Written June 12, 2013

When I returned home from Virginia I found that I had a totally different garden.  Thanks to the care of my lovely husband, the plants were so much bigger, fuller, and flowering to show that produce was coming.

Peas were climbing.

The cabbage was huge and full of color.

The carrots and green onions finally looked like they were doing well.

The tomatoes were so full and looked strong in their cages.

Zucchini’s were budding and I even had a cute, little squash growing!

Even the chicks had grown up!  No longer little, fluffy adolescents, but now resembling real chickens.  Their feet were so different; they were huge!

But the biggest change had been in the lettuce.  It was big, beautifully green, and ready to harvest.

That night we opted for some fresh romaine on the side of dinner.  I snipped one of the largest heads of lettuce close to the base but not directly on the ground.  Cut here, the lettuce will continue to grow so that we can use romaine from this head again.  To cut the lettuce, I actually used shears that I received at a flower arranging class at West Elm.  (Tons of fun and really informative!  I can keep fresh flowers in my house going for nearly two weeks now.  Check out your store.  They typically do events once a month or so.)

Once I had enough for Adam and me, I headed inside.  There I rinsed each head very well in the sink, tore the leaves into bite sized pieces and tossed them into the salad spinner.

I placed a couple handfuls of the romaine in bowls and topped it with a chopped tomato, a little crumbled feta, and a splash of balsamic dressing.

It was the perfect complement to our steaks.

As we took our first bites of the homegrown lettuce, Adam exclaimed, “It taste like lettuce!”  I laughed.  Umm, yeah?  “I just was nervous.  We have never done this.”

True.

But, not only did it “taste like lettuce,” it had a fabulous flavor.  And knowing that it came straight out of our yard and had never been in contact with any chemicals or processing made it even better.