Tag: flame lettuce

Projects – Square Foot Garden Update

On By TimelessladyIn Projects8 Comments

This is an early morning photograph of my Square Foot Garden. I have to say, hopefully without sounding like I’m bragging, this method of gardening has been a major success for me. I have lettuce daily, my broccoli and bread seed poppies are ready to begin budding. I have cooked and eaten my kale and swiss chard, and though I have always loved fresh greens cooked in various ways, I can now feel a “fresh greens fanatic” point of view taking me over.

The Square Foot Gardening Website can be found here: Square Foot Gardens. Take a look and browse the information and photographs. Better yet, buy the book and create your own little area of vegetable heaven.

This is a view of the back of my Square Foot Garden. I know my pea trellis leaves a lot to be desired, but the peas come and go quickly, and I will be replacing them in a few weeks.

Because I didn’t want to give up too many of my squares to the dozen tomato plants I am growing I planted half in containers. These are doing very well too, the stems are beginning to look like tree saplings. I already have some flower buds on a few plants. O Happy Day…tomatoes in a month or two. Hooray!

I was honored to see one of my Square Foot Garden photographs was featured in a Mel Bartholomew Blog Post. Take a look: My Square Foot Garden Squares On Mel Barthlomew’s Website.

Plants – Update Square Foot Gardens and Swiss Chard

On By TimelessladyIn Planting1 Comment

My Square Foot Gardens are doing great. Except for a few empty squares in the second garden, most of the space is filled with seeds or plants and growing well. I have harvested many servings of lettuce already. In fact, I can’t eat it fast enough and have been taking handfuls to family whenever I visit. The lettuce comes in a wide array of greens, pinks and reds and pairs perfectly with the arugula and water cress I have growing in the herb garden. A new sowing of mesclun is thriving and will soon be ready to begin harvesting. The bread seed poppies are magnificent and I expect them to send up budding stalks any day now. The peas in the back of the garden are in need of quick staking,  they are growing a few inches daily.

Here is a closeup of the earliest sown squares. Last week I sauteed a few pieces of kale with olive oil and garlic powder. Ah, so amazingly good; I wish I had begun this type of gardening years ago. This week I tried several leaves of the swiss chard. I chopped the stems and ribs and kept them separate from the leaves.

I gently boiled the chopped stems, and after about three minutes added the leaves along with a little Adobo spice mix, and gently simmered a few minutes longer.

Wow! The taste was beyond my highest expectations. I sprinkled the swiss chard with a squeeze of fresh lime, and “oohed” and “ahhed” with every mouthful. The best thing about both of these greens is they are still producing. I can’t wait to try my hand at cooking and eating them again.

Pleasures and Plants – First Square Foot Garden Harvest

On By TimelessladyIn Plants, PleasuresLeave a comment

This gorgeous array of salad greens and herbs is a sample of my first Square Foot Garden harvest. The Black-Seeded Simpson and Flame Lettuce leaves were winter sown and grew quickly after they were transplanted into their garden square. The arugula, also winter sown, was planted out yesterday, and had already grown large enough in its milk carton mini-greenhouse to harvest a few of its leaves. The chives have grown in my garden for years, and yesterday I transplanted the clump to a new herb garden, gathering a few spears along the way for my dinner salad. The deep green leaves on the side of the plate are lemon balm. I combine these with slices of ginger root for a delicious and healthy tea. Lemon Balm is said to increase longevity and alleviate anxiety. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and stomach soother.

To read more about my adventures in Winter Sowing check out this post: Winter Sowing