Kale and stuff

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

I made some kale and white bean soup from a recipe in Yoga Journal.  I am not an eater of kale on a regular basis, but this soup turned out great, perhaps due to the vegetable stock (from a recipe in Love Soup) or maybe it was the honkin' big clove of garlic I used.  Anyway, it was perfect with some homemade bread on a snowy winter day.

Last week I placed my orders for seeds and plants.  I probably still have too many tomatoes, but I did try to tone things down.  Also, I considered just what I eat and what I want to eat. 

Ordinarily, I don't grow pumpkins because in the past I have not eaten them much.  That has been changing, but not to the point where I wanted to grow my own.  Then came disappointment in the local sugar pumpkins from last summer - no flavor.  So I am giving pumpkins a try this year.

Ditto sweet potatoes.  Store-bought are good, but I'm betting home-grown are better.  I picked a bush variety that should do fine in the grow sacks.

I like eggplant but one goes a long way in my kitchen.  With Burpee's new mix 'n match, though, I can get one plant, a container variety that produces small fruit that look perfect for a one person household.

I mixed and matched my eggplant with a variety of peppers plus some container tomatoes; that's where I went astray with the "love apples".  I want to see if salsa tomatoes were really better for salsa, plus I want an early tomato - I hate to wait.

There is no room for brassicas except maybe here and there, so I will look for locally grown plants if I think I can squeeze them in.  But there will be root vegetables following the garlic, for fall harvesting.  That is another food group I eat more of, now that I know to roast them in olive oil and sea salt.

Over the years, I have tried a variety of beans, green and wax, but this year I am reverting back to the tried and true Blue Lake Bush.  And I am growing more onions so that I can thin them for scallions.  And I must remember to plant the sunflowers this year.  What is a backyard without sunflowers?

I'm a volunteer that the rabbits did not eat