More Seed Sowing

I just planted 5 rows of cool season greens this evening, each about 5 feet in length. I planted "Feldsalat" (more on this in a bit), Stardom Mix, Farmer's Market Sweet Greens and Reds, Monet's Garden Mesclun (these three are all from Renee's), and Rainbow Chard (from John Scheepers). Sprinkled among the rows, I planted Golden Beets and Jewel-Toned Beets (also from Renee's), along with Purple Plum Radishes and Red Meat Radishes (ordered recently from Trade Winds Fruit), and Carnival Blend Carrots (from Botanical Interests).

Back to the "Corn Salad"...I found this delicious little cold-loving green on my trip to Germany. They called it Feldsalat; it was served on almost every salad and I noticed it at the local farmers markets in Freiburg labeled with the same name. It had a mild, but refreshing flavor, somewhat sweet with a slight crispness in the stem without being overly crunchy. The leaves look similar to baby spinach, but with longer stems and a leaf texture more like mesclun. It appears to be harvested almost whole, as a very loose head of leaves. According to the packaging (I found it at a garden shop in England, brand name: Sutton's) it is also called Lamb's Lettuce, but my search of the internet suggests that we call it Mache here in the states, courtesy of the French. In any case, I shall be calling it Feldsalat. Also, according to my internet search, it should do well this winter. It seems to love the cold, and still grows right around freezing temperatures (albeit slowly). It supposedly grows slower than lettuce, but I've never been great at growing lettuce in a hurry, so we'll have to see how it goes.

It's been rather cold at night, which will likely slow down germination, but I expect to start seeing radish sprouts and perhaps some lettuce within a week.

I also planted maybe 20 parsnip seeds. I started them soaking yesterday afternoon, and put them out in between the cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage plants. I'm not sure how well they'll do, since the seeds are a couple years old now and there's not going to be a ton of sun between all those larger plants...but many of those plants will be coming out in another month or two, so hopefully the parsnips will germinate and set out some roots in the meantime and then they can have all the sun they want.

Lastly, I set some fava beans up between wet paper towels yesterday afternoon. My plan is to get them out in the garden on Monday, filling in the gaps between the pea and sweet pea vines. I don't have room to plant a whole row of only favas, so the crop will likely be smaller this year, but any fava beans are worthwhile in my opinion.