Good News! I went out to check on my second lettuce planting and the seeds are sprouting! I must have forgotten how small the fake leaves were on lettuce seedlings because they seem sooooo tiny! Wow that is three sentences in a row with exclamation points. I should calm down. Also, and I should probably post a picture of this, some bulbs managed to grow up through the layer of compost. Before we planted the garden there had been some pretty wimpy bulbs growing in one spot. Since all but one had died the year before, and by early April there were no signs of the remaining one, I decided to just bury it. Turns out it was a bit tougher than I thought and grew all the way through the one foot thick layer of compost that fills my raised bed. I was more than a bit surprised, and also happy. The problem is it grew up at the back of one of the tomato cages. Hopefully for it it will grow big enough to get strong before the tomato plant that will also be there overshadows it. If not, well, I'll just have to wish it goodbye one more time. For some reason, my debilitating plant empathy doesn't apply to these bulbs. And when I say debilitating I mean it. Pulling out anything that might make food or killing any plants makes me really sad inside. This is why I am so bad at thinning plants. Take my tomato seedlings for example, I am afraid to kill one of them so that I only have one of each type for fear that the remaining one will die and I'll be out a tomato plant for the year. Thus, I have two of each kind I started from seed and I'm probably going to end up planting all four plants. The bright side is that two of them are determinate so they won't grow up to be monsters anyway, and the other is a cherry tomato so maybe it won't get as big.
Other exciting news from the farm is that I have eaten my very first salad. As you undoubtedly inferred from the title, it was rather small. As all of the regulars out there already know, I have been itching to thin out the seedlings, and today was the day. In this next batch of seedlings I won't have to thin quite so early, but as that was my first time planting lettuce I planted two seeds per hole not realizing the impressive germination rate. I ended up with four plants in a 2-3 inch wide area because I had 2 sets of on-top-of-each-other seedlings. I went out and picked the smaller of each of the pairs to give the remaining one a bit more room so it wouldn't have to fight for water and nutrients and all the good soily stuff. I brought in my 1/100th of an ounce of lettuce, took its picture, washed it, and ate it. I put about one drop of dressing to add some flavor. It was quite possibly the best salad of my life. I can't wait until I can have a big bowlful of the deliciousness. I think part of the excitement is that it is homegrown and thus naturally superior, but the fact that Forelenschuss is darn attractive probably helps too. I could eat like 5 entire heads of it before I got bored and stopped. Anyway, I'm a real pig so that's fine. Right now I'm thinking about my favorite salad recipe, which goes something like this and is absolutely delicious.
Lettuce- lots
Tomatoes- maybe 1/4th of a cup, diced
Peppers- about 1/4th of a cup, diced
Onions- .25-.75 cups. I looooove sauteed onions so I put in a ton.
Salsa- as much as you would put were it normal salad dressing
Ranch- just a small amount to taste
Cheddar Cheese- a healthy sprinkle
Directions:
Saute the peppers, onions, and tomatoes (you don't have to saute the tomatoes if you prefer raw, but raw tomatoes aren't my favorite so I like to give them a little heatin). While they saute tear up a liberal amount of lettuce. Sprinkle the cheese on top and then pile on the sauteed vegetables. Add the salsa and dressing to taste. Eat, enjoy, and be happy (and healthy!).
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