Last Friday was my 25th birthday and I spent it farmer's market shopping and hiking Mt. Sanita's in Boulder. I'd never been to the Boulder's Farmer's Market before, and I have to admit, it's probably one of the best I've ever been to--Iowa City, IA's still holds first place in my book (although it's been a few years since I've been). There seemed to be an overabundant amount of fresh produce and I found myself praising the heavens above for the ungodly amount of gluten-free options; I was thoroughly impressed to say the least! It seems that Boulder greatly caters to the gluten-free community. Anyway, I sampled a lot of goodies, but only brought home some Papperdelle's GF lemon-parsley trumpet pasta! Pappaerdelle's is actually a Denver based company that I heard of for the first time last summer at the Lafayette Peach Festival, however they didn't start making gluten-free pasta until very recently. I haven't had a chance to try it yet; Denver weather has been hot and sticky so I stuck to some cooling foods over the weekend, but check back this week for a Lemon Parsley Pasta recipe with Capers & Kale in White Wine Sauce... By the end of my birthday weekend, I knew the garden would be in dire need of water. I honestly didn't expect to see much more growth happen this week and wasn't overly excited to visit, but I trolled over anyway to fulfill my communal responsibility. The whole plot just popped right up, even despite much water this humid week. I'm pretty positive some neighbor gardener's were courteous enough as to water it a couple times during the week, but it looks nuts--especially when compared to all of my neighbor's orderly plots. I am the only plot that started from seed, and the results are prolific in comparison. It will certainly be a challenge to sort through the weeds and root systems if I wait much longer, but it's super sweet to be able to see the veggies in the making! Things are starting to look like they should!!! Pictured to the left are three shots of broccoli, which has (again) significantly grown even more since last week. I was surprised to find how deeply rooted the broccoli already is after pulling up a single bunch. As with everything else in the plot, I'm going to have to do some serious sorting between sprouts and weeds. It's all kind of tangled up together, and as a novice gardener, I really have no idea what is actually a weed. That being said, it's a good thing the plants are starting to develop their personal traits. As I was brushing through the broccoli I discovered some small beetles eating at the broccoli leaves... I need to look up and see what kind of beetle it is so I know how to prevent it--Anyone know what kind of insect it is and how to stop it? I haven't really given any consideration to pest control.... This week I finish up my thesis on Autoimmune Thyroid Disease, so garden time will be sparse. The following weekend my folks come into town and I can't wait to show them my endeavors--I'm sure my mom will have some constructive criticism for me... Hopefully I'll have a weeding knife before then. :) Check out the pictures below--you can see chard, two different kinds of kale, and the cilantro all metamorphosing....
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by Kate ColemanE-RYT & MNT // archives
April 2013
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