unEarthingMe

This week has been dedicated to harvesting greens.  My French Sorrel long ago bolted, but everything else has been coming along beautifully.  After the sorrel, first to bolt was the Boston lettuce.  I had been trying to eat that pretty exclusively as the other greens still looked good.  Now they're reaching for the sky and yelling for attention.  So quickly did my Romaine go from perfect to looking like it could turn bitter, that I had to really get out there and bring it all in.  My long neglected Red Leaf who sat back and slowly grew alongside the others seems to have changed it's mind overnight.  Then, there is the spinach across the street.  That's B's garden and I don't pay much attention to it.  I do what I can, but I have my hands full with my beds.  He has been working so much that I know he could use a little help over there and mentioned that his spinach was getting ready to bolt.  A few days ago, I went over and cut all of it to the ground.  We may get a little more out of it since I didn't pull it up.  Though in this heat, I'm not expecting much.

Needless to say, we've been eating A LOT of salads!  Salads for lunch and for dinner.  I dearly wish I could preserve these greens that we've grown.  I can certainly give some away.  Our spinach, on the other had, can be frozen.  Right now, almost the entire refrigerator is filled with gallon baggies of spinach.  On B's birthday, we served him breakfast in bed.  He received a frittata made with spinach sauteed with shallots, olive oil, butter, kosher salt, fresh cracked peper and a dash of red wine vinegar.  After adding and cooking the eggs, I stuck it under the broiler with grated parmesean cheese.  This was a delicious variation on my new favorite breakfast that I've been making since starting the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet).  That favorite was a sauteed crimini mushroom and asparagus frittata.  This adjustment allowed me to move into what we have an abudance of now.  This morning I made that frittata again and managed to use up a whole gallon baggie of spinach in the process (more of a cross between frittata and spinach souffle) thereby making room for some of the goodies I picked up at the Farmer's Market this morning.  Why on earth would I go to the farmer's market when I can't even fit the produce I have into my fridge?  We've gotta have something to go in all of those salads!

One thing I bought was plenty of local fruit; red cherries, Ranier cherries, raspberries and the very, very ripe strawberries that mark the end of a season.  Next year, we really hope to be producing more of our own fruit.  We get a strawberry here and there.  Perhaps one or two a day.  Certainly not enough to sustain our fruit consumption.  We do have a large mulberry tree out back but, it's not a particularly tasty one.  Some trees are better than others and this one produces pretty but, insipid fruit.  I did harvest a quart or two before deciding it wasn't really worth the effort.  B has laid the groundwork for future harvests with all of the trees and bushes he has brought home and (mostly) planted.  We look forward to kiwis, peaches, cherries, apples, rasperries and more strawberries next spring and summer.

I think that the rest of our weekend will be spent filling the extra fridge with greens.  Maybe a salad party is in order?  This would have been a great week for those out of town guests that I don't think will start rolling in until July.  Unfortunately, at that time, I think we'll be past greens and not quite ready to harvest tomatoes and peppers.  My carrots seem to be taking their sweet time.  I may have a few turnips to serve and definitely some fennel.  If you're in the neighborhood, stop by for some lettuce.