In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

It’s the first harvest of my second sowing of Tuscan kale. The first attempt was ravaged by some large critter, possibly a raccoon as it also damaged many of the brassicas. The kale leaves are very tender this year which I’d attribute to cool weather and plentiful rain in November and December.

The kale was added to a harvest basket that I gave to my son, Tim. For several years he had a productive roof-top garden at his loft in Downtown LA. These are some of the vegetables he grew. You can read about his garden in my post, Roots in Downtown LA—2015.

The various lettuces make salads that are a study in contrasts of color and texture.

The celery “forest” yields crisp stalks that find their way into salads and recipes most every day. My friend’s Italian grandmother mused that “Everything’s a little better with some celery.” I agree.

This is a paltry cauliflower head before harvest. Damage inflicted by the raccoon robbed the plant of its vigor despite extra fertilizer. I’m remembering my usual heads that are typically eight inches across. And this little one escaped my notice and spread.

We gave away about one hundred oranges and tangerines last week, all of which eluded photo capture. Here’s a sample of what the tangerines look like.

An unusually shaped vintage vase and an arrangement from garden flowers: leucadendron, alstroemerias, watsonia and calendulas.

To see what other gardener bloggers are gathering in, head over to Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres. Happy to have Harvest Monday up and running for 2020. If you want to see what’s been happening in my winter garden see previous Monday posts.