Thinnings for breakfast

The spinach has developed secondary leaves!

Can you see them?  They're more roundish than the original sprouts.

What this means is that I really can't put off thinning the, uh, herd any longer.  I was supposed to thin the sprouts to 6" apart once they were 2" tall.  I didn't, because I hate having to kill off the little ones so the big ones can survive.  But I finally did it this morning.

After thinning.  I know, there's still too many.  I'll have to do it again in a few weeks.

It took maybe half an hour, and I learned several things.
1.  Next time, plant in a grid formation, with regularly spaced seeds.  This will take advantage of all available sunlight, instead of leaving patches completely seed-free.
2.  When you pull out one seedling, make sure to tamp the soil back down, or the surrounding seedlings will get pulled up too.
3.  Thinning plants feels somewhat heartless, but hey, so is spinach.
4.  Eat what you pick!

I collected the thinnings in a bag.

Of course, even with home-grown veggies, it's a good idea to wash them before eating them.

In my sink.

I decided that for this first "crop", I would make poached eggs with cheese and greens on toast.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any bread, so I had to make a quick trip to the store.

[Laura drives to the store and buys milk, bread, lox, and mushrooms.  The lox and mushrooms are not part of this breakfast.]

Finally, I poached my farmer's market eggs, toasted the bread, sliced the cheese, and voila!  Breakfast!

YUM.