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Sunday, February 15, 2015

Begetables



Friends and Kitties!

Sheebie here.

I know some of you are enduring an absolutely crap winter, so I thought I'd post some hopeful photos of our spring veggie garden to cheer you up!
The kale we put in last fall is almost ready.  Scott had to cover it up a few times this winter and it did beautifully.  (Thank you Mom for the frost cloth!)  We put it in a shadier spot this year so I hope to keep it going throughout the summer heat.  I love kale!

The Brussels sprouts are coming along well, too.  I've never grown these before so I really don't know what to expect; but oven-roasted sprouts are so delicious...I hope we get 'em in like gangbusters.

And look--I didn't know it but Scott sowed radishes for me!  What a guy.  They'll be ready in another month.  I'll pickle some, make kim chee, and we'll chow down the rest raw with salt.

The tomato patch!
The blue stakes are for the shade cloth which we're already using--the plants are still pretty tender and it's been in the 80's during the day--they got a little crisp the day Scott transplanted them.  We still have a half-gallon of cherry tomatoes in the freezer from last year, just enough to keep us in pizza sauce and marinara until these are ready to be picked.

I killed another dehydrator last week so I ordered a commercial-grade one this time with a 10-year warranty to dry tomatoes, fruit, and (of course) make chikkun titz jerky for the cats.  We ate dehydrated cherry tomato "raisins" last year on everything; salads and sandwiches and for snacks.  They were phenomenal and I plan to make twice as many this year!

The wildflowers are starting to pop up in the beds and the bees were busy in the arborvitae today harvesting sap.  More photos to come...


Happy Sunday!

XX  Sheebie  XX

31 comments:

  1. My dehydrator is commercial grade and it's da bomb. You are going to have to start trimming your Brussels sprouts. I don't know exactly when but you can google it. Also watch them- they are bug attractors. We've tried growing them but haven't had any luck.

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    1. Wait - trimming? It THAT what we did wrong last year? *headdesk*

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  2. The only thing green over here is Äiti - with envy.
    The kale is dead and the brusse sprouts got covered in snow before they could sprout brussels.

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  3. You've done it now - my human is totally craving vegetables! And I was hoping to get her hooked on chicken....

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  4. We envy your weather.. the only thing growing here is snow piles..

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  5. Do you wan´t to know what we do with the Kale in southern Sweden ?
    Well I´m not waiting for you to answer that so I would tell you anyway :)
    1.Boil the kale in soft ham-broth in a pot for about 20 minutes.
    2.Pick up and chop the kale, preferably in a food processor. Squeeze out the broth , the broth can be saved as a base for soup.
    Heat the fat in a saucepan. When it is bright yellow and stopped skimming added green cabbage in and get to mill a few minutes.
    Pour in the cream and simmer without a lid for about 10 minutes. Season with fennel, sugar, salt and pepper.
    Long kale tastes good with ham, meatballs, Christmas sausage and ribs :)


    XOXO

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  6. Wow, what lovely things in your garden.

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  7. We dream about a vegetable garden, but our yard is so shady. The hubby likes the idea of cherry tomato raisins, and now I'm going to investigate commercial grade dehydrators, print out the info and leave the papers sitting as if 'by accident' where he can see them. I want jerky for the cats; he can make raisins! Win-win!

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  8. We could go for a little spring-like weather about now!

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  9. Our mom is drooling over your garden! She loves all those veggies!

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  10. On a very snowy day, it is a treat to see these lovely green veggies growing :)
    Only 5 weeks to Spring :/
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ and the mom

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  11. I've never seen brussel sprout plants before... Interesting.

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  12. What a lovely garden! We can't wait to see what you harvest.

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  13. Jealous! On a wind chill day here.

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  14. (Sigh). Will Spring ever come??We are now in the middle of our 4th blizzard in as many weeks. Mom's back is killing her from dealing with an ice dam yesterday. Her car is just a snow mound in the driveway. We are lucky to be indoor cats, with warm blankies and lots of food. Mom had totally forgotten about vegetable gardening until she saw your photos. We grew kale last summer, and it just kept growing and growing and growing.

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  15. Thank you for sharing your nice weather with us ! We're looking forward that warmer weather also arrives to us soon ! Purrs

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  16. Roll on Spring! All your vegetables look very promising!
    Purrs ... Rainbow

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  17. KALE! *sigghhhhhh* Kale smoothies, kale chips, deep-south kale. YUM-OLA.

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    1. We put in a cold frame for the first time this fall and I cannot WAIT to use it!! Just a few more weeks!!!!!!!!!!

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  18. Everything is growing well. I haven't even planted my tomato seeds yet!

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  19. Your garden looks wonderful, especially that kale.

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  20. brussels sprouts and kale! Two of my fave things!! OMG I love to roast brussels sprouts in olive oil and garlic, delicious. PS:Your sunshine is gorgeous. We are jealous.

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  21. What a gawden. And what wedder. Send sum ow way ifin ya' can. MOL

    Luv ya'

    Dezi and Lexi

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  22. You and Scott are amazing! I am so impressed.

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  23. Well, begetables arent our favrits ta eat, but we are sure impressed seein plants grow from no where! TBT is gonna start his own "from no where" plants next week.

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  24. It's so nice to see the promise of warmer weather, GREEN, and fresh produce! Thanks for the eye candy!

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  25. Don’t mock me!! I’m warning you I’m in no mood as I lay here listening to the building creak from the wind and the head blasting. TW does love kale, plain radishes and is that little guy with the flute behind the radishes a R.A. Miller creation?

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  26. Wow! Look at your garden go! Looks so good, I am a tad jealous as we really can't plant until mid to late April.
    We have a great shade cloth we bought through local sources. We get very hot summers but because of our altitude our springs and autumns are cool (cold). The cover cloth is shade cloth! It sure works great as we grow some stuff in beds we cover with the cloth in the spring and the summer. Love that stuff!

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  27. Your humans have green thumbs.

    Emma and Buster

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  28. Oh you're so lucky to have things growing! My mom grows brussels sprouts and they are a cool looking plant--they get really tall and get covered in mini little sprouts that you cut off.

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Oh Boy...this is gonna be GREAT!