A January Harvest from My Vegetable Greenhouse
Delicious, organic greens are ready for picking in my vegetable greenhouse.
My outdoor garden beds are bare, but there are lots of fresh, delicious vegetables thriving inside my special vegetable greenhouse tucked behind my Equipment Barn. My gardeners, Ryan and Brian, do a great job with succession planting and keeping the produce coming. This process involves following one crop with another in order to maximize a garden's yield. Whenever I plan a visit to see my daughter and grandchildren, I try to bring them lots of fresh vegetables - on this day, we harvested many wonderful greens.
Enjoy these photos.
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- There’s nothing like the taste of fresh organic vegetables from one’s own garden. During the winter months, my gardeners keep a good eye on this vegetable greenhouse – temperatures are monitored and the beds are kept clean and weed-free. Most of the energy comes from the sun through the big windows, which can be programmed to open for ventilation or cooling when needed. I am so fortunate to have this structure, so I can enjoy fresh greens all year long, especially during this pandemic, when it is safer to be at home.
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- We built 16 of these wooden garden boxes to fit the entire length and width of the space. Raised bed gardening allows good drainage, prevents soil compaction, and provides protection for those plants that may otherwise get trampled.
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- In one bed are these beautiful growing turnips. When harvesting, I always gently remove the surrounding earth first to see if the vegetables are big enough. If not, I push the soil back into place. These turnips look perfect. I picked a good batch.
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- The smallest one on the right is an example of one that needs more time. Turnips are smooth flat, round and white vegetables that mature early and are best harvested young – when they are up to two inches in diameter. The flavor is sweet and fruity, and the texture is crisp and tender. Both the root and the leaves of the turnip are edible. The leaves have a taste similar to mustard greens but with a less intense spicy flavor.
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- The Swiss chard stalk colors can be seen through the leaves. They are so vibrant with stems of red, yellow, rose, gold, and white. Chard has very nutritious leaves making it a popular addition to healthful diets. Swiss chard is part of the goosefoot family – aptly named because the leaves resemble a goose’s foot.
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- Here are some of the bright yellow Swiss chard stems.
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- I asked Enma to harvest lots of Swiss chard for my daughter. The most common method for picking is to cut off the outer leaves about two inches above the ground while they are young, tender, and about eight to 12 inches long. Older leaves are often stripped off the plants and discarded to allow the young leaves to continue to grow.
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- In this bed – beets. Beets are sweet and tender – and one of the healthiest foods. Beets contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.
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- Beet stems are also quite colorful in deep red.
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- All the greens are looking fantastic this season. Here’s our bed of parsley. Parsley is a flowering plant native to the Mediterranean. It derives its name from the Greek word meaning “rock celery.” It is a biennial plant that will return to the garden year after year once it is established.
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- I also cut a lot of parsley for my family.
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- Next, I picked lots of wonderful radishes. The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, and mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable.
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- In this bed, rows of endives – vegetables belonging to the genus Cichorium. Species include Cichorium endivia, Cichorium pumilum, and Cichorium intybus. Common chicory includes types such as radicchio, puntarelle, and Belgian endive.
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- All our vegetables are planted at different times as part of succession planting, a practice of seeding crops at intervals of seven to 21 days in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season. I am a big fan of succession planting. This dramatically increases a garden’s yield, while also improving produce quality.
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- Kale is related to cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts. There are many different types of kale – the leaves can be green or purple in color, and have either smooth or curly shapes.
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- We harvest a lot of spinach all year long – I use it for my daily green juice. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2.
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- Here’s Brian tending the beds. I make sure everyone on the crew continues to practice safe distancing and masking during this challenging time.
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- The frilly fronds of frisee are bitter with a bit of crunch, which adds dimension and texture to both salads and sandwiches.
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- And everyone knows I love fresh lettuce. It’s a real treat to have lettuce like this through the year. Butter lettuce is a type of lettuce that includes Bibb lettuce and Boston lettuce. It’s known for loose, round-shaped heads of tender, sweet leaves and a mild flavor.
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- ‘Red Cross’ lettuce has large, fancy, bright heads that are suitable for spring, summer, and fall crops.
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- It was a good harvest, and look – still so much growing in the garden beds. Very little goes to waste as these vegetables taste so pure and delicious and are a joy to eat! I can’t wait to share them with my family.
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