Saturday, July 3, 2010

In Today's Garden

Leaf lettuce (Redfire)

I'd hesitated to grow lettuce before, because I figured rabbits or some other critters would hassle the plants and the whole thing just wouldn't be worth it. But I decided to give it a shot this year, in part because I haven't seen any rabbits around for quite a while.

I'm very glad I did.

This is one of the last two mature heads in the garden at the moment, though I've got some seedlings that'll be grown and ready to pick in a few weeks. I've also got some smaller seedlings that are about two weeks behind those, along with some arugula.

Crockett says to plant lettuce seedlings in the nursery bed about every ten days, to have a ready supply that can fill the gaps as the mature heads get picked, so I'm trying that approach. We do love our salads, the Little Woman and me. I also plan to build a hoop house over the salad bed later in the season, to see if I can extend the growing season for these crops further out into Autumn.

The Little Woman likes lots of different ingredients and bottled dressing in her salad, but I prefer a bowl based on nothing but leaves, dressed with a touch of really good olive oil and some of the kind of apple cider that's got sediment in the bottom. I like the brand that's got a picture of the lady wearing a funny hat on the label. This prejudice dates back to the only cooking course I took many years ago, where the instructor made clear, "I don't want to see any crunchies in these salads, just lots of leafy greens!"

I was also introduced to Molly Katzen's original Moosewood Cookbook at about the same time, and was taken by her simple dogma: use a wooden bowl, rub it with a clove of garlic, add freshly washed greens, then toss lightly with the serial addition of oil, vinegar, fresh herbs, and salt. I don't use the salt, because it makes the greens wilt quickly, though I sometimes like to lightly salt them once in my plate.

I've also taken to mixing up a separate salad composed entirely of crunchies, like diced radish, zucchini, blanched green beans, chopped nuts, onion, etc. This mixture is also dressed with oil and vinegar, but I also add a touch of equal parts salt and sugar, finely minced ginger, and other ingredients to make the whole thing a little more complicated.

That's how the Little Woman and I each get what we want, which is also the not-so-secret to 29 years of the endless series of compromises know as marriage. Her gift to me for our 25th was a beautiful wooden bowl for our salads, and a pair of hand-carved tiger maple wooden spoons for tossing.

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