KALE AND KOHLRABI

 

 
    As the Kale and the Kohlrabi are growing high and full, I decided to harvest some of the kale and the kohlrabi leaves. Since it was different to harvest Kale and Kohlrabi from tomatoes and zucchini, I turned to You Tube for help. I was shown that I need to pick the bottom leaves first, and then move to the middle leaves, but not to pick the top leaves as allow them to continue growing. And so I did. My first harvest was plentiful, so that I was able to share my harvest with my neighbors.
    The kale is the blue green variety, which has a solid leaf growing from a spindly stem. The stem is firm and strong, and the kale leaf has a smooth feel to it. In my house, we are adding the kale to our smoothies, which is replacing spinach.
    The kohlrabi is growing higher than the kale. It has a soft green complexion, consistent with cabbage, with a rubbery feel. The cabbage bulb down near the base is small, and circular.
    After harvesting my kale and kohlrabi, I reflected on what I had learned so far from my first full season of summer gardening. I knew that leafy vegetables would grow well in my garden, so that Kale, Kohlrabi, Zucchini, Chard and tomatoes prospered. I also knew that bulb vegetables, like onion, fennel and carrots did not prosper. I also discovered that mint was a hardy and invasive plant that stretched its roots all over the area it was in. In other words, I was still learning about what it means to garden.
    When I first started in April, I was concerned with the planting before the summer season. Then, I became aware of the garden in terms of spacing, sunlight and growing time. Then, I began to notice the relationship of one plant to another in terms of their root system and their leaf pattern and the way the leaves were inspired by geometry. In short, I had started as an innocent person and now I was deeply involved in the intricacies of growing and gardening.
    As a result, I have learned to see my garden beyond the results of the harvest. Now, my garden is a measure of the constancy of things, where life is a daily pattern. In the morning, zucchini flowers opening in the morning, and the wasps and the bees and the insects come and feed on the healthy nectar of the zucchini flower. Then the zucchini flowers twist closed in the afternoon. In all of this, the sun comes up and strikes each area of the garden in sunlight, and then moves into shade as the sun passes overhead in its orbital swing.

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