Chickpea damage

Our best guess is that the heavy rains this spring caused some damage in the chickpeas.  Their roots can't handle excessive water.  Now that the heat is on I bet it won't be a problem.

(This is my first attempt at the Android blogger app.)

What's up, Doc?

I was thinning some carrots yesterday (the ones the bunny hadn't already nested in) and found one that was actually developing!  Casey told me to take a picture, but I forgot until I took a bite

Kohlrabi and early garlic

Kohlrabi may look like a weird Star Trek vegetable but it was very easy to grow. Kyle sowed it early and that's all the work it took. Not every single plant swelled up like they should, but it was still a decent amount. This first two pickings wasn't all that much, but after peeling them they went very well sauteed with scrambled eggs.

Smelled like cabbage, was supposed to taste like mild broccoli but instead it blended nicely in with the potatoes in my egg scramble. I would say we plant an entire box (16 sf ft) next year rather than just the portion (6 sq ft).

This first batch doesn't really help you see what they look like....I cut the leaves off first.

This second batch shows the leaves. You will notice that the vegetable is just a swollen steam basically.

Two of my garlics have already dried out and fallen over. I was aiming for the 4th of July, but I figure I better take these out. From what I have read you don't want to let the leaves completely dry out because you need to make sure the bulb has enough viable "papers" to properly store. These two are smallish (about the size you normally get at the store). I hope the rest are bigger!

Kale recipe

Colcannon

I guess this is getting back to my roots, sort of. It's an Irish dish (I think we are more Scottish on my dad's side)

Does this really need a recipe? It's basically just mashed potatoes with boiled or steamed kale. The "recipe" I referenced was heavy on the butter. I went easier on the butter and added some bacon drippings. Skin on the potatoes for more vitamins. Heavy on the pepper.

Volunteer squash sprouts in the compost.

More leafy greens

Kale for me (and some calcannon, perhaps.)

And mounds of romaine lettuce. Kyle's colleagues are expecting it. I think Kyle should take over for Oprah: "You get romaine! And you get romaine! Everybody gets romaine!"

Old friends and a new one

See that zucchini forming at the base of that flower on the right?

And this cute crook neck squash?

Kohlrabi. This is new this year and new to me. We better start picking these before they get too big and woody.

Rehab for house plants

Our previous house plant blunder was Edition Sansevieria. This one we shall call Edition Airplane Plants.

Chlorophytum comosum, commonly called spider plant, is a very common house plant. I have heard that they are hard to kill. HA! Those folks must have never met Kyle and his cats! We kept them outside last year, but brought them in for the winter. Knowing the cats would have a field day with them, we put them on top of the refrigerator. Basically no sun and many forgotten waterings. Then we figured out the in garage on the window ledge....it's an east facing window, but that would be better than nothing. Still forgot to water them. At that points the cats were not allowed into the garage, in hopes we could protect our seedlings. The plants started to recover. Then came the cats once our seedlings were put out in the garden. They chewed off all the top growth. And knocked the pots off the sill. These plants are sad looking. Out to the front porch for a hot summer of rehab.

Why Edition Airplane Plants? As a kid I always called them airplane plants. I am not sure if my grandmother had called them that (she had given us a set before she died that we kept going for years) or if I came up with it. Perhaps it's because the baby plants reminded me of the small airplanes on amusement rides. Not sure, but to me they are not spider plants...they are airplane plants!