In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

Apr 5

Apr 5 In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

The first purple artichoke of the year was ready to harvest last week. It is likely the heirloom ‘Violetta Di Chioggia’ from Northern Italy. The thorns on my plant are wicked but I’ve read they are variable. The artichoke is incredibly tender and my husband and I think it has the best flavor of all artichokes. We are native Californians and have been eating artichokes since childhood.

These large broccoli side shoots signal the end to the broccoli harvest. Last week I pulled two of the remaining plants and sent most of them with a friend for her four rabbits.

The Tuscan kale is thriving and I pinched out the kale flowers this week and added them to a salad.

The ‘Dark Red Lollo Rossa’ continues to produce the ruffled leaves with the chartreuse stems. It a gem for many reasons and I did a whole post on it. Dark Red Lollo Rossa Lettuce

Here’s the start of a lunch salad with lettuce, kale, arugula and kale flowers.

Neighbors know of the abundance of my celery and regularly ask for it. These days I usually leave it in the mailbox for pick up as in last week’s photo.

Navel oranges still are the fruit of the month and will be for weeks ahead. We give them away by the dozen and still have at least a hundred on the tree. I made 24 jars of orange marmalade last week. Unfortunately, that was all I could do with the ten pounds of sugar on hand. I usually make about 75 jars each season for gifts to family and friends, but sugar may be the limiting reagent.

This would have likely been the Palm Sunday bouquet for the entry at church. Instead, we enjoy it at our dining room table. The eleagnus trimmings seemed too lovely to toss in the green bin and the alstroemeria grows nearby. Some things just go together as I often say. We look for small pleasures in these days.

You may enjoy seeing what other garden bloggers harvested last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

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