Roswell Adventures

When I received a red cabbage (a very LARGE red cabbage) in my Bountiful Basket last week, I started searching for recipes. Of course I found dozens and skimmed through about a half-dozen of those and landed on roasting. I used half of the cabbage - which worked well on two levels: 1) that's as much as would fit into the pan and 2) that gave me another half-cabbage for the second go-round...with my adaptations. I neglected to take pictures, and for that I apologize. To be honest, we had cleaned up prior to having friends over for dinner the other night, and I couldn't remember where I had stashed my camera. You'll be happy to note that I have found it, because it was right in plain sight where I left it. Anyway, here we go... Roasted Red Cabbage 1 small or 1/2 large red cabbage 1 large sweet onion 1 head of garlic 1 medium apple 3 slices jalapeno bacon olive oil balsamic vinegar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice jalapeno bacon and cook until nearly crispy.

Before I launch into the prepping of the bales, I wanted to share some of what is going on in other gardening and prep work...   Tomatoes, basil and sage. The sage will be planted in the ground. The basil will be planted in with the tomatoes. Basil makes the tomatoes taste better and grow better, as well.   Mint is in the pot on the left. Always plant mint in pots (even in the ground) as it is very aggressive and will take over. Also, once it is established it is a booger to get out. Every small bit of root will send up new shoots. I have had this mint plant for about 6 or 7 years. It started out in my garden (which is when I learned to never plant it in a garden) and has been in pots since. It is great in water, tea, or whatever. On the right are pole bean seedlings.   I thought that if I placed the seedlings in a pot, they would be less likely to blow over. Plus there is a mint root under there, which I am hoping will go to town with the extra water.

OK, the 40 straw bales may have been a bit much, but we have had such good results the last 2 years that we decided to jump in with both feet. This is after some bales were already removed. We were fortunate that a friend had use of a trailer...plus his son was home from college. It made the "getting the bales home" process much easier. Front yard directly behind mailbox. We saved our newspapers for months and placed about 6 layers of paper under the bales. It really helps to wet them down as you go. Otherwise the slightest breeze will toy with your efforts, which can be very frustrating. These bales will be slightly repositioned before we start the "seasoning" process. These are just on the other side of the fence from the last picture. This is where we will plant our tomatoes, with basil in between the tomatoes and marigolds planted in the sides of the bales. Basil is a great companion plant to tomatoes as the tomato plants grow better and the frui