In Praise of Kale and More Gardening Inspiration

Kale has been a favorite in our kitchen as of late. We were lucky to get a very nice harvest of it from our garden - it seemed to grow better than anything else we planted last Fall. Possibly because our garden doesn't get full sunlight, it seemed to take quite awhile to develop, but once it did, it developed quite nicely, and we've been eating a ton of it ever since.

I love to make kale chips, and I also have been adding a couple of leaves to my smoothies in the morning. Believe it or not, it blends right in and tastes just fine. I also like to slice it thin and enjoy it in salad. And it doesn't hurt that it's considered one of the world's healthiest foods!

This morning I stumbled upon this excellent article about kale on Bay Area Bites, and thought I'd share, as there are several great recipes listed that I'm looking forward to trying.

In other news, just last weekend we harvested what was left in the garden - mostly lots of greens, and made room for the next bunch of plants. Since our garden only seems to get what is considered "partial shade", especially at this time of year, we stuck mostly to greenish things - more kale (of course!) and broccolini, arugula, little gem lettuce, beets and sweet peas. The day we planted everything, a heavy storm blew in and the poor little plants have been getting pummeled by the rain and wind for days now, so I'm hoping they'll survive!

In my efforts to become more knowledgeable about gardening, I recently enjoyed reading Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail, and learned a lot about how & when & even where to plant, even in small spaces or less than optimal conditions. Now I'm more inspired than ever to keep at it, and to grow more food than ever this year! Ms. Trail offers up so many handy tips in her book, including how to make your own compost, which is the next project I'm going to tackle, once that pesky, but much-needed rain, stops dumping out of the sky.