I've mentioned that it wasn't a banner year for growing vegetables, but I did make some effort at an autumn garden. We've had a couple of nights down in the twenties and this afternoon I went to have a look at the state of things, and to gather some salad for dinner.
The greens don't seem to mind the chill. There was a patch of mustard and mesclun mix that went to seed and since I had no particular need of those few square feet, I never pulled it out. The lettuce, once it had bolted got intensely bitter, but the mustard greens just got more mustardy and other greens also deepened into interesting flavors.
Quite a number of the plants in that tangle seem to have caught a second wind and are still putting out leaves. They are much more vigorous actually than the greens that I planted in August for the autumn. Better established with some reserves to spend on foliage even in November's declining sun.
I assumed these would be tough, but not at all - they're substantial, but not stringy. And no need for salad dressing with these. I believe I'm going to make the bed of gone-to-seed greens a staple of the autumn garden.
Monica went off the Nature Center's yearly fundraising gala, to offer moral - if not financial - support and to grace the happening with her presence. Nico was lobbying for a box of "Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese" for supper. I can sympathize with some mid-November comfort food. Most of these greens were chopped up and folded into my portion of the Mac & Cheese, transforming it from typical kids' fare into something more pungent and interesting and satisfying.
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