Today's harvest

[larry_stewart]

Updated picture, different angle

 

[pepperhead212]

Good luck with your cinnamon tree - hopefully, it will come back.

I'm curious - is that a true cinnamon tree, or a cassia tree, and do you use the leaves as an herb? Cassia leaves are Indian Bay leaves (a.k.a. tej patta), but I don't know if leaves of true cinnamon are used in food.

 

[larry_stewart]

Had to go back to 2013 in my emails to check the order of what I got.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum
The leaves have a slight cinnamon flavor, but the bark is much more potent.
Itts 10years olden the trunk is maybe 1 1/2inches thick so occaasionally ill cut off a few branches when pruning,but never a true harvest.

 

[pepperhead212]

So you have one of the species considered "true" cinnamon. Not sure where that term came from - they are all in the same genus - probably a sales thing someone came up with a long time ago, since there is less of it, thus they could sell more, calling it true cinnamon. I use it mostly for Mexican dishes, though some Indian dishes call for it. I would think it would have to be quite large to harvest the bark!

 

[larry_stewart]

I would think it would have to be quite large to harvest the bark!

Yeah , I've watched a few things online how to harvest the bark,but likely would have to sacrifice the tree. And since it is a potted house plant (summer residence in the backyard) it will never get to the size needed to truly harvest, unless Get a large greenhouse ( which I've always wanted ). For right now, Im just hoping the thing bounces back. I normally overwinter it in the kitchen ,which has better light than where it is now. But, I usually get the 'look' from my wife every winter when my plants come inside and make there way to that window. So this year, I tried something new which clearly didnt work.

 

[pepperhead212]

This is about the 5th large trimming of these 3 mizuna plants in the hydroponics. A little over 18 oz, filling a plastic shopping bag. And still no bolting by those plants, since November! The two types of red mizunas I've tried have bolted quickly, indoors and out, but these green ones produce for a long time! I got another freebie seed pack this season, with a new red variety, so I'll try it, but keep growing the green, as well.
Just over 18 oz of mizuna, from 3 plants trimmed back in the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Yesterday was a very good harvest day.
Picked 4 heads of Broccoli
A gallon of green peas ( still in the pod)
And a few dozen garlic scapes.

Made Tofu with Broccoli with 2 of the heads (Didn't eat the cat).
Ill make garlic scape pesto with the scapes ( and stir fry the remaining)
Peas just snacked on while watching tv. Probably my favorite raw veggie to eat.

 

[blissful]

We just finished putting the garden seeds and plants in the ground, Wisconsin.
Garlic is doing great-planted last fall.
The lettuce garden has a cover frame and was started early.
This is the left side of it.

And this the right side:

I'm using this 21 inch stainless steel bowl for washing lettuce. I harvested enough for 6 large salads and 4 trays for the dehydrator, the areas where the leaves were the biggest.

Lettuce know what you think.

 

[taxlady]

Bliss, you dehydrate lettuce? How do you use it afterwards?

 

[blissful]

Bliss, you dehydrate lettuce? How do you use it afterwards?

After it is dry, then I grind it and keep it in jars, to add by the tablespoon to soups, stews, smoothies, green dressings/sauces. It can also be used in tea. All to boost nutrition.

 

[larry_stewart]

Probably the best Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower years Ive ever had, Jury is still ou for brussel sprouts (Got another month to go). Call grown in pots, as I didnt want them to take up room in the garden for more productive crops.

Usually my biggest issues is keeping the pests under control. This year I managed to do so.

Made an Indian Cauliflower Dish to celebrate ,my harvest.

 

[blissful]

Looks wonderful Larry! Cat looks a little threatened by the broccoli. lol

 

[blissful]

Yeah, Larry as mentioned, where is Pepperhead?

 

[larry_stewart]

Looks wonderful Larry! Cat looks a little threatened by the broccoli. lol

Luckily , he's one of the good cats. The one that wakes me uo eat 4am each day is the one that may wind up in a Cat with Broccoli dish.

 

[blissful]

Lol Larry!

The first batch of dried lettuce yielded almost a quart of ground lettuce. 1 T=1 cup fresh. I have the second batch in the dehydrator. We planted SO MUCH and it's all getting ready to pick at the same time. As we pick it, to thin it out, allow more leaves to have sun, the rest continues to grow. At some point we'll rip out small sections and re-seed so that more is available later for salads. We'll do that all summer.

 

[dragnlaw]

A Lot of Spinach!

What does one do with an excess of spinach?

It's great and as much as I love it and eat it in everything from eggs, sandwiches, salads and various supper dishes - I do have to limit due to gout and arthritis.

Is there no way to preserve somehow? Dry? Freeze?

 

[blissful]

dragnlaw, you can dry it, or blanch and freeze it, or can it.

Here is a list of greens that have the good quality of producing nitric oxide in the body.
Kale, spinach, Swiss chard, arugula, beet greens, beets, bok choy, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, napa cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, parsley and asparagus. You can avoid the high oxalates by avoiding spinach, beets and beet greens, swiss chard, and dandelion leaves.


I eat greens everyday. Lately 8-10 oz of spinach/collard greens/turnip greens, after my orange, before my breakfast.



I checked pepperhead's flicker photo account, and he is posting pictures there. I hope he is not sick.

 

[Marlingardener]

Today we harvested red potatoes--not the whole crop but just enough for two night's dinners. I picked Roma tomatoes and will be making more marinara sauce this week. The garlic that was hanging in the barn to dry was trimmed and cleaned and brought into the kitchen. This is our harvest season and we are enjoying it to the hilt!

 

[taxlady]

What does one do with an excess of spinach?

It's great and as much as I love it and eat it in everything from eggs, sandwiches, salads and various supper dishes - I do have to limit due to gout and arthritis.

Is there no way to preserve somehow? Dry? Freeze?

As bliss mentioned, there is a fair amount of oxalates in a number of other foods. By the way, rhubarb is way up there.

In Danish recipes that have foods with high oxalate content, they often recommend cooking it with Nonoxal (calcium chloride). That will help most of the calcium to precipitate in the digestive system, rather than forming crystals in your joints. There have been a number of Danish articles about whether or not this is necessary to safely eat foods high in oxalates. The consensus is that it is not necessary. For small amounts of those foods there is probably enough calcium in other parts of the meal, but for larger amounts, it would be good to eat something with plenty of calcium, during the same meal. In Denmark, that is almost always a dairy product.

Most of the oxalates in beets are in the greens.

 

[dragnlaw]

So then once it is dried (no more room in freezer and I don't pressure can), how do you utilize it?

I've just powdered up some dehydrated leeks. Didn't use as much during the winter as I should have. Next year might powder them earlier, great in/on eggs, rice, vegies not to mention all the other stuff that you use them from the dehydrated state.

If I just ate those greens only 2 or 3 times a week and in proper serving sizes I would be OK. Unfortunately I am a gluton and pig out far too much and far too often.

Same goes for shrimp, etc.