Weekly Garden Thread - July 29-August 5, 2022 [The Rise and Fall of Kale Edition]

July 29, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

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[Qiviut]

Super interesting article - thank you!!

We have a bunch of 80-90 yo mature pines - they're huge. Every fall, they drop their needles & it's like a carpet of brown around the trees out in the fields. When I would mow through them a couple of times, if not using for mulch, they smell like turpentine .... actually smells kind of good, believe it or not.

Anyway, I use the mower with the deck set pretty high to 'round up' the pine needles. I start with a big circle at the outer edge of where the needles have fallen & keep making smaller & smaller circles - eventually the pine needles are so thick, I have to stop - too deep for the mower deck. Being mowed like that doesn't mess them up ... still plenty long enough for mulch. The very small amount of grass in them doesn't hurt - it turns brown & dries, blends right in.

I get my trash can that I use for a bag holder & start raking & stuffing pine needles in large bags. As I go along, I try to toss out the pine cones - always miss a few, but get most of them & they are prickly/sharp so I wear leather gloves to handle them. When I have a dozen bags, I put them in the pole barn where they can wait out the winter until I need them for the gardens in the spring. I usually take a trailer load or two of loose pine needles to the garden after I've bagged up most of them & just dump them between the beds - these mostly get used to cover the beds in the winter.

The needles truly are "brown gold" to me .... a little sweat equity for a couple of hours in the fall is all it costs.

The big pine in the middle, with the sun shining on the trunk, is my favorite pine needle tree.

This bunch is pretty good for pine needles, too. When the grass is cut and you're among these trees, it's like being in a park - they're just beautiful.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

The comforting smells of youth! Beer and field fermented cabbage! :)

(So glad you did not grow up next to an oil refinery or steel mill!)

[Albion Wilde]

Mmmm — lovely! But I likes me some fennel.

[Albion Wilde]

We have pines all around our church. I should forward your technique to our property volunteer! Sure beats paying for black mulch for all the trees.

[Albion Wilde]

PS
Glad you liked the pine needle article. When you start weaving baskets with your needles, your hands will smell like turpentine, too! LOL

[GaltAdonis]

I can take or leave fennel, really.

[metmom]

I’m thinking that those tomatoes that are starting to turn orange would be better off if I picked them and let them ripen indoors.

It’s nice to say that they are vine ripened, but is there really that much of a taste difference when they ripen on the counter? Especially if you are mostly canning them for sauce?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Probably won’t make a difference if you’re cooking them down.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Diana; Question! When do you pick your Aronia? Mine are turning from red purple to purple black. Do you wait and let them develop more anti oxidents? Or pick now and freeze or preserve them?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Pick them when they’re darkest.

We have Saskatoon Service Berries. I like them for the spring blooms (so pretty!) but the Cedar Waxwings almost always get the berries before me, so I never have any to freeze.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Liz; Pas de problème! De rien! (I think! Daughter took French, not me!)

I think its a European technique. It uses up the drippings from the bacon and cooks the kale, so it works well! Soft boiled eggs so you could do this at lunch after your "Cafe au lait au lit"

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thanks Mine are dark. Its probably time to make preserves.

Cedar Waxwings; Two years ago a flock descended on mine and there were no berries when they left! Sparkle tape might help?

[Liz]

Mmmmmmmmm........

[Ellendra]

Best way to enjoy kale:
Step 1: Feed the kale to some chickens.
Step 2: Eat the eggs.

I’m very sensitive to bitter flavors, especially in leafy vegetables. There are very few greens I can tolerate, and lately that list has been getting shorter.

Now, if purslane suddenly became the new hip superfood, that I could follow! Lots of nutrients, tastes like lemons, and best of all: it grows itself!

[GaltAdonis]

Purslane - (portulaca oleracea)

I just read up on it - and that is one healthy plant.
And apparently easy to grow. I'm going to buy some seeds and grow it.

Thanks for the reference!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Purslane is an awesome green. Good call! And my chickens always loved Kale - but then they ate pretty much anything, as you know. Split melons were their favorites.

Oh, the happy chattering. :)

I really need chickens again...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Kale Pesto

This vibrant kale pesto is bright, nutty, and delicious! Toss it with pasta, or find more serving suggestions in the post above. Leftover pesto will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months.

Ingredients

½ cup pepitas
1 small garlic clove
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, or 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Heaping ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 packed cups chopped curly kale
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

In a food processor, pulse the pepitas and garlic until the pepitas are ground up. Add the cheese or nutritional yeast, salt, and several grinds of pepper and pulse again. Add the kale and lemon juice. With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil, and process until combined. Season to taste.

Notes
Tip: If the kale pesto is too bitter, add ¼ teaspoon maple syrup or honey.

Makes 1 cup.

Diana’s Notes: Substitute any nut you like for the Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds). I have used pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, etc. No discernible change to taste or texture. I like the flavor to be more ‘lemony’ so along with the FRESH lemon juice, I add the grated rind of 1/2 a lemon. 1/2 of a big lemon will give you the 2 Tbsp. of juice needed for the recipe.

Step by step instructions, with lovely photos can be found here:

https://www.loveandlemons.com/kale-pesto/

I own her cookbook. It’s a keeper!

[bert]

In contrast, we have had mild, even cool temps and more rain than usual. Everything is alive and growing but not well and certainly not good. My wife is perturbed at her garden

Zucchini, zucchini....... not doing at all. It blooms but no fruit. Ditto cukes but some, not lots. Tomatoes........ barely tolerable. Egg plant? fruit is just not up to par. Jalapenos barely producing

The yellow squash is thriving and “normal”. The new crop of lemon grass is fantastic

So far, the season here is lower than normal

[LilFarmer]

Tomato question…

Once again, my tomatoes are hit with blight thanks to a very wet spring and summer. I rotated them to a new area this year but have the same problem. I treated early with copper fungicide weekly for a month but it still took over.

I did clear all the vines and leaves out last year, but I did not disinfect my seeds or cages - a mistake I won’t repeat next year.

A few questions - everything I read said do not can the tomatoes due to changes in acidity level. The tomatoes themselves look fine. If I add lemon juice and pressure can, would that solve this issue? And if so, do I use the canning guidelines for things like salsa which have low acid veggies in them?

If canning is out, what about freezing?

I plan to do a bleach soak for my seeds this year, as well as bleach my stakes and cages at the end of the season.

[LilFarmer]

Another question - is it worth getting a pH meter to actually check the acidity?