Final Harvest

The final harvest of lettuce and Dahlia 'Park Princess'...my favourite that does extremely well in containers at the lake. I suspect they love the extra humidity offered in this location.

As the cottage is closed before the frost strikes the dahlias, I cut off the flowers to enjoy and then cut the stems about six inches above the soil. The tuber is dug out, soil hosed off and then set in the sun for a few days to dry off before storing. The tuber is placed in a closed paper bag with peat moss and placed in an open plastic bag and stored for the winter in my cold room which hovers at about 40c. I periodically check the moisture in the bag making sure that it is not becoming too damp. If that occurs open the bags up a bit more. On the other hand if the tuber looks to be drying, sprinkle some water onto the peat moss and close the bag a bit more.

Mache

The 'in' lettuce to grow in one's garden. I brought the seed from France, although it is now available in North America. Some might know it as lamb's quarters. I love it because it is a late season lettuce crop so when the mesclun is waning, Mache is in its prime.

I always wash and spin my lettuces immediately after picking. I use Ziploc reusable sealable plastic vegatable bags and find all lettuces keep in them very well. Bonus is that they are always ready to use. Mache keeps extremely well in these, up to a week.

Summer Harvest

Today was a wonderful summer harvest from the garden. The tomatoes I grew from seed inside under lights until planted in the garden. Lettuce planted directly into the garden. My favourite Park's Whopper tomatoes, Sungold, and a new variety this year that I tried, Black Cherry. They are a bit larger that Sungold, but very tasty, juicy and a fun colour. The lettuce is mesclun and the red frilly leafed is Lolla Rossa from seed that I brought back from Italy. All this makes for a very colourful gourmet salad.