Half a pillowcase stuffed with fresh veggies.
The lettuce roots are in really good condition, as are the leaves. I'm hoping to find time to plant a few before Cookie eats them all.
Red Sails lettuce plants.
Paris Island Romaine. It suffered some tip burn in AZ, a problem I've never had in the northern garden, but it's still crisp and sweet.
The two varieties of lettuce, baby carrots and beet greens weighed 3 pounds 4 ounces. I'll use that figure as the first entry in my 2010 harvest total, as none of the earlier greens were weighed. Yes, I nibbled a few of those baby carrots. I couldn't help myself!I don't know if I'm going to have time this weekend to plant the lettuces. Yesterday I ordered a new Bosch dishwasher, so son John will be over this Sunday to remove the old one, as well as install an electrical cord on the new grow light fixture. Tomorrow I have to make a trip to Costco to stock up on stuff, then to ATT to get upgrades for our cell phones. Son Scott is planning on helping me clean up the garden area in the afternoon, although I don't know how.....he just had surgery on one hand. I don't know how much work I can get out of a one handed garden helper. Maybe he's just going to supervise his son, Kevin, and make him do all the work!
How exciting, Granny, your first official harvest. I'll definitely have to try this method of keeping lettuces fresh -- if ever I harvest whole heads. Right now, we're enjoying snipping a leaf here and there, and for the two of us, it works perfectly! :)
ReplyDeleteThat seems like a nice way to keep greens. They have to breath and be moist but not wet, so a pillowcase would work. Well maybe not for me. I have a tendency to forget about things. Can you imagine what the poor pillowcase would look like after the lettuce slimed out? I wonder if little ones would work well too.
ReplyDeleteMeredith and Daphne (this would apply to both comments), for smaller greens harvests, a smaller cotton bag with a drawstring would work really well. I've used the cotton pillowcase method for years and years, as I tend to pick a lot of greens at once to feed Cookie, and pre-Cookie to feed kids. The secret to freshness, as Daphne stated, is to let air circulate and to keep the bag damp but not soaking wet....in other words, wet the produce, not the bag, then give it a spin!
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it back safe and sound AG...I may try the pillowcase idea...just curious have you ever tried those green plastic-like bags they sell in the grocery stores that are supposed to make your produce last longer? I have not tried them but have heard they work....btw I have lots of garden "supervisors' over here. lol
ReplyDeleteThe greens are indeed holding up well! I hope you can get a few of the lettuces popped into the ground soon. What a nice kick start on the 2010 Washington garden that would be! We are forecasted to have gorgeous weather this weekend, so I plan to be in the garden as much as is possible. I have onions, pac choi, broccoli, kale, and some lettuces to plant up (under some cover but outside!
ReplyDeleteGranny, what causes tip burn?
ReplyDeleteKitsap, I am trying to wait until I can get a load of compost before planting anything, but I can't get Mr. H in gear to remove the canopy from the pickup! I'm hoping John can do it for me tomorrow. All of the garden beds need to have additional compost to compensate for settling.
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Sunny, I've heard pros and cons on them, and they are quite pricey. LOL, lots of supervisors here, too!
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TIG, I think it's a usually calcium deficiency in the soil, but I didn't notice it when I pulled out the plants, so it might just be due to stress.
Man, it's good to have family around again!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're home.
Well you are beating my harvest total already :-) Those greens look tasty, can't wait to get some growing here.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing the amount of greens you were able to grow down there in such a short period of time. It must feel nice to be home though.
ReplyDeleteThat's one lucky bunny. Hopefully your lettuce plants adjust well to being transplanted.
Question - do you use manure from your rabbit in the garden?
Gosh, I can't believe it stayed fresh for that many days. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, I'm glad I'm home too, and that I can get on this old computer 24/7 to keep in touch with my dear gardening friends!
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Dan, That total doesn't include any of the tomatoes, radishes and lettuce that I picked before last Friday, or what we and Cookie have eaten since, so I'm quite happy with the amount of food I grew over the winter! Too bad I forgot to take the food scale south with me.
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Thomas, What I said to Dan ^
No, I don't use Cookies litter in the garden. We have his box filled with fresh hay, and I don't want that growing in my veggies. I'd use it in the compost, but rabbit urine smells worse than anything you can imagine! I do use his alfalfa pellets as a gentle fertilizer, though.
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EG, yes. The pillowcase method keeps greens fresh longer than any other method I've ever tried.
Hi Annie - I love your pillow case idea. I usually use a cotton dish cloth and insert it in a large ziploc bag. But, I will have to try your idea. Remember those tiny Red Robin tomatoes I started in November? One is abour 4" tall, stout for it's size and it is putting flower buds on! I think we still might get a tomatoe. LOL
ReplyDeleteGloria, I really need to make a cotton bag with drawstring top, it would be much classier than an old pillowcase, LOL! But, whatever works. Good luck with your tomato plant, mine wasn't a great success. You can be sure I'll try again, though ;-)
ReplyDeleteThey give out cotton bags at our farmer's market -- they're about 8x11, and if you answer a question, you get one. I never thought of storing my greens in them, but it would work perfectly. They're good to buy small bulk things like lentils in because they don't leak like my mesh cloth produce bags do.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Maybe I'll try storing my lettuces in a moist cotton bag when I harvest them. It's starting to get pretty warm by the house so I think they're all going to need to come out of my salad table soon.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a good size, Stefaneener. The pillowcase works fine, though. It stays moistened longer from being wrapped around the greens a couple of times for a
ReplyDeletedouble layer of protection.
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Momma_S, be sure to wash the greens and leave them really wet, then put them in the dry pillowcase and take it outside to give it the old whirly-bird. That dries the lettuce while wetting the case.
Granny - my MIL insists on wrapping lettuce with a damp paper towel - a few layers thick. It really is the best way to keep it fresh! They sell all these new-fangled plastic bags for keeping produce fresh, but some of the old-school methods really are the best.
ReplyDeleteKate, if I have small amounts of greens, or a head of iceberg lettuce, I always keep them in a gallon sized ziploc bag with damp paper towels in the bottom. I only drag out the pillowcase for the BIG jobs ;-)
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