Growing Kale Nero di Toscana in pots

I wanted to grow some kale but I didn't want to grow the local ones that are available in the vegetable market. I'd grow other kale species I haven't eaten before. It's more rewarding this way when I harvest them later. So I browsed around and found this beautiful giant kale called Nero di Toscana, also known as Black palm and Cavolo nero kale. I wondered if I could grew them here in Indonesia and in containers too. But well, Gardening is not always getting a contest qualified look plants, it's more about enjoying the process, right? :D  Here's the pic of some seedlings...

Below are the kale after 2 months... ready for the first harvest.

After you cut the Kale, they will grow new leaves again for you. :)

My first harvest... hehehe, feeling like a real farmer! No vegetables are fresher than those you harvest yourself. :D

 

Pluck all the leaves, clean them, put them in a tight lid container to cook later.

 

I usually take some to cook with instant noodle.... the red water is from red spinach that I grow too!

Another way to cook leafy vegetable is to saute them with garlic only. You can give a pinch of salt and that's it. I'm not into complicated recipes that require hours of cooking and cleaning the utensils later. But fresh veggies will taste great even if they are cooked in a simple way. :)

So, what about you? What kale do you grow? Please comment below. :)

Growing Habanero hot peppers in a pot

One thing that I like most from growing this habanero chili species is that it's short and easy to grow. Besides, the fruits are hanging down and pretty to look at. Compared to a local hot chili pepper species that can grow to 4 feet high, a habanero chili plant in a 30cm pot looks so cute and fits perfectly for a selected member on my porch. :D

I only have 1 pot of chili plant since I rarely cook something hot. Look, one of the fruits is turning red. Sometimes they turn red from side to side, sometimes from bottom to top like this:

Here are some habanero peppers that I picked for cooking. I usually harvest my harbanero after a bunch of them have turned red. After removing the seeds from the fruits, I'll slice the fruits and let them dry in a refrigerator for future use. So, what chili or pepper plants do you grow at home? :)

I start gardening again!

Although the only space available at home is just a small porch of 6x3 meter size, I can still grow some plants and maximize their growth by using rich soil and fertilizer. Here's one spot on my gardening porch. You can see some ferns, asparagus, chilie, kale, rainbow swiss chard and spinach. :D I also grow roses, tube rose, orchids, tomatoes and some other vegetables. The roof is shaded and the sun comes from front side so I arrange the plants based on how much sun they need. The closer they are to the gate, the longer they are exposed to the sun. I also have many adenium I planted in front of the gate so that they can have maximum direct sun they really love. If you like gardening too, please share your blogs/FB pages or just photos with me, k? Would love to hear your success story on some plants! <3