Harvesting Kale Buds

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my ‘Red Russian’ kale plants that overwintered in the garden were starting to bud. I checked on them every day waiting for the perfect time to harvest, which happened to be last Saturday. Imagine my surprise when I logged on to Pinerest and noticed someone else pinned a post by DigginFood.com about harvesting kale buds. I’ve never really seen anyone else talk about eating kale buds.

I steamed them for a few minutes, then we enjoyed them drizzled with olive oil and a healthy dusting of freshly ground sea salt and pepper. They were quite good, not as sweet as broccoli, but since the weather is still cold at night they weren’t as bitter as they can be. I especially like that they have leaves attached, which are sweet and delicious, like sautéed kale. Next batch will be drizzled with chipotle infused ghee for a bit of spicy heat, which I really like with brassicas!

I harvested the main sprouts and the side shoots will produce as well. After another harvest or two I’ll let them set seed which I will save for future plantings and to use as sprouting seeds in the winter.

Harvesting the kale buds is a wonderful way to extend the harvest and maximize your plantings. One plant, 3 different ways to enjoy it on your dinner plate: sprouts, leaves, and buds!

Have you ever eaten kale buds?

Friday Favorite: Gardening with Mom

Yesterday I went over to my mom’s house to help her plant potatoes and to plant a few things of my own in her garden. My mom has a beautiful edible garden space which she has spent years building into a rich loamy spot, perfect for vegetables. Since the soil at Chiot’s Run is less than conducive to vegetable gardening, I grow a few things in her garden each year while I work on improving the soil and expanding my gardening space.




It’s also great to garden with my mom because we get to spend time together doing something we both enjoy doing. Being able to talk with someone else about something you enjoy with one who also enjoys it is really nice. Mr Chiots isn’t much into gardening so he puts up with it as a conversation topic, with my mom it’s what our conversations almost always end up being about.



My mom’s mom also enjoyed gardening, whenever we’d go down to visit we’d usually walk around the garden and talk about plants. I have a few heirloom plants in my garden that I got from her. Some of them went to my mom and then on to me. I wonder if any of my nieces or nephew will grow up to love gardening, it sure would be nice to have someone else to hand down some of these heirloom plants and gardening knowledge to.

Do you have someone you share a love of gardening with?

Homemade Whitening Scrub

Yesterday, I posted this recipe in the comment section and decided to whip up a batch, since I’ve never made it before. The recipe is from The Naturally Clean Home. I talked about this little book before; it’s filled with all kinds of recipes. When it comes to cleaning, we all face different challenges that depend on our homes, the surfaces we clean, and our lifestyles. That’s why this book is great, you can try out a variety of recipes and find the one that works best for you situation.

Mr Chiots and I are tea and coffee drinkers and we have light beige formica counters – not a good combination! I try to wipe them up as soon as a spill happens, but they sometimes escape my view (especially since Mr Chiots is the chief barista and I’m often working when he’s making coffee). When I saw this recipe I figured it would be perfect for removing the stains that creep up on kitchen counter.

HOMEMADE CITRUS SCOURING POWDER
(from The Naturally Clean Home)

The borax gives this scouring powder a whitening/brightening effect, but it can be left out. It can also be drying to skin, so slather on some coconut oil before using or use rubber glove.

I happen to have grapefruits in the pantry, so that’s what I used. The smell is AMAZING. After mixing the grapefruit peel with the baking soda, I pulsed it in my small food processor to cut the grapefruit peel into smaller pieces. I figured it would also help release the citrus oil into the baking soda, it did.

I set to work using this scrub on the kitchen counter, focusing on the coffee and tea stains. As the saying goes “the proof is in the pudding”, I scrubbed up the counter and returned to the office to work. When Mr Chiots went out to make afternoon coffee he yelled from the kitchen that the counters looked great. I guess that means it worked! These countertops are one of the surfaces in our home that I really dislike, they’re old, the previous owners used harsh cleaners which was hard on the surface. As a result they stain easily and are tough to keep clean. I’m glad to have come across this recipe that will help me keep them looking nice.

What is one surface in your house that is hard to clean or that gives you problems? Have you found anything that helps with your particular problem?

NON-TOXIC CLEANING SERIES
Stocking Your Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
Learning to Love Castile Soap
Make Your Own: Foaming Soap
Make Your Own: Infused Vinegar
Make Your Own: Multi-Purpose Cleaner
Make Your Own: Color Safe Oxygen Bleach
Non-Toxic Bathroom Cleaning
Friday Favorite: Charlie’s Soap
Friday Favorite: Twist Sponges
more to come…

Non-Toxic Bathroom Cleaning

For most people, bathrooms probably top the list as the least favorite room to clean. It also tops the list as the room people most feel they need toxic cleaners to get rid of the baddies. There seems to be this weird fear of germs that’s been cultivated in our society. Truth is, your kitchen sink is just as dirty or even worse than your toilet, *gasp* I know. You’re more likely to get nasty germs eating out, or from grocery store produce than you are from your own bathroom, so lighten up. No need to use toxic cleaners that are doing more damage to you than any kind of germ would. Bleach and toxic cleaners are hard on your liver and your lungs, so switch to something lighter and your bathroom will be just as clean and you’ll save yourself some medical bills later!

I’m actually not much of one to worry about germs, I focus more on eating healthfully to build my immune system than I do trying to eliminating every single germ from my house. I personally believe being exposed to germs is actually good for you. That being said, I scrub the toilet weekly and spray the kitchen counters with vinegar if they’ve seen raw chicken, but you won’t find me spraying down the toilet handle or the doorknobs with lysol every day and you’ll never smell a whiff of chlorine bleach in my house.

As with most things, it’s much easier to maintain clean than it is to clean a super dirty space. Scrubbing one week’s worth of soap scum is much easier than scrubbing off a months buildup. You’ll spend far less time if you do a quick clean-up each week than one big cleaning each month. It takes me about 5 minutes of actually scrub time to clean both of my bathrooms (not including mopping the floors).
Here’s the system I’ve developed for cleaning my bathrooms:
First: Pour 1/4-1/2 cup of vinegar in each toilet, let sit for about 15 minutes (if your toilet is really bad use up to a cup and let it sit overnight). If the level of water in your toilet is below the ring where the water normally sits, add a little water so the vinegar water covers this ring to soften it. Spray vinegar on inside of bowl above water line. While you let this sit, move on to sinks.

Second: Remove all items from sink tops and shower stalls; then spray the sinks, countertops and shower with vinegar, moving from one bathroom to the next. While I’m doing that, I also grab all the hand towels and put them in the laundry.

Third: Back in first bathroom, sprinkle baking soda in the sink, squirt some castile soap on my damp scrubber, and scrub the sink, counter, and faucet. Wipe down with a damp sponge and dry with a clean hand towel. Use this same towel to wipe down mirror, if you don’t use fabric softener in your laundry it will buff the mirror and take off spots since it’s slightly damp, no spray needed. If you use fabric softener or a scented detergent, buff with a microfiber or clean cloth. If the mirror is super dirty, give it a small light spray of vinegar and wipe away spots. Repeat in other bathrooms.

Fourth: Spray all parts of toilet with vinegar or homemade multi purpose spray. Next, sprinkle some baking soda in the toilet and scrub with brush. Dirt and scum should scrub away quite easily as the vinegar will help loosen dissolve lime and other minerals from hard water. If you have a distinct ring, try scrubbing it with a pumice stone or heavy duty scrubber (may require a long soaking with vinegar to loosen the minerals). If the toilet is really dirty it will take some elbow grease. Take this moment to remind yourself how much easier it will be if you clean the toilet weekly rather than letting it get to dirty (been there, and still occasionally do). Repeat in other bathrooms.

Finally: Sprinkle some baking soda and a squirt of castile soap on my scrubber then scrub the shower stall. Using an old yogurt container, I pour water on the shower walls to rinse soap away.

TIPS FOR MAINTAINING CLEAN:
*Put a Tablespoon of vinegar in your toilet every time you flush or every night before bed, this will help keep the toilet from getting as dirty. Clean toilet weekly!!!! If you let minerals build up in the toilet they will be much tougher to get off than if you just spend a few minutes cleaning the toilets each week!

*Use a squeegee to wipe water off shower walls when you’re finished showering – this will keep water spots and minerals from building up. A few seconds after each shower will save you lots of time.

*Use towel to wipe down faucet and sink top after using, this will eliminate a lot of the soap scum and hard water build up, if you have hard water this is the best way to keep the minerals from damaging faucets.

*Spray surfaces with vinegar and give it some time to work, let the vinegar dissolve & soften soap scum & hard water deposits to make them easier to clean.

*If you have hard water, make sure you spray vinegar around the faucet to keep hard water build up from occurring. This will also help your faucets last longer.

*Using castile soap is gentle on surfaces and won’t wear away the finish. If you use harsh abrasive cleaners you will wear away the finish on the various surfaces thus making your cleaning jobs much more difficult as time goes on.

*Toxic, antibacterial, smelly cleaners do not equal clean and will not get rid of more germs than vinegar and castile soap.

What’s your least favorite part of the bathroom to clean?

NON-TOXIC CLEANING SERIES
Stocking Your Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
Learning to Love Castile Soap
Make Your Own: Foaming Soap
Make Your Own: Infused Vinegar
Make Your Own: Multi-Purpose Cleaner
Make Your Own: Color Safe Oxygen Bleach
Non-Toxic Bathroom Cleaning
Friday Favorite: Charlie’s Soap
Friday Favorite: Twist Sponges
more to come…

My all natural toilet brush was purchased from Life Without Plastic. Whenever something in my house that’s plastic breaks I find an all natural alternative. Love this toilet brush, works well, looks great and I love that there’s no container for the brush to sit in and get all funky. Never smells, no mildew, nothing weird – and I’ve been using it for 3 years. I have a few of their various cleaning brushes and scrubbers and have been happy with them all.