How to Store Freshly Harvested Lettuce

I found a nifty little tutorial on how to store the lettuce I harvest from my garden. You can read it here from Pinch My Salt. It definitely works. 

First I put the fresh lettuce in a big bowl of cold water, and then rinse each leaf individually after taking it out of the bowl.

Beautiful! I love all the colors that come out of my garden.

I spin it in my handy salad spinner, which I use every day now. Ours is from Oxo, and it works great.

And then as the blog recommended, I wrap the lettuce in a paper towel and put it in a Zip-loc bag.

So far, this has resulted in crisp lettuce that lasts several days, which is nice, because I can make a big harvest of lettuce and prep it for several days worth of lunches.

Spring Has Sprung!

One of the best things about buying a house that had landscaping already finished, at least in part of the yard, is that every couple of weeks in the summer, new flowers pop up. I love it! Here's a glimpse of the colors gracing my yard.

Spots on My Chard: Not Sure I Like the Answer Why

Yesterday my chard looked like this, beautiful:

And now my chard looks like this, covered in brown spots, seemingly overnight ...

A quick search has uncovered the reason may be due to leaf miners. Which are disgusting. They are small grey flies, and they are "truly one of the grossest" garden pests, according to one writer. They literally lay eggs, which hatch, and the maggots burrow between the leaves of the plant.

Yes. Gross.

Keeping the Dog Out of the Garden

My dog Reese loves our new yard. We moved into our home about a year ago, and he just loves being outside while I garden.

We had to come up with a way that he would not actually try to garden with me though, so we bought decorative wooden garden fencing from Lowe's, I believe, and spray painted them white.

Now, my chihuahua can easily jump over them, but for some reason, most of the time, he doesn't.

Here's Reese saying hi from the right side of the fence!

Inspired by ... New Ways to Eat Rhubarb

Did someone say margarita? Yup, that's right, apparently rhubarb can be pureed and added to a margarita or to a smoothie.

It can also be roasted and sprinkled with sugar then added to salad greens (which I have plenty of!). Or added to salsa.

So says this blog from the Smithsonian Magazine on Five Ways to Eat Rhubarb, my inspiration for the week.

Why? Well, while according to a few sources, I can't eat a lot of my rhubarb plant this year in its second year, I still plan on harvesting some of it. And it's getting big!

This picture of my rhubarb was taken a couple weeks ago.
It's starting to get very tall.

A Lovely View While I Write

Here's my view while I blog this wonderful morning on Memorial Day weekend!

Zucchini Muffins in Parchment Paper Baking Cups

Love my zucchini muffins. I used up the rest of my shredded zucchini from last summer's harvest the other day to contribute to my work's breakfast potluck.

I used the recipe I outlined in this blog post and added golden raisins. I wish I had had walnuts to throw in because I love the crunch of nuts in muffins.