First Harvest

My friend Denise and I dashed out into the pouring rain and harvested kale for dinner tonight, our first harvest from the garden. We took just one or two leaves from each plant and filled the colander.

Our daughter Annelise painted the kale marker as a birthday present for Alex. We'll put it out when the rain stops.

Alex prepares to cook the kale that he himself planted.

In general, the garden is looking stupendous. The recent heat and rain have really gotten everything growing, including, of course, the weeds.

Weedy but happy.

The really tall stuff on the left is the potatoes, half of which I managed to bury a bit more yesterday before I ran out of soil. Oops. I'm still trying to decide whether to get more soil for the other three rows of taters. On the right, you can see our bean tunnel. Made out of two cattle panels, it is just high enough for Alex, at 6'4", to walk through. We are working on covering the paths with cardboard, and I'm slowly weeding the beds, laying down paper between the plants, and covering it with straw to provide both weed barrier and moisture retention. You can see this in the front central bed of peppers.

Here's Alex's favorite recipe for kale:

Alex's Central African-New England Kale and Sardine Stew

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 colanders full of fresh kale leaves, chopped
1 can skinless, boneless sardines in olive oil
1/4 cup raisins or currants
1/4 cup pine nuts
cayenne pepper to taste
parmesan cheese

Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until transparent, and season with salt and pepper. Add the kale and cook it down. Add the sardines, raisins or currants, pine nuts, and cayenne. Serve hot over brown rice or pasta and top with parmesan cheese.

Alex recommends vinho verde with this dish.