After an unintended hiatus of hosting and then illness among family members, I'm back in time to harvest. Being the month of May, it is now harvest time for most of the cold weather crops that went into the ground in March. Over at the elementary school where we are doing raised beds for the local foodbank, it is also harvest week. Therefore, it’s the perfect time for a reminder about harvesting leafy vegetables. Here’s just a simple cheat sheet.
1. Cut and come again types (Loose leaf lettuce, Pak Choi, Gourmet leafy lettuce, Kale): Cut the whole vegetable to within 1” of the ground. The plant will then resprout at least one more time, maybe two. If the weather doesn’t get too hot, you might get 3 harvests out of one plant.
2. Head (Romaine, cabbage, iceberg): Unlike the “cut and come again” varieties, the head lettuces only provide one harvest. When fully mature, harvest the whole plant.
3. Harvest outer leaves: (Swiss chard, spinach): Pick outer leaves often to encourage resprouting. This allows for harvesting many times throughout the season.
Enjoy your harvest...you've earned it! Pass the salad dressing and dig in!
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