Our organic veggie garden is 10x30 foot and encased by cement blocks. Making a garden out of cement blocks was a good workout, but it was such a no-brainer, no planning or cutting wood. Just line em up, nice and straight. It's is the lazy mans option of doing a raised bed.
On the left side, we have collard greens growing. They did so wonderful this winter, except they weren't the tastiest greens ever. I took this picture before we left for vacation and they have now gone to seed. That means the center sprouts ups and flowers and it seeds itself for next year and when that happens the leaves are really bitter and no good to eat anymore. So I will rip them out soon and compost them. I will give that row a little compost love to refurbish the soil and get it ready for peppers, eggplants and squash.
The other two rows are two different kinds of tomatoes, broccoli and two different kinds of parsley. I get my plants from a local farm called Turkey Hill.
We planted some carrot and sweat pea seeds and lots of zinnias. I let Penelope shake several flower seed packages, wherever she pleased, so it will be interesting to see what turns up. It was such a nice day in the garden, my Dad was in town and helped us. Good memories being made in the garden.
Here are some other cool gardening posts from some of my favorite blogs:
10 Unique Gardening Activities for Kids
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
So tell me what's going on in your garden?
Looking good! You can also add collards to soups, Steph. Depending on the soup, you don't notice bitterness at all. Also, if you harvest the young leaves they are generally tender enough to add straight into salads for raw consumption. I sometimes like to fry some bacon and then lightly wilt my greens in the grease. Yes, it is delicious.
ReplyDeleteI just have to add that I am so envious that Peter helped out so much. I am the one that's been mowing the lawn, spreading pine mulch, pick-axing my beds and mixing in compost and soil (and not to mention clearing paths in the woods and transplanting wild blueberries into my garden). The most help I've gotten from Rob is he carried some of the heavier things to the raised bed for me, lol. It's all good though, I love it and find it extremely meditative. (:
apple cider vinegar, just a splash will cut the bitterness too
ReplyDelete@Sarah, thanks! I have added collards to soup before and you are right, you can hide all sorts of veggies in soup. I sauteed mine up in bacon grease as well, but they were not delicious. I have cooked collards before and they were fine, but I swear it was something about the taste of these plants of collards.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't be jealous, this is probably the second time he has done yard work all year. He is the laziest, hard working guy I know.
@Julie, good to know, thanks!
Good point about the ACV.
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