Veggie Garden Progress + {Pink Kale Juice}

Posted: April 3, 2012

I am so excited that dear hubby helped me plan, dig, and build my first real veggie garden this weekend.  It's still too cold to plant (hence the indoor tabletop garden to start), but getting the infrastructure and soil ready for planting is most of the hard work!   I scoured the aisles of the local Lowe's to determine what sort of material I wanted to use for the sides / walls of my raised vegetable garden.  I was thinking in my head I'd use more like "timbers" stacked 3 or 4 high around each side.  But as I looked at the cost, I decided to go the cheaper route and use large 2 x 12's as my sides.  This cut the cost by about 75%, so now I have more money to put into good soil and the actual PLANTS that will be growing inside there!

The first order of business was clearing out the area/location I will use for the garden.  I had to tear up an old path and move tons of river rock!  It really was QUITE a workout!!

Then, dear hubby dug out some of the dirt to make the raised bed "level", as the ground slopes down from the patio to the grass.   Here's "helper" Chloe posing in front of the raised to-be-garden:

Next weekend we'll bring in the soil, add drippers, and start prepping it for PLANTING!

And then after all of that yardwork, I needed a refreshing juice :)

Introducing Pink Kale Juice:

Here's the juicer after juicing everything:

And, voila!  Pink Kale Juice.  It was super sweet and yummy... a perfect AM juice during a Reboot or an afternoon treat after hours of yardwork :)

And I saved the pulp and put it in my new garden's soil! 

And here's what my counter looks like with the juicer parts all drying:

Reboot Tip #2 - Start limiting meat and dairy to once a day.

Try my other juices:

Questions:

  1. Do you plant a garden each year?  What grows best?
  2. Do you enjoy or loathe yardwork?

{Pink Kale Juice}

Description

A colorful (pink) and sweet juice made with Kale.

Ingredients

7  
Stalks of Kale
2  
Pink Lady Apples
1  
Large beet (peeled)
1⁄2  
Small Round Watermelon
1  
Lime (peeled)

Instructions

Juice & Enjoy!

Yields 32 Ounces

Print    

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Comments

Submitted by V - April 3, 2012 - 10:15am

Nice garden! My hubby plants a HUGE garden each summer too, with lots of fruits and veggies. Can't wait until it gets warm enough to start ours.

Submitted by kelly - April 3, 2012 - 10:25am

I want to fill my garden with things that grow really well, like tomatoes - that yield 100+ throughout the summer. I don't want to waste my time on things like the bell pepper plant I grew one year, which gave me ONE (yes, only one) pepper the entire summer... AND it wasn't even that good!

So, what do you (or your hubby!) recommend as far as "fruitful" things to plant?

Right now I'm thinking: 2 varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, and some herbs.

Submitted by Anna Fleming - April 4, 2012 - 12:48pm

I'm an avid gardener, not an expert, but I garden with regularity, and if there's one thing I've learned, its that gardening is experimentation. You just have to give different vegetables a try. I never had success with bell peppers. Maybe it's my coastal climate, or maybe it's me. I've found most success with tomatoes, of all varieties, summer squashes, swiss chard, kale, carrots and loose leaf lettuces. As for herbs, parsley and cilantro are good choices. The bottom line is to not let a little failure burn you out. good luck

And I love your blog!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:40pm

Thanks for the gardening advice and encouragement. We're actually out in Colorado, so can't plant for a few more weeks. We inevitably ALWAYS get a late April or early MAY snowstorm!! Glad you are enjoying the blog!

Submitted by Carrie Valentin - April 4, 2012 - 9:44pm

I love those tiny bright orange tomatoes...like tommy toes but they are really orange colored. So prolific and a lot less waiting around for than the full size tomatoes that slugs inevitably nibble before me!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:41pm

I will have to check them out. Thanks for the suggestion!

Submitted by Corrie Anne - April 3, 2012 - 12:03pm

I keep seeing how awesome juicing is for you!! pink kale?! that's super creative. and brave. but what an awesome way to get some good nutrition!

Submitted by kelly - April 3, 2012 - 1:51pm

You should try it Corrie Anne and let me know what you think :) I also think this combo would be good as a salad... hmmmmm... maybe I'll have to try that soon!

Submitted by Rebekah - April 3, 2012 - 1:45pm

Last year I planted basil and it went nuts in the garden. I had numerous plants and thus lots of pesto! At the end of the season I made a huge batch and freezed cubes of pesto in ice cube trays, so all winter, I've been able to pull them out to add to fish, chicken, pizza or pasta. My cucumbers and zucchini did really well. Strawberries, too! Actually, my strawberry plants from last year already have flowers on them. We will see if they last after this storm! I have some cilantro coming up from seed as well, but I find that it doesn't do well in long, direct sun, but it seeds quickly, so can easily be replanted throughout the season.

I'm trying a bell pepper plant this year, but won't have great expectations for it!

Submitted by kelly - April 3, 2012 - 1:52pm

Thanks for all the good info! I was wondering how the basil would do outside, or if I should just keep in in my kitchen. Now you've got me convinced it is going to do GREAT outdoors! Good luck with your pepper plant :)

Submitted by Teresa - April 3, 2012 - 5:24pm

Thanks for sharing your recipe, I am going to try it! Glad you are growing a garden, they seem to be a lot of fun, especially when you can harvest your own organic veggies! I hope to do that soon--middle of a move and hope to get settled soon. I am starting my juice fast tomorrow and super excited!v Cheers!

Submitted by kelly - April 3, 2012 - 5:37pm

I hope your first few days go really well Teresa! Hang in there, stay strong, and before you know it you'll feel great!

Submitted by juliana - April 4, 2012 - 1:07am

I just found your blog, so I'm not sure where you are, we do a big garden with a little of everything, but kale does vest, it grows all winter for us here in WA and we just keep picking off leaves. We also get great broccoli and beans, if you do green beans you can just keep picking. I can't wait to see how it goes!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:42pm

I hadn't thought about broccoli!

Submitted by Valerie Hinebaugh - April 4, 2012 - 12:16pm

Hello! I started juicing last year after watching "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". My kids are not big on eating vegetables and after cooking and covering the with everything to make them taste good, they weren't even healthy anymore. We do have a local farm here that I visited once a week last year and I juiced everything. My kids look forward to it now, and even love the thick fully packed veggies juices. I too decided (and briefly blogged about) putting in a raised bed garden to grow the veggies that I love the most for juicing. Beets are by far my fav. I love too that you can get broccoli in and the kids don't taste it. Wishing us both luck on our juicing veggie gardens!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:44pm

Your kids sound like my hubby :) Good luck with your juicing garden and let me know what grows the best for you! I hadn't thought about beets... doh! I love juicing them!!

Submitted by Meghan - April 4, 2012 - 12:51pm

Nice Work

Submitted by Patrick - April 4, 2012 - 1:15pm

FYI - if you aren't currently into a "reboot", then you could consider re-using your pulp! I have found that fruit-based-pulp freezes very nicely and can be rather sorbe-like! A nice dessert! For veggie-based-filled-pulp, you can sautee it with some fresh garlic or ginger and put it on top of some pasta for a great topping/sauce. :)

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:45pm

Yes, good idea to reuse the pulp. I found a recipe for pulp-muffins that I might have to try one of these days! (And I'll blog about it if it's yummy!)

Submitted by Susan A - April 4, 2012 - 3:06pm

I used to use a juicer, but it killed me to toss out (even into the compost pile) all that good insoluble fiber. Now I use a heavy-duty blender, and all my juice recipes, with the addition of a cup of water, produce wonderful, and more filling, smoothies. Can you explain why you prefer juicing?

Thanks!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:48pm

Here's a good article that talks about the differences: http://www.jointhereboot.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=...

I think the 2 main things for me are: 1) I like the smooth "thin" flavor of juices - less like I'm chewing on the veggies 2) I don't have a good blender. I tried making a Kale Berry smoothie and it was TERRIBLE!!! The chunks of Kale were disgusting!!

Submitted by MarieElena - April 4, 2012 - 6:34pm

I have 7 Chihuahuas and they love fruits and veggies. We already dry slices of sweet potatoes to make them treats. I took some of the pulp and gave them a little to see if they would like it, they loved it! I don't feed grapes because I was told they can cause renal damage. Anyway I decided to take some leftover cooked oatmeal from breakfast and add it to the pulp, made it into real small patties (cookies). I have a very large cookie cooling rack and put it on top of another tall rack on the top area of my wood stove in front of the blower to dry these "cookies". I didn't want to use my electric food dryer. They love them! These are better treats than store bought treats that contain dyes, preservatives and just plain garbage. If you don't want to do all that work just gave Chole a little bit to try. Yes maybe you are pulling most of the nutrients out of the pulp but there is still some in there as well as real good fiber.

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:48pm

Our doggies love the pulp! We were super surprised when we first let them taste it :)

Submitted by Rachel - April 4, 2012 - 9:25pm

Hi, Kelly! Awesome blog! I look forward to following you. I've been planning a juice garden and have not made up my mind yet...but I leaning towards cucumbers, kale, lettuce. I think I'll grow green beans and broccoli, too...not to juice, but just because they're hardy and I love them. I like your pink kale recipe (especially the lime in there!) and look forward to putting my pulp to good use once I dig in to my garden! Happy Spring to you!

Submitted by kelly - April 4, 2012 - 10:50pm

Happy Spring indeed! You'll have to let me know how your garden does. I have big hopes for mine... but since it's my first one, I'm a little nervous!!

Submitted by Heather - April 5, 2012 - 4:58pm

I love your post! What a beautiful juice! Can't wait to try :)

Submitted by kelly - April 5, 2012 - 6:36pm

You'll have to let me know what you think :) I checked out your blog too- very fun! I will have to spend more time there soon!

Submitted by Lynda LaFon - April 9, 2012 - 7:30pm

I was glad to find a blog that had something to do with rebooting. I am on day 27 of 60 days of just juice. I am starting a garden in boxes on my back patio as I live in a condo in Tennessee. I am growing kale, tomatoes, mint, rosemary, parsley, basil, carrots, beets, chard, and romaine and I am excited about juicing my own fresh veggies.
One thing worth mentioning about juicing over blending is that you get a lot more nutrients when you juice. The number of veggies that make is glass of juice is much greater than what it takes to make a smoothie. I think that smoothies are great, but the idea of rebooting is to get a large dose of the micronutrients your body needs for ultimate health. You could never drink the number of smoothies that would be made from the number of fruits and vegetables that it takes to make 4=6 sixteen oz juices in a day.
I look forward to reading more of your blogs!

Submitted by Kris - April 10, 2012 - 11:53am

I am a total mess when it comes to gardening. Don't like all the little crawly things out there and terrified that I will find a snake curled up amongst the veggies! But my Dad is an avid veggie grower and his tomato and bell peppers are the picks of the Farmers Market. He swears by a good heavy application of horse manure each spring before planting. Know any poopy horses?
Love the blog and you are such an inspiration! Hugs to you all!

Submitted by Pauline - April 10, 2012 - 11:06pm

As I can't have a garden I want to buy kale in the shops but it is extremely difficult to find any at all. Only a few bits in WW mixed package salad leaves. Yet I know it's absolutely chock full of good nutrients. Sad.
Also how does your juicer cope with the green leaves? It doesn't look like it's mushed up the kale at all! Centrifugal juicers don't do leafy things at all well. You might need different type that "masticates" those leaves so you can get the most out of all leafy veges. Maybe?

Submitted by Rachel - May 2, 2012 - 10:22am

I made this juice and am NOT a fan of Kale. Boy, it sure is hard to get this down. A friend of mine who has done this before suggested make the juice first, then adding a little kale at a time and tasting it. Only add as much as you can handle. Also, he suggested a strong base like pineapple.

I am thankful for your website as many people have said, the Reboot site is impossible to use. Thank you for all of your time and sharing your personal journey.

Submitted by kelly - May 2, 2012 - 10:24am

I guess I'm used to the stuff :) Your friend's suggestion sounds great - add a little bit at a time. (Or you may be with Kale like I am with celery... I can't stand ONE DROP of celery in juice... ick!!)

Submitted by Jules - May 4, 2012 - 6:24am

I have not been able to find Pink Lady apples in my area. What other apples would you recommend for this particular juice? I can drink kale juice but celery in juice has disgusted me. I've got to find a good recipe that includes celery though because supposedly it is soooooo good for you. Love your site!

Submitted by Deborah - June 1, 2012 - 12:42pm

This looks great and sounds so delicious! I'm definitely trying your recipe soon!

Submitted by Jeanette - June 8, 2012 - 10:37pm

I tried the juice today and love it. I'm not a huge Kale fan, but this was a good mixture. I'm on day 6 of a 10 day reboot so i was looking for some good new recipes. Thank you!

Submitted by kelly - June 11, 2012 - 11:48am

So glad you liked the juice! And congrats on starting and completing a 10 day Reboot! I am planning on incorporating more juice recipes on the blog starting this week, so be on the lookout!

Submitted by Amber - August 18, 2012 - 9:35am

This is breakfast today and it's absolutely delicious! Even my picky husband gave me a begrudging "that's not too bad" which is secretly his way of saying it's yummy, but he'll never admit it because he saw the kale and beet sitting out. I must have had a super productive lot of produce though because I ended up with about 80 ounces of juice!

Submitted by kelly - August 18, 2012 - 9:41am

Your hubby sounds EXACTLY like mine :p Glad you liked the juice and wow, 80 ounces?!?!?

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