Mount Kalemanjaro

Mount Kalemanjaro - Kitchen in Cartersville, GA - Highly Active

Facing no rest and irritability, I spent an entire night cleaning and freezing kale, squash, green beans, and kale stems. The anger that comes from washing, pulling bugs off of, cutting, blanching, labeling, and bagging has no boundaries. Basically it was awesome and awful at the same time. Bitter and beautiful like kale.

The seeds I sowed in the paper towel rolls are growing so well that I jumped to planting the zucchini seedlings in with the squash plants. The cardboard rolls will be the method of choice in the future. I haven't had much luck with the bell pepper seeds I planted. This is my second attempt and I must be doing something wrong, but I'll give it some time and see what happens.

Last weekend I pulled up potatoes and lettuce that reached its end to replaced it with a direct sowing of kale, turnips, salad greens, bush beans, rhubarb, snow peas, and cauliflower. This may be old hat for some, but for me this is all new so I'll mention it, but I strongly suggest adding compost to your beds before you sow seeds again. I used some compost I had been working on since early spring and it saved me around 25 to 50 bucks. As of now, everything is growing and enjoying the sunshine and the rain. Two weeks ago, weather reports suggested a good chance of rain, but instead we got high humidity and heat. This past week has been optimally suited for germination and the seeds reaped the benefits of the balanced weather conditions.

I love pets that pay rent. Why am I saying this? We finally have eggs!! I felt so happy I could fly. I wonder if chickens ever feel that way? They do fly, but not... really well. However, their bug catching capabilities are unmatched. I can watch chickens for hours while they congregate around me and chase fireflies. 

I'm not sure what Ellouise is doing, but she sure ain't making any eggs. I'm beginning to think she is my trophy hen and that her rent is paid by looking pretty. I hope she gets to working because I'm standing a little bit closer to the deep fryer. Ok, yall know I'm not going to do anything to Ellouise because she is my baby girl. She stands with elegance and a raised beak. I even feel a little guilty for making the previous comment about the deep fryer. "I'm in love with a chicken!"

Rosemary has finally started to grow! It is slowly getting ready for planting in the herb garden. I can't wait to add this plant to my collection. So far I have chocolate mint, garlic chives, chives, lavender, basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro (coriander), a tiny dill plant, and oregano. Things couldn't be better in the herb sanctuary. I have chamomile growing too which can be used for herbal teas along with mint. 

After a failed attempt to dry herbs inside of the screened-in patio, I am now giving it another whirl. This time I'm going to take all precautions and use the inside of a dark closet which can be supplied with air flow from a ceiling fan as needed. I think my first attempt had too much exposure to natural light outside which in turn made the leaves lose their color or turn brown.

As usual, I have more things to share and would rather not bore you to death with my words any further so here are the pictures that tell the rest of what is happening on the backyard battlefront.

Corn! Hope I didn't get too late of a start.

Fuzzy Wuzzy...still alive...yes.

Much cuter than Fuzzy Wuzzy.
Carrying the loot.

Chickens panting on a hot day. No joke, they pant!

"Hello Mother! Please water my plants."

Happy thoughts...

Cluster of pure joy

Marigolds have bloomed

Butterfly Bush

First tomato from a caged volunteer plant.
Fully digested by now.

Different variety of marigold

Pulled the squash plants up off
of the ground and tied them to
the bamboo fort. 

Cucumbers are beautiful and growing like crazy!

Before

After
Not as pretty, but more efficient use of space.
Also good for preventing easy access for bugs.

Overview of the Garden as a whole

Week 11

My Sunday night was not a typical one as I was up until 1am in washing, cutting, and blanching kale for the freezer. If I could have one super power, it would be to control time.

Freezing Kale

Step 1: Harvest (My favorite part!!)

Step 2: Remove leaves

Step 3: Chop remaining stems into 1-2 inch pieces

Step 4: Cut leaves into smaller pieces and leave to the side

Step 5: Steam kale for 3 min.

Step 6: Place in ice water for 3 min.

Step 7: Drain excess water 

Step 8: Place on a towel and let rest

Step 9: Freeze

 

Step 10: Steam or boil kale stems for 6-8 min.

Step 11: Place in ice water bath for 6-8 min.

Step 12: Drain excess water

Step 13: Place on a towel and let rest

Step 14: Freeze

Bugs are a necessary evil in organic gardening. Removing bugs by hand is important and so is leaving some for the good ones to eat. Last year, we bought our house which came with rows of grape vines and the occasional vegetable plant in between rows. The squash I kept picking were big and beautiful, which was exciting until I started finding each squash plant had been eaten by bugs that burrowed inside and left jelly-like trails. I am trying to prevent this from happening by utilizing plastic planters around the squash to keep a barrier in place between the delicious squash and the ground to reduce the risk of intruders. I'm hopeful, "but one never knows" as one of my employers use to say.

Broccoli

Broccoli Head 4" (Harvest at 6 to 8")

The bush beans having been blooming for roughly a week and just started showing baby green beans. The curiosity and excitement of not knowing how many beans they will produce is killing me. There are roughly 20 bushes and I'm getting good vibes as all the plants are looking healthy. 

The early peas that I planted have been producing, but showing some discoloration in the leaves and have black spots on the pods, yet leave the peas on the inside beautiful and elegant. If you know what the discoloration is, please leave a comment. I add them fresh to my salads each day and they have a bitter sweetness to them. 

Discoloration on early peas

Marigolds repel pests