Harvesting Time!

It's finally time to harvest some of the fruit (vegetables actually) of our hard labor in the garden the past several months. Since we planted several different types of vegetables at several different times throughout February/March, our plants will be on a rolling basis of harvest.

The last several weeks the peas gave us a great harvest and are now starting to die as the heat of the South finally set in for the summer.

Sad summer peas

Different kinds of squash are growing and taking over the bed! 

Basil is getting big! We pick off the parts that start to flower as they give the herb a bitter taste. 

Everything is so green! 

Potatoes got a third bag of cypress mulch to keep 'em growing!

Baby potato got dug up by a squirrel/dog/chicken/???

Check out the dill! 

The broccoli is thriving! 

Cucumber making its way up the trellis

Carrots almost ready to pull! 

Lettuce ready for harvesting! 

Since the lettuce was ready to harvest, I simply cut/pulled off the outer leaves and left the inside stem to regrow.  

After taking them inside, I soaked them in a sink of cold water to release the dirt and grime of the outside. Afterwards, I laid them on layers of paper towels to dry them out.

After drying the lettuce I ripped them into smaller pieces and put them in mason jars for lunches this week (I also ate them for lunch that day). I placed a folded paper towel on the top of each mason jar and flipped them over in the fridge so that all the extra moisture will go downwards. 

The lettuce should stay crisp for at least a week, if not longer, like this in the fridge. Yum!