![\"\"](\"http:\/\/katherinemalmo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/9\/greens.jpg\" "\\"Chard\\"")
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My vegetable beds have gone totally Darwinian \u2013 the squash, melons and cucumbers are all tangled up in each other, the kale is five feet tall, and the spaghetti squash vines have taken over one bed and are reaching over the aisle and climbing the green bean trellis. It\u2019s scary out there.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the problem: I can\u2019t throw away vegetable starts. I don\u2019t do seeds unless they can be planted directly into the beds. When the season is right, I go to the local nursery and buy a variety of organic starts \u2013 whatever sounds good. This means I buy six or eight plants when I usually need about three or four.<\/p>\n
Take kale for example, I bought a container of six, but when planted the recommended 18\u201d apart I only had room for four. It seemed like there was so much empty space and the starts were so itty-bitty. I couldn\u2019t just throw them away. I imagined my baby kale crushed in the yard waste bin. So, of course, I planted all of them about 12\u201d apart and planned to thin out the smaller more sickly ones later. When that time came they were all so healthy and doing so well. How could I rip such a lovely food-producing plant out of the ground and throw it away? Do you see? This same thing happened with the onions, leeks, chard, kale, all manner of squash, celery, beans, and the lettuce. There\u2019s some crazy shit going on out there.<\/p>\n
So now, instead of broccoli, I am awash in chard and kale \u2013 greens, greens everywhere. I bring a cooler full to the Wednesday night sailing races and I walk around the parking lot, just me and my bunch of greens, pushing them on anyone who will take them. I add kale to everything \u2013 pea soup, stews, spaghetti, and, yes, it was not my proudest moment, but I even add them to tacos.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m constantly on the lookout for good greens recipes. I\u2019m fond of a white bean and chard or kale soup and also Martha Stewart has an awesome recipe for brown rice and chard risotto, wrapped in a blanched chard leaf (like a burrito) and topped with tomato sauce. It\u2019s great but exhausting to make.<\/p>\n