Thursday, June 11, 2009

leaf eaters



There's a part in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where Barbara Kingsolver says something like spring is the time when we stuff our faces with leaves. Sounds about right.

I laid down a law a couple of weeks ago. I said to Allie we need to eat two large salads everyday. And when I say large I mean gigantic. I've been eating mine out of a mixing bowl.

We've been obeying the law for the most part. But we've made barely a dent in the garden. And now some of it is starting to bolt.

Chard:




Lettuce:




Romaine:


The other night, as we were eating salads on the porch, I wondered aloud if we've evolved to store up the nutrients you get leafy greens each fall and then replenish them in the spring. Because those are the times when they grow like crazy. And there's no way to stock pile them. You've just got to eat and eat and compost the rest.

I think this is the way we've evolved. At least in growing zones four to six.

In other news, this not a head of pink lettuce but a rose I dug out of my grandma's yard and brought to KC on a plane five years ago:


As you can see, it's doing just fine.

1 comment:

Bryan M. Stalder said...

Mmm... Chard. Blue Bird Bistro makes excellent Quinoa Stuffed Chard.

My neighbor grows it also, and he says it grows into December.