Spring is generating lots of fresh greens and salads in my raised beds. My goal is to grow as much of my own food as possible. A few weeks ago, I was eating two or three meals per week of mostly lettuce. Now, the garden is putting forth a variety for my salad, so I am enjoying five fresh meals each week.
Watch me fill the bowl with today's lunch!
I am starting out with Romaine lettuce.
The lettuce is cut and topped with a little bit of collards. The romaine lettuce (vivid green) did very well this year, but the collards not so well.
I then move to the asparagus bed. Much of the asparagus has grown past the harvest point, but there's still a few tender shoots to add to the salad.
Then, it's own to the other lettuce bed which is butter crunch. I use some of the smallest and tender leaves of butter crunch lettuce.
And then, I move to the English Peas. These are almost ready to harvest as a crop. I shell a few of the super sweet peas and add them to the salad. I think I will be picking peas this weekend. I will put the harvest total of peas in another post soon.
The English peas are sweet, but not as sweet as the strawberries! The raised bed of strawberries is a steady producer of fruit each week, and what it lacks in quantity it makes up in consistency.
The afternoon sun bathes the green onion raised bed. I add a few cuts of the onion shoots to the salad.
And finally, the mulberry tree has started producing. This year, the mulberry crop is less than usual. The birds are feasting on what is on the tree, and I should too!
I am very delighted that the salad has an excellent mixture of vegetables and fruit. I average 5 meals per week from the raised beds. In addition, I provide lettuce to friends and family. As food prices continue to climb, I am glad to have the fresh source of vegetables and fruits.
So far, my successes are outweighing my failures, but there have been setbacks. I have a few tomato plants finally growing. My radishes are quite sparse. Rain has been very slight to non-existent this month, so my rain collection system is dry. I planted running butterbeans last week and those are growing well. Also, potatoes are coming up in a few beds.
I am researching some ways to grow protein. Aquaculture looks interesting. Also, quail may be a good alternative to chickens. I hope everyone has a great weekend in the garden!