Last fall I planted a few baby kale plants along with some tomatoes and herbs. I hoped to get a few kale salads out of the plants and we have been eating kale from the garden all winter. The other day I looked at the garden and realized two things – 1) I have baby tomatoes just about ready to pick and 2) I really have to harvest and pull the kale. It is just getting too hot for it.

On Saturday, I harvested everything I could, pulled the kale out. I got a nice bunch of cherry tomatoes (purple cherokee, I think) and a lot of kale. A lot.

That is the large side of our sink, about ten inches deep, filled with kale. Filled. Picture two plastic grocery bags stuffed with kale, or one really large shopping bag, stuffed with kale. My four little kale plants gave us kale all winter and enough kale for batches and batches of pesto. All with benign neglect since I tend to let the garden go during the school year and only really check on it every now and then. I was kind of impressed.

The garden is a little sad looking now. This time if year in Jersey I was looking for what I could plant in a few weeks, maybe start some seeds so they would be ready for transplant, but in Florida, well … it’s time to let the garden rest for the summer. I do still have a few things in there, so I won’t totally neglect the garden, but for the most part, once the last of the tomatoes are harvested, the garden can rest.

The tomato plant looks awful, but there are still a number of blooms, buds and ripening tomatoes on it, so I’m doing my best to keep it alive. I picked up a watering system – terra-cotta spikes that fit a wine or other long necked bottle in it. This should slowly water the area over the course of a week or two so if I forget, the plant still gets water. I have one in and have three more spikes that I’m going to use as I acquire clear wine bottles (better to see if they need refilling) for the herbs that are left. I will say, the parsley did remarkably well with all of the kale cover – I’m not sure if it will last now that it is fully exposed, but we shall see.

I do have a little rosemary, oregano and chive in there also, along with one sad looking, but still alive poblano pepper. I’m hoping I can keep everything alive until the fall when I can plant some more. The big question is what to plant. The kale did excellent, but I might want to branch out.

I had to include this picture. Kale was the one food – the only food – that Arthas every rejected. He just would not eat it. But, as I was making my batches of pesto, a leaf fell to the ground and before I could get to it (admittedly I didn’t rush cause he didn’t eat kale) he had the leaf and was munching on it. I figured he would stop after a bit or two, but no.  Nope, he
ate the entire thing. Leaf, stalk and all. So it’s official, there is not a single food that he won’t eat. Nothing. I’m not sure if I should be happy about this or worried. I’m just going to go with amused.