My Edible Garden

I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Harvest Monday & Seedy Saturday Winner!

baby lettuce, violas, society garlic blossoms, chives, lemon thyme
Welcome to Harvest Monday! This weekly bloghop is hosted by Daphne, over at Daphne's Dandelions. This week of course saw more baby lettuces, along with some herbs and edible flowers.




yellow beets, baby carrots, tiny potatoes








One day I pulled a couple of big yellow beets, some baby carrots and emptied a tub that grew potatoes. The potato plants have looked quite pathetic all fall and all I got were these 3 tiny potatoes. I think the problem was the soil was just not fertile enough. Looking at the plants I'm sure they didn't have enough nitrogen and looking at the potatoes I'm equally sure they didn't get enough potash. Ah well, there is always next year!




Pineapple Sage flowers are great in salad



The small Pineapple Sage plants that I bought recently have begun to bloom. I sprinkle the flowers in my salad. They have a lovely sweet, floral flavor with hints of pineapple. Their bright lipstick red color adds another dimension of color along with flavor.


Many people look askance at me eating my salad without dressing. While I do like Ranch dressing, it is way too heavy and overpowering to put it on baby lettuce. It is better as  a dip for things with more robust flavors, like hot wings.

I don't even usually use vinaigrette these days, preferring to actually taste the different flavors of the lettuces, other baby greens, flowers and herbs.

yellow marble & Princepe Borghese tomatoes

Since we were expecting snow and freezing temps I picked all the little tomatoes that were at least beginning to turn color. Since it is predicted to be in the high 20's overnight all week I suspect these will be the last.

This weeks harvests:
lettuce, herbs, edible flowers           1 pound  5 oz

potatoes                                                        3 oz
beets & greens                             2 pounds 14 oz
baby carrots                                                  5 oz
tomatoes                                                       1 oz

total                                              4 pounds, 12 oz

This week's Seedy Saturday giveaway is for Sweet Magnolia, a purple podded snow pea. The seeds were saved in 2009 and should have good germination. The plants will go to 6 ft+ on good soil. I wrote everyone's name on a slip of paper and folded it up. Then I tossed them in the air and picked up the slip of paper that landed closest to me. And the winner is......... Shannon B.! For the rest of you, stop in and try again next week.

PS. I have one more space that I might plant Sweet Magnolias in and after that I might give away the seeds that are left in the jar, so be sure and check in every Seedy Saturday!

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. It's nice to see summer crop this time of year, the tomatoes are cute, salad with flowers must be very beautiful, I haven't been able to get edible flowers and salad greens growing at the same time, my sense of timing is way off.

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  3. Thank you so much and I'm emailing you right now. (Got so excited I totally forgot you put your addy in Friday's post)

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  4. Love your tomato composition very artfully done. Your pinepple sage is so healthy.

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  5. Those are some lovely salad makings that you harvested. Seeing your pineapple sage make me miss having it, I can recall that wonderful aroma and the beautiful flowers. I am definitely putting it on my spring planting list. I wonder if it would be safe to plant it out where the deer can try it...

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  6. Good hint for the pineapple sage... we enjoy looking at the flowers, now we know we can eat them as well...

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  7. Nice little harvest and it looks like just in time. I looked at several blogs this morning and am totally amazed at the places that have snow. Here I live in the mountains in snow country and my ground is bare and it is raining in the 40s. There is something wrong with this picture but I am not complaining.

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  8. The peas and seedy saturday idea sound nice :) Yellow beets are my favourite though I do get a kick out of the bright red ones, the yellow ones have a wonderfully delicate flavour.

    I wonder what happened to your potatoes? I always have much better luck with potatoes in the ground when it's been possible to do so though not this year as Japanese beetle grubs gouged holes in them!

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  9. Nice colourful harvest. I have not tried our edible flowers for salad yet. Although, calendula grow like weeds in our place no matter what season it is. I must try.

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  10. Ottawa, I usually have good luck with potatoes in pots and in the ground. I really think part of it was the soil wasn't up to snuff and I sort of neglected them. However, it will be time to plant the spring crop in a couple or three months and I will pay more attention!

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