My last harvest was a couple of weeks ago. I pulled in the greens that had survived a frost and some mighty cold weather. Really, I never thought they would be a last harvest and I was kicking myself for not getting them in sooner. But don’t they still look beautiful? As I was gathering them, a rabbit ran off. Sorry Mr. Bunny, these are for me!
The beet greens went into Whole Beet Borscht along with some beets I harvested a couple months earlier which held up well in the refrigerator. We ate half and I froze half.
I filled my greens container in the fridge (a Tupperware container made for keeping veggies fresher) with the chard and dehydrated a few more batches of them in the oven. Plus I made some Swiss Chard Chips. I use the greens in my health shake every morning and just finished the last leaf in today’s shake! I’m going to have to start adding the dried chard. Or go to the market and get some organic greens. Some year I’m going to figure out how to extend the growing season with cold frames. Next on the learning list is canning, though.
It’s a little bittersweet eating the last fresh thing from my garden. Because of the infestation of squash bugs this year, I was really rethinking my decision to have a garden next year. Maybe I could join a CSA instead.
But I would miss the satisfaction of living off my land. So I’ll be back in the garden next year. Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy eating the rest of what we’ve preserved from this year’s bounty.