Your vegetable garden can and should be enjoyed from planting to harvesting. Most people think they have to wait until their vegetables mature to eat them, but you can successfully eat from your garden throughout the growing season using these tips:
Get your scissors out: Once your plants have several leaves and are growing strong, you can snip a few of the outer leaves of plants like lettuce, bok choi, beets, cabbage, spinach, peas, and kale to add to a salad, a stir fry, a green smoothie, or a soup. Here is a comprehensive list of vegetables and herbs that have edible leaves. You will be amazed at the size of the pile you will get when you snip a few leaves from each of your plants. Also, if you pull a few beets or carrots before they are full size, you can replant them for a continuous harvest.
Broccoli and Cauliflower: Most people only eat the ‘heads’ of these vegetables. There is no reason why you cannot eat the leaves of the plant as they grow. Note you cannot pick all the leaves, but picking a few and using them in a stir fry or a soup is a great way to get more greens into your diet. Young leaves are best to eat, as older leaves are tougher and more bitter. They can also be used in green smoothies. Note: This Examiner recommends adding fruit and greens when making your smoothie. Try the Green Smooth Challenge to get you motivated to make these drinks!
Beans: These can be planted several times throughout the growing season so you can have a continual supply of beans. If you have too many to eat, leave them on the vine and let them dry. Once dry store them in a glass jar and use in soups and stews in the winter. Check out this how-to article.
Sweet Potato leaves: If you are growing sweet potato, try cooking with the leaves. Although eating potato leaves can be harmful, sweet potato leaves are not. They are not part of the nightshade family. These leaves are packed with nutrition and also contain iodine, as well as vitamin A, C, and Calcium. You can choose to eat all the leaves or take a few and allow the sweet potatoes to form underground. Check out some recipes for cooking with these leaves.
Beets and Lettuce: Certain crops, if planted continuously, can allow you to eat them all season long. Beets and lettuce are just two that can be sown every two weeks. Lettuce prefer cool weather, so if you live in a region with hot and long summer, select a variety that likes heat, or provide them a more shaded area like on the north side of a vertical garden (plants on the north side get shaded by tall plants). Here is a guide to planning a continual harvest garden.
Wild Edibles: If there is nothing in your garden for you to eat, consider eating some wild edibles. Some may call them weeds, but these plants can really provide you high nutrition and can be found right outside your doorstep. Examples include Dandelions, Plantains, Clover flowers, grasses, Purslane, and Lambsquarter. Go here for more information on these wild edibles.
Note: In Loudoun County you can find these plants and seeds at many of the local nurseries. Check out a listing of recommended stores for buying local plants.
Be creative and don’t limit yourself! Happy Gardening!
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