Kale is growing in my yard

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I learned at a free workshop sponsored by the Washington Conservation Corps I attended on MLK Day that I should have cleaned out my garden plot at the end of the season. So last week, I went out there for the first time in months and took a look around. A lot of stuff was growing out there, some of which I clearly recognized as weeds or grass.

Other things, however, looked like veggies. One plant I dug up had roots that looked like carrots--and we didn't plant carrots last year! Two other plants resembled different types of spinach. We did plant spinach, but it went to seed and never produced a crop.

I called the Master Gardeners program and asked about it, and they told me to bring in some samples, which I did yesterday. It turns out that what has roots that look like carrots are peony plants, and one of the spinach-like plants is another flower.

However, the second spinach-like plant is actually kale! After my spinach went to seed, someone suggested I plant kale "because it's easy to grow"--but the kale never sprouted, I assumed because we planted the seeds so late in the season. So apparently, it didn't sprout last summer, but is making a wintertime comeback! Per the Master Gardener's suggestion, I replanted all the stuff I dug up, and we shall see if this kale (there are three kale plants growing now) flourishes enough to produce a crop!