Enjoying the fruits of our labor

Our stevia started to flower recently which means it was time to harvest the plants. We pulled the four plants up and hung them to dry out. They are currently in a storage, and will need to be ground into a powder before they can be used as a sweetener. My plan is to use it in my tea! Should be a delicious addition.

Our black-seeded Simpson lettuce, spinach, and our Jericho Romain in the rail planters were ready to harvest as well so we pulled them up and ate the lettuce on sandwiches, salads, etc.

On the other hand, we had to prematurely harvest some of our merveille lettuce because it began to bolt. We also had to do this for some kale as well. The kale was not remotely edible so our chickens were blessed with some tasty kale bits, along with lettuce stems and other garden treats.

Since we had some available rail planter real estate, we replanted the lettuce we enjoyed the most… which was the black-seeded Simpson. It was the crunchiest, crisp, and delicious on sandwiches and salads. I must say, it rekindled my love of sandwiches.