Experiments

This year I am trying a few new, to me, winter vegetables. I bought Napa cabbage seedlings, planted in one of my 4x4 raised beds, it survived Hurricane Florence and prospered. It is magnificent and very tasty. I bought shallot bulbs and they are up and doing well.
Now for the one that excites me most: fava beans. I have meant to grow them for years but, not sure exactly how to grow and tend them, did not buy seeds. This year I watched some videos did some reading and bought seeds. It took a lot of self discipline to wait and plant them late Fall but I did it. Doubting they would come up I pretty much forgot to check them but when I did there they were! Fifteen of the sixteen seeds germinated and are producing leaves. They will bear in early Spring if all goes well.
In other news, we have just a few more broccoli heads to harvest, mustard is still producing, the kale is beautiful, radishes are thriving under cover as are lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard and (gasp) spinach. We have abundant parsley this year. I gave away parsley seed heads at a regional Master Gardener event and was advised to rub the seeds off the seed head without covering with soil. I tried it and now have a now have a nice bed of parsley! I will never tease off the seeds again...

The broad bean experiment begins. 

Broccoli

Broccoli. The ubiquitous brassica we take for granted is truly a thing of beauty. In truth, I think all brassicas are pretty. I did not grow up eating from this category of food at all. Rarely were they served, not even the most Southern of them all, king collard. Food for the poor, I had no idea how to cook them when I finally grew them. A friend explained the process and I read recipes to come up with a method.

Back to broccoli: I microwave for less than three minutes in a covered dish with a splash of water. Squeeze on lemon juice and that is it! Food for the gods. 

Now the greens: Collards and turnips are strong stuff so I add in other greens-kale, mustard, rutabaga-to tame them a bit. A tip; a grating of nutmeg rounds out the flavor.
For those who buy their greens: Use kale for Caesar Salad following the America's Test Kitchen recipe. No kale rubbing required. There is a trick. Soak the torn greens in 110 degree water to tame the sharp notes of the green.
Saluda!

Which is the fairest of them all? It is a hard call. (Curly kale)

An aside: My personal favorite is mustard. Every year I let a few plants go to seed and save them for the next year. As they bloom the bees, all types, harvest the pollen. Bees love brassica blossoms! Also, the flowers are quite tasty in salads, especially mustard which adds a spicy, bright yellow kick.    

Spinach!

I planted spinach multiple times this season. There were plants before Hurricane Florence, and her cousin Michael, but they literally evaporated sometime while we were busy preparing, recovering, and putting things right. I tried again. Nothing. It was too hot, too wet, too humid, too dry for weeks after the storms. One last go, I thought. What have I got to lose, I thought. Nothing, I thought. So, two week ago when the days were warmish and the nights outright cold I planted again. Then I covered my raised beds (Agribon 19) of lettuce and Swiss chard and assumed the worst. Yesterday I uncovered to check the lettuce and...behold! the spinach has germinated and seed leaves have emerged. I could only laugh. I think I've found the right formula. Warm-ish soil, days in the 60's, and cold nights under cover. Forget the planting guides. They were right before climate weirding but our epic storms have shown me anything goes.

Look closely. Radish to the left of me, lettuce to the right, here I am...

Also, Charles Dowding (No Dig guru) informs in his video on spinach that Spring plantings are forced to send up flowers when the days get longer and warm. explaining my Spring planting failures. In his climate, which is much cooler than ours, he over-winters seedlings which then produce when the days lengthen and the air warms. Now I understand my failures. These babies will probably not produce until months from now. I can wait.  We've got kale! :)

Peppers

We picked a peck and more of bell peppers this year. They came off steadily. Keeping well in the fridge we ate them every few days, many ways but they have come to the end of it's run with these cool nights. I had Scott take a photo of me with the largest, most productive pepper yesterday. It is almost as tall as me. Fun.

All the Fall and Winter plants are perking right along with rains coming every few days. They need little tending-no weeds, no watering, no bugs, no covering. Broccoli is starting to head. Kale is pretty. Brussels sprouts are growing. Parsley is flat out amazing. I followed a tip from an ag extension agent who recommended I just rub the seeds from a seed head and scratch them into the soil. Ka-ching! I think they all germinated and they all look good. I do really like parsley. A season without parsley is really sad to me-something I learned the hard way.