Great Greens! Part II

Inspired by our recent stretch of 60+ degree weather in the Boston area, a few days ago I went over to my plot at the community garden to remove the plastic sheeting and PVC pipe that had been serving as "hoops" to hold up the sheeting all winter long. True confessions: the picture below is actually the second hoop tunnel I constructed; the first collapsed under the weight of our first wet snow in early December. It looked something like this. Then all that snow thawed and refroze with inch-thick sheets of ice over the top of the plastic. Luckily the vegetables underneath didn't seem to know the difference.

Anyway, fast forward three months to mid-March, when a wonderful surprise awaited me: 5 raised beds full of vegetables and herbs that were ready to be harvested!

Here's a list of all the things growing in there: arugula, rutabaga, beets, turnips, carrots, cilantro, parsley, escarole, chives, green onions, chard, kale, collards, garlic. Plus the rye, vetch and field peas I planted in two of the beds to be turned over for green manure. The root vegetables are small, so I will let them grow for a couple more months until it's time to turn over the soil for the first summer plantings.

This was the first year I tried overwintering vegetables planted in the early fall, and I am so excited to do it more systematically next year! My inspiration was Eliot Coleman, whose books describing his commercial growing operation in Maine share detailed information about the various methods, planting schedules, etc. for 4-season gardening.

In gratitude for the kale and collard greens that are amazingly ready to pick in my garden in mid-March, below is a delicious green smoothie recipe that we have been enjoying every day for a couple weeks now. Despite one website's claim that eating more greens will make your beard grow in without the gray hairs, S. hasn't seen any changes in that department yet. We'll keep checking and let you know. This green smoothie is so tasty, even kids love it!

Kale or Collards Green Smoothie

Blend together for 30 seconds:

1 banana, peeled

1 organic apple, cored (skin on)

1 orange, no seeds (skin off)

1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger (peel removed)

1 cup water

Add about 4 large leaves of kale or collards. The stem can be added as well. Wash the leaves well and chop roughly before adding to blender. Push them down into the liquid a bit to make sure they get incorporated. Blend on high for about 1 minute. You may need to add a little bit more water or apple juice.

Makes about 3 glasses' worth (it will completely fill a standard blender).