The calendar on the wall says that another year is coming to an end. I’m not really big on resolutions, and today finds me no more introspective than usual. I went for a nice walk this morning, enjoying the balmy (for December) weather. Rain and thunderstorms are headed our way later on. Hopefully 2010 doesn’t go out with TOO much of a bang!
After lunch I took care of a few gardening duties, and I started some planters of mache, which will hopefully give us some of the nutty tasting little leaves by early March. I had hoped to have some already going by now, but I ran out of planters, or so I thought. Earlier in the week I found two planters that had been hiding from me. I must have walked by them a dozen times without noticing them. They had been used for lettuce last spring.
Perhaps one goal for 2011 should be for me to be more organized – hah! I yam what I yam, as Popeye would say.
I also got the last harvest of the year today. I picked a big bucket of kale, which should give us plenty to eat for our New Year’s greens, as well as some for green smoothies. Today’s harvest was the Starbor and Savoy Cross varieties. I have to say to look at them you’d never know the leaves had been subjected to so much freezing weather, plus at least three rounds of snow and freezing rain.
kale harvest
All of the kale plants seem to be alive, though the Lacinato is struggling. With any luck we will have a nice flush of growth from the survivors next spring before the plants flower and go to seed.
Today’s harvest brings our yearly total to just under 900 pounds – 893.5 to be exact. This is the first time we’ve weighed all of our garden output for a whole year, so I have no idea how that might compare to other years. It doesn’t really matter, we’ve had plenty to eat ourselves and to share with others in 2010. So how could a year like that not be a good one? I can only hope that 2011 treats us so well.
I wish everyone out there a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year for 2011!