I love it!
It's a rainy day here on the homestead, so I grabbed the opportunity to get some planting done. When you plan in light showers, the sky waters the plants and the clouds block out the sun, so it makes for a nice transitional period for the transplants moving outside.
As it was getting to be about lunch time, I decided to grab some food on the walk back to the house. Thankfully, I had some great options already, both in the garden and in the woods. Check it out!
LET'S MAKE LUNCH!!!
This section here is a number of "walking onions" that I received the other year. I received them by noticing a neighbor ripping them out of his garden and tossing them onto a compost pile. Apparently, we just wanted to grow something else, and after having these in that spot for some years, he just got tired of them.
After I asked if I could have them, I was the new owner of some walking onions, so they are now growing in my garden and doing well. Today I just snipped off a few of the hollow leaves to help flavor my dish, rather than digging up the whole plants.
In another one of my garden beds I sowed some kale seeds in-between my onion plants. I sowed them rather heavily, so I can just uproot several of the small plants and let others fill in the space as they grow. These young, tender kale plants are super healthy and very tasty, so it was good to get some harvested.
By uprooting the whole seedling we do a great job thinning this crop, and after we snip off the tip, we've got other uses for the bottom. We frequently use extra parts of our harvest for treats for our animals. Throughout the year the Guineas, Ducks, Chickens, Quail, Rabbits, Sheep, and Goats all get some treats. Anything else gets composted.
In just a minute or two I had what I was looking for, a nice bunch of baby kale, ready to be enjoyed. It's nice to have garden fresh food ready to harvest so early in the year.
As you can tell from looking here, I barely made a dent in the kale plant population in this are of the garden. Soon, the remaining plants will grow more and need to be thinned again.
On the walk back to the house from the main garden area, I passed by a location that is still a "work in progress." I'm still taming this very wild area, and part of my efforts include cutting back the Green Brier plants. When they sprout back from the root system, they almost look like asparagus.
Thankfully, these too are edible! With a little effort I soon had a handful of them to add to my mix, and off to the kitchen it was!
After a simple rinse, it was time for the chopping block! I still had more kale to chop, but the other plants were completely diced up here. This would work well either raw or cooked, and I had the options of either a fresh salad or a sauteed dish.
Mama-Pepper had grilled some chicken last night, so I decided to use that as a meat base and then add in my greens as a vegetable.
Pinkie-Pepper was making some unleavened bread "tortillas," so I decided that my dish would act as a filler for them. Somehow, it all worked out rather well together, and Mama-Pepper didn't even have to worry about what to make for lunch.
After heating up the grilled chicken I added in my greens, and then added some butter, seasoning, and lime. Once it was hot, it was as ready as we were.
Once the flatbread was folded around the mix, we had our tasty lunch, ready to go. This'll beat fast food any day of the week, and I hope that others out there are enjoying their harvests too. If you garden or forage, have you enjoyed anything yet this year that you've harvested or foraged?
Until next time…
STEEMIT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
