Unheard Of

 

A giant salad composed entirely of vegetables from my garden.  

All right, I hear you.  I put those in my blog all the time; it's no big deal.

But not on October 8th.  

This salad, from my garden, on October 8th?  

Crazy talk!

(This is northwestern Vermont, need I remind you?)

But it's true.  

In the salad we have:  baby spinach, microgreens (various mystery baby greens from a seed mix I planted in September), sprouted sunflower seeds that fell from the sunflowers I grew this summer, baby kale, baby Swiss chard, broccoli, carrots, red onions, tomatoes (there are now only THREE left from my summer pickings -- I'm stunned and thrilled that they've lasted this well), parsley, chervil; and believe it or not I found some blueberries on a bush that were still edible and delicious, and a great addition to the salad.  In order to gather the ingredients for the salad, I felt like quite the forager, and looking at my garden in its end-of-the-season state, I had my doubts that I'd end up with enough for a decent salad.  Au contraire!

We enjoyed this salad on Thursday with maple vinaigrette and a nice little piece of steak from a local farm. It was arguably even more fabulous than a salad in the dead of summer, given that it is such an unexpected treat for this time of year, and it was packed with the freshest of flavors, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals & phytochemicals. 

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Hey, maybe you'll spot me on the NYC Yarn Crawl this weekend.  At the very last minute, it turns out I am delivering Mr. Jefferies for visitation with his parents, and they are very busy, so I need to keep myself entertained in the city for the weekend.  Aw, darn.

Comments

[Kristen]

Salad, mmmmm! Salad!

[Carol]

Amazing! Maybe try a coldframe and get the same salad, same time next year?

[Judy]

This weekend, try to keep your hands to yourself.

It IS warm. The freeze is on our doorstep. Really.

[c]

What a beautiful salad. And, congrats on being able to see your grand dog's parents - what a treat. Safe travels!

[Leslie]

Two things:
1. The local farmer up the street had sweet corn when I went to (gasp) purchase tomatoes on Thursday. We have never had fresh corn in October but the rain delayed so many things. (We're in north central MA and corn's last gasp is normally right at Labor Day.)Yes, my five plants have yielded their last and something got at my late lettuce.

2. I hope Mr. J doesn't get all excited thinking he's back to stay with his mom and/or dad. I know he's smart, but does he understand long-term guardianship arrangements are now in effect?

[marianne]

Mmmmmercy, I'd eat that salad right now for breakfast, tis beautiful!
Have fun times this weekend!!!

[Joannah]

Let me add:
Mmmmmmmm!
Have fun in NYC this weekend.
Report back.

[sandy]

Excuse me for saying (and thereby being a wet blanket) BUT. If they are so busy WHEN will they spend time with Mr. J? I mean, I'm sure most of the point is for you to get away and do the yarn crawl, but I can't help but wonder. Have loads of fun. And don't worry about your salad greens while you are gone. I will take care of them. bwahhahahahah! LX

[Birdsong]

You are right... that is some kind of mean feat!

[lisa]

How WILL you entertain yourself, geesh! Can you sneak Mr. J around with you? Does he have a little knit travel bag for you to carry him in??

Way to go w/ the garden, especially the fall planting of greens. I keep saying we should do that... maybe next year. Garlic is getting planted soon for next year.

[Annie]

Meanwhile, here in SE MN, we have a smattering of snow on the ground, but I picked my last tomatoes yesterday. The chickens got into my fall lettuce bed, so at least they got to eat it. Grrr!

[Becky]

Norma, you are my gardening hero! Seriously. I truly aspire to have such beautiful produce. I have never seen a better looking salad. Have a great trip.

[Renee]

Have a great time at the Yarn Crawl. Should be a mud free zone. :)

[elizabeth a airhart]

a trip to ny means only one thing
mr jeffries is takeing olive to lunch

have fun

[Kym]

Yet another beautiful Still Life with Vegetables! Yum! And have a grand time at the Yarn Crawl -- just try not to get into any trouble! ;^)

[JessaLu]

Hope you're having lots of fun buying up all the yarn in NYC ;o)

[Cookie]

It really is good to be you. I hope you're having a wonderful time at the Crawl while Mr. J gets to spend some time with his parents.

& Congrats on the move! I'm happy to see that you've survived with things mostly intact and limited weirdness. I was really worried about the weirdness level, ya know. xo

[Carrie K]

Wow, even our garden has bit the compost bin. Looks good!

I hope you can find enough to entertain you. Such a tragedy. :)

[ringer]

Oh, I do hope you'll tell us about the Yarn Crawl... wish I were there.

[minnie]

i lost allof my garden today because it SNOWED 5 FREAKING INCHES. it NEVER snows this early here. i covered everything last night becauseof freeze warnings, and the snowmade everything so wet, it all froze anyway. there goesmy home-made pesto idea!

*grumbles and stompsaround a bit*

[Trista]

Yum! I love salad and that one is perfection. Have fun on the yarn crawl and post the goodies!

[gayle]

The only things still battling on in our garden are the Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and Swiss chard. Too many hard freezes, too close together...