First Harvest

The lettuce and spinach have arrived! After much watering and weeding, I am harvesting a bunch of lettuce and spinach. The cooler temperatures here in Chicagoland have been friendly to the leafy vegetables, although the tomatoes and peppers aren't growing much. From seedlings, I planted butter crunch and romaine lettuce. From seeds I planted Olymipa Hybrid spinach, Bloomsdale Longstanding spinach, Prizehead lettuce, Green Curled endive, Ruby lettuce, Roasanna chicory, Tendergreen mustard spinach, and Roquette. Even though the spinach was planted from seed, it has thrived and was the first harvest. Thinning also made a huge difference with the spinach, it didn't begin thriving until each plant had about 8 inches of room.

I am thrilled with how crisp everything is compared to the store bought vegetables. The salads are outstanding. The picture is a smallhead of the butter crunch surrounded by some romaine and spinach.

Corinne