Michael Pollen and Kitchen Gardeners International

Food is one of the main reasons I began to garden. I wanted fresh herbs but didn't want to pay $5 for a wilted bundle of cilantro in the grocery store. I loved eating real, flavorful fresh veggies and fruit. Not the medium red, perfectly round orbs that fit someone's image of what a tomato should look like but didn't come anywhere close to the way it should taste.

In the past few years, I have also been working on living more deliberately. Eschewing things like big-screen TVs and the latest fashion trends, and concentrating instead on buying less stuff and spending more time with people who matter.

I have not yet crystallized my thoughts on how food buying fits into my feelings on how to live more responsibly, but I'm guessing that others are probably similarly confused by different issues. (Organic or Local? Frozen or Fresh?) If this topic interests you at all, this short article by Michael Pollen, originally published in the New York Times and reblogged on Kitchen Gardeners International, is definitely worth a few minutes of reading.

Sometimes I'm Fickle

I believe that my love affair with 'Rhubarb' Swiss Chard was pretty adequately documented on this blog, with many pictures posted of light playing through its thick, red-veined leaves.

Swiss chard is a member of the beet family, which easily explains the thick root that you can see at the base of the plant in the second picture. In fact, it is a variety of beta vulgaris (the same species as the common beet) that was cultivated over the years specifically for the taste of its leaves rather than the flavor of its root.

While researching Swiss Chard, I found quite a few named cultivars and mixes. 'Rhubarb,' 'Ruby,' 'Bright Lights,' 'Rainbow,' and 'Fordhook Giant' are all well-known names in the world of chard.

I briefly considered purchasing seeds for 'Fordhook Giant' or another white-veined variety to grow in my 2007 garden for a change of pace. In visiting the websites of seed vendors, however, a completely different option presented itself: Kale

It sounds like I'm a little fickle here, I know, but it really is a smart option. I love Swiss Chard sauteed in garlic and olive oil, with a little sea salt... but to me there is very little taste difference between Swiss Chard and beet greens prepared that same way. I know that I am going to be planting beets again this year, so why not branch out in the greens department? I find kale to have a very different taste.

A few extra searches confirmed that I have to grow kale in my garden this year, if for no other reason than to enjoy the interesting texture it provides. Now the only question in my mind is this: From an aesthetic standpoint, which way should I go? Lacinto Blue? Or Redbor? Anyone have input on the aesthetic value of kale?