Spring Greens

Oh, the wonders of a greenhouse! The Urban Farm has a pretty simple, plastic greenhouse that has been keeping me well-fed for the past month. This lovely photo is an abundant harvest from a couple weeks ago. Today we hauled out about twenty pounds of these fabulous greens.

What we are looking at includes, starting at the top left and working clockwise, a) Romaine lettuce, b) arugula also called rocket, c) red spinach, d) baby pok choi, e) edible arugula flowers and f) butter lettuce. All good cold-weather crops and all are ready to be direct sowed outside now. The pok choi we harvested was bolting in there! Hard to believe It’s already time for the greenhouse to start making way for warmer food crops.

If you don’t have a greenhouse, you can still get a head start on the season by using a cloche over sensitive plants or placing row covers over your beds. Last year I managed to plant things out about a month earlier than normal with this method. It kept them just warm enough to thrive.

I have been preparing the greens a few different ways, mostly steaming or sauteing or a combination of both. The red spinach variety is my favorite and I prefer to just simple saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s so good on its own. The stems are very nutritious and I usually throw those in first to cook for a few minutes before adding the leaves. I mix it up with a dash of maple syrup for something sweet or lemon juice and ginger when I want something more invigorating.

There is plenty to keep us busy in the garden right now and these spring greens are definitely keeping my iron up! Hope you are munching on something fabulous from the garden as well.