Bunch of Plants Purchased and Potted Up…

It started to rain last night and for some reason I felt the need to buy some leafy winter vegetable starts, so I visited Mid City Nursery this afternoon. I didn’t find any leafy vegetables, but I got a six-pack of Walla Walla Sweet Onions which contained about 17 seedlings. I haven’t grew big Onions, so this will be good experience.

I also looked for different colored Carrots and found Blend of Colors Carrot seeds which contains 4 varieties: Cosmic Purple, Lunar White, Solar Yellow and Atomic Red.

I also wanted to try Parsnips, so I got a packet of seeds, but when I got home, I discovered they were not Parnips, but Parsley… actually Hamburg Root Parsley ‘Piestruska’ which seems similar to Parsnips, so these will do. I’m interested in trying them out.

Hmm… This just popped into my head… I just realized that Parsnips kinda sounds like a combination or Parsley and Turnips. I wonder if that’s how it got the name. Although, I think they are from two different families. I’ll have to look that up.

I then visited our local Lowe’s to get some potting soil. I also purchased:
Wallflower sp. (six-pack)
Calendula ‘Calypso’ (yellow with black centers)
Spinach ‘Bonnie’ (2 four-packs)
Collard ‘Georgia Hybrid’ (four-pack)
Asparagus ‘Jersey Giant’ (3 bare roots)

When I got home I potted up a bunch of seedlings (grown from seeds indoor under grow lights) into newspaper pots. These include:
Mustard ‘Crimson Red’
Pak Choi ‘Purple Choi’
California Poppy ‘Mission Belle’
Japanese Chard ‘Umaina’
Swiss Chard ‘Witerbi Mangold’

The Snap Pea ‘Sugar Ann’ seeds that I soaked are just starting to sprout roots, so I planted those into about 22 newspaper pots.

More Winter Veggies Sown + Sprouting Agrostemma…

I sowed more Winter Veggies into Jiffy Peat Pellets (4 each):
– Flowering Kale Folia
– Bok Choy ‘Joi Choi’ (2010-2011 Batch 2) Folia
– Mustard ‘Broad Leaf’ Folia
– Misome Folia

More Winter Veggies Sown

I also sowed some Lettuce and Mesclun into cell-packs with vermiculite:
– Lettuce ‘Mightly Red Oak’ Folia
– Lettuce ‘Marvel of Four Seasons’ Folia
– Lettuce ‘Prizehead’ Folia
– Mesclun ‘Zesty Salad Mix’ Folia

Lettuce and Mesclun Sown

A few weeks ago, I left some dried Agrostemma Folia seedheads outside and forgot to collect the seeds. With our recent rain, they got wet and started to germinate, so I took some of the sprouts and planted them in 4″ pots.

Agrostemma Sprouting

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Kale Chips…

I saw someone mention Kale Chips on Twitter and it fascinated me so much because I love Kale… I followed the links, read about it… and the recipe seems pretty easy. It’s basically baking or dehydrating pieces of Kale that is coated with olive oil, lemon juice and salt…

I’m at work right now and I can’t wait to try this. Maybe I can stop by Ranch 99 (an Asian grocery) and get some Kale… Hmm, or maybe Mustard Greens… Which I also love… I bet Mustard Greens will add some kick to it, similar to Wasabi Chips…

[Update]

So I tried making the Chips and they turned out really good!

I got some Curl Leaf Kale and baked it at about 200°F for 20 minutes. It was still not crunchy, so I baked it longer. I think it took a total of about 45 minutes.

Kale Chips
Kale Chips

I also tried Mustard Greens, but instead of baking, I dehyrated them.

Mustard Chips
Mustard Chips

Here are some links I found:
Crispy Crunchy Kale Chips on Meghan Telpner’s blog.
Kale Chips? Yes Please! on EasyEcoToGo.com
Basic Kale Chips on simplyrawrecipes.com

It Was a Really Busy Garden Day…

  • 12:24pm I like how Guy Fieri (Guy’s Big Bite) promotes composting kitchen scraps, even if it’s just in a bucket for your houseplants. #
  • 12:45pm Spring Starflower, Snapdragons, Daffodils, Candytuff and Calendula are blooming in our backyard… #
    Spring Starflower  Daffodils  Mini Daffodils  Calendula 'Pacific Beauty'  Candytuff
  • CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF MY BUSY GARDENING DAY