Salad Days

These are the salad days of summer. Literally. In this case, it is not a poetic reference to youth or inexperience, but merely an observation that the only thing I'm getting out of my garden right now is salad. I remember getting a bit disheartened last year at this stage. I mean, I love a good salad as much as the next gal, but she probably doesn't want to eat the same one every night either.

At this point, the garden becomes an arena for the practice of zen. And I hate practicing; just ask my mom about clarinet lessons. There's no getting around it, though. There are things I can control, and things I can't. I can't control the length of summer, or the amount of sunshine we're (not) getting this year. I can''t really impact the life cycle of the plants. I can't change the fact that Bambi helped himself to my growing carrots and strawberries. (Note to Bambi: yes, I'm still mad.) I can make sure that everything's getting enough water and nutrients. I can stake and prop and weed and try to give my plants the best chance possible. I can re-sow the carrots and try to bring my strawberry plants back to life. I could build a greenhouse, but seriously, we just rebuilt the wall and that's not gonna happen until next year (at least!) And finally, I can plant 4 different types of greens as well as some nasturtiums in an attempt to stave off salad fatigue.

This is not to say that you shouldn't grow lettuce. Quite honestly, nothing you can buy at the grocery store, or even (gasp) the farmer's market will beat the flavour of the lettuce you pick ten minutes before sitting down to eat. It's also obscenely easy to grow. Just don't plant too much of one variety, especially if your friends and neighbours also have gardens. After a point, you won't be able to give the stuff away. Try some nasturtiums, or other edible flowers, too. They add a nice mild flavour, but more importantly some colour contrast. They make my salad pretty and happy. And that makes me pretty happy. At least until I start getting some peas. Or beans. Or carrots. Or tomatoes. Or really anything that isn't green and leafy. On that note, anybody need some arugula?