Senga's Blog
Eco-chic Outdoor Living & Exterior Design
June 14/10 Year in Sustainable Garden: First Strawberries and an Easy Strawberry Salad to Make
The First Strawberries of Summer
At long last the warm summer days seem to be arriving in Vancouver. My edible green roof has finally started to grow. The heirloom leaf lettuce appears to have sprouted up overnight as well as our onions and cucumbers.
David and I go up on the roof to figure see what will be our first harvest for ou Sunday night dinner. I am hoping the everbearing strawberries will finally be ready. This is the season for them. I am disappointed at first to see that only green fruit prevails on the plants.
The Strawberry Experiment on My Studio Green Roof
As I wander through the edible green roof garden I happen to glance across to my studio green roof. It is mainly composed of sedums and ornamental grasses which sit on 3" of soil. However, as an experiment last year I had some everbearing strawberry crowns left over and decided to plug them on this roof and see if they survived the winter in such shallow soil. And to my surprise I can vaguely see little red berries on the plants!
Excited I hop over to the studio green roof and to my surprise little red berries are sprinkled throughout the bed! With such shallow soil and full sunshine I theorize that these plants are heating up a lot quicker than the edible green roof - pushing the plants to fruit faster. About 10 minutes later we have about 2 cups of the sweetest luscious strawberries you can imagine. And there are more ripening on the vines. Not bad for an experiment!
A Strawberry and Salad Recipe to Celebrate Summer
To celebrate, I pick the strawberries on the studio green roof and David harvests assorted greens including our heirloom leaf lettuce, baby cucumbers, arugula and shallots. Within 15 minutes we have a simple but perfect summer salad.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes from Roof To Plate
Serves: 4 People
Recipe:
2 Cups Strawberries
4 Cups Mixed Greens
2 Baby Cucumbers
1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 Shallot Diced
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pinch Course Sea Salt
Salt and Ground Black Pepper to Taste
Combine: Shallots, Salt/pepper, Red Wine Vinegar in Bowl
Whisk: In Olive Oil
Pour: Dressing into Bowl with Lettuce, and Cucumbers
Toss: All Lightly
Add: Strawberries and Toss Lightly Twice So Not to Bruise Fruit
ENJOY!
