "Heirloom Cutting Mix" Leaf Lettuce and "Mild Mustard Mix" Signature Greens. This leaf lettuce is the same mix that I planted and harvested so very well last Spring and early Summer. I am hoping the seed is still viable one year later. The Mustard is a brand new experiment for me. In the next bed I seeded "Renee's Baby Leaf Blend"  Cut and Come Again Lettuces and "Catalina" Leaf Spinach. Both of these varieties are new for me this year. Finally, in 1/2 of the 3rd bed, I planted "Sweet Greens and Reds" Lettuce Blend. I just discovered on-line a very interesting Arugula that I will plant in the finally 1/2 of that bed. I just need to order it. After all of the seed was planted I got out a large sheet of Remay and metal hoops and covered all three of the beds. Now it is time to sit back, hope for some nice, gentle rainfall, and see what comes up in the next week.