Our “garden†is really a collection of pots on the flat roof of our house. It’s the same concept of a raised-bed garden, I suppose. But our version is a lot less attractive.
The guy that we hired to take care of the yard is also supposed to do our garden. It’s taken a while, but he might finally understand what we want.
We inherited about 30 basil plants. They were already on the roof when I moved in. I like basil as much as the next guy, but 30 plants is objectively too much. Especially when they are not really “plants,†but are arguably “bushes.â€
When we asked the gardener why he planted so much, he hemmed and hawed, then said that he likes to eat it. I think maybe he has a side business where he sells it. That doesn’t bother me, far be it from me to get in the way of his side hustle. As long as he plants what I want, too. We told him that he had to limit the basil and make room for what we want.
We convinced him to separate the kale out into individual pots. It’s starting to take off and grow quickly. This variety has flatter leaves and the stalks are tender and edible. I think we made a good choice.
We also have a healthy beanstalk. And I didn’t have to trade a cow for it! 🙂
The next challenge is to teach our housekeeper how to cook the kale. She calls all leafy green vegetables “spinach,†for some reason. We have been served what we would call “spinach,†but also vegetables that she calls “long spinach†(morning glory or 空心èœ, and “red spinach†(I don’t know the English word for it, in Taiwan it’s called 莧èœ). I guess we can call our kale: “roof spinach.â€