Harvest Monday - 12th May 2014

By Mwillis
My garden is filling up with veg, but there is still not much available to harvest.

We have had a few more radishes, though they are the last ones of my early rows and therefore not the best specimens.

As you can see, most of them have been nibbled at least to some extent by the slugs:

That doesn't stop us eating them though. A good wash and a rinse in salty water makes sure there is no nastiness left on them!

We have also had a small but steady supply of Asparagus. My few plants never produce anything remotely approaching a glut, but there have definitely been more spears to harvest this year - which is only fair since I have done everything I can think of to maximise the yield. I applied fertiliser not only last Autumn, but also again this Spring, I have carefully removed all weeds from the bed, and I have assiduously watered it during any dry spells we have had. Last year I threatened to remove the Asparagus if it didn't improve, so I think I will declare a "Stay of Execution" and keep it at least for one more year.
I am conducting an experiment concerning storing Asparagus spears once they have been cut. Since I seldom manage to harvest more than a couple of spears at a time I store them up until I have enough to make a viable serving for the two of us. Normally I keep them in the fridge in a "Stayfresh" bag, but right now I am trying this:

It is a container designed for storing herbs. The bottom part is filled with water. I suppose the stopper in the top serves to maintain the right level of humidity. We normally use this device for storing Watercress, in which role it is very effective, so I hope it will be just as good for the Asparagus.
This week I harvested the first of my lettuces. Well, not whole lettuces, just some leaves from several.

These are leaves from each of the three types of the Sarah Raven "Best Winter Lettuce Mix".

A nice contrast of colours, shapes and textures, I think.

I'm being very disciplined about my successional sowing this year, so I have more lettuces (and Endives) on the go already, at two different stages:
This is my entry for Harvest Monday, hosted as ever on Daphne's Dandelions, so why not stop by and see what some other people have harvested this past week...?