The Salad Lady Commeth
My community garden is still producing spinach & lettuce. I'm absolutely floored. Every time I go, I keep expecting to find frozen hulks, but they are still going strong. So every time I pick like its going to be my last. Generally, I fill a plastic grocery bag. Then I have way too much. So I'm pawning off greens on everyone I know.
Not bad when you consider the source. The community garden people built 3 new beds very late in the season. The organizer and I were wondering what to do when we hit on the idea of planting short season greens like spinach and lettuce (generally done in the spring). This was to be an experiment. We didn't know what was going to happen. We reasoned these had the best chance of producing *something, anything*. Cornell Coop Extension had given us tons of seeds that weren't even going to be as good next year. There was no investment other than some time to plant and water. So we emptied those packets. Now, its the middle of December, we've had a snowstorm and SEVERAL overnight frosts and I've still got enough salad to keep the entire Popeye family happy.
I just went to a movie party; it was wonderful. Kids watched Polar Express and the adults talked & drank "Silent Night Martinis". I brought a salad. Since I still have a whole other salads worth of greens at home, I gave the leftover salad to the hostess. I'm crossing my fingers that there is no violent snowstorm between now and Sunday when its going to be a Christmas Party - and I'm bringing the salad.
What am I saying? We already had a violent snowstorm in October and the spinach is still there. Crazy!
Should you find yourself with a plethora of greens and need to save them for a few days: try this method perfected by my mother: The Salad Queen. It will keep lettuce clean and ready to go for 4-5 days.
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*Silent Night Martinis are OJ, coconut milk, cranberry/pomegranate juice & a bit of Malibu. The recipe calls for pomegranate, but the hostess subbed cranberry and it still was very nice. I had 2.
Not bad when you consider the source. The community garden people built 3 new beds very late in the season. The organizer and I were wondering what to do when we hit on the idea of planting short season greens like spinach and lettuce (generally done in the spring). This was to be an experiment. We didn't know what was going to happen. We reasoned these had the best chance of producing *something, anything*. Cornell Coop Extension had given us tons of seeds that weren't even going to be as good next year. There was no investment other than some time to plant and water. So we emptied those packets. Now, its the middle of December, we've had a snowstorm and SEVERAL overnight frosts and I've still got enough salad to keep the entire Popeye family happy.
I just went to a movie party; it was wonderful. Kids watched Polar Express and the adults talked & drank "Silent Night Martinis". I brought a salad. Since I still have a whole other salads worth of greens at home, I gave the leftover salad to the hostess. I'm crossing my fingers that there is no violent snowstorm between now and Sunday when its going to be a Christmas Party - and I'm bringing the salad.
What am I saying? We already had a violent snowstorm in October and the spinach is still there. Crazy!
Should you find yourself with a plethora of greens and need to save them for a few days: try this method perfected by my mother: The Salad Queen. It will keep lettuce clean and ready to go for 4-5 days.
- Empty sink & scrub clean.
- If your greens were purchased in a store, skip to #3. For "dirty" greens: place head of lettuce or loose leaves in sink and spray off to remove the worst of the dirt. I generally pile everything on one side, pick up handfuls, spray and move it to the clean side. Repeat this process at least 2x.
- Fill the sink with enough cool water for the greens to float. Any remaining dirt will sink to the bottom.
- Gently scoop up small handfuls of leaves, remove any unpleasant bits (roots, maple seeds, wilted edges) and put into a salad spinner.
- Spin salad twice. Empty water back into the sink and put the dried leaves into a clean dry hand towel or paper towels, preferably in a single layer.(repeat batches as necessary - if you make the salad spinner too full, the leaves wont dry as nicely) There will still be a tiny bit of moisture still clinging to the leaves. This is ok! The dampness goes into the dry towel and keeps everything at just the right level of freshness. I like to use fabric, my mother uses paper.
- Roll up the towel and put into a plastic bag (newspaper bags are just the right size and shape). Store in the crisper drawer. Dont let it get banged about by the potatoes. Let it rest on top of other other veggies you have in there.
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*Silent Night Martinis are OJ, coconut milk, cranberry/pomegranate juice & a bit of Malibu. The recipe calls for pomegranate, but the hostess subbed cranberry and it still was very nice. I had 2.