Friday Favorite: ‘Roxy’ Lettuce
I’ve grown tons of different kinds of lettuce in my garden, probably around 30-40 different varieties. I’m always trying new ones because I haven’t found that perfect lettuce yet – until now. Meet ‘Roxy’ lettuce, voted by our taste buds as the best lettuce I’ve ever grown. Two years ago, I purchased tiny head of ‘Roxy’ at my farmers market – I knew I had to grow it in my own garden. This year, I finally ordered seed from High Mowing. I started seed in mid-May and transplanted them to the garden in mid-June.
Why is this lettuce voted best tasting? Because it’s crisp yet tender. The leaves have great structure in a salad, it’s a butterhead lettuce but has the great crunch of romaine. It holds dressing well, without becoming slimy like a leaf lettuce often does. It holds it’s own in a salad with few topping or many toppings. When Mr Chiots ate his first bite of this lettuce, he said “This would be great on a burger”.
Another reason to love this lettuce is that it’s very slow to bolt, even with some hot weather. We had temperatures in the high 80’s for almost a week when this lettuce was almost mature, not a hint of bitterness and no bolting yet. The description says that this lettuce “holds for a long time in the field”. It certainly does, I’ll be keeping a keen eye on it, but so far it’s nice because there’s not as much need to succession plant if the heads keep so well in the garden.
Do you have a favorite lettuce that you grow?
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The 5×5 Jungle
I don’t know about your garden, but mine is a jungle. The zucchini plants have taken over, you can hardly see the sides of the raised bed. I’m not quite sure how I ended up with 3, my plan only included 2. They started producing fruit a few weeks ago and we’ve been enjoying then sautéed for breakfast.
The beans are just ready to pick and they’re quite prolific. It’s amazing how many beans you get from a small patch! The scallions aren’t ready just yet, but the marigolds are blooming.
All-in-all, I’m amazed at how much we’ve already eaten from this tiny garden and I haven’t picked a bean yet. I certainly hope all new gardeners are harvesting as much delicious food as I am.
What’s your favorite way to eat zucchini?
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The Golden Hour
In the garden evening light is usually the best of the day, and the range of pleasure to be had from colour, scent and particularly birdsong is dramatic.
Monty Don – The Ivington Diaries
I was reading this book while sitting in the waiting room at the dentist yesterday. This line in particular struck me, these are my thoughts exactly! During evening light, what I call “the golden hour” you’ll often find me in the garden taking photos or walking around. In my mind, there is really no better time to see a garden or take a photo. The light softens from the harshness it had at noon and everything is bathed in a golden glow.
I’m not the only one that enjoys this hour, it seems like the birds and dragonflies do as well. It’s probably not the light, but the mosquitos that draw them out. Of course the mosquitoes at times chase me back into the house!
What’s your favorite time to walk around the garden?
I’ll be posting about the 5×5 Challenge tomorrow, I was out all day and didn’t have enough daylight when I arrived home to take photos for my post.
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Book Review: Eating on the Wild Side
A few months ago I was contacted by the publisher about reviewing Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health. Since I’m very keen on growing my own food and eating healthfully, I figured it would a perfect book for me.
After reading it, I really like this book and heartily recommend this book to all gardeners who are interested in growing the healthiest edibles. Even if you’re not a gardener you will find great advice in this book. Each chapter focuses on a different type of vegetable (like alliums, tomatoes, potatoes, etc). After explaining the history of each vegetable group, the author gives advice on how to choose the healthiest option of each whether you’re growing it or buying it. For example, when it comes to lettuce, the dark red varieties contain the most antioxidants. She also recommends enjoying greens that have a peppery taste or a slight bitterness, like radicchio and arugula. Since Jo is a gardener, recommendations for the most healthful varieties to grow in your garden are included in every chapter, which is in my opinion extremely valuable. She even includes options to look for at the supermarket so you can maximize your grocery dollars by selecting the most nutrient dense vegetables.
I also corresponded a little with the author. She sent me some beautiful photos of her garden in Seattle to share with you. Her gardens overlook Puget Sound and Mt Rainier, talk about a great view while gardening!
What I love about the recommendations in this book is that not only are the vegetables healthier, they’re stunning! Why wouldn’t you want to add these healthy, colorful vegetables to your garden?
What’s your favorite darkly colored vegetable?
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Cultivate Simple 40: Stew 3.0
This week we’re answering reader questions and give an update about what’s going on around the run.
BACKUP is the word of the day. Use Dropbox for backup.
Dropbox – Get Susy some bonus space
- Keep files in sync on multiple computers (home to work)
- Backup files to the cloud
- Share folders and files (even large files)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:08 — 59.2MB)
