In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

Even as April wanes, my winter garden has not. March brought late season rains and April has been cool. None of my leaf crops have bolted and there are no aphids on the kale. Celery, shaded by massive dill plants continues longer than usual, though somewhat strong and more suitable for cooking.

I gathered these elements for a lunch salad one day last week: Rosaine lettuce, celery, purple carrots, radish, arugula, kale, dill and violas topped with a simple vinegarette.

Before a visit yesterday, my African friend requested kale and spinach and with the bounty, I was eager to share.

I grow chard primarily for a friend who is especially fond of it. She accepted a massive bouquet of it last week. I used some of the orange stemmed leaves for a soup made with my Old Indian Woman (Buckeye) beans harvested last fall and garden carrots. Calendula petals, pistachios and a drizzle of olive oil top the soup.

A final batch side shoots showed up on a stump of a broccoli plant during the weeks I was on vacation.

Away for over two weeks, I came home to an explosion of color in the garden. All of the flowers are from the vegetable garden except the Julia Child roses. This was Sunday’s church entry bouquet.

Check the What I’m Planting Now page as I start seeds for the warm season garden. Then head to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Happy Acres blog and see what garden bloggers around the world harvested last week.

To leave a comment, click on “Leave a comment/Show comments,” enter the comment, then insert your name. Finally, click on “Comment as Guest” to post comment.