I realize I am courting the Omens by titling a post "early spring" and in fact may be challenging fate to deliver an ice storm... but every once in a while one has to live dangerously. The crazy thing is that the garden has had a bit of a problem with drought this spring... not a good sign for the long hot summer coming up in this part of the Pacific Northwest. Who would have ever thought we could end up having water problems? Well lots of people actually, but those are the tree hugging fools that thought that ecosystems should be protected... we don't listen to those loons with their wacky, baseless, social media sharing, Domesday scenarios constructed to destroy the economy.
In the end I'll have enough water to soak my gardens, so it won't be a problem for me in the near future, so as a human i will subscribe to the age old "if it doesn't immediately affect me personally then it's not a problem" and carry on. Heck my toilet is full of drinking water... it can't be a problem right.
So the kale is flowering, I let it go for a bit to give the bees the idea that my garden is a good place to hang, but i took it down today to cut down on the lingering white fly problem we have in this city. I juiced the leaves with carrots and beets that overwintered and some ginger that i bought from the store and then i nursed a belly ache for a while belching like a town drunk. I feel fine now... wondering if bolting kale is good for the digestive tract? The little yellow flowers were very sweet and peppery and added wonderful colour to my salad. It is now time to put some new kale in the garden that i started indoors a little while back. I guess i have a love/hate relationship with kale... it's kind of more of a hate/hate relationship, but it's apparently really good for you so i eat it. A good little recipe is to fry it in garlic, butter, salt and pepper and get some chick peas in there and toast them good. With enough butter and salt even the most insipid tasting plants can be delicious.
Kale grows easy like a weed and a half dozen plants will give you all you need all year round... just keep grabbing leaves and it will pump out more. Another good thing is that the idiot squirrels don't eat Kale in this hood... they will destroy broccoli and beets, attack chard, decimate fruit trees, but they won't eat kale. Luckily i can grow beets and broccoli and berries in the community garden as pesky squirrels aren't a big problem over there.
Kale salad- wash the leaves real good, stack them together and roll them up real tight and then with a nice knife slice it real thin cutting circle sections. This will give you long thin strands and rub with some oil and salt and let sit for an hour or longer. You can add orange slices or nuts, cheese... anything really. Bring that to a dinner party and the ladies will be amazed... for some reason everybody likes to coo over a kale salad... it provides a perfect decoy for you to hit the cheese plate somebody else brought.
need it on video-
When you are ready I'll tell you how to make kale chips... but for now make sure you get rid of the kale that is in your garden that over wintered now. Don't fall into the trap where you think it is food that you are going to eat... you may, but more importantly it is a disease source that will haunt your garden and your neighbours gardens for the duration of the season. It's one of those mistakes that is made by the same people year after year... the joys of community.
Peas should be in... don't have them in yet? Give yourself a little punch in the face... just a little stinger and make sure to hit above the eye in the forehead... trust me... don't hit your eye... Just a little shot to wake yourself up to get into the game. Spinach should be rolling too... forgot that? Give yourself a little kick in the shin... make sure not to twist your knee... you can kind of heel kick it so you get the little motivational shot of pain without risking long term damage.
Obviously if you just want to garden then go do it... but if you want to MAN Garden then you need to be prepared to hold yourself accountable. Don't be afraid to self loath as a motivator... i do realize promoting self loathing seems ironic in a hobby that is generally considered a peaceful and relaxing endeavor... but you have to see the garden through the plants. If you are soft on yourself you can always find an excuse, a reason... imagine your garden as a sports team and you are the GM. You need to be hard to set the example that this is going to be a grinding season with no days taken off... no set of conditions too steep to overcome victory. What is victory you ask shaking your head? Produce of course... some of the gardens out there already have eating spinach and foot high peas... some gardens have nothing but a pile of weeds. The way i see it, the spinach eating garden is off to a 20 point lead early in the season... those are going to be big points to make up to get into the playoffs come harvest season.
In the end I'll have enough water to soak my gardens, so it won't be a problem for me in the near future, so as a human i will subscribe to the age old "if it doesn't immediately affect me personally then it's not a problem" and carry on. Heck my toilet is full of drinking water... it can't be a problem right.
So the kale is flowering, I let it go for a bit to give the bees the idea that my garden is a good place to hang, but i took it down today to cut down on the lingering white fly problem we have in this city. I juiced the leaves with carrots and beets that overwintered and some ginger that i bought from the store and then i nursed a belly ache for a while belching like a town drunk. I feel fine now... wondering if bolting kale is good for the digestive tract? The little yellow flowers were very sweet and peppery and added wonderful colour to my salad. It is now time to put some new kale in the garden that i started indoors a little while back. I guess i have a love/hate relationship with kale... it's kind of more of a hate/hate relationship, but it's apparently really good for you so i eat it. A good little recipe is to fry it in garlic, butter, salt and pepper and get some chick peas in there and toast them good. With enough butter and salt even the most insipid tasting plants can be delicious.
Kale grows easy like a weed and a half dozen plants will give you all you need all year round... just keep grabbing leaves and it will pump out more. Another good thing is that the idiot squirrels don't eat Kale in this hood... they will destroy broccoli and beets, attack chard, decimate fruit trees, but they won't eat kale. Luckily i can grow beets and broccoli and berries in the community garden as pesky squirrels aren't a big problem over there.
Kale salad- wash the leaves real good, stack them together and roll them up real tight and then with a nice knife slice it real thin cutting circle sections. This will give you long thin strands and rub with some oil and salt and let sit for an hour or longer. You can add orange slices or nuts, cheese... anything really. Bring that to a dinner party and the ladies will be amazed... for some reason everybody likes to coo over a kale salad... it provides a perfect decoy for you to hit the cheese plate somebody else brought.
need it on video-
When you are ready I'll tell you how to make kale chips... but for now make sure you get rid of the kale that is in your garden that over wintered now. Don't fall into the trap where you think it is food that you are going to eat... you may, but more importantly it is a disease source that will haunt your garden and your neighbours gardens for the duration of the season. It's one of those mistakes that is made by the same people year after year... the joys of community.
Peas should be in... don't have them in yet? Give yourself a little punch in the face... just a little stinger and make sure to hit above the eye in the forehead... trust me... don't hit your eye... Just a little shot to wake yourself up to get into the game. Spinach should be rolling too... forgot that? Give yourself a little kick in the shin... make sure not to twist your knee... you can kind of heel kick it so you get the little motivational shot of pain without risking long term damage.
Obviously if you just want to garden then go do it... but if you want to MAN Garden then you need to be prepared to hold yourself accountable. Don't be afraid to self loath as a motivator... i do realize promoting self loathing seems ironic in a hobby that is generally considered a peaceful and relaxing endeavor... but you have to see the garden through the plants. If you are soft on yourself you can always find an excuse, a reason... imagine your garden as a sports team and you are the GM. You need to be hard to set the example that this is going to be a grinding season with no days taken off... no set of conditions too steep to overcome victory. What is victory you ask shaking your head? Produce of course... some of the gardens out there already have eating spinach and foot high peas... some gardens have nothing but a pile of weeds. The way i see it, the spinach eating garden is off to a 20 point lead early in the season... those are going to be big points to make up to get into the playoffs come harvest season.
