Growing Greens

Oh the things you can do!  I love growing greens.  They are easy, grow in pots, and are generally ready for harvest in 6-8 weeks depending on the growing season.  Seeds can be planted in flower beds for some added color, and if you harvest from the outside with some of the varieties, then they will just keep on growing.  When you think of growing greens, you probably think of spinach, romaine, and maybe some other leaf lettuces.  But, did you know that you can grow beets and use the greens for green smoothies?  What about the leaves of strawberries?  Yup!  Those, too!  You can even throw dandelion greens in green smoothies (yes, those weeds in your garden that you are always trying to kill), although A) Don't eat them if they have any sort of weed killer on them (duh) and B) You might want to start with the less bitter greens before you go wild. Since we are mere months from starting a Spring crop, I will be trying out some things and documenting how to do them.  In the meantime, there are a few things you can try now.

Spinach is a cool weather crop and will often bolt if the temperature is too hot.  I recommend starting it indoors by seed and setting it in a sunny window if you have one.  

Kale, which is a trendy green right now (in New York you can get kale and beets as a side these days), is a fantastic plant that can be grown most of the year.  It loves colder weather and thrives if it has to survive a frost or two.  The only time of year it doesn't love (because it bolts) is summer, but I have worked my way around that with shade.

I will be honest, because of my love of Mexican food salads, green onions need to be a staple around here.  However, it obviously doesn't make sense to buy them in bulk.  Well, thanks to Pinterest, I have learned the following trick.  

 Starting to regrow

When you have cut all of the green tops off and just have the root left, stick your green onions in a cup of water and put them in a sunny window.  Within just a few days, they will start growing back!  Then you can just harvest them as needed.  This ensures that I will never go without green onions for very long, plus - I don't have to buy them.