Craving Salad in the Summer can be a Problem

My body is screaming for salad rocket (Eruca sativa) but it is mid-summer and the heat is killing anything that does not like the extreme sun. Some of the salad greens I like to grow (dandelion leaves, chickweed, salad rocket, etc.) do not want to grow in extreme heat. Even if I water, the plants seem to just die off. Almost all of my swiss chard is dead but some of the other plants are thriving.

In this following HiveGarden Journal post, I want to take you through my week of gardening and retell some of the interesting things that happened. Firstly, a week or so ago, a family of almost 15 helmeted guineafowls destroyed some parts of my garden. I muse briefly on the net positive we can take from this. Secondly, I muse on some of the interesting shapes that salad greens can take. I wonder if there are nutritional differences to the shapes? (Please read on and share your findings on this topic if you have heard about this fascinating subject!) And lastly, I reminisce about all the salad greens that will only arrive in the winter, but I end on a positive note by finding some seedlings of my salad rocket that self-seeds throughout my garden.

| Different leaves for the summer salad |

Guineafowls Trashing my Garden

With glee, I heard the guineafowls and ran downstairs to take some photographs of them (check these two posts if you'd like to see them: Post 1 and Post 2). After they went their way, I saw the destruction they left. When only one or two visits the garden it is not that big of a problem, but when a big flock swoops in, they can cause some problems. On the right, you can start to see the damage and the little footprints they left behind. But can there be something beneficial to this destruction they leave behind for us gardeners to clean up?

| Digging in the grass |

Guineafowls, apparently, are beneficial to have around because they eat all of the ticks and small bugs. So on that front, they are extremely helpful and important. But as they rummage through the garden on their search for these sometimes elusive bugs and insects, they break plants and spread fear in the hearts of gardeners.

| Carnage after the feast: A broken Desert Rose (X Graptoveria 'Caerulescens') |

Is this not how plants get distributed and dispersed? Luckily for me as the gardener, it was succulent, it grows a new plant from those that break off, but if no one was around, this broken piece would become a new plant. So maybe the benefit in these rummaging periods is the distribution of plants like succulents. I am not sure, I am trying to find something positive in their destruction! (haha)

| Who is going to clean the mess? |

Difference in the Shape of Wild Rocket Leaves: Difference in Nutrition (?)

| Different shapes of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) leaves |

There are various factors that contribute to the size of leaves. Fruit, in my limited understanding, is the same. With less water, less nutrient-dense ground, and so on, the fruits of, say, the grapevine will be smaller but more "packed with sugars". This is a good thing for some winemakers (or so I heard). I extrapolate this reasoning to the shape and size of leaves. I am not sure if this is correct or wrong, maybe you have read something on this topic?

| Bigger wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) leaves |

In a video on edible so-called weeds, the author stated that there might be nutritional benefits in the differing shapes of dandelions. However, at the time the author did not elaborate on this point, nor were sources shared. Since then, I lost the link to the video (what a shame!) and I cannot find anything online on this topic.

| Smaller wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) leaves |

I grow wild rocket in two different spaces. The one is grown in healthier soil and I water it daily. The other one is grown in compost and sand (also healthy but not soil per se yet). The latter gets more harsh sun hence (or I think) the smaller leaves. However, the smaller leaves have more "punch" and flavor than the bigger ones. My reasoning: there are more nutrients in the smaller leaves. But I can totally be wrong.

A Summer Salad with Winter Greens

Sometimes nature is funny. Or, no. I am the funny one to think that nature works according to my arbitrary human mind. In any case. What I see as winter greens sometimes grow in the summer. They struggle but some survive albeit not as healthy as when they grow in the winter. But in the summer heat, my body craves a refreshing green salad. I struggled to find enough leaves, but I made a little summer salad with garlic chive flowers and wild rocket flowers.

| From left to right in common names: 1. chickweed, 2. wild rocket, 3. dandelion, 4-7. wild rocket, 8. salad rocket seedlings |

| A handful |

| Salad flowers |

Seedlings for the Winter

I let my salad rocket self seed. There where I want them to grow they struggle, but there where they leave their seeds, they grow best. This is a waiting game, and can sometimes turn out bad (namely, when they grow in the summer and bolt to seeds). It is a good sign that they are growing now, for in the winter I will have plenty of salad greens! But, o, how I wish to have some salad now.

| Rocket seedling |

| Salad rocket that survived the heat (for now) |

Post Scriptum or a Prayer to Seedlings

It must be scary to be a seedling. I mean, there is nothing really that can protect you. I hope that all my seedlings of the salad rocket will survive because I really am craving a big bowl of rocket leaves and roasted butternut (weird combo but it works!). All the photographs were taken by my iPhone and the musings are of my own. Please do your own research before you consume anything, but do not let fear stop you from exploring! The flowers of, for example, garlic chives are edible and life-changing. I love them. Happy gardening and stay safe.