Free = Good. Deer = Bad.

I'm pretty late getting started on my garden this year.  I've been demoralized by the damage the deer have done on my garden this past year.  Unfortunately our dog passed away recently, making it even more likely that the deer will become even more brazen.  His scent tended to keep the deer at bay for at least the early part of the growing season.  

I love deer.  I just want them to leave some of my garden alone!  Even though I try to garden frugally (start things by seed, transplant as many volunteers as possible, compost, etc.) there is still a decent amount of money that I put into the garden each year to make improvements.  When you add up the cost of seed, materials for vertical gardening and all of the gadgets that I buy to try and keep the deer away, it adds up.  

So this year, I was reenergized when some free stuff came my way!  I have been looking to make raised-ish beds inside the garden.  I have the perimeter as a raised border made out of wood, but I have been wanting to contain the inside beds as well.  My mom had a neighbor that was getting rid of some plastic containment edges that he used in raised beds.  Would I want them?  Yes, please.  My daughter took a picture of me installing them.  

All I had to do was find some skinny rebar to hammer down into the connecting joints.  This retaining 'wall' will help keep my beds flat and stop them from sliding down into my walkways. 

Another free thing that came my way was some worm tubes.  My friend is loaning them to me while she takes a break from gardening.  Worm tubes are cylindrical tubes (in this case, PVC pipe) with holes drilled in the bottom third.  You put your compost scraps into the tube and the worms eat it and carry the good stuff out to your plants.  I intend to continue my regular compost pile, but this will be an interesting experiment to see if the tubes actually work.  The upside-down pot tray is to keep pests out. 

Another thing that is free: rainwater!  One nice thing about living on an incline is that I can keep my rain barrel up near the house and the water pressure is just enough to water plants in my garden.  I have a spigot to turn off the water at the barrel, so I use just what I need.  Once all of my plants are settled in and adjusted, I will attach the soaker hose to the rain barrel line and then wind the soaker hose throughout the garden and then cover the hose with mulch.  When we have some really dry spells during the summer I will turn the spigot on to use up some of the rainwater.

Quinoa Salad With Zesty Vinaigrette

If you've got a lot of tomatoes, green peppers, and cucumbers that you'd like to use up from your garden, this is an excellent recipe from allrecipes.com.  It's been a bit hit with our family for years, and it's one of those recipes that just says, "It's summer!"  It seems to get better with time as it sits in the fridge.  I tend to use less oil than the recipe calls for, and I tend to double the veggies and it turns out fine.  It's a very forgiving recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quinoa-veggie-salad-with-zesty-vinaigrette/

Enjoy!

Canning

Looks like I've got some canning in my future!

The tomatoes have been coming fast and furious lately.  I can't keep up!

Plant Shopping

Spring is in the air!  Now is the time of year when people are heading out to buy plants.  Whether you go to a big box store, a greenhouse or your local nursery, there are some things that you should look for in order to maximize your chances of spending your money on a healthy plant.  When I help clients shop for plants to buy, I always have in mind a mental checklist of things to look out for.  It's helpful to familiarize yourself with some of these things before you go to the store.  Some of the things are obvious even to people who have never gardened before, but others are not, so it's best to go to the store armed with the knowledge to help yourself.

I came across a wonderful interview with Dr. Holly Scoggins, a herbaceous plant specialist and educator.  The interview is on a blog that I follow called A Way To Garden.com.  There's lot of good information about how to choose plants when you go to the store.  Check it out!

Here's a link to the interview:
http://awaytogarden.com/shop-plants-experts-eye-holly-scoggins/

The Dirty Dozen...Updated!

The Environmental Working Group has updated their Dirty Dozen list!  This list helps you figure out which produce items have the highest concentration (and more numerous kinds) of pesticide residue. If you have to pick and choose which produce items to buy organically (and let's face it - it's tough to swallow a higher price for the organics!) then stick to the Dirty Dozen.

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php

Number One on the Dirty Dozen list?  Apples.

The good news?  Consumers are using their dollars to vote.  Whenever I am at the grocery store and I flinch at the thought of paying more for organic produce, I remind myself that every dollar I spend is a vote.  A vote that sends a message: we want ORGANIC produce!  Here's something from the EWG's site that gives me hope for the future:

"The USDA findings indicate that the conventional fruit and produce industries are ignoring a striking market trend: American consumers are voting with their pocketbooks for produce with less pesticide. USDA’s Economic Research Serviceestimates that the organically produced food sector, though just 4 percent of all U.S. food sales, has enjoyed double-digit growth in recent years. The trend is particularly strong for sales of organic fruits and vegetables, which account for the lion’s share of all organic food sales: USDA economists reported that organic produce sales spiked from $5.4 billion in 2005 to an estimated $15 billion last year and increased by 11 percent between 2013 and 2014."

Gardening With Kids

I've read that a good way to get your kids to eat a wider variety of foods is to get them in the kitchen and let them help cook.  According to many experts, getting them involved in the cooking process gives them a sense of ownership and pride in what they are eating.

Now imagine the sense of ownership and pride your kids would feel if they were involved in the process of growing their own food!  When kids help in selecting what plants to grow and then plant the plants (or even better, start the plants from seed!), tend to the plants and help harvest them, they are excited about it!  They want to eat what they have helped grow.  The battle to get them to eat their fruits and vegetables is displaced by their excitement.

Growing vegetables and fruits with your children teaches them about where food comes from.  It teaches them that food just doesn't magically appear in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  It teaches them that food is a valuable resource that shouldn't be wasted or taken for granted.  It shows them that people work hard to grow plants, and that plants are living things.

Gardening with my kids has enabled me to introduce fruits and vegetables into their diet so much easier than if we just went to the store and bought them.  They love picking out the seeds at the store, watching their seedlings grow, and planting the plants in the ground come spring.

They love weeding, hoeing, digging, and looking for 'bad' bugs.  They especially love to pick the food when it's ready to be harvested!

 They love to look for worms and they get excited about the good things the worms will do for their garden.

My son calls dibs on the first blueberry of the season and eagerly looks for it every time he goes outside.

 My kids fight over raw peas that they pick off of the vine.  They scramble to pick the raspberries off of the bush.  They pick raw spinach leaves and eat them right there and then.  They eat raw green beans, broccoli, and tomatoes while they are standing in the garden.

 They know from experience that fruits and vegetables taste better when they are fresh and organic.  I teach them that produce has more nutrients in it closer to harvest.  If we are cooking and I need an herb, they love to go out and pick a few leaves.

 They get excited about trying new recipes with food from the garden.  They love coming home from a weekend away to see how much the garden has grown.  They love proudly proclaiming at the dinner table that we are eating 'their zucchini' or 'my eggplant' that they grew.

Getting kids involved in the garden is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when they are younger and don't really understand why you have to be careful where you are stepping and that you can't pull off fruits or vegetables before they are ready.  It requires more patience than if you were to do it alone...but the results are so worth it!

Gardening with your kids doesn't have to be complicated or extremely involved for you to see immediate, positive results.  Simply having a pot of tomatoes growing on your deck that your children help you nurture sets the stage for a healthy relationship with fruits and vegetables.  Start small and see where it leads.  Pick something that your children already like to eat and begin with that.  Each small success that you have can motivate you to do more!

As always, if you are interested in getting some gardening help, contact me!  It can feel overwhelming when you don't know where to begin.  Let me help you focus on what is necessary and important so that you can enjoy the process of gardening.  We can get your kids involved and you will be so glad you did!

Dreaming of Summer...Organic Gardening Services

Does this cold weather have you dreaming of summer?  If so, now is a good time to start thinking about this year's garden!  Winter is the perfect time to dream about your garden and plan what you want to plant.  My seed catalogs have arrived and are sitting dog-eared, brimming with possibility.

If you or someone else needs help planning your garden this year, contact me!  I am available for help in every aspect of gardening: planning, implementing, trouble-shooting.   My services make a great gift for someone who might be hesitant about starting gardening and want a little help to get started.  Perhaps you are looking for guidance on how you'd like your garden to grow, or maybe you have a garden pest that is inhibiting your excitement about getting out there this year.  Whether you are starting from square one or you have years of experience already under your belt: I am here to help!  Contact me and let me help you love gardening.

Kale and Raspberry smoothie

When I'm feeling lazy and not in the mood to cook, my garden provides the easiest path to dinner.  

Step one: Walk out to garden.  Snip kale leaves.

Step Two: Blend kale leaves.

Step Three: Add frozen raspberries from this past summer's garden.

Step Four:  add some bananas, flax seed, chia seed.

And done.

Yum.

Basil? Pesto!

Got a lot of basil from your garden? 

Make some pesto!  

Canning Tomatoes

Tonight I spent some time canning tomatoes.  Why?  This is why:

My dining room table

I got a total of six quart-sized jars and only used up about 40% of them.  It will be nice to make some homemade sauce in the winter when garden-fresh tomatoes are scarce!

I used the pressure canner that my in-laws gave me a few years ago.  It was used during the years my husband was growing up.  He has many fond memories of going to his grandfather's garden and picking green beans so they could process them and store them for the winter.   The canner has obviously seen a lot of use and it comes to me outfitted with a new seal.

Hopefully I will have a chance to do another round in the next few days to use up the remainder of tomatoes.

Pickles

Garlic Dill Pickles

Bread and Butter Pickles

Dinner Tonight!

Couscous salad with organic cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and basil

And of course some corn from the garden!

It Doesn't Take Much...

It doesn't take much...

Only this amount of corn plants...

Yields this amount in one day's harvest...

To feed some hungry boys...

Yummy organic goodness!

Garden to table in 30 minutes!