I tried to grow salad greens one summer; ended up shepherding them in my shower under the skylight. Didn't come out great, but I did get some lettuce in a bite or two of sandwich and salad. Terrible summer crop.However. It has taken me a long time, as a novice vegetable gardener, to learn that lettuce hates summer. Too bad for BLTs.
I'm not much of a winter gardener. At all. If it's raining, I'm complaining.
Happily, I've learned from El at Fast Grow the Weeds that lettuce is excellent in winter.
And, at my house, oranges are excellent in winter (though they will continue to get better all the way into summer). And lettuce, though I'm too stupid to grow my own seasonal crop, is luscious.
Here's a salad made from supremes of local (LOCAL) oranges, confit of chicken legs, homegrown red onions, and tender winter lettuce (purchased, but probably not next time... greenhouse?).
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11 comments:
Get out of my head. I was just thinking that some tangelos, avocado and red onion would be kind of tasty. But I was going to have mine with fish. Oh and that reminds me. Gotta add butter lettuce to the shopping list.
I'm telling you. BTW, I think fish and tangelo sounds great. Get the lettuce.
Yummo, esp the chookie bits, and so pretty with the oranges.
We find salad greens grow well most of the year, except, as you say, in the heat of summer. Poor babies wilt so.
PS (we eat BLTs ALL year round!)
I love salad, especially the partial-lettuce variety like this one. I admit I haven't the right conditions to grow my own in the winter anymore, but local-to-the-backyard is always best.
I cleaned out my little garden today and what did I find but Swiss chard left over from two summers ago, knee-high and loving the winter weather! Harvesting tomorrow after I photograph it for the blog. Seems that Swiss chard likes winter weather, too.
I always find January-April beings out the most creative salads from me.
It's my salad days.
JELLUS of that local citrus! SIGH. (Supposedly there are varieties of wildling citrus that can be grown in my greenhouses. They come with thorns(!). They may not be off-the-tree edible but hey, one can use them in drinks.) I so approve of that lovely salad! And: citrus and fish, sigh, and confit of anything just sounds happy.
I'm on a lettuce binge around here with purchased lettuce. but it is the one crop I haven't had much luck with. Utah is so dry and gets hot so early, that I don't get much more than a few timy leaves of lettuce before it's gone. But that was pre-retirement. Now that I'll be home, I'm going to plant earlier in the spring and I have a feeling this may be my year for lettuce!
Remarkably we have some lettuce growing out back now. I tried to grow in the summer but it went to seed. I like your citrus idea. I have to get to the farmer's market.
Mouse: Aw, nuts, we were just talking about BLTs this morning; no tomatoes to be had.
Salad greens, like you, wilt in the heat. Poor bebes. But I will try a spring crop once the rain ends, and then later, a fall crop.
Zia: Backyard produce is darn good, but I confess it's also a conceit. I'm just so tickled with myself! Shame.
Zoomie: How lucky! You think it had reseeded itself? (Well, duh. Yeah.) Yes, this is a great season for chard. Your Beloved to the rescue, with his special recipe.
Sam: I guess we're craving vitamins and crunchy things. Salad days, you green young thing, you.
El: The oranges are from a tree in my backyard. That's local. They are the best oranges in the world. (And they're seedless, so I can't send you any hope in an envelope.) I hope you can try a little tree in your hoop house. Also, have you ever tried to make a confit from your birds? It's very different from duck, but it has its uses.
Kalyn: You have some pretty harsh seasons in Utah, so no one blames you for buying lettuce. Have you thought of a teensy greenhouse?
Greg: What a find! I should probably put some seeds in the ground now and see what happens. Of course, we're due for gully-washers all next week.
Huh, lookie there. I know this is going to sound crazy, but that looks good to me. Know why? Nope, you guessed wrong. It's cause of the red onions, I like onions.
xo, Biggles
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