Kale! Kale! & more Kale!

This year we planted a lot of Kale! It seems as if everyone wants Kale. It is so good for you!

Wikipedia can say it better them me, so here goes Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties.

 Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying do not result in significant loss.

 Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.

 Kale is also a good source of carotenoids.

There are so many ways to prepare Kale, Some people make Kale salads, I have not tried that. I have evan heard of people drinking straight kale juice for a pic me up.I have put it in my juices, & Smoothies. mmm!

I have also put it in my quiches. But here is my Favorite way to fix Kale.

Kale Chips

One bunch of Kale

1-2 Tbs of olive oil

Sea Salt to taste.

Destem your Kale and chop in about 1 inch squares, place in bowl and drizzle the olive oil over it and sprinkle on sea salt. Mix untill well covered and lay on cookie sheet in single layer. Bake 250 for 20min. turn out on plate and dig in. 

Herbs Are Oh So Good!!

Herbs are among the easiest plants to grow. Evan if it is only a pot on your front porch. But I love to have them in the flower beds right out side the kitchen.

Especially in the winter there is nothing more satisfying and simple than snipping off just what you need and enjoying the garden fresh flavor without having to run to the grocery.

Here is my Top ten 'Can't Live Without' garden herbs.

1) Rosemary Use it fresh or dried, the flavor is fantastic either way..

Favorite uses: Chopped and sprinkled in pizza dough before I add the liquid, Holiday Gifts in vinegar or Oil.

Plant with: beans and carrots to repel: bean Beatles, carrot files, mosquitoes, & moths

2) Thyme is a low growing plant and is really a ground cover. It is perfect for edging beds or placing in the front of a mixed container planting. The plant is very hardy.

Favorite Uses Chopped and sprinkled in pizza dough before I add the liquid, Holiday Gifts in vinegar or Oil. Home made stews & soups.

Plant with: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts to repel White Fly

3) Sage Love the smell of sage & I always use it fresh, but you can dry it too. Once you have a herb garden by the kitchen I cut it all year long.

Favorite uses: I like it in vegetable soups, After I open one of my canned soups, & I add

it fresh to the soup.

Plant with: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts & Carrots to repel: Cabbage White fly, carrot root fly, moths, ants, ticks

4) Parsley Parsley is ones of those super foods that do more good things for a body than seems possible for just a little leafy green plant. Among other things, it contains vitamin C.

Favorite uses: I'll chop about a 1/2 cup and add it to my Potato Salad, It gives it such a fresh taste. You can make lots of things with it, and pretty much chop and sprinkle it on most every dish that comes out of your kitchen.

Plant with: Roses and Carrots. To Repel: Rose Beatles & Carrot flies

5) Basil This is the herb that you must grow. harvest leaves all season. Make sure you keep pinching off the flower heads so that the plant will keep throwing out new leaves all season. I seed this inside in Feb and then transplanting plants late spring

Favorite uses: Everything - Salads, pesto, pizza, sauces, and with summer's treat, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

Plant with: Tomatoes, Peppers & Asparagus. To Repel Horn worm, Aphids & White fly

6) Chives - Another perennial favorite

Favorite uses: I add it to anything that call for onions, It is really great in salads.

Pant with Tomatoes to repel Aphids

7) Mint - I strongly recommend growing this in a container or a contained are because it will fill whatever space you give it. It's a lovely plant to have around, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Favorite uses: In all kinds of juice, and lemonade.

Plant around your garden to repel, ants & mice.

8) Oregano. This plant also acts like a ground cover but it is generally polite and doesn't spread too aggressively..

Favorite uses: Chopped and sprinkled in pizza dough before I add the liquid. add to the pot when making sauce from abundant garden fresh tomatoes.

Plant with: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts & Carrots to repel: Cabbage W

hite fly,

9) Dill: This a annual plat, so if you want this to season dishes in the winter make sure you dry some.

Favorite uses: Every one knows that it is good with pickels, but I also like to cook with it. It gives a great flavor to casseroles.

Plant with: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts & Carrots to repell: Cabbage White fly, carrot root fly

10) Cilantro - Cilantro is easy to grow from seed and I start planting it about this time every spring. I find that it bolts easily so I think that it is handy to plant a few seeds now and then a few more every few weeks for the next month or more. This way, you will have a ready supply through out the summer.

Favorite uses: Gary's Salsa. While there are many other ingredients you could add to make a great guacamole, I think that you could actually get away with only two, cilantro and avocado.

Carrots in a Coke bottle

As promised, I am sharing my carrot and celery experiments, so this is how it is going so far.

Not a lot going on at the farm last week, other than Gary almost has the Greenhouse ready to put the plastic on, I have transplanted the cabbage and broccoli. The Kale got to spindly to transplant. I might put it outside with a white storage bin over it to see what happens. It is fun to experiment with plants.

Today, I did took about 36 cuttings off of my rosemary bush. I would really like to have a large herb garden this year & start a lot more different Herbs that I usually don't grow. I'd like to try and make tinctures, and learn more about medicinal uses.

Getting back to the farm life, is so rewarding, relaxing, & mind stimulating.

See you next week!

This is what we were able to do on the farm this week. Gary got the Greenhouse up, except we need to get the plastic on it.

I had seen where someone had taken a coke Bottle and planted some carrots in it so we could grow them inside for the winter. I am going to try it. and when the Grandkids get here, I have some for them to try with too. Another thing that I read was how you can cut the bottom off of the celery and start it in water then plant it 1 inch under the ground and it will grow another celery stalk. So follow me to see how these to grow. I'll try to give you a picture every week so you can see it happen.

I also started seeding Broccoli & Cabbage & Kale, I know that it is a little early for the Kale, but I just want to see how it will do. Hopefully we will put it in a hoop house in a couple of weeks.

We also ordered Tomato and Cucumber & purple Cauliflower. We have grown all the these varieties before. except for the Purple Cauliflower. We really like the flavor of the tomato's. I thought you might like to know the story about the "Granny Crantrell Tomato" taken from the

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog

This meaty beefsteak-type tomato is named after Lettie Cantrell, who received seeds from a soldier returning from Germany during World War II. She grew this tomato in the hills of eastern Kentucky for many years. This was her favorite tomato and the only one she grew. Each year she saved seeds from the largest tomatoes, some of which reached 2 1/2 lbs. Our growers find it to be quite productive. Ahh! What a flavor! This variety was named best tasting tomato of the year at the 2006 Heirloom Garden Show in our taste testing contest.

A New Year

As we are getting ready for a new year, I looked on my blog and was disappointed that I quit posting in August 2011, So One of my resolutions is to Make sure I post at least once a week if not more.
Just to let you know what is happening on the Farm, Today Gary is going to be working on finally gettng our Greenhouse back up, after the Tornado did its job in April. I have been pouring over Seed catalogs on line, and Today, my biggest project will be Checking what seeds we have left and what seeds we need to order. Making my schedule of when to seed indoors and when to plant in the garden.

There are several new plants I would like to try this year like the Cheddar & Purple Broccoli, Red Okra, Yellow Patty Pan Squash, Rhubarb, Ground Cherries, & I would really like to get some Asparagus in the ground too.
Here is the last Garden Pic of last year. It was taken in October. An very interesting Thing we learned last year to keep the deer out was, we put up stakes at about 100 ft intervals around the garden & just strung a string about head high and one about knee high, tied plastic grocery sacks on the string on the top string so that when the wind blew, it would blow the sacks down the string. Something else we did different is that we planted Squash, beans, and cucumbers the end of July and still get a good harvest before Frost.

Heres to hoping you have a great year in your Garden.