Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day of the radish toss and Best Saag Ever.

Good morning everyone!

Wednesday was a nice sunny day in the garden. We asked a lot of it. It provided a bounty and still is looking lush. Harvesting a bunch of red russian kale and swiss chard in the morning for a nice sauteed mixed greens filling for a tortilla wrap.

Our spinach was starting to bolt so we knew it had to be picked now while still useful. Next time planting spinach I will know to sow an entire bed of it to get multiple uses out of it before it puts in its two weeks or "Dear john" letters us. Also all the mustards we flowering. I'm surprised. I had believed mustards to be more hardy than that. I mean. We have heads of lettuce that are thriving. Perhaps it is due to them being covered somewhat by the other plants (kales and flowering mezunas) around them. Thus giving them filtered light.

The spinach came to 12.3 ounces while the mustard was over a pound! I think..... nearly 20 oz. V turned it into the best Saag (an Indian cooked greens dish, plenty of spices, onions, mustard, spinach) we have ever had. So flavorful. The most striking bit was that it wasn't bitter at all. When you purchase the ingredients at a supermarket it comes out nice but the greens can be somewhat bitter. The 100 foot indian dinner.... I can get used to this. She made a nice simple spiced potato dish side (Sad to say they are not yet potatoes from the yard) and heated up some tortillas to eat the saag with.

I was going to get a photo of it, however, it was already dished out and in the process of being eaten before I could snap one!

Already dished out Saag.
Yum!





















Yum! Right?!

Now the radish toss.... If anyone has ever played with lawn darts you'll get my drift. We have this 2 SF patch of radishes all growing mad together. Never bothered to thin them. They seem to be fighting it out amongst themselves and doing alright regardless. I figure it pushes them out of the dirt making them easier to pluck anyhow. We do not want them to become too old and grow woody. Eating radishes for me is a novelty. I do not eat many of them. But what to do when you wish to pull them but eh? I Know! You make a nice little competition out of it! Standing in the driveway. Picking the fattest one you can find. Grasp the leafy greens. Work on your tossing form. Mine looks remarkable like a bowling stride... and you lob it up into the air trying to have it come crashing down in the 2SF seed flat laid out in the middle of the grass 20 feet away. Why? Well because what else are you going to do with a bunch of radishes AND the basil in the box has yet to sprout up anyhow... So we have time. It turned out to be a great afternoon in the garden. By the end of it we tossed so many as to create two bunches worth of them. I ended up going to bed at near 5pm which is late for a third shifter. Luckily I got off at 3am today. ;)

Bunch of Lawn Darts/Radishes




















This is Cloud the Third Shift Man reminding you to be happy and play with your food or its going to play with you!

9 comments:

  1. I am not a big fan of radish either, but I do like them fermented in kimchi. Might be time for you to make a nice batch with those and a few other garden goodies.

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    Replies
    1. How do I go about making it? Wont I need to wait a few more weeks till the cabbages are all headed up and ready to go first? :) Do you have a yummy, fair straight forward vegetarian Kimchi recipe, Jane?

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    2. Here is the basic recipe:
      http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/2011/11/another-fall-ferment.html
      But you can use any veggie you have on hand. One of the best I made was 90% carrots and the rest radish and onion. You can ferment just about anything. And the brine after the fermenting is over is great to use in salad dressings. Hope you like it.

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  2. don't toss them - pickle them :) they taste very good pickled

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  3. You can find a great pickled radish recipe on Dave's most recent post at Happy Acres! Enjoy.

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