2012 Lineup - The Greens

So I ordered all of my seeds by mail from the 2012 Burpee catalog, and would love to use their images but they seem to have them blocked.  Instead I will attempt to add pictures of the varieties I chose from Burpee using Google to find them.  Where this is not possible a description will have to suffice. All pictures used will have a written credit with a link to their source, and if this is to a rival seed company, well, perhaps Burpee could have thought this out better.

By far my favorite bale from Straw Bale Garden 2011 was the one planted with a Mesclun blend of greens. This packet consisted of a mix of 5 different varieties of greens suitable for salad or saute.  I planted the entire packet on one prepared bale and pulled the greens for salad to thin them out as they grew.  In retrospect I would have rather had the greens separate for easier harvesting and I could have spread the seeds a little more thinly to allow for a duplicate application after the first plants went to seed; both of these observations will be incorporated in to the execution of Straw Bale Garden 2012.

The following are the greens I ordered from Burpee this year, along with a short description and notes on how they will be arranged in the garden.  Hopefully we will have a plentiful harvest as a base for many great salads in 2012.

Arugula

Rocket Arugula

Picture Credit: ZW Horticultural Co, Ltd

This was the star of last year's garden as part of a Musclun blend I planted in one bale.  The peppery flavor is amazing and makes any salad "pop" though it loses a lot of flavor when cooked.  I used it to make a pesto with pasta as well.  I am hoping that by planting both bales 1&2 with just arugula that I will have an overabundance in the kitchen.

Salad Fresh Cutting Mix


I'm not going to try to find pictures of all of the components that make up this Mesclun blend of greens.  It sounds like it will be pretty close to the same thing I planted last year with the addition of the endive.  The description from Burpee is as follows:

For this feast of summer greens, we chose our absolute favorite varieties.  Mix them up for delicious, fresh adventures in salad.  Includes piquant arugula, tangy and nutty endive and radicchio, crisp and sweet red and bright green lettuces, and sharp and spicy mustard.

The mix will no doubt include the same Rocket arugula as described above and I hope to use these leaves to round-out garden salads.  Being stingy with this seed packet might give me something to plant later when space becomes available as well.  This will be in bales 3&4 to start with at least.

Tendergreen Mustard

Tendergreen Mustard

Picture Credit: backdoorgardener.com

This is the exact image from the Burpee catalog.  Their description is as follows:

HEIRLOOM.  One of the mildest mustards, the leaves are smooth and make a fine spinach substitute, especially in the fall.  Seeds germinate and grow quickly in late summer heat, and mature to tender sweetness in cool weather.

I plan to use this late in the season to replant the bales that had other greens earlier in the year.  We love spinach around here, using it in salads and the Dutch favorite "aardappels an spinace" where it is boiled and mashed with potatoes.  Not having a suitable late-season fill in crop last year was a major shortcoming that I plan to rectify in 2012 and this will fill in gaps in the garden come late summer.

Burpee's Microgreens

Random shot of Microgreens

Picture Credit: About.com Gardening 

This is something that I find very intriguing.  I'll turn to About.com for a great description:

Remember when sprouts were all the rage?  Well here's something just as nutritious and you don't have to change the water every day.  Microgreens.
I'd been noticing microgreens getting a lot of attention recently.  Microgreens are the tiny shoots of various greens, herbs,edible flowers and leafy vegetables.  The Cook's Microgreens Mix pictured here contains beets, broccoli, kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage and radish.  You sow them every 5 - 10 days and snip them off when they reach an inch or two high.

I can't wait to find out what kind of flavors this will add to a salad, not to mention the micro-nutrient boost promised by such a mix of fine edibles.  This will probably only last through May in bales 9&10, so other crops have been planned for later in the season.

"Spring" Raab

"Spring" Raab

Picture Credit: Gaea's Gate Produce

This is a crop that maybe stretches the definition of a "green" but since it doesn't fit nicely under any other catagory, here it is.  I was first exposed to this broccoli-like produce as a member of a CSA where it was grown.  It has a wonderful broccoli flavor, with little flowering heads in bunches of leaves.  The whole top part of the plant is edible, leaves and all, and I prefer it wilted in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with toasted almonds.  Yum!

Sauteed Raab

Picture Credit: finecooking.com

In future posts I will describe what other crops I have planned for the garden.  Now I must go prepare dinner because this post made me hungry!