June 1, 2020

Harvest Monday, 5/31/20

It's been such a wet cold spring the garden didn't get planted until last weekend. My husband actually had to re-till because the only things that had germinated were lettuce, carrots, beets, and grass. We ended up growing a nice lush lawn.

The two beds closest to the house that were home to herbs, greens, and lettuce were saved from being re-tilled. So, we have loads of lettuce to harvest. Yesterday, I harvested as much lettuce that could fit in our fridge since 90 degree weather is headed our way.
Giant Caesar lettuce has a buttery texture. I was actually expecting more of a crunchy romaine type, but the tender leaves and flavor were still nice.
I'm pretty sure this is a Bibb lettuce and that the Nevada lettuce never germinated. It has a very nice tender leaf, but it very much was planning to bolt.
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce is as lovely as ever. It didn't look like it was even thinking about bolting.
Here's a picture of the lettuce bed before harvest. I do think the mountains of rain made the leaves a lot more delicate then they normally are.

What to do with so much lettuce? Lettuce cucumber salad with crunchy Vietnamese eggrolls sliced up on top accompanied by a sweet, sour, spicy dressing. Also chicken, celery, cucumber salad with walnuts and dried cranberries. The chicken is baked with a soy sauce, HappyWorcestershire sauce, brown sugar, ginger, lemon grass, and pear infused balsamic vinegar.

I might grill a couple pork chops marinated in a lemongrass sauce for a rice noodle lettuce salad. Which is usually served with cucumber, bean  sprouts,  chopped roasted peanuts, and the sweet and sour and spicy dressing.

Summer is here to stay. I hope we all get some glorious weather with just the right amount of rain.

Please join us for a fun filled Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Happy Acres.

8 comments:

Lea's Menagerie said...

Wonderful! Lovely Lettuces! I did not plant any lettuce this year. It seemed like it rained every day, and was just too wet to do anything.
However, I did get out between rain showers in March to plant potatoes. You can see the results on my blog today.
Happy Gardening!

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

Those are some lovely lettuces! I didn't get around to planting Simpson this spring and I am missing it. Our weather has been wet and cold too. I had to replant green beans, and finally got them to come up. I still haven't planted pole beans or peppers since we got more rain and the soil is soaked again.

Phuong said...

Hi Lea,
The rain has been unbelievable, it was such a cold grey spring. I'm just glad to see the sun. Your red potatoes look lovely. My mother in-law serves new red potatoes in a béchamel sauce with snow peas, so good.

Phuong said...

Hi Dave,
I had to replant snap beans as well! The bush beans might not produce until after the tomatoes ripen, which sounds a tiny bit like madness to me. Hopefully the weather will be more consistently warm by the time your peppers and pole beans get planted.

I've noticed the bug population is minimal for this time of year, maybe the cooler weather helped with that at least.

Endah Murniyati said...

Lovely harvest! Fresh lettuce for fresh and healthy salad.

Phuong said...

Hi Endah,
Lettuce is fun to grow and eat, even though they never last in the heat of our summers. Your rooftop garden is beautiful, the brassicas and sunflowers look amazing.

Sue Garrett said...

Just the opposite to our spring. We really could do with some of your rain.

Phuong said...

Hi Sue,
The weather has been extreme from one end of the spectrum to the other. Coinciding with a time when all our lives have been upended. I hope you get a good amount of rain. A dry hot summer is an uphill battle that can be difficult to overcome.

I grew up gardening in a desert where it never rained during the summer, and the rivers were fed by mountain snow melt. It's probably the main reason I still overplant my vegetable beds, to shade the soil and keep evaporation to a minimum.