Tag: gardening

When the Food Doesn’t Grow, Eat the Leaves

Have you ever eaten the leafy parts of broccoli, cauliflower and Brussel sprouts? When the normal food did not grow from my beautiful plants, I began to use the leaves for food.

Over the winter months here in Florida, I have grown some nice looking cruciferous vegetables. Or should I say, the plants are nice looking. So far, there are no actual vegetable parts to eat.

The Brussel sprouts (Catskill – Long Island Improved), broccoli Calabrese, and cauliflower (Snowball) PLANTS have all grown nicely from seeds put into the ground this Fall.

Brussel Sprouts in December
brussel sprouts plant garden
Brussel sprouts plant
brussel sprouts
Two in grow box
Broccoli in December
cauliflower and broccoli plant
Cauliflower and broccoli
broccoli plants garden
Broccoli plants
broccoli plant
Cauliflower in December
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower plant
Cauliflower in fabric bag

Be Aware: Not all vegetable leaves are edible!

Be sure you know what you are eating as many vegetable leaves are not edible and some are dangerous to eat.

Even without the normal parts of the cruciferous plants, the leaves can be cooked and taste pretty good!

I don’t know if any of these plants will grow heads of cauliflower, stalks of broccoli or little green sprouts. I had high hopes, but maybe the weather has become too cold. I’ll continue to let them grow, while picking only a leaf or two from each plant to cook.

Cruciferous leaves
cooking leaves of broccoli, cauliflower
Ready to boil
Slow cooking on a single burner.

When these leaves are boiled or simmered for an hour or more, they are soft and easy to eat alone, or in a meal. I save the water too, which is full of nutrients.

Add the leaves, either whole or chopped, to soup, stew or in stock. They are similar to cabbage leaves. Freeze the leftover cooking water for later use.

A single electric burner works well for simmering for long periods of time. It also frees up the stove.

Other Garden Leaves Okay to Eat

I’m also enjoying my borage leaves and using them to make tea. Borage grows very well during the coldest part of a Florida winter. Even without the pretty blue flowers, the big bristly leaves can be picked to make a mild tasting tea. This page, at Sow Right Seeds, suggests picking the leaves while they are small, but I take the largest leaves from the bottom of the plant and leave the small ones to continue to grow. I steep them in hot water for 15 minutes.

Florida borage plant
Flowering borage in my yard.
sweet potato leaves
Edible sweet potato leaves
sweet potato flower on vine
Sweet potato vines can flower!

Just last summer I discovered that sweet potato leaves can be eaten! In fact, they are very nutritional. These I do pick small and add a few to a salad or pot of soup, or stew. They are good chopped and added to a stir fry as well. Leaves are heart-shaped and they can have pretty flowers. Meanwhile the actual potatoes are busy growing underground AND they will come back and continue to grow year after year (in warm climate) if some of the plant is left in the ground.

Are you eating anything new from your garden?

The Best Way to Acquire Garden Dirt if You Have the Muscles For It

Changing my small backyard from all grass to a permaculture plot for growing food has been a challenge. It can also be expensive. Although I was dreading doing this, the best way to acquire my garden dirt was to fill the truck with purchased soil. We had to buy in bulk and do some shoveling.

Not only would I have lots of dirt to work with, but buying dirt by the yard is cheaper. I bought two yards of soil which filled the back of the F250, along with two bags of mushroom compost and two bags of mulch.

dirt and compost in truck bed
Two yards of dirt fills the truck bed.

Winter is the Time to Do Yard Work

Now that a Florida winter is upon us, the desire to get outdoors and fix things up is high. After a long, very hot summer, the cooler weather feels great. And by cooler I mean near 80 degrees some days, but cooler in the morning and evening. In other words, it’s more like a normal “summer” elsewhere.

Finding a Place to Store the Dirt

I need dirt. I’ve had the boxes piling up on my porch but can’t put that cardboard out on the grass without some dirt to help hold them in place. I’ve been buying bags of dirt, but that doesn’t go far. I considered ordering a load of dirt to be delivered, but there is no good place near the road for the shop to dump it.

cardboard boxes saved
Boxes piling up
cardboard boxes in the garden
Getting the garden area ready last spring
cardboard on grass
Boxes down at the hibiscus garden

As my garden planning has progressed, I realize that I need more sunny spaces. I want to grow Roselle Hibiscus which will be large plants. They can’t grow where my vegetables area, so the plan is to begin a new garden in the front yard.

The area pictured below is where I believe there was once a flower garden. I’ve found a Beautyberry Bush and Firespike back in this overgrown location. Now it is also full of ferns, and little trees are growing. The only tree I have cut down is the invasive Brazilian Pepper. The front of this patch of ferns gets lots of sun all times of the year. If I can get the Roselle to grow, they will be planted here.

cardboard spread on grass
Broke down some big cardboard boxes for the new front garden

This was where the dirt pile would sit until I needed it. I put down big pieces of cardboard, (see my post about using cardboard in the yard) and we unloaded the dirt onto it from the bed of the truck.

In order to get to this spot, we had to back the truck across the front yard. It meant moving some of the Christmas lights and taking down part of the fire pit. Then, of course, we (my son and I) had to shovel all that dirt out of the truck! It was a chore, but worth it.

cardboard spread on grass
Broke down some big cardboard boxes
dirt in truck
Ready to shovel!
garden dirt pile
Dirt for gardening

From here, I can fill the wheelbarrow and move the dirt to the back gardens as I need it. And the cardboard underneath, will be the spot to plant new things once all that dirt is gone.

The cost for all of it was right around $100. If you live near The Yard Shop in Edgewater, I highly recommend them for dirt, mulch, compost and stones. The people are super nice and helpful.

Now the Garden Plans Can Move Ahead

I have the dirt and I have the cardboard. My gardening plans continue to emerge with more space being made to plant. Over winter I am growing green beans, arugula and Chijimisai spinach, and a few other things.

Skittle is overlooking my garden work, and I’m not sure if she approves or not!

Skittle in the garden

Keep reading my Florida gardening stories

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