May 2015 Harvests

There was a bit of a lull in my veggie production during April as the fall/winter veggies wrapped up and I was waiting for the spring and summer veggies to mature.  Now that we are nearing the end of May, my warm season veggies have started to produce, despite the cooler than average temperatures.

I got some of my first peppers of the season:  gypsy, pablano and mariachi (pictured above), as well as a flavorburst yellow pepper.

This week, I saw my first eggplant, tomatoes, as well as green beans.  The beans are going strong, but the tomatoes are splitting a lot more this year than I remember last year.  Maybe it is from the excessive rains we've been having?  Since I planted many more tomato plants than usual this year, I'm hoping for a bumper crop.  We'll see if that happens.

Finally, there has been plenty of Swiss Chard this year, more than I and the hubby can eat, so I've given quite a bit away to neighbors and friends.  Swiss Chard is certainly a Texas Superstar veggie in my book, at least, based on my last two successful years with it.

My family was in town over Memorial Day weekend, so they were able to help me eat a bit of the abundant chard.  We had sauteed chard with garlic, lemon juice and red pepper flakes (recipe here).  My mom used the chard stalks for a cream of chard soup, which she combined with some garlic, onion, potatoes, chicken stock, black beans and left over jalapeno cheddar sausages.  It was delicious, but unfortunately I do not have the exact recipe to share, as it was really just a left-over concoction soup and I was not involved in the process (besides growing the chard).

Hopefully May is an indicator of the productive warm-weather season ahead.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish

• 3 lb 13.9 oz kale (several varieties)

• 6 lb 10.3  oz Flash collards

• 5 lb 13.2 oz Ruby Red chard

• 5 lb 13.9 oz Fordhook Giant chard

• 7 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 

• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)

• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)

• 7.1 oz cilantro

• 6.5 oz parsley

• 4.0 oz spinach
• 2.9 oz Pablano pepper (2)
• 2.8 oz Gypsy pepper (2)
• 0.8 oz Mariachi pepper (1)
• 2.4 oz Flavorburst yellow pepper (1)
• 13.6 oz Black Beauty eggplant (1)
• 1.8 oz Grape tomato
• 4.2 oz Pear tomato
• 1 lb 1.7 oz Early Girl tomato (4)
• 1 lb 11.5 oz Blue Lake green beans

Today's Harvest & Kale Chips

The winter veggie garden is still growing strong.  Today I harvested another full colander of salad greens, several more heads of broccoli, as well as plenty of kale, collards and chard.

I used the lettuce, arugula and spinach to make several salads, the broccoli became a side dish, and the chard and collards went into some green juice drinks.  But I thought I would try something a little different with the kale this time...kale chips.

I de-ribbed the kale, cut it into about 1.5 inch pieces, coated it in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, spread it on a baking sheet, and sprinkled some of my home-made herb salt on them, then popped them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping the kale pieces about halfway through.

I love kale tossed in a salad or steamed as part of a side dish.  However, I've never actually had kale chips before.  I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but the kale chips didn't quite meet my expectations.  I think they were a bit more bitter than I anticipated.  They were also extremely light and airy and didn't satisfy any snacking cravings that I had.

 Or, maybe I just didn't prepare them quite right, in which case, I would be happy to hear about any tips or tricks you have in baking kale chips.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 1 lb 9.7 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 2 lb 6.8 oz Flash collards
• 11.7 oz Ruby Red chard
• 6.4 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 4 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 
• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)
• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)
• 7.1 oz cilantro
• 6.5 oz parsley

Today's Harvest

Today was 78 degrees and overcast in Central Texas - perfect gardening weather.  While playing in the garden, I decided it was time to harvest some of my continuing fall and early spring crops.  Today's harvest included a bunch of Curly-Leafed Kale (planted in the fall), Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard (planted in the fall), and Cherry Bell Radishes (planted 3 weeks ago).

I didn't have anyone to cook for this evening, so I decided to use my harvest in some fresh juices.  I made two types of juices, and enough to last the next couple of days (about 60 ounces of each kind of juice).  My juices included:

Green Pineapple

• 1 pineapple
• 6 cups kale
• 1/2 head romaine lettuce
• 1 cucumber
• 8 stalks celery
• 3" ginger root
• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• 1 large lemon
• 1 lime

Green Radish

• 10 radishes with greens
• 10 stalks swiss chard
• 3 stalks celery
• 2" ginger root
• 5 medium apples (Granny Smith and Gala)
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• bunch of cilantro
• 1 1/2 cups water

I've never juiced radishes before, but the concoction I put together was pretty good.  It has a mild, yet refreshing bite to it, similar to ginger root.  I'll have to add this to my standard juicing recipes.