Kale Krazy

Baby Red Russian Kale in our garden

You may have noticed that some people are krazy for kale these days.  I couldn't be more pleased that this long under-appreciated, nutrient-packed vegetable is finally getting the love and attention it deserves.  Some folks are simply obsessed and are trying to get as much kale as possible into their diets-- there are plenty of recipes floating around out there these days for everything from kale chips to kale smoothies.  There is, of course, some comic relief as well.  I knew kale had finally made it big this past year when I visited a neighborhood restaurant and there were three kale dishes on the seasonal menu.  Shortly thereafter I popped into the natural foods co-op to buy more kale seeds (because I didn't feel I had planted nearly enough kale in my garden) only to find that all varieties of kale were the only seeds completely sold out.  Now it's farmers' market time and everyone's clamoring for clean, local kale; if you don't get to the market within an hour of it opening each week, there's a good chance the mounds of kale will already be sold out (or at least picked over.)  Kale has a boatload of health benefits, but I truly like it for the flavor.  Here are the most common ways we use kale around the homestead:

(In no particular order)
1.  Juicing
2.  Sauteed on a pizza
3.  In a smoothie
4.  Kale chips
5.  Boiled with pasta
6.  In veggie lasagna
7.  Sauteed in a quesadilla
8.  Shredded in a massaged kale salad
9.  As a substitute for spinach in a savory spinach and cheese quick bread
10.  Shredded and added to Salad Mix along with red cabbage.

Recently I made some kale chips with several bunches of organic kale I got for next to nothing.  But they were too many chips for us to eat before they got a little "stale" so I ground some of them up to make "kale salt."  Of course, I knew I couldn't possibly be the first one to think of this idea...and #4 above proves that.  Now I use the kale salt to season popcorn, add to homemade ranch dressing, or to sprinkle in soup or on pizza.  Wherever you want a little more kale (if you're not already getting enough) and would be adding seasoning anyway.  It's so versatile and definitely another way to get kale into little ones' bellies if they're not otherwise willing.

This is another kale recipe I tried this past week and was pleasantly surprised by how well the flavors went together.

Kale Salad with Toasted Coconut and Sesame Oil (Gluten Free)
Serves 4
Adapted from Super Natural Every Day.  The original recipe calls for farro, but I used gluten-free steel cut oats.

1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 t. toasted sesame oil
2 T. shoyu, tamari, or soy sauce (I make sure mine is gluten-free and organic)
3 1/2 lightly packed cups chopped kale, stems trimmed, large ribs removed (and reserved for juicing)
1 1/2 c. unsweetened flaked coconut
2 c. cooked steel cut oats or other whole grain

Preheat oven to 350F with two racks in top third of oven.  In small bowl or jar, whisk or shake together olive oil, sesame oil, and shoyu.  Put kale and coconut in large bowl and toss well with about two-thirds of oil mixture.  Spread kale evenly across two baking sheets.  Bake for 12-18 min., until coconut is deeply golden brown, tossing once or twice along the way.  If kale mixture on top baking sheet begins to get too browned, move to lower rack.  Remove from oven and transfer kale mixture to medium bowl.  Taste.  If you feel it needs more dressing, add and toss.  Add steel cut oats and combine.  Serve warm, room temp., or straight from the fridge (this makes great leftovers.)

Kale Salad

The Eve of Summer Break

We are bursting with excitement to officially being our summer break from school after tomorrow.  We're hoping to start our days gradually then explore the city, enjoy concerts in the parks, wading pools, free kids activities, the public libraries.

In the meantime, I've been blogging less and doing more outside.  We had a short weekend stint caring for V's classroom chickens one last time (though they're now settling at her teacher's home instead of school), we've camped along the Might Mississippi, and have spent time hanging out with friends by the lakefront.

Mickey and Maggie pecking around the backyard.  The LUH looks pretty
good with a couple of hens.

One other item I've added to my summer routine is walking by the lake early in the morning in lieu of the gym.  Beautiful sunrises!  I've always dreamed of having this early morning time in the summer all to myself.

I never get tired of this view.

And beautiful sunsets too

My most recent project:  turning an olive oil can into a pot.

Poked some drainage holes in the bottom with a can/bottle opener

Made sure there were no sharp edges around the top

Planted some flowers.  We'll see how weathered the
can looks by summer's end.

I've been hanging on to this recipe for too long and now the ramps in the woods are probably all gone.  But if you're interested, bookmark this for next year.

Ramps in Saffron Brine

Pickled Saffron Ramps

And how does our garden grow?

Purple Mizuna and Scarlet Frills Mustard

Salad Mix 

Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Leaf)

Red Russian Kale

Salad Turnips in need of thinning

Part edible, part annual

Sugar Snap Peas

Our little evening hangout at the homestead

In a Rush to Relax

The homestead thus far.  With all this rain, it's a jungle
out there.

As we've scrambled around this week to prepare for a Memorial Day weekend outing in nature a recurring thought has crossed my mind.  It seems that before every escape, no matter how near or far, we rush through the week making lists, running errands, getting supplies, and working ahead till we come to a screeching halt at our temporary relaxation site where we need an entire 24 hours (at least!) to unwind before we can really settle into the quiet, calm, unscheduled beauty of it all.  This is a topic covered a bit in Zero Waste Home, a book I mentioned in my last post.  If we all didn't have so many possessions to manage, organize, maintain, and store then wouldn't we have more time to just enjoy life?  I'm hoping to find some time in the great outdoors this weekend to really ponder that question.  And I'm hoping the feeling of taking it slowly and enjoying the journey will last once we start our routine next week.

The last week and a half have found me outside quite a bit more.  We've had some gorgeous weather which allowed me to get V and a friend out in the woods as well as really zone in on my garden.

Girls being girls.

My early seeds have sprouted and are well on their way.  I can nearly taste the salad greens and have already used many herbs.  Last year we didn't do much with the garden because we'd just come off of our kitchen remodel and were drained in many ways.  I guess now I'm making up for that lack of garden expansion.  We've incorporated a lot more perennial foods this year.  We replanted asparagus (for the third time, which will be a charm, right?), planted a Nero Aronia bush (which I THOUGHT I read was a.k.a. chokeberry, but now I'm not finding that information) which should fruit this first year, planted a variety of hops (the gateway crop for my husband to join me in urban homesteading)--our trellis/hops crop a few years ago was ripped down in a wind storm so here's to a second try, started some hardy kiwi (also planted for the third time--another charm), added more rhubarb, and put in more strawberries to join the golden raspberries, elderberries, gooseberries, thornless blackberries, red currants, grapes, sunchokes, tart and sweet cherries, and heirloom apples already in place.

Sink full of muddy, soaking sunchokes.

Mt. Hood hops beginning to vine towards the trellis.

Three-year-old blackberry bushes join our
already prolific 6-year-old bushes.

Grapevines really starting to leaf out this week.

Enterprise apple blossoms

Sunchokes already proliferating

Red Lake Currants

Original rhubarb patch

Strawberries and Golden Raspberries on the ground
and new strawberries in the raised bed

The big project this week was to finally--after 3-4 seasons of procrastination--dig up our parkway (or as some call it "hell strip") and plant edibles.  I chose some sturdy rhubarb, red and green cabbages, broccoli, flowering kale, and perennial lovage.  I currently have it blocked off with a little garden edging (in white, which I'm not crazy about), but am hoping to keep dogs off of it at least until it's more established.  I knew I was taking a risk when I did this--the city can also tromp on it without notice or compensation if they need access.  It's a risk I'm willing to take in the name of food production.  At least I won't have to drag my rotary mower to the front now.  There's a tiny strip of grass on the north side of our front steps that I also hope to turn into edible space someday.  For now I can trim that with a manual hedge trimmer.

Before

After--I'm not crazy about the white edging, but it works
until I find something better.  At least it's a temporary visual
for dogs and people.

The path I created from some pieces of busted concrete we had from a
pathway project in the backyard a few years ago.  Creeping thyme will
hopefully fill in the cracks in a couple of seasons.

I'm also having fun with more container veggies this year: determinate tomatoes, peppers, and mixed brassicas.

Lacinato and Red Russian Kale, Red Orach, Treviso
Radicchio, and Baby Mustard greens add color and
texture to the front stoop. 

V's upcycled clementine boxes with chamomile, nasturtiums,
radishes, bachelor buttons amid some little ceramic
friends we found at a church rummage.  We'll see what
actually has enough depth to grow.

And just some other unique odds and ends this year:

Potted Curry plant, French tarragon, and Italian parsley

Arugula, radishes, and peas on a trellis
upcycled from my neighbors' broken and
discarded drying rack

V wanted to grow some popcorn near her
garden.  We'll give it a shot, but only under
protection from the birds.

View from the greenhouse

We're looking forward to the beginning of summer and relaxing a lot in our backyard sanctuary.  Everyone have a safe and happy holiday season.

Still Life

My favorite seasonal still life.

Life is good.  I really have nothing serious to complain about.  But again today my husband and I were discussing how much of a time suck the "life maintenance" items on our lists can be.  Of course there's laundry to do, groceries to buy, gardens to tend, housecleaning to do, dinners to cook.  I'm not talking about that life maintenance (because I truly enjoy doing ALL of those things), but it's the scheduling and bill paying and organizing and trying to keep up with world events and social media, etc. etc. etc.  I'm reading Zero Waste Home right now which I referenced in a post a couple of years ago.  It's good to have a refresher course.  We have a long way to go to achieve "zero waste" at home despite how other school moms tease me on the playground at pick-up about my lack of garbage.  But what I find interesting in Bea Johnson's story is how once her family began pairing down their belongings and waste, they eventually found more time for enjoying the beauty of life and each other.  We're striving for that.

In the meantime I have kiddos to thank for helping me slow down now and then.  V is good at reminding me that sometimes I need to take time out to dance or watch the grass grow.  This past week she had a friend over after school.  I always welcome playmates not only because it's good for her as an only child to practice sharing her space and toys, but also because it usually means they can keep each other occupied while I get some things done around the house.  Well, on Tuesday they just couldn't seem to get along on our home turf so I had no choice but to take them off premises to the playground at the lakefront.  Just walking a couple of blocks on a beautiful day seemed to calm them a bit.  After playing on the jungle gym they decided they wanted to throw rocks into the water at the beach.  While they were doing so I had no choice but to sit quietly, observe, and help them find some cool rocks to take home.  Part of me felt antsy and anxious because I knew I had a big to-do list at home, but part of me realized that THAT was all I really needed to be doing right then.  It was all that mattered.  My husband would forgive me if I didn't get dinner started on time, my garden would forgive me if I didn't get a seed in the ground that moment, and my fridge would forgive me if I didn't replenish its supply of homemade condiments.

Finding skipping stones, fossilized rocks, sedimentary,
"volcanic," writing rocks.

We even found a fresh water crab claw

So much work to do writing in the sand, washing/painting
rocks, skipping stones.

I'm hoping this summer V and I strike a balance between scheduled and unscheduled time.  I'm excited about sitting in the yard reading a book while she has fun styling my hair with a million clips, watching her jump through the sprinkler while I enjoy a glass of water, taking our artist kits to the park and painting under a shady tree, and sitting outside in the evenings on weekends with my husband just talking and listening to music.  Let us do more of those simple things this summer (and NOW) and just be.

Stop and smell the cherry blossoms.