I no longer attempt to grow spinach in my potager. The first few years it was prolific and I had enough spinach for lots of salads. lots of gratins, and lots of soup for the freezer.
Then the ants moved in.
With the ants come the aphids (the ants farm aphids) and the aphids destroy the spinach.
I disturb the ants as frequently and violently as I can but they have just moved out of the potager and I have no idea where they live but they are still in my garden.
The aphids can be gotten rid of by spraying with a soap mix, but that’s next to impossible as the aphids are on the underside of the spinach leaves.
I had the aphids on my chives one year – the soap made quick work of them there.
The ants also like to put them on the green beans but that’s easy. I just put on disposable gloves (the same kind everyone has been wearing during the pandemic) and squeeze them to death…. takes about 2 minutes to clean the whole crop of bean plants and is even more effective than the soap. I throw away the gloves….
Fortunately, not everyone’s spinach crop is plagued with aphids.
Click here to Pin Spinach Salad with Poached Eggs
PrintSpinach Salad with Poached Eggs
Ham & eggs on a spinach salad. Add crusty bread for a quick, healthy lunch or supper
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
Ingredients
- 6oz (180gr) thickly slice Prosciutto or other dry-cured ham, cut into pieces
- 4 eggs
- 3oz (90gr) cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 6oz (180gr) spinach, prepared for salad
- 2 tbs fresh, snipped garlic chives
- handful fresh basil leaves
- 1/3 cup (1.5oz, 45gr) freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 tbs vinegar
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- Vinaigrette
- 2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
- 2 tbs sherry vinegar
- 3 tbs salad olive oil
Instructions
- Sauté ham in olive oil until hot. Keep warm.
- In a large bowl whisk together mustard and vinegar.
- Slowly add salad olive oil, whisking constantly until thickened.
- Add spinach, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan and herbs, toss well to coat.
- To poach eggs: Fill a medium skillet with water. The water should be at least 1 1/2 inches deep, 2 inches (5 cm) would be better.
- Heat water over medium-high heat.
- Add vinegar.
- When water is softly boiling poach eggs: one at a time break egg into a small saucer. Swirl a spoon in the water where you will put the egg – off to one side. When water is swirling drop egg into center.
- With slotted spoon try to keep the white together.
- Do next egg.
- With regular spoon scoop some hot water over tops of eggs.
- Poach for 2 – 4 minutes or until white is set but yolk is still very soft. (Or hard, as you like…) Remove with a slotted spoon.
- To finish: Divide spinach salad and arrange on 2 plates.
- Divide ham and add to salad.
- Top with 2 poached eggs, salt & pepper if you like, and serve.
Notes
The fresh herbs are lovely – but optional if you don’t have any on hand. You can use any type of ham or even smoked turkey. Poaching eggs is easy but you could just fry them….
Keywords: spinach salad, poached eggs
My new keyboard came today.
And my printer quit working.
It worked yesterday; it did not work today.
I spent the requisite amount of time cursing, unplugging / plugging, Googling, and uninstalling / installing before I conceded defeat and grabbed mon mari’s printer to finish my project. Neither one of us print often so we really don’t need 2 printers. I’ll take another look at it in a few days, after it’s had a chance to cool off. If it doesn’t work it will join my 2 broken keyboards on their final journey.
As to the new keyboard…. It’s wireless so it has a ‘unifying receiver’. That’s a big name for the tiny little USB dongle.
I plugged it in…. it worked (as it should).
Then I was asked if I would like to run my mouse (also Logitech) off of the same receiver, thus freeing up a USB port.
Gosh…. Why not?
I clicked yes, followed by next, at which point both my mouse and my new keyboard quit working.
Do you know what they call a computer without a mouse? A boat anchor.
I got my spare mouse (I’m a nerd, I have spares of most stuff… but not printers).
This time, after cursing, unplugging / plugging, Googling, and uninstalling / installing I got everything to work.
I’ve never had 2 mice working at the same time before…..
I’m having an internal debate as to which is more stress-inducing: the potager or the computer. I’ll let you know if I ever decide.
Oddly, this just showed up in my feed today. It’s Sunday…
I have a climbing rose bush that’s well over 100 years old. I’ve moved it three times since I was gifted it. Once during the regifting, once when we moved from that house, once to this house oh, and once from where I’d stuck it in the ground since it was October, to it’s permanent spot the following spring so…four times. I unfortunately had to cut it back the third time in the move out here and have had to cut it back every year since until now. This past winter, I left it alone. It hasn’t bloomed this beautifully since we moved out here, but the leaves, OY! The leaves are full of holes! Full. I don’t see any aphids, but I’m guessing that’s what’s doing it. I don’t understand where they aphids are hiding every time I walk by the rosebush, but they are. It’s infuriating. I understand your plight.
I love spinach. Have you tried diatomaceous earth? For the ants? Works great.
I haven’t tried that…. I’ve done polenta / cornmeal and that seems to work but I haven’t had any this year. (I do now). We don’t need to trim our roses – the rabbits do it for us if we forget to fence them in the spring. But now we’ve found blood meal and that seems to be working.
Wow – 100 year old roses! That’s fantastic.