There’s more to winter greens than iceberg lettuce
Jano Nightingale

Although many cooks think of the winter salad as a pale green ball of iceberg lettuce cut in half with a plop of Russian dressing placed somewhat decoratively on salad plate, we are now finding new greens!

It may have been the case in our parents’ day when iceberg was one of the only alternatives for a dinner salad, especially where I grew up in the rigid Midwest.

Without the overnight express transportation that we have become accustomed to in the 21st century, there were few choices with gourmet vegetables in the 1960s.

Now, of course, especially in Southern California, the selection is seemingly endless, but the choices can be confusing.

If you have a simple raised bed, a selection of window boxes or full-fledge bedding , plant area, you can grow a wide selection of greens in our colder months.

Of course, in the North County climate right now, we might have 70-degree daytime temperature that fall to lower 50s in the evening.

Dark-leaf green vegetable in the cabbage family and brassica family not only grow successfully but sometimes become so prolific that they must be picked on an almost daily basis.

Recently, on a visit to her family farm, Esther Lin (陳真美) gave our Carlsbad Senior garden Club a tour of their little patch of heaven on Highland Drive in Carlsbad. Although our class came in search of ideas for our salad gardens, we were quickly treated to a wide variety of fruit picked off the trees.

Esther and her husband, Frank (林幸隆), who were born in Taiwan, have owned their property for over 40 years, starting on a vacant lot in Carlsbad in 1980.

The Lins grow a wide variety of greens, including mustard, bok choy, Chinese cabbage and totsoi, but our biggest surprise was the large, 6-feet bed of daikon radish. Joanne Chien, one of the senior graden students, walked over to the bed and pulled up six 12-inched white radishes. “Tonight, I will make soup from these!” The radishes are a favorite of all my Asian students and have no bitterness or bite as do the red variety.

The Creen Lotus Organic Farm is open to the public by reservation. Contact the Lins’ farm at Mamitakalin@gmail.com. The farm is open daily for private informational tours with Esther and FranK Lin.

Their selection of fruit brings back memories for over a hundred visitor per year from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan.

Esther shared with us one of her favorite daikon radish soups. She explained, “It’s so easy, but you can change it any you want. It’s a good way to eat greens every day.”

Ingredients: Four white-daikon radishes, three green onions, large bunch Swiss chard and Chinese cabbage, sesame oil, five cloves of garlic, One-quart chicken broth, One block tofu.

Method:
- Chop radishes (including green tops),onions and garlic, and sauté in sesame oil in a small pan.
- In separate four-quart soup pot, add chicken broth and sautéed vegetables.
- Cover and cook for half-hour. Before serving, add chard and greens with sliced tofu and cook until greens are wilted.
- Add soy sauce to taste.
- Serve over rice noodles or rice.

Jano Nightingale is a Master Gardener and teaches vegetable gardening at the Carlsbad Seniors Center and other location.

This article was originally published in The Coast News jano’s garden:
https://issuu.com/coastnewsgroup/docs/the_coast_news_january_26_2024

後記：本文內中文姓名由編輯室加註，原文並無。