This is my submission for Daphne's Dandelions wonderful weekly review of how gardeners are working it around the globe.
It is still a slow week as I'm sure it will be for a while. But the harvests are coming in bit by bit. First are radishes. The pictures above and below are of Easter Egg variety radish from William Dam. I have a terrible problem with not thinning so I don't have much. In fact, I only grew radishes this year (after not doing so for a few years) to see if I even still liked them. Not sure I do. I really love them in my family's potato salad recipe and maybe the odd salad with radish but that's about it. Probably my last year. This week, I harvested 115 grams of radish (after removing greens). Based on some foreshadowing on Margaret's blog, I suspect she is more successful with her growing techniques (which I admittedly have none to speak of).
Early last week I decided to clean up around the garlic and pulled out this Music garlic plant where the greens were not growing properly.
After cutting out the brown parts, I cut it up and used it in this pasta dish with tomatoes and feta.
And before I get to the finale ... here are a few wild strawberries. My yard is filled with wild strawberry plants but they are usually throughout the lawn and tend to get mowed over. This one plant was found growing in the gravel driveway (but nowhere that my car goes).
The most interesting harvest I have this week is the arugula. Not much by weight (120 grams) but I'm finally starting to get some good greens coming up (I also had 4 small spinach leaves which I didn't bother to weigh). The arugula was sauteed with garlic and shrimp and tossed with pasta and my arugula pesto recipe (found a jar in the freezer).
My camera somehow got set on "illustration" mode, so this picture looks cartoonish.
I've found that some radishes I like and some I don't. I'm still looking for more than one variety that I like. And weather plays such a huge role in how a radish tastes each year.
ReplyDeleteOh, I see you got a lovely white radish in your mix! I think I sowed a total of 12 seeds for each variety, and none of my Easter eggs were white. Luck of the draw, I guess!
ReplyDeleteWe don't eat a whole lot of radishes either - a little goes a long way. They keep so well in the fridge that my little 1' x 2' patch of them will be more than enough until the next batch are ready - I'm planning to resow in the same spot, so I have to finish harvested all of the current ones first. I harvested a few more today and will likely be done the patch by the end of the week - if those white icicles don't size up by then, too bad...they are out of there!
And I actually quite like the last photo.
I kind of like the "illustration mode" too, I'll have to play around with it. Re: the white radish, I've grown Easter Egg before and rarely see a white one, so it was a nice treat (although they all taste the same to me).
DeleteRadishes are an acquired taste. My wife hates them, I like them in moderation. I'm growing 2 squares each of 4 different varieties. They mature at different times, and will be out of the garden soon so something else can go in. Some years they do well and some years they don't.
ReplyDeleteThat's it, they don't take long in the garden so what the heck - it doesn't hurt to grow a few and they look so great when freshly harvested!
DeleteI'm not a fan of spring radishes, but I like them because they are cute and colorful, I prefer them pickled rather than raw in salad. I have yet to develop a taste for arugula, maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteHa, yes they are cute and colourful - probably what made me try growing them again this year. Ah well, they take up very little space.
DeleteThe pasta looks delicious. The color on the radishes looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe radishes look very pretty all lined up,I could imagine them on a show bench.
ReplyDeleteAha, I see and now remember that you were growing garlic. At least you got a meal out of this plant
Wild strawbs are small but pack a good flavour, better than most shop bought ones I bet.