Yesterday’s State of the Garden (Before Andrea)
Tonight in the moist tropical air of Andrea and her wake, the garden is outrageously blowsy. It will be a marvel when the sun heats it up again.
Similar Posts
Last Year’s Kale
To make room to plant seeds and seedlings of the cool weather greens, today I pulled most of the kale that overwintered. I’m not quite sure how it survived even the visitation of the polar vortices, but my garden is its own private mystery.
Uma’s not sure whether the kale is any good, but it is actually neither too bitter, nor too tough to be edible, though it will need to be picked over well and would be best cooked thoroughly.
To go with the kale, keeping in mind the next wintry front coming through, I am soaking chickpeas overnight. Tomorrow I will braise the kale with wine, garlic, rosemary, and onions, and then stew it together with the chickpeas. The combination of braising and stewing will make tenderize the kale, but still keep it flavorful.
With what I planted new today, the next time it is feeling spring-like, there should be some tender new greens to pick and taste.
State of the Garden
How exciting to see not only what is ready to eat now — the greens and herbs and strawberries — but the promise of what will come throughout the summer, so long as my dedicated attentions continue; the weather is cooperative; and the bugs, birds, and squirrels and I can negotiate my getting a decent share of what ripens. The fairy rose in the last photo was a gift from a student who was an enthusiastic participant in my gentle/therapeutic class who left his body last year. Sweet to see the rose still thriving.
