I was out planting the spring garden today and had no plans on harvesting anything. However, I noticed that some of my turnip plants had started to bolt. So I decided to go ahead and harvest the rest of the turnip greens before I lost them as well. I grow turnips for the tops; not the bulbs.
I ended up with a pot full of turnip greens; which is about $5 worth. Not bad; but I definitely need to figure out how to grow more.
I then went over to the herb garden and noticed that several things could use a good haircut. The rosemary and sage could use a nice trimming.
I trimmed the rosemary, but left the sage alone because ….
…. its about to bloom! I can’t wait to see it.
The cilantro was in bad need of a haircut. It is in full flower, so I need to figure out if its any good after it has flowered. I gave it a good trimming anyway. Here it is before the trimming:
The chives and thyme aren’t too out of control; but I decided to trim them also.
Here’s what I ended up with:
rosemary
thyme; lemon thyme; chives
parsley
and the flowering cilantro.
I measure my herbs after they have been dried; which is occurring as I type this. I did leave some of the flowering cilantro in the herb garden to reseed itself and for coriander seed.
I find coriander dies after it has finished flowering. Occasionally it puts on some more green leaves if I trim the flower heads but in my experience not that many. But it may well like your climate better than mine.
ReplyDeleteI did some looking on google and found that cilantro leaves lose their flavor once it flowers. I noticed that the smell wasn't as strong as it usually is, so I think I may have waited too late. A few leaves still had a smell, so I'll keep those and toss the rest.
DeleteIt will die back to the ground in the next few weeks and should reappear in late summer.
Very informative.
ReplyDeleteI just lovvveee turnip greens!
My favorite! With cornbread :). I harvested quite a bit last fall, but we have eaten all of that. I need to learn to plant and grow it so that I have get two pots a week: one to eat and one to freeze....YUMMY!
DeleteLook at all those wonderful herbs. Sadly I lost one of my sage plants last year. I was so disappointed. I'm growing a couple more. I'll have to put them around.
ReplyDeleteLove the herbs - all we have in Buffalo, NY now is chives coming up. Can't wait for warmer weather and the herbs and veggies. How do you get on your blog list? Tina @ www.courageouschick.com
ReplyDelete