Tag Archives: kale

Winter gardening

New lettuce, kale and chard seedlings are sprouting up in the garden shed. The propagation mats get plugged in on New Year’s Day. Then we get busy sowing seeds, since our average last frost date is Feb. 11th. When the seeds sprout, they move off the mats to make room for more. Then a shop light on a timer (12-14 hrs/day) goes up… suspended close to the seedlings. After a few weeks, the plants are hardened off and planted on the grounds. This cycle continues throughout spring.

The peas that were planted mid-September are starting to climb the string trellis in the garden, and should pick up speed now that the days are getting longer again.

The compost that has been cooking for months gets turned and half gets layered with more chicken straw, kitchen waste and oak leaves. The bottom layer of rich compost will go into the garden.

 

Kale Chips

Summer is all about the produce! These baked salty crispy chips are an addicting alternative to potato chips that are good for you. Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees. Wash and pat dry kale (1/2 bunch usually fits on 1 cookie sheet). Cut off stem and tear leaves into bite sized pieces.

In bowl add minced garlic (1-3 cloves), 2 T olive oil, and generous dose of salt.  Mix with your fingers until kale leaves until thoroughly coated.  Spread on cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for approximately 20 minutes.  Watch closely at the end and pull out when they start to change color from green to brown. 1