Tuesday 16 June 2009

Terralicious

My friend, Paula Johanson, and I attended a free seminar on Saturday June 13 on growing salad greens. We were offered the taste of a wonderful salad with a mix of greens and chives flowers, bachelor buttons and other edible flowers on top. The class was presented by Terralicious http://www.terralicious.ca

I learnt that eating salad without dressing is not a low fat alternative. Choosing oils such as flax and olive help the nutrients from the greens to be better absorbed into your system.

I learnt that arugula makes a great pesto. Raddicchio can be BBQed and stores well. Adding flowers, cilantro, calendula and borage adds flavour to salads. Wild plants to add are lambs quarters and chickweed.

Soil for lettuce should be well drained, sandy to loamy, with a ph of 6.5. Harvesting in the morning before 10am best and only the outer leaves. Lettuce needs morning sun and afternoon shade...opps mine isn't getting that. Which leads to sunscaping (Dayle Elizabeth Cosway has written a book about sunscaping) one's garden before planting.

Just a sampling of my quickly written notes. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning for two gardners. I'm sure I will be taking more free seminars and reading to learn more.