Saturday, March 26, 2011

Kale-White Bean Wraps and Tomato Soup


It is spring, and my basil, anise hyssop, lavender, black cumin, and other herbs are tiny seedlings in pots. But today it was cool and rainy, so soup was in order. I made tomato-basil soup (from canned tomatoes, vegetable juice, onion, celery, frozen corn, and my basil frozen last summer) and kale-white bean wraps. The kale was harvested from the back yard 10 minutes before it was wilted on top of the beans. The best way to grow kale without having to spray it or maintain constant vigilance for the cabbage worms is to over-winter it. Plant it in the fall so it has time to get 4-6 inches high before it freezes. It will go into suspended animation, wilting a bit in the bitter cold (as bitter as it gets here, in the teens Fahrenheit), but reviving in the sun and growing in the early spring. You can eat it gloriously before the worms can develop to do their thing and make you miserable watching your plants get swiss-cheesed. Wonderful, healthy stuff. Your eyes will thank you.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Daffodils Are Up


This is the time of year when it is extremely tempting on balmy week-ends to get out and plant. You could put in sets of crucifers or snow peas, but beware! That balmy week-end could turn into a snowstorm in a few days. We have roller-coaster weather. I'm going to dig and smooth tomorrow if weather allows, but no planting yet.