GTTC - kale, swiss chard and beets

Two posts in one day! I wanted to share some of the dishes my mom created with the harvest. She is a fantastic cook, so I am very happy that she is here to turn the home grown vegetables into great meals and snacks. First, with the kale, she made a smoothie. I tried this once but the kale didn't completely breakdown so I had bits of kale floating in my smoothie. She somehow got it all smooth. This smoothie had banana, mango, kale and milk. I couldn't taste the kale at all, so I guess this is good if you don't like the taste of kale.

Next up is a quick stir fry swiss chard with bacon and boiled egg. Not bad...but I'm not sure if I am a big fan of swiss chard. It tastes almost like spinach but more soil-y (if you know what I mean).

Now the beets. The beets (early wonder) are FANTASTIC. They are so sweet and just absolutely delicious. My mom made a wonderful salad.

With the beet greens, she made some stir fry with garlic and bacon with vinegar and soy sauce (I think). This too was delicious!

I'm really happy to be eating out of my garden! I'm linking to Wendy's Greenish Thumb for garden to table challenge.  Thank you Wendy for hosting GTTC!

Harvest Monday - May 28, 2012

It was extremely hot this weekend, but the veggies are doing wonderfully! In fact, I underestimated how large the greens get and the community garden is exploding with kale and collard greens. I may have to move one or two of the collard green out of the garden and into containers (I have 4 plants in the community garden). The swiss chard was also doing OK, but the caterpillars really love them so they are all chewed up.

Collard Greens and Swiss Chard (from community garden)

Kale (from the community garden)

The bok choy out on the balcony is starting to bolt so I harvested them all. I have one plant in the shade, this one is still going strong.

Bok choy (from the balcony) and spinach that has completely bolted

I pulled out all the beets. From the outside it looked like only one of the plant will have any beet root, but there was a good number of beets - small but beautiful. I also like the beet leaves so I am happy with the harvest. I will try to grow more next time around.

Last of the beets (grown in 5 and 3 gallon container)

I'm linking to Daphne's Harvest Monday - check out all the fruits and veggies being harvested around the world!

Lettuce and swiss chard...and happy happy news!

I'm growing "regular" green romaine lettuce and red romaine - both are growing quite well. I have spotted aphids here and there, but I don't have too many plants so I can manually swipe them away. I think I have spaced them too close though...I probably should transplant some to a different container to promote maximum growth.

I have a second container with lettuce and swiss chard. This was before I realized that swiss chard can get very large if you give them the space.

I think the swiss chard is large enough to withstand a move. But what about container space? Well, I just got some really great news! They have a community garden space available for rent!! I put in a request way back in November and just got a call on Monday! So exciting! I'm not sure where it is yet, so we'll see if everything will work out. If everything goes well,  I will have to go buy some starts (fun fun!). I'm so excited!

seedling update, month 1

I feel that my seedlings are growing slow. I found a heating mat that was pretty cheap (I'm also still looking into getting the snake lights) so I've been using that for the last 3 days. But I'm enjoying watching the seedlings grow.

Spinach, lettuce, kale @ 1 month

Swiss chard (no true leaves yet), pak choi @ 1 month

Romaine lettuce red and green @ 1 month

Beets @ 1 month - sown and grown outside

Kale @ 1 month - sown and grown inside

Arugula @ 3 weeks, sown inside and also left outside on the balcony

Cute purple flowers on rosemary 

This weekend, there is a sale at home depot for gardening stuff and starter plants. I'm gonna have to go and check it out! I'll see what I get and start a second set of seeds this weekend too!

Recycling potting soil?

Last year, the bulk of my garden expense was spent on potting soil - approximately 5 bags. I really do not want to replace all the soil because of the cost but also for the lack of space to dispose of last year's soil. I have one bag of composted cow manure and half a bag of fresh potting soil that I can use to amend the old soil. So I've been dumping the old soil in a bucket, adding some fresh potting soil/manure/crush egg shells/fertilizer, mixing it around and getting as much roots out as possible. I also think it is important to break up the old soil to loosen up the compacted soil. I bought a sieve from the garden store but it turns out filtering the soil through the sieve is A LOT of work. So I've resorted to breaking up the soil with my little shovel. Even this is really tedious and I do not look forward to dealing with the larger containers.

Stored egg shells crushed using a mortar and pestle to be added to the soil.

This green bucket is very useful for mixing the soil. 

My little seedlings are 10 days old and now have all sprouted. They're looking quite good.

Pak choi and Swiss chard seedlings.

Romaine lettuce seedlings

Sowing the first set of seeds.

Thai basil to the left, and sweet basil on the right

I paid a visit to Valley View Farms in search of Thai basil seeds.  I've also started sweet basil - the pesto I made last year has been such a great thing to have. I hope to make a whole bunch more this year. It occurs to me that I could probably have basil growing all year round in the kitchen. Yes, I think I will do this.

I was so excited when I also found a package of Cherokee purple tomato seeds. Last summer I bought a variety of heirloom tomatoes from the local farmer's market and these were hands down the best tasting tomatoes. I'm not sure if they grow well in containers - but I'll just have to try. Since my wish list for this year's garden keeps growing, I have looked into getting some space in a community garden. Apparently there is a waiting list for gardens in my neighborhood so unfortunately, this may not be an option.

I also picked up some lovely smelling mint. This winter I fell in love with mint tea, so I'm hoping I can make some of my own. I'm also planning to make some mojito this summer!

So far, I've started pak choi, romaine lettuce and swiss chard. I also plan to sow beets, sweet pea (need to get more seeds) and the radish that Granny sent me sometime this week.  It is great to be working with soil again - I had forgotten how fun gardening is!

Preparing for Irene

Baltimore is preparing for hurricane Irene. I drove by Fells points and all the stores were lined with sand bags. Although I don't live there, the sight of the mass of people shoveling in sand alarmed me and I got 3 bags. As I was lining my basement window with sand bags, my neighbor looked popped his head out asking if I was ready for the storm. He then reassured me that we are on a hill and we should be fine. I think we should be fine but I feel a little bit better that my basement window is sort of protected... I did however bring in some of the fall season plants inside. I thought about it for a while since I didn't want bugs in the house, but I decided that my desire to have veggies in the fall was greater than my fear of insects in the house.

Romaine lettuce

Swiss chard and bok choy

For those of you on the east coast, please be safe!!