First Greens

For the venison burgers tonight as we welcome company to the Farm.

I hear tell

there's going to be a produce shortage. And you know what happens when that happens, don't you? Produce prices go up. (I took Econ101. & 102. You can check my college transcripts, if you wish.)

I did serious research.

I'm quite certain I've forgotten something-- though Swiss chard is the only thing that comes to mind-- but I'm hoping to have a banner produce year.

Lettuce: ✔
Avacodos; :-(
Broccoli: Broccoli Raab,  ✔ ✔; other varieties, we'll see
Grapes: Grapes are nice. I don't plan or plant my life around grapes, but grapes are nice. We have several varieties of grapes here in Mississippi. I could live with them. 
Tomatoes: Glad you asked! I planted 34/50 of them today. 
Melons:  ✔ ✔
Peppers:  ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ I reviewed the pepper selection this afternoon with Miss M. As it turns out, I have no green bell pepper seedlings. By the way-- we had a great pepper season in 2013. I pulled one of the last couple of bags of frozen peppers out of my freezer this afternoon. It was dated 9/22. The seedlings look good. I am hopeful.
Berries: What to say here? The dewberries are slow to bloom this year. BUT... We did bushhog late last summer. So maybe there will be a bunch of dewberries-- for dewberry jam. We shall see.
Corn: I've been beaten by corn. I think this will be a better year.
Packaged Salad: We don't grow Packaged Salad here on the Farm.

Oh! That Mache SomethingOrOtherSalad is coming up! So is the escarole. 

And truth be told, it won't be all that long until I'm thinning. And you know what happens when that happens, don't you? We start to eat fresh salad, with homemade dressing.

It's good for Brain Growth.

Yea!

The lettuce made it though the night!

Updates are they become available.

(Cozy) Fire in the Hole!

Cozy Cloche (Search for it. You can buy them.)

I have probably two dozen or more heads of lettuce in a couple of above-ground planters. Being above ground means the lettuce isn't terribly affected by a mild Spring or Fall frost. But the forecast low for tonight is 25°F. 

We've been enjoying our salads, and I'm bound and determined to have a huge, fresh green salad for Thanksgiving. So today, I spent some time preparing the lettuce for a cold night. Mid-morning, I tucked them in the closed clothes. My thinking was that the micro-environment would get fairly warm. I opened a couple and I was right. Despite the cold wind, once the sun came out, it was noticeably warmer inside than out.  Around 4pm, I covered them all with blankets, etc. to retain the heat. 

Although sorely tempted, I didn't check the temperatures after dark. I'm hoping that the inside temperatures were elevated significantly above today's ambient temperature, and that by covering them before they started to loose heat, they'll retain enough-- and loose heat slowly enough-- to keep the micro-environment above freezing. That's my thinking. I'll let you know tomorrow if I have lettuce or planters of mush.

Meanwhile, I started a fire to welcome Daughter C and Miss M home on this frigid Fall day.

There's a hole in this log. The hole is on fire.

 "Fire in the hole!" Miss M shouted.

In other significant Farm news, Mr. Big Food is done cutting for 2013. He put his records away after announcing that he'd done more cutting this year than last.

Now. The thought occurs that we're not going to be spending a significant amount of time outside for a couple of months.

What shall we do with our time?? With ourselves!! 

I'm sure we'll think of something. 

Stay tuned.

I wish you weren't so sensitive

Beautiful, isn't it? And tasty!

A FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 9 AM CST WEDNESDAY.
* TEMPERATURES: 25 TO 29 DEGREES EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING
* IMPACTS: CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION WILL BE KILLED. PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT OUTDOOR PETS FROM THE COLD.

Guess what I'm going to do this afternoon? 

Follow us to supper

Salad of four lettuces, peas, rat-tail radish, French breakfast radish, spinach, lemon balm.

Sauteed zucchini (three types), yellow squash (two), carrots (three), and Vidalia onions seasoned with fresh oregano.

That's it for the home grown component. But there was also BBQ chicken, and home made garlic-oregano bread on the grill paired with a bottle of French wine. That was followed by fresh fruit and homemade peach brandy ice cream, which was followed by cognac. And all of that was followed by a nice evening rain. 

Lettuce volunteer

Kagraner Sommer lettuce: "58 days — It is a good mid-season variety as it is slow to bolt in the summer heat. Originally from Germany, the heads are light green and medium sized. Each packet contains one gram, which is approximately 500 to 600 seeds." Seed from Victory Seeds.

Oakleaf lettuce: I've had one large packet of these seeds for years and they keep germinating!

Butterhead Buttercrunch lettuce: "65 days. Buttercrunch is a vigorous grower with a creamy yellow interior, buttery, flavor and tender texture. Small heads are perfect for a single-serve salad. Loves moist but not soggy soil. The compact size makes it a good container variety." Seed from Botanical Interests

Each spring, I plant my salad garden in the same raised planters. It's intense! As in, "intensive gardening"-- getting the most out of a given space: lettuce, celery, radishes, spinach, rat-tail radishes, fall radishes, cherry tomatoes, micro-greens, basil, oregano, garden cress, zinnias... . 

It's rained all day

and this little patch of lettuce couldn't be happier.

We'll have a salad of some thinnings for supper tonight. But I'm afraid the corn on the cob and the chicken will be baked, not grilled. 

~~

On the other hand, it's rained all day and the dogs couldn't be more unhappy. Come hell or high water-- and we are under a flash flood watch-- they will have to go to the pasture tomorrow. And that is my segue into the next (I hope) post.

For now, my camera, my truck and I will take a drive to town.