all in the name of research

I need help, really I do. The indoor seed starting had mixed results, if you will recall from my first entry. Successful, as of now anyway, are the peas, green beans, cucumbers & flowers. Even the smothered tomato shoots are showing promise. But there have been funerals, I'm not going to lie. The root veggies went into the compost pile ( a term I use very loosely right now, but may in fact be a squirrel smorgasbord!) with a lesson learned for next year.
My immediate dilemma is lettuce. Mesclun greens to be exact. I have transplanted my wimpy, little seedlings into the garden. To be honest, I have no idea what they need. It reminds me vaguely of when my son was born. After 5 glorious days recovering in the hospital, we were on our own. No manual, no money back guarantee. Just the slowest car ride ever with frequent stops to check he was still breathing. He's 8 now, there has to be hope for my greens as well.

I decided to turn this rocky start into a true experiment. Seed starting vs slacker- plant buying at the depot. By the way, most big name garden centers have lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower & a strange but intriguing kohlrabi plant all for the taking right now. And all can be planted in containers, if you'd like to get your hands a little dirty & reap a late spring harvest.

I grabbed the perfect cohort-in-crime for the half hour drive to MY FAVORITE GARDEN CENTER, Terrain at Styler's farm. My friend had never experienced this magical oasis & I was truly excited to share it. Some great conversation, a little traffic & we were there. From the moment we stepped out of the car, we were both kids on christmas morning. Visually, this place rocks! ( a side note: urban outfitters/antropologie took over this center a few years back. They earned a best of philly 08). Even when I go for very specific reasons, like today with my lettuce mission, I always get sidetracked with the lighting, cookbooks, furniture, candles & so on.

When I was able to re-focus, I headed outside to grab the much hardier looking (than mine anyway) baby mesclun. No luck but they did have a good amount of other choices & a surprise, brussel sprouts. Now don't turn up your nose. These are not the steamed balls of mush our mother's tried to get us to eat by loading each one with a olfactory numbing dose of vinegar ( when overcooked brussel sprouts take on a sulfurous odor, yuck). I am hoping they grow up to be beautiful, compact shoots which I will roast with pancetta. Yum! A bonus would be getting my kids to eat them as well. I may have a chance. Last week I found purple cauliflower & roasted it with buttered bread crumbs, not a crumb was left! Maybe it was the butter??