Vegetable garden two-fers

Really wanting super fresh veggies today, but the seedlings for this coming garden season look like this.

However, my Brussel sprout plants and kale plants look like this, all over.

So I picked a large container of Brussel sprout and kale buds. They have the texture of broccoli and are mild.

Some (but not all) of the cabbage family vegetables are biennial in my garden, including the different kales and Brussel sprout plants. After fall has shut down the growth of those plants, they go dormant and just sit there, holding on to their weathered leaves. In late winter they come back briefly and produce lots of new leaves and these tiny buds. I get about 3 weeks when I can harvest whatever growth these plants put on. By mid-April, the plants no longer produce leaves of decent size, seeming to be in a hurry to produce seeds.

Biennial vegetables are planted in one year, when they produce an abundance of leaves and develop good roots. Then the second year, early in the season, they put on a small amount of leafy growth, but mostly focus on producing flowers, then seeds. The roots of biennial root vegetables will be very woody by the second year, but the leaves will be tender, especially early in the season. 

Carrots, beets, parsley, cabbage family, turnips, and onions are all biennial. Some planting zones are too cold for some or most of these plants to survive until the second year. But in mild to moderate climates, a gardener can get a small leafy harvest just before these plants bolt. If one collects their own seeds, this is the timing for seed production. I save parsley seeds from second year parsley. The parsley I used on the deviled egg platter came from second year parsley. Those plants will flower soon and seeds will follow.

Carrots don't overwinter for me due to our extremely wet winters. But I saved 1 carrot in the fridge all winter, and will soon plant that out with hopes of collecting seeds this summer. I have the same problem with onions and the wet winters. So last year I saved a small onion, replanted it in spring and by the end of summer, I had a flower head of seeds. Those seeds are now germinating in a flat to plant for this year's onions.

So far this year I've harvested kale, (and their buds) Brussel sprout leaves and buds, beet greens, turnip greens, and parsley. 

Early spring weather in my area is cold and wet, and not at all good planting weather. These bonus harvests come at a time when the longest I want to be outside is about how long it takes to pick vegetables for dinner. 

Have you ever had a vegetable plant come back the following year? Were you able to harvest anything from it, food or seeds?

My analysis of our Easter dinner

How as your weekend? If you hosted Easter or were a guest for Easter dinner or brunch, how did everything turn out? Do you ever think through what you made for a special meal as an after-the-fact analysis? Is there anything you wish you would have done differently?

Our menu was close to what I had brainstormed last week. I did roast a whole chicken, but I also added a package of chicken thighs. I like to have lots to send home with my son and daughter-in-law, and doing chicken thighs on top of a whole chicken allowed that. I had mixed up a lot of herb rub, using fresh rosemary from the garden, plus dried thyme, oregano. herbes de Provence, garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and a spoonful of lemon juice. After thoroughly coating the whole chicken, I still had rub left over. So I thawed the thighs in the microwave and used the last of the rub on those. 

I had bought a whole lemon at WinCo on Friday (33 cents -- a bargain for so much flavor), which meant I had lots of zest, juice, and the white pith shells. I stuffed the pith shells into the chicken cavity, used half the zest in the chicken rub and the other half in a lemon butter to top the asparagus, and used some of the juice in the herb rub, some in the gravy, and a little in the lemon butter. I still have a tiny amount of zest and juice remaining. I'll have to think of a way to use that this week. Any suggestions for using 2 tablespoons lemon juice and a teaspoon lemon zest?

I did make the extra pie, a plum pie to go with the cherry pie. My son and daughter-in-law offered to bring ice cream to top the slices of fruit pies.

I had more than enough garden kale to make a large salad. I bought dried cranberries as planned, but while in the store I decided to buy some pumpkin seeds for the salad as well. I made a sweet and tangy dressing with vinegar, rhubarb jam, olive oil and salt. This salad was about as good as some of the bagged kale salad kits I've bought before and wasn't much more work (picking, washing and chopping the kale).

The deviled egg platter turned out well. The center of my tray has a well for adding something else. I decided on cherry tomatoes while at WinCo. I also picked a bunch of parsley from the garden (last year's parsley, harvesting before it goes to seed). Here's how the egg platter turned out. 

I made dinner rolls and mustard-glazed carrots as planned. I had 1 unopened bottle of sparkling cider leftover from Christmas, so we used that, and I bought 2 bottles of mineral water, a favorite of my family's. Since I wasn't spending all that much on special foods for Easter, I decided to buy a small piece of smoked salmon and a box of crackers to go with dinner.

The final menu:

herb-crusted and roasted chicken, gravy (tasted good, was enjoyed)

dinner rolls (soft and fluffy, could've used a wee bit more whole wheat flour)

mustard-glazed carrots (bland, not enough flavor in the glaze)

asparagus with lemon butter (a hit)

kale salad (really good, would've been better with bacon bits for some saltiness)

deviled egg tray with cherry tomatoes (great, very popular with my daughter-in-law)

smoked salmon and crackers (always a treat)

sparkling water, sparkling cider, tea (could have assembled more variety in the tea bags offered since we have many kinds here)

cherry pie (good, but filling needed more lemon juice and a bit more sugar)

plum pie (good, but filling needed more sugar and more orange zest), both pies with ice cream

I was able to prep a lot of the work on Saturday -- slicing carrots, washing/trimming asparagus, picking/washing kale and parsley, rubbing the chicken, making refrigerator roll dough, boiling eggs, and baking the two pies -- so Sunday's cooking was much more leisurely. 

I used part of this past week's grocery budget for the Easter foods that were needed (whole lemon, cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, 2 bottles of mineral water, asparagus, smoked salmon, crackers). I didn't need very much from the store for the week, so the holiday spending all worked out. The combined weekly shopping plus Easter shopping came to $54.49. Our fridge, freezer, and pantry, while not bursting at the seams, are full enough that we will only need milk and possibly a little fruit at the end of this week.

I was tired today, but fortunately we had leftovers to make an easy dinner night. I'll get a good night's sleep tonight and will rise ready to tackle another spring day. I hope you all had a lovely weekend.