November 5, 2018

Harvest Monday, 11/5/18

Toraziroh and Garnet Giant mustard. I harvested tons of greens on Saturday, November 3rd, but haven't tried either of these greens yet. I have high expectations that they'll be delicious.
Clockwise starting on the left we have Canton White pak choy, Senposai in the back, and then the flowering Gunsho choy sum on the right. We actually ate this huge colander full of greens over the weekend as a side dish to a Salisbury steak with white sauce my husband made in the crockpot. They were fantastic together served atop rice. The greens were simply prepared sautéed with onion, garlic, a splash of nuoc mam, and ground black pepper.

It finally cooled down at the end of October and we've been getting rain regularly, which means the greens are really growing now. I'll probably start harvesting radishes and salad turnips this week as well. A friend uses radishes as a substitute for potatoes in dishes, and she said her kids never knew the difference. Then again, her kids are little so maybe they just didn't know the difference?

Please join us at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Happy Acres. A strange and wonderous place where questionably sane gardeners brave the wintry elements to tend their gardens and harvest vegetables.

18 comments:

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

Your greens are lovely. I didn't plant any pak choy this fall. I grew Senposai a few years back and maybe I need to give it a try next year since we've really been enjoying greens lately.

Phuong said...

Hi Dave,
We've been weirdly into greens, too, ever since I successfully grew them last year. The secret for me was just to grow them in the fall, since I can't get them in the ground early enough in the spring.

Senposai has a great flavor and it's a fast growing green. It's been really nice having all the different greens with their variations of flavors and textures.

Sue Garrett said...

The choy family just don’t grow well for us and also suffer badly from flea beetle. The ‘greens’ in the top photo are very decorative.

I’m guessing that your friends uses the mooli type radishes as a potato substitute. I was initially put off parsnips as the first time that I ate then I thought I was going to eat potatoes. The taste was unexpected so I decided I didn’t like it. Now I really enjoy them.

Michelle said...

Your greens really are beautiful. I'm missing them so much, but they've become difficult to grow because I just don't have enough space that's protected from the marauding rodents.

joy said...

Great greens. Mine have been devestated by slugs/snails and beetle fly leaving me very holey leaves. I will still eat them but they just don't make a great photograph!

Kathy said...

The greens you have look very good, such perfect leaves. We mainly grow these Mustard Greens and Perpetual Spinach, under cover, over the Winter into the Spring, and as there is not so much around then, they are even more welcome. We have really got into them too

Eight Gate Farm NH said...

Beautiful greens. I love Salisbury Steak, but I don't think I've ever had it smothered in greens before. That would be a treat!

Endah Murniyati said...

So fresh... how lovely...

Phuong said...

Hi Sue,
Flea beetles are terrible creatures. We get lots of rain in the fall and winter, and I sometimes wonder if that affects their larval stage since they seem to lessen in numbers during that time.

I've only eaten parsnips once, and they had an unexpected tongue tingly astringent flavor that I found strange. Maybe I should try them again and see if I like them more this time around.

Phuong said...

Hi Michelle,
I wondered whether greens were preyed upon by the critters in your area. It's been a bad year for you. Usually lettuces and greens do so well in your climate.

Phuong said...

Hi Joy,
I dug out the sweet potato bed and found a cache of huge slugs. Ugh. Luckily it seemed to have kept them out of the rest of the garden.

Hopefully the cooler weather will help get rid of the beetle fly, but I don't know any way to really get rid of slugs especially when the weather is wet.

Phuong said...

Hi Kathy,
There's so many greens out there and they're all so different, it's just wonderful. I think they make a flavorful addition to the usual array of winter vegetables.

It's amazing how much of your tunnels you keep planted most of the year, you've made great use of that space.

Phuong said...

Hi Will,
They went so well with the Salisbury steak, it was one of my favorite meals to be honest. Like the way ginger chicken goes well with a side of lightly boiled cabbage. Yum.

Phuong said...

Hi Endah,
I usually grow lots of greens in the fall, they are easy to grow in our climate at that time of year. Your flowers and orchids are very beautiful. It is wonderful how much you have been able to grow in your container garden.

Sue Garrett said...

I haven’t found that with parsnips but they do say that they need a frost to sweeten them.

Phuong said...

Hi Sue,
I've always wondered whether it was a weird batch of parsnips that we got that made them have that mouth puckering astringency.

Margaret said...

So many lovely greens! I'm already looking forward to next spring when the parade of Chinese greens starts to roll in again. That's funny about substituting radishes for potatoes - sort of baffles the mind.

Phuong said...

Hi Margaret,
My friend keeps telling me I need to give it a try, but I keep balking. I think she mainly puts the radishes in stews.

Greens are lots of fun especially in cooler weather where they just seem to grow and grow. I remember one year you grew the biggest tatsoi plant I had ever seen.