All hail-it's KALE!!

When I first started selling my veggies years ago, people would often ask me to leave the kale out of their veggies basket.  Kale and eggplants- "no thanks!"

Well, lots of folks still don't want the eggplants.  But it seems to me that kale is catching on. More and more people are discovering it, and actually finding out that they really like it.  And why not?  It is versatile and really (double really) good for you.

I grew 5 types this year.  As I refer back to my Seed Savers Exchange yearbook, I see 26 varieties were offered to members in 2010.  That's a lot of different kales!

Kale is a member of the brassica family (Brassica oleracae), a very interesting family indeed.  This family includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi as well as mustards and cress.  Hard to believe isn't it, that this whole family most likely descended from one single wild mustard variety which was most likely originally found in the Mediterranean.

Through individuals selecting and reselecting seed based on their personal preferences this family developed many new members.  By the fifth century B.C. a preference across Europe for larger leaf varieties, led to the introduction of kale.  I have one in my garden that is particularly large leaved called Asparagus Kale.  It even looks like a primitive variety-but it is yummy!

I plant all my kale from transplant, no direct seeding in the garden because of pests that love it. Small young seedlings just starting out can be a favourite for flea beetles and cabbage loopers.  I figure if I put in transplants, I'm guaranteed a good crop.

I start my seed indoors in March, transplant into larger containers a few weeks later- and try to get plants out in the field when they are 6 weeks old.  Some books say to start kale as a fall crop, but I'm eating it in June....and still eating it in the fall, so I don't see the point in a late start.

But there is no doubt it shines in the cooler fall garden.  It takes frost after frost and just gets better.  Sweeter, tastier and the plant itself becomes more robust.

Pest wise, the cabbage loopers love it.  I patrol all my brassicas throughout the growing season, picking off the loopers at least once a week.  I pop them in a small bucket, then feed them to the chickens who are happy about this indeed.

 I would say that out of the ones I grow Lacinato (aka Dinosaur or Nero di toscano) is my favourite.  I like the sturdy texture of it, it's dark green bubbly appearance and strong flavour-especially after a frost which sweetens it up remarkably.

My neighbour , an elderly dutch woman is always so excited when the kale is ready.  She calls it borekale (which is farmer's kale in dutch and I believe is the equivalent of collards), but it is truly kale she is after.  She cooks it up with her potatoes, and mashes it all together with some butter, salt and sometimes a bit of bacon.  A dutch treat!

I like mine stir fried in a bit of olive oil, with a good bit of chopped garlic.  Yummy!

Or how about this -

Kale Chips

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

(recipe from Allrecipes.com

Beet-i-licious!!

Fresh pulled beets!

Beets are one of those things that I never seem to plant quite enough of.

My husband always loves to tell the story of the year he didn't get  beets.  "Why didn't you plant them" he asked?

I explained to him that I actually had, but the CSA and restaurant folks had been getting them all.  I guess I just didn't know he was missing them.

Well, I don't do that anymore.

I plant lots of 'em and lots of kinds.  I've just come in from the garden and pulled 11 distinctive varieties...a mere drop in the bucket!  As I check my Seed Saver's Exchange Yearbook(2010), I see members have listed 35 different open pollinated varieties.  Wow!

The varieties boiling in my pot are: Long Blood Red, Early Wonder Tall Top, Cylindra, Sugar beet, Albino, Collosal Red mangel, Intermediate Yellow mangel, 3 Root Grex, Chioggia, Crapaudine, and Burpee's Golden.

Beets have been a part of our food story for a long time.  They were cultivated in the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and in India as early  as third century B.C.
Selection of beet types over the years has provided us with an astounding variety - flat, round, long, tapered, red, white , black, striped, yellow and golden.

Their flavour is as different as their appearance-sweet, mild, earthy. And their use equally versatile.

Grated raw beets are "grate" on salad, in baking too.  Roasted, boiled and of course pickled, they shine!

They are really quite easily to grow, but like a loose fertile soil.  This year in my clay soil, they did really well when I did something just a bit different.  When the soil became workable in the early spring, I drew a nice long trench as my row, then filled the trench with some lovely compost.  I wasn't sure if the beets would revolt once they hit the clay when growing, but in fact, they didn't.  They just kept on growing.

I pushed the little cluster of beet seed into the compost at about 3" intervals, and kept the rows well watered until I saw germination.  The rate of germination was fantastic.

I still have most of the crop in the garden, selling and eating as the days roll by.  I know very soon, I'll have to take them up, it will simply get too cold.  But that's the other great thing about beets.  Their ability to store really well.

I'll take their greens off at the root ( and feed them to the waiting chickens), then put the beets in barrels layered with straw.  These barrels will store well in my garage in the winter.  The only thing I have found is the barrels must have lids of some sort....the mice appreciate the sweet treats too!

In the spring, I'll pull some nice specimens out, and replant them so I grow them on for seed.  As they cross readily with each other, and with chard, it's important to separate them well...one in each of 3 hoophouses, and others scattered around the property.

It doesn't take long for them to send up their seed stalks, and the work of creating seed begins.

Then the cycle begins again!

Here's a recipe that's a bit different to consider:

Beet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1  pound  beets (about 2 medium)
• Cooking spray
• 2/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 2/3  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2  cup  vegetable oil
• 2  large eggs
• 2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk
• Frosting:
• 2  teaspoons  grated orange rind
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, chilled
• 3  cups  sifted powdered sugar
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, peel beets using a vegetable peeler. Grate beets, using the large holes of a grater, to measure 2 cups.

Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray.

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended. Add beets; beat well. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks; remove from pans. Carefully peel off wax paper, and cool cake completely on wire racks.

To prepare frosting, beat orange rind, vanilla, and cream cheese with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar; beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat).

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting; top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle nuts over top of cake. Store cake loosely covered in refrigerator.

• This recipe is from MyRecipes.com  - It is fantastic!

Guest Post-Mollie is back!

I'm glad I'm back ( writing ) ! This time I'll talk about our animals and a few others!  First I'll talk about
Joey! He's our pig.He's a great (hungry) guy, he's also a pot belly . Then there is our chickens, three  old and 21 younger . The rooster is mean and I have a chicken named Hazelnut.
And there is our puppies, Ellie and Darwin, Darwin is a beagle and Ellie is a collie. they are the best.
I can't forget the ducks one brown two white indian runners and one white muscovy. The muscovy will nibble your feet......wear boots!
oh and the bunnies. One light brown and white named Napoleon, another dark brown and white named Lucky.
And 5 cats,Penny ,Pickle , Pippy, Baby and Cookie

Thats all ,
Mollie!

Radical radish!

What can I say?

This gal was running across the garden today-I tackled her and brought her in.

Now what do I do ?