2 Pounds Harvested, 98 to Go

I finally made it down to the Community Garden this weekend. I was greeted by a row of bright daffodils, a welcome site in a relatively bare plot. Flowers in a vegetable garden?  Definitely!  As the season progresses, my plot will be dotted with the bright oranges of calendula and nasturtium, and the delicate white of buckwheat flowers.  Flowers are nice for esthetics, but they also perform an important function: attracting beneficial insects, such as lacewings, ladybugs, and bees.  These insects not only act as pollinators, but feed on other insects which like to eat our crops.  Read more about beneficial insects as a method of organic pest control.

 

Along with the daffodils, I was also delighted to find food ready to harvest. My first harvest of the season resulted in  2 pounds of leeks and collards.  There is a joy in harvesting a crop that survives the New England winter – as the leeks did.  What sturdy plants to remain unharmed by subzero temperatures and harsh winds.  The collards are the star of the garden in spring, unlike last summer when they stood in company of juicy ripe tomatoes and giant swiss chard.  So I harvested, weighed, and hunted for recipes.  In my experience, I’ve found that if produce goes straight into the refrigerator, it is more likely stay there until it is ready to be worm food.  So, as tired as I was from an afternoon gardening, no rest until the harvest was processed.  The leeks were easy – a standard improvised leek and potato soup – with chicken broth, cream and butter – a 5-ingredient recipe with lots of flavor.   For the collards, an interesting recipe with pancetta, mustard and vinegar.  I might just be planting more collards this season.

Each garden season has its gifts and challenges.  Spring is a season that shouts 'Now!'  Timing is everything, and the more we become attuned to the rapid changes in temperature and precipitation, the better conditions we can provide for our seedlings.  Rapid changes affect harvest as well.  One day the collard leaves are perfect to pick, wait 2 days and the plant has bolted, putting energy into a flower head.  No procrastinating on picking once you see those tiny flower heads appearing - unless of course it's broccoli.

It’s been a rough week in Boston – tragic and surreal.  I think that many of us find comfort in the activities which lend a sense of normalcy to our days.  For me, it is in the ordinary acts of tilling the soil and planting seeds.  Early spring harvests are a lovely reminder of what can grow from the tiniest of seeds, given sun, water, and nurturance.  In the midst of this season of hope and possibility, a horrible event occurred in this city.  Let us hope for an end to bombings everywhere.  Let us a hope for a world in which people do not lose their loved ones to such acts of violence.  Let us each do the hard work of cultivating understanding and compassion.