Above, a second sowing of arugula, planted in late September.
Remember the variegated arugula plant? Still going strong - and most of our salads come from this first sowing, planted when we moved in, in late August, and enjoyed as early as September.
The second sowing of red mustard.
And at last! The mâche (lambs lettuce) came up once the temperatures dipped regularly overnight.
I still pick fava bean shoots every week. I will leave them in the ground, and maybe they'll add a nice bit of nitrogen to the soil.
The fenugreek is surprisingly cold hardy, but we have only had one or two frosts. The weather has been unusually mild.
Unless I need radicchio or crave a crunchy Romaine, I do not buy salad leaves anymore, for our nightly salad. Which is wonderful. I grew a lot of gorgeous greens in our roof farm pots, in full sun, but this amount of in-ground space does make a big difference, and I am very relieved that the leaves seem to do well with no sun at this time of year - what you see in the last photo is reflected from the windows of the houses opposite us (where Beeskwee - actually Biscuit - the barking golden retriever lives).
I wish we could be like Italy and Norway, and install giant mirrors on the neighboring rooftops, to direct humane daytime sun into our shadowed valley.
In the spring I shall expand the salad selections...
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Oh god! You,too, have a barker...
ReplyDeleteNot the brightest dog.
DeleteDo you have a good salad dressing recipe you use on your nightly salads?
ReplyDeleteNancy, sometimes I mix dressing, but often I just sprinkle these over the leaves, in the following order: EV olive oil (or walnut), salt and a little sugar, and some good vinegar. Often I put the leaves on a pile of thinly sliced apple or pear, fennel, raw beet sticks, radish - anything fresh and crunchy and seasonal, in which case I dress these before I pile the leaves on.
DeleteMarie, I live vicariously through your gardening posts. Formerly living in CT and NH, I am now living in SW FL and having a difficult time getting much to grow in the ground. So I've moved to pots on the lanai in semi-shade. The limited success of this technique is fleeting because of little lizards or even snails who sneak in through the cracks. Makes me long for gardening on the Connecticut shoreline where I grew up. Thank you for your posts and I am so glad you are happy in your new home.
ReplyDelete