The Joy of Eating from the Garden

I went out to to the garden tonight with my little cane basket and no expectations. Well, I knew I'd get some lettuce and parsley, but I wasn't too sure whether I'd end up with a garnish or a meal, famine or feast. It seems we've turned the corner on the growing season, and feast it is. In order of harvest, here's what's going into tonight's salad.

After a very slow start, the Genovese basil in the concrete block herb garden is toughening up and delivering a good clovey smell and flavour. Lots of the plants that I put under the tomatoes have been well munched by caterpillars. I'm wondering now if that's the point of putting basil in with the tomatoes -- as a bit of a bug decoy. Who knows?

Lucious tender salad leaves. This box is 60cm x 20cm, and it's been filling our salad bowl for weeks. It gets plenty of light, but not much direct sun, which seems to be a winning combination for salad in summer.

The snap peas, wherever they came from, have become a bit special for me. I've always thought I didn't like them. Now that they are in my face, growing like champions and demanding to be picked, I realise I do like them. A lot. They add a welcome crunch whatever part of dinner they end up in.

Radicchio is such a looker. So stunning, so bitter. If it's balance you want (and who's not looking for balance these days?) radicchio is your leaf.

For some people, a carrot from the garden goes without saying. For me, it's a triumph. This is the first year I've had a successful carrot crop, and I'm mightily proud of every carrot I pull from the ground. They will give the salad the all important hit of sweetness and add to the crunch factor.

We run a 24/7 giant Italian parsley factory. It's growing sort of wild, now that I've let a few plants go to seed. Mid-winter is when the giants are really giant, but right now there are small plants growing at pretty much every turn in the garden path.

Here are some almost-there salad ingredients. Romas shaping up to be as gorgeous as ever. Mini eggplants, so hard to photograph, so hard to resist. I want to kiss them all! The first almost ripe tomato. And a not-so-mortal-coil. This tendril belongs to what I think is a zucchini, but I'm not sure. Self sown, very determined, very show-off, but not willing to disclose, just yet, who it is.

The trusty foraging companion. I can't help but think that if we were in France, we'd be having truffle omelette for dinner.

Viva la garden salad!