I miss you guys

Every morning I write a haibun (Japanese form of prose plus haiku).  Here is yesterday's:

Spring Gardening

On Saturdays past I helped cook and serve food to hungry gardeners, our community time.  We often stretched the hour with stories and laughter.

Today, Corona Virus sits alone at the table.

masks and gloves

no food allowed

measured intimacy

-Janet

Harvest before snow

Friday's harvest before first snows this weekend.  Warm colors for cold conditions!

Shishito pepper sauté recipe

Here's the shishito pepper sauté recipe used for our Saturday demo. Simple and tasty. Everyone loved them.

Pests & Management

We use some of the IPM methods mentioned in the article and a few others.

https://www.rainshadoworganics.com/integrated-pest-management-at-rainshadow/ 

Our pest challenges are 1) cut worms in brassicas, 2) aphids in kales, 3) flea beetles in chinese cabbage, pac choi and mizuna, 4) leaf miners in spinach, chard, beets, 5) birds in young lettuce or spinach 6) cabbage moths.

We employ crop rotation, natural fertilizers & compost, toothpick rings, wait to outgrow, bird net, neem oil, marigolds, hose blasting, and hand smashing.

Book Recommendations

Here are 3 books recommended by C. Campbell.  His wisdom has helped our orchard.

Growing a Revolution:  Bringing Our Soil Back to Life
by David R. Montgomery

The Hidden Life of Trees:  What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World

by Peter Wohllenben

What a Plant Knows:  A Field Guide to the Senses of Your Garden—and Beyond

by Daniel Chamovitz

Managing bitter lettuce

Here are some ideas about bitter lettuce and how to better manage it during growing, harvesting, and eating.  These different ideas are from the two linked articles below.

For growing we're trying straw mulch and limited shade cloth.  For harvesting we're trying water cooling.  At home the soaking seems to help.

Growing

- Mulch to keep soil cool

- Use high, vented, 30% shade cloth (don't trap heat with full white row covers)

- Ideally plant in Spring and Fall

- Water regularly; organic matter helps retain moisture

- Not too much nutrition, but the right amount to grow fast

- Interplant with taller crops

- Try different varieties

Harvesting

- Immerse in water immediately after picking

- Pick in the morning when plants are less stressed

- Pick new leaves

Eating

- Let it soak in filtered or chlorine-evaporated water for an hour after harvest

- Soak your lettuce for 5-10 minutes in a small amount of baking soda, rinse, repeat, drain and use

- Refrigerate for 1-2 days before using

- Use it as a lightly cooked green (as done with escarole)

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/lettuce/bitter-lettuce.htm

https://tendingmygarden.com/lettuce-bitter-secrets-to-keeping-it-tasty/

Raw kale salad

Three step kale salad. Can eliminate or substitute items as added below. Can massage dressed kale to soften and wilt then wait 2-3 minutes.

Chef John's Raw Kale Salad, Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (or lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (or not)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 persimmon, sliced (or not, or tomato)
• 1 apple, cut into matchsticks
• 2 orange, peeled and cut into segments (or peach, plum)
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts (or other nut)

Directions

1. Whisk vinegar, orange juice, Dijon mustard, orange zest, cumin, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl. Slowly pour olive oil into the orange juice mixture, whisking until thick and thoroughly combined. Season dressing with salt and black pepper.

2. Remove stems from each leaf of kale. Stack 3 to 4 leaves of kale and roll together. Finely slice kale leaves crosswise to create thin ribbons.

3. Combine sliced kale, persimmon, apple, orange, and pistachio nuts in a bowl. Add dressing and toss until well coated.