Why frost makes kale sweeter

Why frost makes kale sweeter

Kale looks almost theatrical after the first real frost. The leaves are darker than they were in September, their ruffled edges traced with white, their surfaces stiffened just enough to catch the low morning light. A gardener who does not know the plant might think the crop has been damaged. A gardener who has eaten from the bed before and…

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A living blanket for tired autumn beds

A living blanket for tired autumn beds

By early September, a vegetable bed can look oddly exposed. The tomatoes may still be standing, but the first cleared spaces have begun to appear: a row where beans finished, a square where onions came out, the tired patch where cucumbers finally gave up. The garden is not empty, but it has begun opening little windows of bare soil. That…

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