Cleanup on Row Four

It’s getting that time of year again! Time to plant the garden.

We planted a dozen or so rutabaga last week, and this week we are starting the peas. On the crop rotation plan (yes, there is one) they are going to be in row four this year, so the first task was:

Cleanup on Row Four.

Last year this row was planted to brassicas, and there were still some rutabagas, brussel sprouts, and our attempt at kohlrabi on that end of the row, not to mention some scattered onions that had overwintered and were now in a nice scallion stage. We harvested a bunch of rutabaga to process later. The brussel sprouts had pretty much all started to open, but we saved enough to get about a quart that were still in good shape. We also picked a couple dozen scallion sized green onions.

Then we needed to prep the row to receive the seeds. The temperature dropped at this point and it started to get windy so the kids went inside, but I got 50 pea seeds planted.

This Tonda di Gonfi hazelnut is budding out, looks like it is trying to blossom as well. Unfortunately, none of the nearby hazelnuts seem anxious to follow suit. We may have to put another variety in that space as a pollinator.

The best part of weeding/clearing out a garden row is that it produces a wheelbarrow load of treats for our four-footed friends.

Iris especially loves brassicas, like brussel sprouts and broccoli or kohlrabi.

Even little Darla tasted a few.

She didn’t eat much, but she was munching on them, and drooling the green juice down her chin.

The sheep seemed to prefer the chamomile and chard, but that may be just because that was what was farthest away from Iris.

Iris gets pushy when other critters try to steal her snacks.

Eunice’s teats are sticking out a bit. No tail lifting or vulva changes that we have noticed yet.

Seppi found a duck egg!

All that farming makes for a tire Winnie.

The whole time we were at the farm, two lamb shanks and a lamb neck had been braising in the braising pot with onions and a pint of beer (Irish Death).

By the time we got back, this shredded off the bones like it was it’s job.

Fork tender! We added some carrot, celery and some minced kale, as well as salt, pepper and aromat, and let it simmer another hour before thickening it with some corn starch.

Ellie cleaned and tore up the salad greens.

And made a hug production of using the salad spinner.

This led, unfortunately, to two girls trying to use the salad spinner, and the stronger of the two sending the whole spinner flying off the counter.

Ellie was not a fan of the gravy.

Neither were Seppi and Winnie. Their thumbs ups are lies.

I don’t know, I thought it turned out great.

Then after Mommy got home from work, we had a stack of rutabagas to process.

These were diced and blanched for two minutes.

Then drained, cooled and vacuum sealed in 1.5-2 cup bags, seven bags total, to freeze until the next time we want some for soup, or pasties or mashed potatoes.

Not sure what we are going to do with this massive kohlrabi harvest…