Kale is the New Pink--Beet my Heart Content!!

Well, what do ya know? It's officially been 4 months since my last post--understandably so considering some fantastic changes have taken place. In July, my plants had just begun to really show growth. I wasn't sure what to expect, in my garden and in terms of where I wanted to take my business. I was having so much fun in my garden I hardly wanted any responsibility outside of myself. By the end of July I was continuing to see personal clients but decided to pick up a fun and simple job at the Savory Spice Shop to further expand my palette and make some extra cash. Besides sneezing a lot, I learned a lot, and my cooking definitely improved! My favorite spice quickly became Za'atar, with it's main ingredient being sumac berries, a reddish hairy fruit belonging to a small tree of the cashew family, which are ground into a powder and used in Middle Eastern cuisine. Za'atar is amazing on everything--from mixing with olive oil and dipping with bread (gluten free, of course!), to scrambled eggs, kebobs, or sauteed dark leafies. However, I wasn't at the spice shop for more than a month before I was hired at The Healing Center as the nutritionist on staff.

Very quickly, I was thrust out of the garden and into the work force. An exciting, yet different, change, and I did miss my garden a lot--and ohhh how quickly it grew, especially considering how close together everything was planted and the sparce amounts of love it received. My garden was so plentiful I could barely believe it--and the berries! They just kept coming and coming--raspberries and spectacular blackberries; I even made a few blackberry peach pies!

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Above is a picture of my final harvest--chard, beets, carrots, and some way too early composted tomatoes :) AND there was so much more to gather, only further proving that an inexperienced underachiever can even grow a garden and reap it's harvest. I had more kale and more beets than I knew what to do with. By the end of the summer I was practically gagging on kale I'd been eating  so much of it, and I'll just say it's a good thing I really love beets!! 

Working a plot is not a one person job, which isn't to say that one person can't do it alone; but, in terms of planning, tending, harvesting, and (most importantly) EATING!---it's more enjoyable with company, whether that be with family, friends, or a loved one, because a garden requires a lot of love.

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Above is a picture of my infamous kale chips, made with the help of Savory's Supreme Shallot Salt--nom nom nom nom nom!!! Many thanks to all of you who helped me with my first garden plot, I certainly couldn't have done it without you!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
xoxo Kate