Saturday, November 22, 2008

Kale, It's going to be a Three Parter

Our 10 month old grandson has been over today, as usual, but he has a bug of some kind, and now his parents are sick with it, so he is going to spend the night here for the first time.  I didn't get the kale cooked today, but it will still be fine to use tomorrow.  

I got to thinking, though, that I didn't remember when I planted the kale.  I decided to look for a photo of when the kale plants were seedlings.  I found pics of lettuce and other plants as seedlings, but not the kale.  The potatoes on the left were planted in March, as were the lettuce, I think.  I do successive plantings, starting sometimes as early as February.  Our spring was late in getting here, but I think I at least started some in March.  The buttercrunch and other leaf lettuce looks like it needed thinning here.  We start eating lettuce and other spring greens as soon as I start thinning, which is when they are quite small, so at this point, we were eating lettuce every day, and not keeping up.

The kale here, on 6/3, is quite small still, growing at an angle in the photo between some lettuce, starting at the cement block.  I'm thinking maybe I got the seeds later and planted them in April or May, not March, as I said in Kale...Pt. 1.  I am also thinking the kale was slow in coming up.  I should remember when I plant things next year, assuming I'm still blogging.  :o)  I'm not normally a good record keeper.  


The next photo was taken 7/5.  How could I  have forgotten about my battle with the bunnies?  I learned to tell their bite marks, by the jagged edge they leave.  They also took their share of lettuce, as usual, especially romaine.  Shortly after this was taken, I cut the plants way back to the stubs, and sprayed Liquid Fence around the area.  I ate the kale, feeling quite smug, and I don't remember if the rabbits came back when it regrew or not.


Look how nicely the kale rebounded!  This is from 8/13, and the potato plants were dying back already.  You can see stick verbena, which the butterflies frequent all over the yard, and there are some pepper plants in the photo.


This, taken 9/25, looks like it's showing where I've picked some of the leaves.  It doesn't look like I picked the center ones.  Maybe I just removed them because they had gotten big or had insect damage on them.  I just noticed the neighbors' fence to the lower right, which means I took the picture from their yard.


12 comments:

  1. hey sue, hope your grandson and his parents feel better soon. i haven't ever gotten used to the taste of kale. but it sure is pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Marmee,
    It's good I like it, because I have osteoporosis, although I probably don't eat enough of it to make a huge difference.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sue, 'if' I'm still blogging? I'm sure you meant when. :) kale is one of those plants I love to see growing, but don't really care to eat. Now my husband loves any kind of greens and would love it if I had a veggie garden with just those growing in it. Looking forward to the next parts!

    Hope your family get better quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't know about the taste coz it isn't grown here, but it definitely looks beautiful - its leaves!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love pictures of your garden, Sue. I have never had kale, is it a cabbagey taste?
    I know all about those 10 month old grandsons, I have one myself, Xavier. Hope yours is better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope your grandson and his parents get over the bug quickly and that you and your hubby don't catch it.
    We've only grown kale in a mesclun mix, not by itself. Yours sure is pretty.
    I enjoyed your pictures of the cheeky squirrel :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry to hear you've got some folks under the weather. I wondered why you were up late last night (leaving comments) with a baby asleep on your lap. Hope everyone is better today!

    Cameron

    ReplyDelete
  8. I sure hope your grandson is feeling better, and his parents too. It is no fun being sick and caring for sick children. This from a woman who currently is sick with a migraine. So you would ask, why am on here? Good question. I need to get off. You have a great blog and I will return.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sue, I Pray your Grandson and his parents are better.

    I also have osteoporsois, I guess we need to plant and eat some kale this spring. Yours is so pretty.

    I always look forward to your visits.
    Bo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the comments and well wishes, everyone! My son and daughter-in-law are feeling better. I thought I may be coming down with it earlier, but haven't yet. Shortly after supper, my husband all of a sudden said he felt terrible, and he went to bed early. I expect he will not be going to work tomorrow.

    Hi Beckie, I have so many ideas for things to blog about, but it is very time consuming, and there could come a time when I run out of ideas.

    Chandramouli, Thanks for commenting on my blog. I enjoyed visiting India through yours.

    Sunday Girl, Is your grandson living in the same town you are? We have enjoyed seeing ours weekly, and sometimes more. Kale is not as mild as cabbage. It's hard to describe, but I like it raw as well as cooked.

    Kerri, The kale I've had grow in mesclun mixes had a different texture to it. I am just figuring out there are several kinds of kale. Those squirrels are something else! They sure are cute, though.

    Cameron, That was pretty silly of me to be up that late. We ended up sleeping in the recliner together. I enjoyed that.

    Tina, I hope you are feeling better. I get bad headaches sometimes, and noises bother me when I get them, but I don't think they are migraines, not severe ones, anyway. Caffeine with ice or heat as well as alternating aspirin and Tylenol help.

    Bo, Thanks for your prayers. I enjoy visiting with you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks Sue. You are so kind. And the grandson is feeling better?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Tina,
    The grandson is better, and now the grandparents are home, trying to get well. We don't seem to have all of the same symptoms, though. I think we both feel better than we did yesterday.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.