Like many weeds, lambs quarters self seeds, so they are up and established weeks before your regular garden. Also called goose foot – lambs quarters is a relative of spinach and quinoa. Sometimes known as wild spinach, and considered a weed in most gardens, it deserves more credit than it usually gets. Highly nutritious, tasting similar to spinach but more tender, rich in Vitamins A, C and E, essential fatty acids, iron, calcium, minerals and antioxidants.
Name: I always thought the name was curious and so odd. Apparently, it comes from “Lammas quarter“, an old English harvest festival celebrating the first grain harvest at the beginning of August. Lammas means “loaf mass” in Old English, originating from two words meaning bread and festival. It seems the name evolved from “Lammas” to “lamb’s” over time. It may have had nothing to do with ‘lambs’ except that it likely was a field green they liked to eat. Certainly, it was an abundant green that people liked to eat as well.
Identifying: I’ve heard many people call it pigweed, and fair enough they look similar. Sometimes pigweed is simply an easy name to call all sorts of weeds that look similar and are often given to pigs, but more precisely both lambs quarters and pigweed are in the amaranth family. That may not help much, because there are officially 42 types of amaranth in North America. For the record, red rooted amaranth IS red rooted pigweed.
Leaves: Young leaves are often opposite and become alternate as the plant matures. They are triangular to diamond-shaped, sometimes resembling a goose foot (often called Goosefoot). Powdery Coating: The most distinctive feature is a whitish, dusty powder on new growth and the underside of leaves. Stems: They are succulent, hairless, and frequently have reddish, purple, or light green lengthwise stripes. Flowers: Small, grey-green, roundish flowers grow in tight clusters at the top of the stalk or in leaf axils. Size: Generally grows 2 to 3 feet tall but can reach up to 6 feet. Edible Parts: All parts are edible and nutritious, but the best-tasting and easiest to eat are the young leaves. Once the plant matures, energy goes into flowering, seeding and growing taller so the seeds can be more widely dispersed. Location: Grows best in full sun to partially sunny areas, including gardens, roadsides, fields, and disturbed soil. Growing Season: Germinates early in the season, with peak growth in late spring to early summer. After that, it begins going to seed, with less energy devoted to the leaves – but no matter, it’s filled its job of providing us with early greens, and it can step into the background while other garden greens become the focus.
What if nature gave you a FREE vegetable that is super nutritious, cold-hardy, and fed you while you waited for the rest of your garden to produce? Oh Wait! It did!
Surely you recognize lambs quarters as a common weed in your garden. I did, and I was trained to look at all weeds as the enemy and to get rid of them. At the same time, I was a big fan of spinach, but when the spring weather warmed up, spinach would bolt – which means that a plant prematurely produces a flowering stem and goes to seed. This usually happens as a result of heat or stress. The plant takes its cues from hotter, longer, rainless days, and goes into the next phase of its life. It stops producing edible leaves or roots to focus energy on reproduction. Bolting commonly affects lettuce, chard, spinach, cilantro, broccoli and onions. It is irreversible, but you can break off the stem to buy yourself a few more days, and harvest all you can while you still can.
*tip: to prevent bolting, plant the affected plants earlier in the season when the weather is still cool, provide shade during heatwaves and keep the plants well watered.
This would be a big frustration to me. Had I understood that spinach should be planted much earlier, (at least a month earlier) when the spring was still cold, I would have been less frustrated. At the same time, while I was mourning the loss of spinach, I noticed lambs quarters in my garden living its best life. It seemed to be snubbing its nose at me – this incorrigible WEED. I also noticed that it tasted good (yes I tasted it). One day the light went on so-to-speak. “Why am I knocking my head against a brick wall trying to grow spinach, when this weed that tastes so much like it, WANTS TO GROW? Why am I ripping it out and feeling sorry for myself because my spinach hates me?” My story changed that day.
I looked into Lambs Quarters, and discovered it had much to offer a gardener with an open mind. I opened my mind.
Lambs Quarters in the Kitchen
* tip: Like spinach, beet greens, swiss chard and most other greens lambs quarters contains some oxalic acid which, when eaten raw in large quantities, can inhibit calcium absorption. These plants are so loaded with calcium, however, that the amount of calcium not absorbed due to oxalic acid is minimized. Its a good idea to rotate your ‘greens’ for that reason anyway. Variety is always a good thing. Individuals with kidney issues, gout or arthritis – know that oxalic acid should be consumed in moderation.
Lambs Quarters is highly nutritious, with a taste similar to spinach, and is often used in salads, sautéed, or blanched. The black seeds are edible and are an excellent source of vegetable protein.
early spring green garden salad with a base of romaine and some marigold sprinkled on top. Use a nice mild vinaigrette dressing.
The underside of Lamb’s Quarters’ leaves and the top of the new leaves are covered in a fine whitish or pinkish ‘dust’. Resist the temptation to wash it off, as it is full of calcium and protein. Lambs quarters contains more protein than kale, more iron than spinach, and it WANTS to grow in your garden. You don’t even need to plant it; it is so comfortable that it invites itself to the party. You’ve gotta respect that quality.
The stems and leaves can be eaten raw, steamed, or sautéed; used in any way and in any recipe calling for spinach: scrambled eggs, omelets, fresh as a green in sandwiches, in a mixed green salad, or in a green breakfast smoothie. Add some to your next spaghetti sauce, soup, or fried rice. Use them in your favourite “spinach dip”.
wash well as it can be gritty
recipe: Korean Lambs Quarters Side Dish
Serves 2-4 10 oz lambs quarters (300 g) young leaves and stems 3 tablespoons doenjang (soybean paste) 1 tablespoon gochujang (hot pepper paste) 2 garlic cloves minced 1 green onion chopped 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds Directions 1. Boil 3 quarts of water. Blanch the lamb’s quarters for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the leaves are tender. 2. Strain and rinse them in cold water a couple of times to stop them from cooking and to remove any grit. 3. Strain and squeeze out any excess water. If the leaves and stems are too long, cut them a few times into bite-sized pieces. 4. Put them into a mixing bowl and add soybean paste, hot pepper paste, garlic, green onion, and toasted sesame oil. 5. Mix by hand until all the leaves are well coated with the seasonings, and have absorbed them. You can wear disposable plastic gloves if you want. 6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and transfer to a serving plate.
Serve as a side dish to rice. Toss in or garnish with sundried tomatoes if desired.
When I am in my garden, I will often pick the tender new plants and eat them while I work. I never pull them to get rid of them. They’re much too valuable for that, I just break them off, hoping they’ll come back and offer more. I’ll throw them into early season salads, and combine with other greens that I steam, including our favourite: spanakopita.1 (read more about Spanakopita here)
Back to that nasty rumour about lambs quarters being considered a ‘common weed’. It’s true. Officially. But don’t listen to that sorta ridicule. Those other plants are just jealous. Who cares what people call it? “Weed” is just a word. Don’t be unkind or avoid eating it. It’s not it’s fault that some uneducated person gave it such a rude nickname.
5 Facts: 1. Lambs quarters is cold-hardy, and heat-tolerant. That’s quite a talent. 2. Because it self-seeds, it will grow before any of your cultivated greens have even germinated. 3. It WANTS to grow in your garden. It WANTS to be your friend. And it’s FREE. 4. It is a versatile, nutrient-dense substitute for spinach or chard in nearly any recipe. 5. It deserves to be accepted on its own merit, not indiscriminately discarded because of some misunderstanding carried over from a previous generation.
Spanakopita is a delicious savoury Greek pie made of perfectly crispy layers of phyllo (fee’- low) dough and a soft filling of spinach and feta cheese. Spanaki = spinach, pita = pie, so quite literally it means “spinach pie”. I’ve learned that there are as many different recipes as there are Greek grammas. Kind of like cabbage rolls, and just like the BEST cabbage rolls are the ones your gramma used to make, so it is with spanakopita (spana-KO-pita). I’m sharing with you the way I was taught by a family friend Erie Kourounotis – with a few modifications I’ve made over the years. Yes, it takes a little time to assemble, but it is much easier to make than you might expect. *tip: I find that its better if it sits at least half an hour from the oven before served. That helps the filling to set, and makes the crust easier to cut.
Most of the time in my house Spanakopita is the main dish, with perhaps a Greek salad on the side, and probably some tzatziki or hummus to serve with it, but it also makes a great side dish for a big family dinner, or to bring with you as a potluck dish.
Spanakopita can be made in a large 9×15 baking dish (usually cut into 15 pieces) or individually in the form of rolls or triangular hand pies. I like them in the individual hand pies, but I’ve never made them like that. However you prefer them, that are always a soft delicious spinach-cheese filling wrapped with golden, crispy phyllo pastry.
Crust Phyllo dough is layered sheets of tissue-thin pastry. You buy it in the freezer section of the grocery store, near other frozen pie crusts. It comes tightly folded in a long thin box, many extremely thin layers of crispy pastry. Keep frozen until you use it, but thaw it out several hours in advance.
Filling The key ingredients in a classic spanakopita recipe are spinach (or other leafy greens) and feta cheese. Erie taught me to use fresh greens, but I discovered that I can fit a lot more greens in if I lightly steam them first, then roughly chop. You can also use frozen spinach – thawed first and completely strained. Squeeze ALL liquid out or you will have a soggy spanakopita (bleh). I generally prefer to use greens I’ve freshly picked from the garden, and lots of them. Swiss Chard, Amaranth, assorted other garden greens like tatsoi or bok choi – or whatever you have on hand.
I had some greens in the fridge from a day or two ago, and picked lots of fresh greens in the morning from the garden. Lightly steam just until they wilt and are a beautiful bright emerald colour. Then coarsely chop to make it easier to incorporate the remaining ingredients throughout.
To add flavour: dill, onions and garlic. I use a LOT of dill – at least a full cup, depending on how big the batch is. I also use garlic and onion. I know some people use parsley, I don’t. No particular reason except that Erie – didn’t.
I picked a bunch of dill in the morning, snipped the green ferny parts off the stems, swished in cool water to clean and then drained. Finely chopped.
To bind all ingredients together: eggs. I never use salt because the feta cheese is quite salty already, but I do like pepper.
OLIVE OIL. Because you must. Spanakopita cannot be spanakopita without olive oil. * I have seen people put olive oil in the filling – I don’t do that. I use it all on the pastry.
Assemble everything in place, beat the eggs separately, then mix into coarsely chopped greens. In the picture in back: eggs. Left to right: olive oil, at least 1 cup, crumbled feta, freeze dried chopped onions* and minced garlic, loose Italian parsley (I don’t generally add parsley but I picked it for another dish and I had some left over so I added it), chopped fresh dill.
SPANAKOPITA
– Enough for a 9×15 glass baking dish Ingredients: – package of phyllo pastry, thawed at least 6 hours. I usually take it out of the freezer the night before and thaw in the fridge. Set it on the counter while you assemble your filling, BUT DON’T TAKE OUT OF ITS WRAPPING, otherwise it will dry out.
Doesn’t matter which brand. I’ve tried several and so far, they’re all pretty much the same in my opinion.
– green leafy vegetables: spinach, Swiss Chard, spinach, Asian greens of all sorts, lambs quarters, amaranth (pig weed), orach, . . . . usually I use an assortment of whatever I can find ready in my garden. You can even add a little bit of kale. The more you use, the thicker your pie will be with beautiful, wholesome GREENS! I shoot for at least 10 cups of finished steamed greens. – 3 or 4 eggs (depending on how much green you’re using) – 2 or 3 cupsfeta cheese, crumbled (depending on how much green you’re using) – LOTS of fresh dill weed (1-2 cups finely chopped) – 2 to 4 cloves garlic minced – 1 large onion chopped (in this picture I used freeze dried onions because I didn’t have any fresh garden onions on hand) – 1 Tablespoon pepper (you can use less if you’re not a huge pepper fan). NO salt. – olive oil, probably about a cup(ish).
Thoroughly mix everything together. I find the easiest way to do this is with my hands.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash greens and set aside to steam or blanch. Fill clean sink with COLD water to plunge your steam greens in to stop the cooking process. Use ice if desired.
2. Heat a large skillet over high flame, to steam your greens in. Add one cup water and bring it to a boil.
3. Coarsely chop washed greens and add large handfuls to the HOT water in skillet. Cover with lid to steam, and cook JUST TILL vegetables become a brilliant bright green. Don’t over cook, you’re just looking for it to be slightly wilted. Remove from heat and plunge into cold water to cool quickly.
4. Repeat till all the greens are steamed and cooled. Strain well, and roughly chop again. Be sure to squeeze all remaining water out of them.
5. Add strained greens to a large bowl for mixing, and set aside.
6. In the same skillet, wipe out the water and heat a 1/3 cup olive oil. Saute chopped onion and minced garlic till soft and translucent. Add to bowl of cooled, strained greens.
7. In a small bowl beat the eggs and add to greens and toss to thoroughly combine by hand.
8. Crumble feta cheese, and add to bowl of greens, add chopped dill and black pepper. Toss by hand to thoroughly combine.
9. Pour about a cup of olive oil in a shallow bowl that you can dip your hand into. Unroll your
Assembling your masterpiece:
10. Lightly brush oil over the inside of baking dish. Place two to three sheets of phyllo dough in the pan folded over in half to fit; use a pastry brush or your hand in oil to lightly brush the oil onto pastry. Repeat this step with 5 or more phyllo sheets (use at least 6 layers, I usually use half the package of phyllo). Plan to wipe oil over top every 2nd or 3rd layer of single ply door.
Dip your hand in the oil and drizzle it all over the surface, spreading it with your hand.
11. Spread the mixture of greens evenly over the phyllo sheets, gently patting down. I usually end up with about 2 inches deep of greens. The more the better, they’ll still cook down a bit.
12. Cover the vegetable-cheese layer with remaining phyllo sheets, brushing each one with olive oil. Tuck the excess phyllo dough into the edges. Make sure the top is brushed completely with oil.
*hint: purists oil between every layer, but that is a lotta oil. I’ve had spanakopita I’ve purchase from specialty bakeries that dripped oil when you eat them. That is too much oil for me. I know I’m killing tradition, but you can make these kinds of decisions when it’s your own kitchen.
13. * optional: you can use a knife to score the top of the phyllo (don’t cut all the way through, just through the top phyllo sheets) to create about 12 – 15 pieces.
14. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 45-60 minutes or until the phyllo turns golden brown. If its browning too quickly, cover loosely with tin foil for the last 15 or so minutes. Remove from oven and allow it to set 15-30 minutes to set up. Then, finish cutting into pieces.
15. You can enjoy this dish warm, or as leftovers at room temperature or even cold.
If you didn’t use all the pastry, wrap any remaining phyllo layers back up and put into original package to refrigerate. They don’t last very long in the fridge. I usually simply divide the package in half for top and bottom, and use the whole package in one large recipe. Or if you have enough, make a smaller dish in addition to the large one.
give it at least 15-20 out of the oven before you finish cutting the pieces
I’ve been making this dish since about 1990, and at the beginning Dan wasn’t a big fan. That suited me just find; he’d have a piece at supper and that was that. I wrapped the remaining pieces individually in plastic to take for lunch the rest of the week. When Mom moved in, we did pretty much the same thing, with slightly less leftover.
finished spanakopita – ready to eat. I recommend serving it NOT hot so the filling sticks together better.
One day at dinner, Dan had a second piece – he claimed he was “starting to really like it“. But I had a system, and in my system there was no room for Dan to start “really liking it“. I told him so, but we had turned a corner – never to turn the clock back. Dan is usually a little more reluctant to try new foods than I am. Nevertheless, he had turned that corner and I needed to adjust to having less leftovers. I always tell people that “Dan is allergic to anything ‘green’. He thinks if green food touches his fork he’ll die.” This is only half joking. When I met him the only thing green he’d eat was iceberg lettuce (hardly green), and fresh peas (if he himself stood in his grampa’s pea patch). He’s come a lonnnnnng way baby!
I make spanakopita as often as I can in the summer time, using whatever green leafy vegetables are ready in my garden. But I specifically grow swiss chard for that reason. I think of Erie K. every time I do, and I am grateful to her for teaching me how to make it. It truly has become a household favourite. I started making it because I loved it, and one by one over the years, each individual in our family went from thinking it was okay to acquiring a serious taste for spanakopita. Even Dan!
I hope you’ll give this dish a try, Please let me know how it works out.
Two of the most important things to remember about gardening is that 1) there are a lot of ‘rules’ 2) some of those rules should be broken
There are many things about gardening that one has to experience to understand what the rules are there for. There are the things we must learn through experience – but they don’t always have to be your own, we can learn from each others’ experiences too. One of these age old rules in my part of the world, says that we should plant our gardens on the May long weekend (3rd weekend in May). But statistics say that the expected last frost is anywhere from May 1-10. Obeying that rule straight across the board, amounts to a week or more of lost growing time – when there are only an average of 120 (give or take) frost free days in the Edmonton area.
I don’t pretend to be an astronomer or any other kind of expert, but there are some things that simply make sense to me. Consider this: The summer solstice in is between June 20, 21, 22 (so lets just say the 21st). It is longest day of the year – more daylight than any other. The center of “BEST SUN” days. Count back 7 weeks to May 1, and forward 7 weeks to August 9. Those days are going to be the BEST Sun days of the summer right? A reasonable assumption to make. In fact, in Edmonton, on May 1 – 2022 the sun rose at 5:57 AM and set at 9:05 PM = 15 hr 8 min of sunshine. On August 9 – 2022 the sun rose on 6:03 AM, and set at 9:14 PM = 15 hr 11 min of sunshine.
My point? My point is that after August 9, the sun is not as high, and not as present. In fact only one month later, September 9, the sun rose at 6:57 AM (54 minutes later than Aug 9), and set at 8:04 PM (70 minutes sooner than Aug 9). That is 2 hours and 4 minutes LESS sun-time – in ONE MONTH! So yes, those may be frost free days, good time for things to ripen, but the ideal growing time has passed. If we’re planting on May 24, that gives us only two and a half months of best sun days to grow. When we could easily have another month or more.
So, how does one make the best of those high sun, but possibly NOT frost free days of early spring? Answer: Plant earlier. The next obvious question then is this: what can we plant earlier that will not be killed or stunted by those chilly mornings of early spring? Answer: There are many hardy and semi hardy cool weather vegetables that thrive in our growing season. We just need to get to know them and learn to appreciate them. Here are some ‘hardy’ and ‘semi-hardy’ vegetables (and some notable fruits) that you can be growing in the average backyard garden in and around the Edmonton region, and planted much earlier than the May long weekend.
HARDY VEGETABLES can tolerate a hard frost and temperatures between -5 and -10 Celsius
If you haven’t made friends with some of these yet, then open your mind and introduce yourself. They’re not only anxious to make friends, but are extremely forgiving and loyal. Hardy Vegetables include: Brassicas like Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Collard Greens, Kale, and Kohlrabi, as well as Leeks, Parsley, Radishes, Spinach, assorted Asian Greens (like mustard greens, bok choi and tatsoi) and Rutabaga. THAT is a lot to choose from, and ALL of them can be planted as soon as the ground is dry enough to work in. If it snows again after planting – no worries, they laugh at snow. I have planted my Spinach seeds the beginning of April, but depending on the type of spring we’re having, I could easily have planted them a week or two early. Its not simply a matter of spinach tolerating the cooler weather, it thrives in it. I’m sure you’ve noticed that as soon as the weather warms up in June, your spinach bolts (goes to seed). These cooler crops don’t like the heat, and they don’t do well in it at all. They are best grown in the earliest parts of spring. In some climates they are winter crops, but not for us in Edmonton LOL. See below for some advice on ‘some’ of these hardy vegetables. I don’t have experience with all of them, but maybe you do. I’d love to hear your opinions and suggestions from your own experience. Please share by commenting below.
KALE: Personally, I am not a fan of growing most brassicas because I’ve lost too many battles with the caterpillars that like them so much, but I make an exception for KALE. Knock on wood, I’ve never had a problem with kale (so far). It’s easy to grow, doesn’t attract pests, and it toughs out the cold weather in both spring and fall. It was a no brainer that we should become fast friends, I just needed to get to know how to use it more in the kitchen. That was the easiest part of all. I pick kale from May through September – a whole season of wholesome green goodness in salads, green smoothies, and everything in between. And it dehydrates beautifully for winter use. What else could I ask for? Depending on the weather, and the the type of spring we’re having, they can be planted outside by seed, as soon as the ground is dry and warm to the touch (anytime from April 1-30). And don’t worry if it snows – they won’t care. You can get a jump on the season by planting young seedlings outside around the 1st of May.
MUSTARD GREENS and other Asian Greens: One of my personal garden rules is to try growing at least one new vegetable every year. I am SO glad I decided to do that many years ago, as I have learned to appreciate all sorts of great vegetables that I never would have any other way. In 2022 I grew Mustard Greens for the first time, 2023 I grew Tatsoi, which I have grown every year since. In 2025 I added Bokchoi. Several years ago I grew ground cherries and tomatillos (both warm weather vegetables) – huge win! I’ve grown them ever since too.
PARSLEY: has been a favourite herb in my garden for years, and occasionally even comes back in the spring – though at best it is still only a biennial, so its best to count of replanting seedlings every spring. But no need to wait till late May, parsley plants can be planted by May 1st for sure. Don’t bother planting seeds outside. They take too long to germinate for that. Either start them indoors in February or early March, or buy your plants from a greenhouse.
SPINACH: is wonderful, and one of the healthiest plants when eaten FRESH (within a couple hours of harvest). It’s leaves are tender and perfect for salads. I used to buy a lot of ‘fresh’ spinach from the grocery store, all year long, but I very rarely do anymore. We know that all produce begins deteriorating nutritionally within the first hour of harvest, and the sad new about spinach is that within four days – it has lost 100% of its vitamin C. I don’t know about where you buy yours, but I can pretty much guarantee that the spinach available in my local grocery store was NOT picked within the last 96 hours! So the very best source of spinach is the one that can it get to your table within only a few hours of harvest. That means its either grown in my garden, or its THRIVE LIFE Freeze Dried Spinach.
The tricky part about growing spinach is that it LIKES COOL WEATHER. That is its great strength as a garden vegetable in Alberta, since we specialize in ‘cooler’ weather. But wait. The convers of that fact implies that it hates hot weather. And it does. When the sun gets real hot, spinach goes to seed (it ‘bolts’ – see below). If you plant spinach around May 24, it will bolt in the heat of late June, and you are very likely to be disappointed. What to do? Plant it earlier.
Its good to know bytheway, that there are several other greens that grow well all summer long without bolting, so it doesn’t have to be “spinach or nothing”. But, back to spinach. Because it’s a cool weather crop, we can plant spinach in the early spring (early to late April depending on the year), when we can take advantage of the long ‘sun’ days that come with the cooler weather of April and May. Ironically spinach wants a nice sunny location, but doesn’t want the heat that comes with the sun, so its the perfect plant to extend your growing season. By the time your spinach has given up in the heat of summer, your swiss chard and other greens are ready to eat!
Is it worth it? Absolutely. If you can get your spinach planted early enough in the spring, you’ll get a beautiful crop that will flourish. Its the perfect opening act to your summer garden. And its a great source of iron, calcium and vitamins A, B, C, and K.
what is “bolting” and what causes it? Bolting is a common response of cool weather vegetables to stresses of summer – temperature stress, day length stress, or water stress. When the plant is in distress, it hastens it’s purpose in life – which is to go to seed. Long spells of hot dry weather may be good for peppers and tomatoes, but NOT good for spinach. Many other leafy vegetables do the same thing. Not much you can do about the weather in summer, so just work with it. Spinach doesn’t want what tomatoes want. So planting it when the days are cooler, and giving it as much cool time to grow as possible will make it happier.
In some zones, spinach might be a good fall crop, but I’ve found that the end of our growing season is too fickle. In Edmonton, the sun is less by the end of August, but the days are still very warm and dry. We could just as easily have snow in October as not, and if we do, temperatures could drop quickly. I’ve tried extending my growing season by planting spinach at the end of August, but experience has shown me I’m gonna have more success in the early spring.
Plant your spinach in rich soil – amended with old manure and/or compost. Keep it consistently moist, but not soggy. Water deeply and regularly. Spinach is a heavy feeder, so sprinkling blood meal around the plant mid growing season will encourage rapid growth of continuous new, tender leaves. Once you see five or six nice healthy leaves on a plant, go ahead and start snipping the larger ones off for spinach salad.
RADISHES and TURNIPS/Rutabagas: I am not a fan of radishes for their roots, but I absolutely AM a fan of their greens! I grow them, but only for their tops. They have a little zip that is great in a fresh garden salad when they’re young – super nutritious – SO worth it. They’re best when they’re young, so start picking early while you’re thinning them out. Once the roots get big, the leaves are not as tender and suitable for salads, but they make a great Pesto. (click here Radish Green Pesto for the recipe)
SEMI HARDY VEGETABLES will tolerate light frosts and temperatures around freezing (0°C)
Semi-hardy vegetables can be planted quite a bit earlier than the May long weekend, but maybe don’t push it too far into April, unless its an especially warm spring. Some great Semi-hardy Vegetables include: Beets, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Endive, most kinds of Potatoes, all kinds of Lettuces, Radicchio, Rutabaga, and Swiss Chard.
BEETS: good for the tops as well as the roots. Plant at the beginning of May.
young carrot tops are delicious as well as nutritious
CARROTS: for example, take up to 3 weeks to germinate, so getting a heads start on them is important, but planting them too early, when the soil is still cold won’t help. The first days of May should be early enough for carrots. If you haven’t discovered making your own SEED TAPE, then you are in for a treat. Super easy to make yourself, and prevent wasting a ton of carrot seeds.
Did you know that carrot greens are not only good to eat, but super nutritious? More vitamin C than the actual ‘carrot’. I use them lightly chopped when they’re young and tender (the thinnings) in garden salads and in smoothies. If I have more than I can use, then I lightly chop and freeze for later. They make a fantastic Pesto!
LETTUCE: of all kinds is fine with cooler temperatures and even the odd light frost in the beginning. They’ll germinate in a few days and will thrive in the bright light.
POTATOES: could have an entire blog post devoted to growing them, but don’t wait till the long weekend in May to plant them. Shoot for the end of April / beginning of May, depending on the spring, when your soil is nice and warm. You don’t want them to pop up before the last frost, so don’t push your luck toooo far, but two or three weeks before last expected frost should be fine. You can expect them to be ready to harvest in 120 days, but you can begin ‘stealing’ young potatoes in early to mid August (depending when you planted them of course). The best potatoes I ever grew were hilled completely in hay. An experiment that I am trying to recreate this year. Stay tuned.
RUTABAGAS: not to be confused with turnips. They are both root vegetables and have similar shape and appearance, but they are not the same. Turnips are usually harvested young – only 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and are a summer vegetable. Rutabagas are harvested closer to the end of the growing season, and are usually bigger. Turnips are white with a purplish top, rutabagas have a yellowish flesh, also a purplish top. Turnips taste a little like radishes to me, while rutabagas are a little milder and maybe even sweeter. Both can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, roasted or stir fried. Its all about personal preference when judging between the two, and tastes change over time, so I think its a good idea to come back to certain foods that we may not have liked in younger years. Turnips and rutabagas are the perfect example of that.
Rutabagas was one of my ‘new’ vegetables a few years ago. I had tried growing turnips the year before and discovered that my vague childhood memories of not liking them was very much true, and that I still didn’t like them. So the next year I grew rutabagas for the first time, and I’m a much bigger fan of them. I do like to oven roast them, by themselves like sweet potato fries, or with other roasted vegetables.
swiss chard early afternoon, destined to become spanakopita for dinner
SWISS CHARD: is one of my best friends in the garden. Fast Growing, Forgiving and Fabulous it is delicious, nutritious and very flexible in the kitchen. It is a staple in my summer kitchen, and the most important ingredient in my SPANAKOPITA. In fact I grow swiss chard especially for this summer delicacy.
Chard will tolerate the heat of summer much better than spinach, but hot dry days will still cause it to bolt. Watering well when its dry will help cool it down, but its important to pick continuously throughout the season.
Planting Non Hardy Vegetables must wait
Rushing the season with tender plants like tomatoes and peppers, is asking for trouble, so yes, for them – stick to the age old rule of May long weekend. For the others mentioned above, a little frost, a little snow – pshaw, we’re talking about SUPER HEROES here! They’re not afraid of cold. A late, cold spring, doesn’t have to shorten our season, or decrease our harvest, in fact, cooler temperatures are best for these cool weather vegetables. Be brave, and Be positive. You’re the boss of your garden. Begin looking at cold rainy spring days as SPINACH DAYS. And there’s other good news – in the early spring, there are fewer pests around to damage plants. It’s a total WIN!
Whether you’ve been around the block a time or two, or you’re just getting your feet underneath you in the garden, cool crops are a bountiful way to extend our season. And because they’re so forgivingly easy to grow, they are encouraging plants to start off with. Success means starting with winners. And the key is to EAT them. Broaden your horizons. Commit to experiment every year, with something new to you. Learn about one more vegetable that you never knew before. Plant it. Make friends with it, and learn ways to enjoy it.
SPANAKOPITA is why everyone should always plant Swiss Chard! There is no question that the world would be a happier place if we all did. see full recipe HERE
Hardy fruits:
There are many fruits we can grow in and around Edmonton, most notably – BERRIES. I hope you love berries because we grow awesome raspberries around here. And great red and black currents. And terrific honey berries (haskaps). And saskatoons. And plums and sour cherries. And rhubarb and apples. And all of these come back every year! We also grow excellent strawberries and even some types of grapes. So don’t limit your gardens to annual vegetables, open your mind and your arms to perennial fruits. But that’s another blog post for another time.
The one cardinal garden rule that everyone should obey is to: GROW WHAT YOU EAT, AND EAT WHAT YOU GROW. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time and space.
Have fun in your garden this year, and have fun planning and planting it. Don’t wait till all the stars align, the sun is warm and everything else is perfect. You’ll have wasted valuable growing time. Embrace the hardy vegetables of cool weather. Put your jacket and garden gloves on and get out there!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on extending your gardening season. Please comment below.
At the time of this writing it is mid April 2022. We’ve had an unseasonably cold early spring. Snow has not completely melted. The world is in turmoil. War is raging in the Ukraine as they fight to remain autonomous from Russia. This is affecting food supplies all over Europe, and the fallout will be felt worldwide. We in the west, are still recovering from droughts, floods, fires, storms, and labour shortages. Food prices have skyrocketed along with fuel and energy prices, and everything related to them (which is pretty much everything). If ever there was a good time to plant a garden to supplement our grocery dollar, this year would be it!
