Extreme Portion Control

Have you ever read about the Blue Zones? These are places in the world where people routinely live long into their 100’s. I don’t mean they are kept alive on machines either. They are happy, healthy, mentally sharp and active. We don’t have to move to one of these places to achieve this goal. We just have to adopt their habits. One of them is eating more fruits and vegetables.

When I was a kid the fruits and vegetables you bought in the market had more flavor. That’s because they were grown locally. Locally grown food doesn’t have to make long trips on trucks or container ships. So farmers grew what tastes good, not just what can survive the trip. What’s closer to home than your own backyard or patio? If you have ever eaten a home grown tomato or strawberry, then you know the difference. They just taste better. It’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth!

When my daughter was little, we lived on a half acre in Rancho Cucamonga. I grew many types of fruit and vegetables. We ate what we picked. The boysenberries never made it into the house. We ate them right off the vine. Nothing beats that! Here’s what I believe, she loves fruit and vegetables now because of the great flavors she grew up eating. She is raising my grandsons eating the same way. I don’t have to worry about any of them becoming overweight. Diabetes and heart disease aren’t even on our radar. When I was little I remember hearing the phrase, you are what you eat. No wonder so many people are having problems. “Garbage in garbage out.”

Eating home grown fruit and vegetables gives you great flavors and control over how the food is grown. I grow organically- no chemicals, just natural ingredients. I use clean pots, Mel’s Mix organic soil, and water by hand (unless it rains...again). Because everything is easy to reach, I can spot little critters trying to snack on my plants. I catch them before they have a chance to multiply, so no chemicals are needed! As simple as this is, I still can't control the weather.

The weather this spring has been interesting. Okay. I’m being nice here. Interesting wasn’t the first adjective that jumped into my head. The lack of consistent sunshine has had a bizarre and frustrating effect on my crops so far. Everything is tiny. I don’t mean small. I mean tiny. In the Blue Zones people eat small meals several times during the day. This isn’t difficult when your zucchini and summer squash are Tinkerbell sized. I’m not kidding. Just look at the first crop I harvested. But, because I grew it myself, it was delicious. Now, if it ever warms up…and stays that way for awhile, I’ll be able to make a real meal of my harvest, and have enough to share.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

More Wacky Weather

I’m confused. Is this spring in California or some other season some other place? Earlier this month it was 95 degrees; two weeks later it’s only 65 degrees! But I’m not the only one confused. My poor summer vegetables don’t know what to do. They really want some warmth to get going. So do I.

I went to bed last night with the intent to go visit a few public gardens today. But that was when I was expecting some sunshine this morning. It may be sunny where you live, but it sure isn’t here. We’re in an odd winter weather pattern. Storms form up in the Gulf of Alaska, and swoop down through California, pushing our warm sunny spring weather out of the way. My Peter Pan summer squash is in full bloom, and is setting fruit. The problem is, it needs some heat for the fruit to grow to a worthwhile size. Peter seems to be true to his name. He “won’t grow up”, at least not right now. Later today, when the sun comes out…if the sun comes out, I’ll harvest some tiny little squash, and see if it tastes like it should. I’ll let you know.

My cherry tomato plant looks a bit pathetic too. I know, I know. I should have waited to plant it. I was warned that the frost might kill it. Frost? Here? In February? Won’t happen. Well, it did happen, but I had bookmarked the weather channel’s web site, and knew it was coming. I covered my plants every time they said the temperature would bottom out. I also protected the blooms from hard rain. I purchased several yards of tulle fabric online and stretched it over the plants. I used plastic clothes pins to secure it in place. That was helpful, because those days when the rain was hard, so was the wind. They survived unscathed. Only my dwarf marigolds had any damage at all. Some of the leaves were a little crispy from the frost. No biggie. They recovered.

When it finally warms up a bit, I’m sure my summer veggies will recover too! I expect the tomato plant to bush out and give me lots of plump cherry tomatoes. The few it has produced so far have been very small, but delicious. Nothing, I repeat, nothing tastes better than homegrown tomatoes. My zucchini will go nuts, and give me enough fruit to share with my neighbors (that’s the plan). My pole beans are growing fast (although the leaves do not like the spring rain we have received the last three weeks). Beans can’t be far behind.

My lettuce is content with this odd weather, as are the carrots and the broccoli (which is on its third round of side shoots). But the happiest plants in my garden are my ornamentals. The geraniums love this weather. They have just enough cold to perk up the leaves and enough sun to encourage the flowers. Me? I need more sunshine to go outside to play!

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Inside Condo Garden. Who Knew?

It's raining today, so I'm really glad I drove up the coast yesterday to visit my friend, Bonnie. She moved from one condo to another recently, and I hadn’t seen her new place yet. She also has a solarium now and wanted advice on setting up a garden there. After a tour of her new home, we stood in her spacious solarium and made plans. Some of the area had once been a patio, and that part is covered with a solid surface. The rest of the roof and half way down the sides is glass attached by a sturdy metal frame. There are windows that open on three sides and two glass doors. She gets plenty of sunshine and, with the windows open, ocean breezes. The floor is a light colored tile. This place reminds me of a high-end green house and just begs for a garden.

Bonnie drove us to an enormous nursery in Costa Mesa. It's set up in what appears to have been a series of warehouses. It's a landscapers dream. Each room is filled with a different kind of plant or collection of gardening pots, tools, supplies and knickknacks. The areas between the buildings are covered with rows of ornamental and edible plants. It felt like Disneyland for garden lovers. After wandering around and discussing the various options and prices (ouch), Bonnie selected a decorative metal trellis. Very cute and great for pole beans now and snap peas later.

Then it was off to her local Lowe's home improvement store where I knew we would find pots with a more reasonable size, weight and price. When selecting pots, these are the most important criterion. Aesthetics count too, but being able to lift the pot without a fork lift or personal injury is critical to keeping gardening easy. We found a large selection of lightweight pots, many sizes, colors, and designs. What she liked best was the style I purchased. They are eighteen inch square Hampton “deck boxes”. The price has dropped to just under fifteen dollars. Sure beats the eighty dollar ones we had seen earlier. They are so light weight, that you could easily pick up several stacked inside each other with just one hand. She bought two of these for a tomato plant and pole beans. She also picked up a long narrow planter for herbs.

Next we went over to the bags of planting mix and found Mel’s Mix. This is also called Garden Time and/or Square Foot Garden Soil. We picked up two. Well, actually, a young strong male employee did the lifting; we just smiled, pointed, then pushed the cart inside the store where we found another employee to load up one bag of sandbox sand. When I was in my twenties and thirties I would have done the loading of the cart myself, but my lifting days are over. I don’t even try anymore! 

Back outside Bonnie selected her plants and a third employee helped load the trunk of her car. We asked him to put the big bags of mix on the bottom and the heavier bag of sand on top. I knew from experience that this would make unloading a snap. When we arrived back at Bonnie’s condo, she fetched a hand-truck from her garage, and we placed one of the plastic pots on the lifting surface. It was easy to slide the bag of sand into the pot and roll it into her solarium. We repeated the process with the bags of mix, and then unloaded the plants. Easy peasy! 

She is now ready to plant. The steps are just as easy.

1. Drill a hole in the bottom of each pot.
2. Place a small piece of panty hose inside the pot to cover the hole.
3. Scoop an equal amount of sand into each pot.
4. Fill the rest of the pot with Mel’s mix.
5. Make a small hole and insert a plant.
6. Water. 

A garden is born. Bonnie will need to water each morning and, when the weather finally stays warm around here (warm weather is taking its sweet time arriving this year), check the soil later in the day. Her garden is in a glass covered solarium. It’s possible that it could warm up enough in there to require a second watering on hot days. I know a few weeks ago when we had a few super hot dry afternoons; I needed to water a second time. Gardening inside requires space and light. Bonnie has both. Inside or outside, alone or with a friend, condo gardening is fun and easy.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Seventeen Essential Gardening Tools? Nah!

While I was reading the news online last week, I saw an article entitled, “Seventeen Essential Garden Tools”. Wow! Seveneen? What was I missing? I looked through the pictures, read the descriptions and thought they were pretty nifty. Unnecessary, but nifty. If I had a large garage, with a wall of pegboard, and I wanted to impress my neighbors, this would be a great start. But I don’t need them. If you’re gardening in a small space, like a patio, condo or apartment, you don’t either.

The picture above is my entire assortment of gardening tools. Okay, maybe purple gloves aren’t a tool, but they keep my nails clean. Oh, and the bucket, is that a tool? Maybe not, but it sure comes in handy. I don’t have a water supply where my garden is set up, so a five gallon paint bucket (from the home improvement store) takes care of my watering needs for the week. I fill it up with a large plastic pitcher on the weekend.

I used the green garden twine to help my peas climb a trellis when I started this garden in February. I’m using it again to help my pole beans do the same thing. The beans don’t need much help, but the twine fills in the gaps in the metal trellis I placed between the shoots when they first popped up. The two trellises I have are tall narrow arches made of metal. They will outlast all of us. I bought them on sale at a gardening supply store several years ago. They make the garden look tidy. That’s really helpful considering my garden is fully visible to my neighbors.

So that leaves just three essential garden tools: a trowel, a small pair of scissors and a plastic cup. You can find these anywhere. I had the trowel in a box in my storage cabinet. I lifted the scissors from my craft drawer and the cup was used by one of my grandsons at CPK. It came home partially filled with milk. A quick rinse and a garden tool was born.

After cutting up a pair of panty hose with the scissors and placing a piece over the drainage hole in the bottom of each pot, I used the plastic cup to fill each pot one third full of sandbox sand. This type of sand is clean, toxin free, and helps with drainage. I then used the cup to scoop potting soil into the pots. I use Mel’s Mix. This is also called Garden Time and/or Square Foot Gardening Soil. It is organic, doesn’t wear out and never needs fertilizer. It's one-third vermiculite, one-third moss and one-third compost. The compost is a mixture of five types, which gives the plants a variety of nutrients. Although I'll never have to replace the soil, I will add more compost after my crops are harvested. I buy this mixture in bags. It’s easier than making it myself. I’m into easy!

The trowel has been used to transplant the vegetables I buy in packs. I don’t start seeds indoors. It feels way too much like work, and who has room? When I’m planting seeds, like I did with my pole beans, I use the tip of the trowel to make a small hole, and cover the seeds with soil. Or, if I’m in the mood, I just use my finger (in the purple glove, of course). That’s it for the trowel. But the cup and the scissors aren’t finished. I use the cup daily to water each plant, and the scissors to harvest. This isn’t complicated stuff here. The tools are not unique or expensive. Just look at them. Don’t you have something like this in a drawer somewhere?

Until next time,

Elizabeth

We’re Having a Heat Wave...on the Third of May?

Okay, I would be worried except I know that water works miracles during a heat wave. Veggies don’t mind the heat. In fact, except for lettuce, they love it. We just have to keep the soil moist, so our plants don’t fry. (Now that’s an ugly thought.)  Here's a link to a useful site I use for watering needs.  It has been very helpful.  They take into consideration several variables such as wind and humidity and not just rain and temperature.  The site is far more accurate than I would be on my own. Just copy this address, and add your zipcode to the end.  http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/monthly/

This morning, dressed for work and barely awake, I went to my garden and soaked the soil. Total of five minutes. It hit 95° today, but everything looked fine when I checked my garden this evening. Whew! I would hate to lose my new plants before being able to eat some of them! Not to panic. This was easy, as it should be!

I haven’t forgotten that I promised to show you my tools, but I thought I would slip in these words of encouragement, since the weather decided to freak out on us! The forecast is for cooler temperatures this weekend. I plan on buying a new pot and some more soil. I was thinking that a few more pole beans and another tomato plant would be good. I have enough for me, but sharing with my neighbors would be so much more fun than keeping all the homegrown veggies to myself. Don’t you agree?

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Where Does My Garden Grow?

I found a sunny spot facing south a few steps outside my front door. It’s in a shared breezeway. That could be a concern, except that the walkway goes nowhere. No one ever uses the area, but you can see it from everywhere. Here was my only challenge in setting up my garden. It has to be pretty. I found several lightweight plastic pots at my neighborhood Lowe's home improvement store. Problem solved. They look like stone from a distance and are just the right size (fifteen inches square). At only $17.00 each I bought five. They are tall enough so I don’t have to squat to plant, water or harvest. Fabulous.

Finding just the right container is the only time consuming part of setting up your garden. It’s a one time activity though. So I suggest taking your time to get it right. I went to five or six stores before I found what I liked, but I’m picky. It might take you fewer trips. If your garden isn’t visible to your neighbors this won’t be an issue for you. It was for me, but it was time well spent. My neighbors are delighted. A once neglected area is now a lovely garden. These days, I not only harvest veggies, but compliments too.

Next time, I’ll show you my gardening tools (all three of them) and explain how I planted my garden. In the meantime, find a sunny spot nearby which receives six or more hours of direct sunshine each day.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

It's Spring. Let's Plant Something!

Spring has arrived at last. You can tell by all the ads for garden supplies on television. They must have hired a team of landscapers to set up all those garden beds for their photo shoots. There are also beautiful pictures online of gardens full of flowers and vegetables. Most are massive and take a ton of work! I know. I used to garden that way. I was young, inexperienced and full of enthusiasm. I simply got carried away.

I do things easier now. No more long garden rows or wide beds. No more trenching or turning over heaps of soil. No more shovels or pitch forks. I’m finished with fertilizing and endless weeding. I live in a condo, but the techniques I employ can be used anywhere. If you live in an apartment, townhouse or a single family home, you can use these techniques too. You won’t need a garden shed full of tools and supplies. All of mine fit on one shelf in my kitchen. Setting up your garden won’t take days or weeks, just a few hours. You won’t need hours on end to care for your garden either. I take about five minutes a day to visit my plants and give them a drink. Harvesting is accomplished with a small pair of scissors taken from my junk drawer. Simple.

Gardening in a shared living space, like a condo or apartment complex, will take a little creativity on your part. I know it did for me. I live on the third floor of a twenty-four unit condominium building. I have a fairly large balcony, but it’s covered and faces east. There are several very tall, mature trees between my balcony and the rising sun. The trees are gorgeous. I love the dappled shade they provide, but veggies need more sun. The community in which I live does have a community garden. I could sign up for a plot, but then I would have to drive to visit my plants each day. That’s not going to happen! Once I’m home from work, I’m not going anywhere, unless it’s to the movies or out to dinner.

Until next time,

Elizabeth