1 PALLET:15 THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH IT! Insallment 1

Here are some uses for a free pallet......
1) VERTICAL GARDEN

Client and friend, Patrick Cahn, used his free pallet he got from Harvard University dining commons to grow kale, swiss chard and salad greens this summer in his Summerville, MA yard.

He said his two daughters Lila and Sofie helped him plant and harvest their greens, the girls like the kale the best.

He used strips of landscape fabric to cover the sides, he simply stapled them down.

Then he covered the openings on both front and back with a piece of plywood and poured in a planting mix, composed of compost and planting soil (Coast of Maine products and my first choice and what he used here).

Then he wet it down well to make sure the soil would adhere to itself and the pallet.

Then he could remove the plywood. The whole pallet needs to lean back about  5% from vertical and face full sun so the soil wouldn't fall out and your vertical garden is ready for planting.

Patrick said the hardest part was keeping the planter watered!!!

If you are  an organic gardener like I am you might want to make sure that the pallet that you use has not been exposed to industrial usage, sometimes materials get spilled so knowing your source of  is important.

SEASONAL FLORAL ARRANGEMENT IN BURGUNDY

      CMC Design has designed floral arrangements for over 20 years for weddings, parties and corporate events. This piece was a thank-you to a special client who donated her time to the CMC effort. She has a rich personality and loves sumptuous textures so I wanted to create something elegant and somewhat extravagant. I picked the fall grasses and millet as the mainstay center of this piece and took the color pallet from the millet. From that burgundy palette I picked other flowers and grouped them in clusters so they would stand as clumps and create a texture unto themselves. The greens of the kale and hydrangea act to step off the darker background reds and pop in the front. 
     The container, chosen to accentuate the natural and somewhat wild aspect of the arrangement, is made up of wood rounds tht are attached to a solid fiberglass pot that holds water.
       The final touch is a personal card that is created from a rendering of a pear that I did in my journal and photocopied and then colored with pencils once again in the same burgundy color palette.

KALE SO GOOD

KALE SO GOOD

Kale, frilly like petticoats and brilliant in colors. How is it a cabbage can fascinate me so entirely?

These tough plants are a boon to any fall landscape, and the ones I've planted here in New England show color well into January. Not only are they beautiful but they're edible too, and very good for you, in case you haven't heard. These I spied on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, two varieties nestled among the ivy in concrete planters.

 A member of the brasica family makes these a cold season crop and therefore great for fall and early spring planting. With last winter's mildness ours overwintered well and reseeded new babies.

They aren't without pests though. Slugs, snails and the Colorado Bean beetles all ate ours this summer.

These little Zebra caterpillars love my organic kale.
Check them out in Garden Insects Of North America
by Whitney Cranshaw. Great reference for what is eating your plants.

KALE CHIPS

There are varieties that are for eating, and varieties for looking at. Get the culinary one for this recipe. 

Pick and wash kale in a bucket of water, (the frills tend to hold the dirt)

Rip the stems out and dry leaves with a paper towel.

Lay on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons good olive oil

Toss to coat.

Lightly salt.(Kosher salt seemed too big and heavy, I pulverized it and put it on thin)

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes until crispy.

Eat them like potatoes chips, kids love em too!