Grow Seasonal Greens Now

Author: Meera, April 6, 2017

The cool season of spring is the optimum time to grow seasonal greens for salads and healthy blended shakes. In my kitchen garden, I’ve planted a variety of lettuces, spinach, kale, and chard. Most salad greens are easy to grow also in containers, raised beds, and window boxes when gardening space is limited.

 

 

Newly planted Swiss chard is a valuable source for Vitamins A, C, and K

The newly planted Swiss chard shown here is a valuable source of Vitamins A, C, and K

 

 

 

Add compost and aged chicken manure to enrich the soil with nitrogen. Plant heirloom seeds about 1/2 inch in the soil, cover, and water. Within a week or 10 days, you should see the seedlings pop up. The greens will be ready to pick in about 25 days.

 

 

 

 

Water the plants to keep them hydrated but don’t drown the plants. When you are ready to make a salad, snip the leaves you want with kitchen scissors. New leaves will soon form if the roots are not disturbed and the plant continues to get nutrients and water.

 

 

Spinach can be started in seed cell flats and then transplanted into your garden when all danger of frost has passed

Spinach can be started in seed cell flats and then transplanted into your garden when all danger of frost has passed

 

 

 

 

SALAD OF FRESH GREENS

 

1. Snip a variety of greens in the early morning. Wash and thoroughly dry the leaves.

 

2. Place them in a bowl and crumble on some sharp cheese such as your favorite goat cheese or a Gargonzola (blue-veined, sharp tasting, and crumbly).

 

3.  Add 1/2 cup sugared or candied walnuts.

 

4. Add some slice red onion and a handful of dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.

 

5. Drop into the bowl some slices of a pear such as Bosc (considered the prince of pears).

 

6. Gently toss the salad and then spritz with red wine vinaigrette prior to plating on pretty salad serving dishes.

 

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If you love reading about gardening and other farming topics, check out my Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries that include A BEELINE TO MURDER, THE MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE, and A HIVE OF HOMICIDES.

 

 

Coming Sept. 2017

The newest mystery in the Henny Penny Farmette series

 

 

 

  • Delicious recipes

  • Farm quips and quotes

  • Tips for gardening and keeping chickens and bees

  • An exciting whodunnit mystery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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