In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

It’s winter garden salad season. Every salad is different, inspired by availability, my mood or whether I’m on a color jag. I’ve thought of doing a blog post on some of my winter garden salads for inspo if you need to change it up.

There’s abundant lettuce now in the garden—various romaines and butter lettuces, curly varieties and a stand of mesclun. I add arugula, kale and spinach for varied colors and textures.

It’s broccoli side shoot season and though not as many as some years, a harvest like this every day or two extends broccoli season. Several of the plants seemed to perennialize—putting out new plants at the base instead of producing side shoots. See my experiences in a previous blog post Is broccoli a perennial?

As Dorsett Golden apple blossoms cover the espaliered tree, I used the last of the fall crop stored in the fridge. Four months later, the quality was appropriate for baking only. The apple crisp was perfectly sweet with a crunchy streusel topping.

Rummaging around in the produce drawer I encountered some neglected beets from a long ago harvest—enough for a pint of pickled beets.

Flowers in the garden suggest we are on the edge of spring. Winter annuals thrive with all our rain and bulbs begin their show. It’s easy to gather a bouquet for the church entry.

Check the What I’m Planting Now page to see what’s been planted in the space opened by the cauliflower harvest. Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Happy Acres Blog has returned. Join in and see what garden bloggers around the world harvested last week.

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