The Gardens

The spinach after harvest. I think it's
done for the summer. 

A few days ago, I went out to my little square foot garden to harvest the spinach and kale. The spinach was just about ready to go to seed. I was hoping that I would be able to get a few more harvests out of it, but I think it's just about done for the summer.  I will plant more in the early fall for more awesome green smoothies. I planted my spinach and beets in the same garden this year. I have dill coming up everywhere from the plant that went to seed last year.  I just can't bear to take it all out. So it hangs around all the gardens.

The kale garden after harvesting.

The kale, on the other hand, will keep the whole summer if I keep it trimmed up and harvested.  I love kale for my green smoothies. It has lots of fiber in it to sweep all the toxin

One harvest

s out of the system just like a little broom. (Which reminds me, I need to sweep the kitchen). Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in calcium. Kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells. I love growing kale. It is so pretty and is so rewarding to grow. Especially if you are a green smoothie lover, like me.

Full picture of the Mittleider garden. The pole beans
have almost reached the top of the posts.

We also built a Mittleider garden this year. I have used Mittleider weekly feed in my gardens for several years. But sometimes I fail to gather all the details of how it really should be done. That's why I have Roger. Once I get him spurred on, all the details get taken care of and his perfecting nature takes care of all the important things. He took special care to get everything just right. The soil is sawdust and sand. Seventy-five percent/25% mixed with the pre-plant mix so that the plants get all the nutrients that they need to get started. Then we add the weekly feed, of course, weekly. Unlike how I did it last year in the square foot gardens. TEE HEE.You only have to water once a day for 2 1/2 minutes. This keeps the weeds out as well as your water bill down. We are looking forward to lots of tomatoes this year so that I can bottle some. We planted 12 plants so that when they get ripe, I will have enough for at least a batch every couple of days. We also planted pickling cucumbers so that I can do some true fermented pickles this year. Last year I tried them but had to buy the cukes and I don't know how long they had been off the vine. They ended up getting moldy and mushy. I'm glad I only did a couple of bottles.  I'll let you know how they turn out this time. My mouth is watering all ready.