In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

It is the season of garden greens. Rainbow chard and ‘Lollo Rossa’ lettuce brighten winter salads. I prefer the delicate baby chard leaves from seed sown thickly in a 12-inch container. Cool nights and sunny days keep the greens growing well. Thankfully, we’ve had no Santa Ana winds which hasten bolting of all the greens.

This is one section of lettuce taken a few weeks ago after some transplanting. I’ve since added spinach and another row of ‘Marvel of Four Seasons.’ Shown here is Wine Country Mesclun, Lolla Rossa, ‘Sea of Red’ lettuce and ‘Marvel of Four Seasons.’

The light covering keeps the rodents from nibbling. We’re taking measures to deal with the population which is exploding around San Diego according to vector control. For now we seem to be the neighborhood diner.

This is the Wine Country Mesclun from Renee’s Garden (link above). It will be the mesclun mix I plant in the future. “Wine Country Mesclun combines eight different sweet red and green lettuces with just the right amount of tangy greens in a perfect balance of crispy and buttery leaf textures.” An accurate catalog description for the mix of arugula, spinach, eight lettuces, three Asian greens and two chards.

I harvested the last of the romaine lettuce which is always reliable in my winter garden.

Just a little dinner salad with various lettuces, thinned carrots, celery and radishes from the garden.

No snow in my SoCal neighborhood but sort of a wintry vibe going here with paperwhites, calla lily, summer snowflake, feverfew, grevillea and westringia.

Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your comments (or suggestions for rodent control).