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| Radish greens come early, and make a tasty fresh salad. These were from thinning a row. |
While our new raised bed got off to a slow start, we enjoyed our first harvest today - radish greens. Let the 5 Meter Diet begin in our Zone 7, southern Nova Scotia garden.
We have a row of radishes that is coming along nicely, and needed to be thinned. I experimented with a few and transplanted them to see if they would survive. Other thinnings I cut off at ground level and collected the greens for a salad.
The occasional small, crispy hot radish was eaten as well for the 'just picked freshness' experience. It is hard to beat the first radish of the year for the sheer impact it has on your very being. What a connection to your little spot on the earth. What a vegetable.
Radish is one of the earliest foods to mature in a veggie garden. All parts of this amazing food are edible. Previously, when we have grown radish, I had only eaten the most nutritious part, the root. Now I know that the greens make a nice crispy, slightly hot salad all on their own, and should never be discarded.
The seeds and flowers are also edible, and reports are that they are slightly hot tasting like the root. We may leave one or two plants to mature so we can see and eat the flowers and seeds. It is always one big green experiment.
Now we wait on the continued growth of the carrots, kale (red russian and curly leaf), chard, peas, beans, sunflowers, marigolds, beets, basil, summersavory, and cilantro. We probably have room for some discounted greenhouse plants, like squash. Or cucumber.
What a joy to nurture our own food out in the fresh air and sunshine. There are many health benefits to a garden before you even get to the eating stage. But the best part is the eating.
Goodbye to sprayed, wilted 6000 km veggies that have passed their best before date before they even reach the store, and hello to fresh produce I can watch growing from my kitchen window, and can harvest with my own two hands.
Our first harvest in a long while was very exciting, tasty, economical and nutritious. I hope your garden is thriving. Or if you don't have one, that you may get one soon.
Why wait? Food isn't getting any cheaper.
There are two growing seasons here in the south. I have to learn exactly when they are so I can plant some veggies. I used to have a raised bed garden in PA and really enjoyed picking my own tomatoes and peppers. I also want to grow sunflowers for the birds.
ReplyDeleteWe have taken out onions and garlic, then planted potatoes and Tuscan kale. Alex
ReplyDeleteWow! Nothing like the bursting flavor of anything fresh picked! Love growing my own food because I can let it ripen on the vine or plant or in the ground. Wasn't to get a patio garden in this year. It looked like I would be relocating. That's been postponed.
ReplyDeleteI live in the deep south U.S. very close to the source of a lot of fruits and vegetables. Yet what is available in stores has obviously been there a long long time. I'm using frozen fruits and vegetables for green smoothies. That's working well. But something is lost with frozen as entrees.
Your radish greens are making my mouth water! I can almost taste them! Enjoy! You and Linda have nested in nicely there with neighbors that build a raised bed for you, now growing your own food. Makes me smile.
Some of the food in our grocery stores come from your part of the world. But this time of year we also get a lot locally and from Ontario, Quebec and the other Maritime provinces. A great time of year for eating as a result.
DeleteIt doesn't get any more local than our own yard, though. We love green smoothies. Radish greens might be good in a smoothie, although even the young ones are kind of bitter.
And yes, this spot meets our needs. I was up early this morning watering the garden by hand, while listening to the birds greeting the new day. We hope things are going well for you in your current location.