Snow (not snow shower as the weatherman had predicted) arrived Monday morning. By mid morning the lawn was covered with a thin layer of white , but by afternoon it was green again.
Went to the garden to assess the damage and was pleasantly surprised to see not much damage yet. However the following nights’ temperature was predicted to be in the teens so decided to bring in some of the crops.
Left to right: Red Rib Dandelion, Beedy’s Camden Kale, Napa Cabbage, Carrots & Chinese Parsley (cilantro)
The red rib dandelion went into a salad. It has a slight bitter taste similar to radicchio. Goes well with a balsamic vinegar dressing.
The Beedy’s Camden kale is a very pretty, hardy and tasty kale. And, the cabbage worms leave it alone.
I received the seeds from Dave of Our Happy Acres. To learn about the history and seed saving of Beedy’s Camden kale, check out Dave’s June 6, 2012, “Saving Seeds from Kale” post.
I partially cooked the sliced kale leaves, cooled and froze for later use.
As you can see from the photo, my napa cabbage is very “holey”, it is one of cabbage worm’s favorite foods. After removing all the “holey” leaves I had a solid head weighing over 1 pound, not huge but beautiful. It should remain in good condition for up to 3 months in the fridge.
The carrots are small but very sweet. Mulched the bed with leaves and hoping the remaining carrots will continue to grow.
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Also harvested pea shoots.
Pea Shoots & wilted Snow Peas
The pea plants and flowers survived the previous week’s low (+/-25°F) night time temperature but the peapods did not as you can see from the above photo
Good thing I harvested the pea shoots on Monday afternoon. The plants all wilted by Thursday after consecutive low (+/-15° F) night time temp.
Collected all the tender tips, tender tendrils and flowers from the basket of pea shoots and made a simple stir-fry (the tendrils get wiry and unusable if not cooked the same day).
Pea Shoots Stir-Fry
Ingredients
• ½ – ¾ pound tender pea shoots, cut to desired lengths
• Thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, smashed
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Salt to taste
Preparations
1. Heat oil in wok or frying pan, add ginger and garlic, steep in the hot oil until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove and discard.
2. Add pea shoots and salt to wok or frying pan. Stir-fry until wilted. Remove and enjoy.
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Gardens winterizing is coming along nicely with the help of a couple of gorgeous days. Mulched the celeriac, leeks and parsnips with leaves also and will harvest as needed. Winter deer fences are in place. Sure wish I could fence in the whole property.
Still trying to get all my shrubs pruned and my perennial beds cleaned out and organized. They have been neglected for the past 3 years. Looking pretty good so far and I am pleased with the progress, whatever doesn’t get done before the weather gets too cold will get done in the spring.
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Garden to Wok 
The kale looks lovely. I wish mine were aphid free. I might have to resort to spraying with soap next year. This is the second year that aphids got my kale.
Hello Daphne,
Did not get aphid this year instead got tons of cabbage worms. Lost all my lacinato kale to them.
That stir fry is so simple! I think I over-complicate mine, and they are rarely very good.
Hello Aylett,
Not sure what you mean by “over-complicate”. Harvested and cooked right away, very briefly, peas shoots have a sweet undertone.
I think of you ever time I “harvest” a few herbs from the garden Norma and wonder if I will ever get to planting a vegetable garden.
🙂 Mandy ox
Hello Mandy,
I am sure you will be planting a vegetable garden soon, Pete is going to surprise you one day and build you some raised beds.
I’ll try your stir fry and your kale is beautiful. So much prettier that the one I buy.
Hello Marta,
That is a very special kale I got from Dave of Our Happy Acres. He saved the seeds himself.
The stir fry looks really delicious, Norma. Pea shoots are my favorite. I think I have the red rib dandelions, too, but they grew on their own. I didn’t plant them. I might harvest some to put in my salad. I hope they’re not too bitter! Nice harvest you’ve got there, Norma. xoxo, Angie.
Hello Angie,
Thanks. Harvest the tender leaves, they are less bitter.
Your harvest is still my envy! I’m loving your kale; have you tried the kale salad I posted a few weeks ago? We had it a few days before we left for Illinois, so yummy. Our weather has been stormy to say the least, we had tornado warnings in Yorkville Illinois all day yesterday, very scary indeed. Definitely not accustomed to the radical weather of Illinois; they even closed soldier field and suspended a Bears’ game. Scary!
Hello Eva,
I have not tried it yet but hoping to get to it soon. Not sure where my time goes but the days end without my completing my to do list. Thought about you when I saw the weather report, glad you are OK.
Thanks Norma, it was rather scary. About 60 miles away in Washington Illinois they were totally hammered and a few people lost their lives too. We were fortunate. I was hoping our car wouldn’t fly away.
Hello Eva,
Did not realize you were that close to Washington, IL, scary indeed, glad you and your friends are safe, what an experience.
Thanks Norma
I too love the kale! And the pea shot stir fry looks great too.
Hello Angie,
Thanks.
Good looking kale and pea shoots! I have never tried pea shoots, but your stir fry looks delicious.
Hello Patsy,
Thanks. Harvested and cooked the same day, pea shoots are tender and delicious with a sweet undertone.
Pea shoots stir fry would definitely get my attention. I love that dish and now I must make it. It looks wonderful, Norma.
Hello Maureen,
Are you able to get pea shoots where you are?
I learn something new from every one of your posts, Norma! I didn’t know napa cabbage would keep so long in the fridge! Thanks.. 🙂
Hello Celia,
If the napa, or any cabbage for that matter, is freshly harvested from the garden and blemish free, it will keep that long. I should write a post on storing vegetables, please remind me if I forget or is taking too long to get to it.
Your stir fry looks quite delicious my friend, the pea shoots are so green and fresh!
Cheers
CCU
Hello Uru,
Thanks. Unfortunately that’s the end of pea shoots until next spring.
Oh my that is a mouthwatering pictures of greens, now I have tasted your cooking Norma so
I know how delicious that must be! Yummy :0).
Where did you buy the red stemmed dandelion seeds?
Last week we had snow flurries and temps in the 20’s today low 80’s.go figure.
Happy Gardeing
Hello Kim,
I will look up the seed packet and let you know. You had snow flurries? This must be quite unusual.
Hello Kim,
It is Johnny’s Italian Red Rib Dandelion.
Your kale is beautiful. It would go lovely in this salad I’ve been making. I can’t get enough of it. And my goodness you’ve had some cold nights!!!! Burrr!!!! Thought of you this week – I have a friend holding a float in the parade on Thanksgiving. Are you going again this year?
Hello Kristy,
Thanks. No, I will not be going to the Thanksgiving Parade this year. Which float is your friend holding?
She didn’t know yet. She will find out when she gets there. I imagine that would be a lot of fun!
Hello Kristy,
That is so exciting. Hope you see her in the parade on TV. If I lived in NYC I would check to see how to become a volunteer.
Lovely looking stir-fry Norma. Sounds very nourishing too. Maybe the light cover of snow was like a mini-refrigeration and helped keep your veggies fresh! Beedy’s Camden kale – yet another fabulously-named veggie from your patch!
Hello Saskia,
Thanks. I think so too, but the consecutive low-teens temp was just too cold for many of the plants.
I’ve got snap and snow peas growing in the garden under cover now. I hope that they will survive the occasional frost/freeze that we get here. I love pea shoots too, but you are right, if you don’t cook them right away they get stringy.
Hello Michelle,
I am sure your snap/snow peas plants will survive, they are very hardy.
It’s amazing to me that you can still be harvesting with those temperatures. I don’t think plants in Sydney would survive if they had to experience that sort of chilliness. All your greens look so vibrant and healthy and it’s great that some of them can be frozen for later use xx
Hello Charlie,
Many of the plants I grow in my garden, like the kale, collard, etc. are pretty hardy. The less hardy ones are long gone.
That pea shoot dish looks lovely, the birds left me with 2 plants of peas, not much shoots to harvest, but enough to dump into a hot bowl of soup for lunch.
Hello Mac,
Thanks. I have problem with birds too and must net the young plants.
That kale looks great, and how wonderful that the bugs don’t like it. I’ll have to give it a try – my kale always gets attacked.
Hello Siobhan,
Thanks. The other kales, especially the lacinato, all got attacked by the cabbage worms but the Beedy’s Camden was left alone.
Are those tender pea shoots the same as sweet peas? They always looked a little edible to me! Lucky you that your snow is gone. As you know.. we have a lot and it is bitter cold outside this week! xx
Hello Barbara,
From what I understand sweet pea shoots are not edible, but I don’t know for sure. I see from you post that you have quite a bit of snow already, how many inches?
Good thing I asked, eh:) About 4-5 inches.. that’s sticking around far too long, lol!
Did some poking around online and there are quite a few mentions about sweet peas seeds being toxic.
Snow, 4-5 inches already, and winter is not here yet. You sure live in a winter wonderland.
Looks healthy and delicious!
Hello YC,
I agree.
lucky ypu my friend!
imported pea shoots from taiwan is preety damn expensive greens here….
loving this simple veggies preparation!
Hello Dedy,
During the growing season, most of the time, I cook my veggies within an hour of harvest, because they are so fresh, simple preparation is the best.
Pea Shoots are so good in a stir fry!! I usually only see them here in the spring – I can’t believe you are still harvesting them – so awesome.
Hello Alyssa,
This is a very unusual gardening year. First time planting fall peas and am pleased with the results, hoping to repeat the same next year.
I am delighted to see your pea shoots were undamaged. I love them in a stir fry but I also love using them in a hot pot. Have you made a hot pot yet this year? My boys love hot pot and they will eat mounds of green veggies when I make a “la de” hot pot just for them. Take care, BAM
Hello Bam,
Unfortunately that was the last pea shoots harvest for the year. No, I have not yet made a hot pot and if and when I do there will be no pea shoots :(.
Love your pea shoot stir-fry, thanks for sharing!
Hello Anne,
You are welcome.
All of our kale got eaten up however yours looks fabulous! and yaaay, I see some napa cabbage back there =)
Hello Angela,
My lacinato kale got eaten up too.
I didn’t notice the holes in the Napa cabbage at first! Good to know it will last so long in the refrigerator!
Hello Sandra,
Freshly harvested and unblemished cabbage will last for months under refrigeration.
Hi Norma,
I haven’t been here in a little while, but every time I visit you’re harvesting something different. You must have a very large garden! Stir-fried pea shoots sound healthy and yummy.
Hello Mireya,
I do not have a very large garden so I plant only a few plants of each crop. This enables me to grow many different varieties.