Friday, July 1, 2011

Seeley Summer Harvest


Now that we're beginning to harvest our first Summer salad mix at Seeley Farm, the many components that make it up, I am reminded of why we started this venture in the first place. Our vision was to grow diverse greens throughout all four seasons. So while our Spring mix contained baby sorrel leaves, cress, pea shoots and other damp-and-chill-loving greens, many of these crops have begun to bolt or go bitter in this early summer heat.

We're tilling up old beds and vigorously replanting them with heat-loving greens. Our Summer mix has greens like Purslane, New Zealand spinach, nasturtium and amaranth. We're experimenting with a small patch of malabar spinach, not a true spinach but a tropical vine with leaves resembling spinach. What results is a salad mix that's not just lettuce, but a composition of many flavors, textures and an overall nutrition powerhouse.

And we're already plotting our seed order for the Fall. I am imagining all the new greens varieties we can grow for the coming cool of Autumn, and Winter beyond.

But by far the most exciting arrival yet this summer is our budding artichoke plants. Growing artichokes is somewhat of an experiment for us this year, only our second year cultivating these thorny, foreboding thistles. It has been an unexpected relief that they are now producing what look to be healthy and happy chokes. We are so happy to be able to add this tasty addition to our host of local foods in Michigan, and are already scheming for acres and acres of artichokes for the coming growing seasons.....well, maybe just one .

1 comment:

  1. We're tilling up aged beds and vigorously replanting them with heat-loving greens. Our summer time combine has greens like Purslane.

    Do you know the new game of the Aion Kinah? And what is the difference between the Aion Kina and the former one? Is there any to get the Cheap Aion Gold, if you know about it, please tell me.

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