Although it's been a rainy and cool fall so far, I have still been able to harvest fresh veggies each week.
Earlier this week I harvested a bunch of kale and fresh sage. I've got the sage drying right now. With the kale, I wrapped about half of it in a towel and plastic bag for the fridge, should anyone wasn't some fresh greens when making their lunch. With the other half a made a sweet and tangy salad, finely chopped kale, chopped dried plums, and a dressing of jelly, thyme vinegar, oil, and salt. The salad was big enough for several days of lunches. Another day I harvested some of the late planted radishes, using both the roots and greens in salads.
This morning, I timed it to get outside between bouts of heavier showers. When I could see there was only a tiny sprinkle coming down, I put on some boots and ventured out into the garden. Most years, I just sort of abandon what remains in the garden after the end of October. This year I am trying to use as much as I can from it. I missed out on the final batch of unripe figs and crabapples. Between the cooler temps and the squirrels, I lost the last of the crabapples and unripe figs. Perhaps missing out on those last bits has propelled me to be more diligent about getting outside for the veggies.
Today I harvested a large bunch of parsley and a bucket of Brussel sprout leaves. They were plentiful and most needed picking. I had no idea how I would use these two greens, but once inside again, I put them to good use for our meals. I used my food processor to throw together a quick batch of hummus using up the parsley and cooked the Brussel sprout leaves in tonight's dinner. I made what we call "beans and greens." This is a simple dish of cooked black-eyed peas, chopped fresh greens of any kind (kale or chard are our usuals), onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, cooking oil, kielbasa (if we have some), and water to make it just a little bit saucy. Tonight I also added 2 small, wrinkly garden tomatoes from summer's end of season harvest. "Beans and greens" are served over rice. It sounds basic and plain, but it's really pretty good. Tomorrow I'll harvest the biggest turnips for oven-roasting as part of dinner.
The garden is really winding down for the year. I am left with turnips, kale, Brussel sprout leaves, a few Brussel sprouts, one celery plant, a few green onions, parsley, and other herbs. I am reaching the point where if we anticipated a heavy snow or period of prolonged freezing temps, I would be mostly satisfied with losing the remaining garden veggies. But that's not likely to happen for another couple of weeks. So it looks like I'll be dodging raindrops for a bit longer as I continue to use up the last of the garden.
Just working at squeezing all of the value out of our foods.
Have a great weekend, friends!
I put the garden to bed a few weeks ago. Usually it goes longer, but I didn't get our fall crops planted this year (mostly turnips), so the summer crops were done. The beans and greens sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteFor my mostly cool summers, our fall crops are mostly the summer ones that just continued into fall. I plant kale in spring and it keeps going through summer and most of fall. I have a hard time growing most of the hot weather vegetables that most areas can do. Pepper, eggplant, melons -- all need much warmer summers than we get here.
I'm glad you can relax with your garden done for the year.
I sometimes make red beans and rice, which sounds sort of similar to your beans and greens (I use green peppers and onions) and while simple, it's a tasty and comforting meal. I like the idea of adding greens--maybe I'll do that next time I make it.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has been getting greens from our garden--he cooked up a batch of Swiss chard earlier this week, and the cold frame continues to produce various greens (I can't identify all of them and just trust that I won't be poisoned, haha). We've had an unusually mild fall, and we've enjoyed the benefit of a garden later than what we normally would. Lili, you are a trooper, tramping out in the rain to harvest what you can!
Hi Kris,
DeleteYour red beans and rice sound delicious, too.
I'm glad you've had such a mild fall so far. The wintry weather will be here soon enough.
I try to time getting outside for when the rain is just a sprinkle, so I don't get too wet. today I even had a brief spell of sunshine at lunch. I quickly grabbed a chair for the patio and had lunch outside. I don't get that opportunity very often in November.
I put most of my beds to sleep at the end of October. However I have one long bed that has herbs and fall vegetables in it. I usually get something from this bed in November and December. Then my carrots stay and I pull some into the new year. I am planning to build a covered bed for next year and plant thoughout the year.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
DeleteIt sounds like your garden continues to be productive for you. I would love to have a poly tunnel for growing some vegetables well into winter. Good luck with your plans to build a covered bed. Planting throughout the year would be awesome!