A Day of Simple Living. The early morning was gray and overcast, but late morning brought sunshine and a sky with a shade of blue you only see the day after a rain. It had rained four inches that Sabbath and by Sunday our land was soaked, muddy, and puddled. The ground was perfect for planting. There was a cool breeze that swept through from time to time, a reminder that we were on the eve of October.
Seeing as how our dirt road was impassable we were to remain at home for the day and we were delighted to do so. We were ready for the garden, or rather the garden was ready for us. We set to work. In a nod to the need for diversity per the permaculture concepts, I mixed the seeds of herbs, roots, greens, and brassicas in my hand. Seeds of cabbage, collards, lettuce, turnips, black spanish radish, chives, parsley, and peas found their home in that clay.
By this time I was needed back in the cabin, the baby stirring from her morning nap. Spring Gardening: Tomatoes, Celery and 8 Other Foods You Can Regrow From Scraps. Update: Our Sweet Potatoes & More. Some of you have been asking for updates on our houseplant projects — today we’re bringing you a progress report on our sweet potatoes! Last we checked in, they were hanging out all happy in their coffee sack bag planters, but not really showing any major growth (pictured above). After letting them sit and do their thing for about a month, the vines have really begun to take off: We’re at the point now where we’re considering filling more dirt into the bag to cover the lower portion of the vine and just roll the sides of the bags up as we add dirt. We haven’t been squeezing or poking the bottom of the bag to feel if any potatoes have begun to form — though we will admit it’s been tempting.
We’re just patiently waiting and watching, in hopes it will flower in late August and produce something in the early fall. In the meantime, we decided to see if we could get the same project to work with a couple purple potatoes we had laying around that had begun sprouting from their eyes: Discover More: Eat Wild. Encourage Prosperity, Alleviate Famine and Heal the Environment with Hemp. By Carolanne Wright Guest Writer for Wake Up World Hemp. Just the word conjures images of the Drug Enforcement Administration and political battles. But industrial hemp is a far cry from marijuana and contains almost zero THC. An ancient crop, hemp has served humanity since 2000 BCE — providing fibers for cloth and rope, building materials and paper. A patriotic plant George Washington declared, “Grow it everywhere, hemp is greatly viable for winning the war and sustaining a future fantastic for America.” An important crop for economic prosperity and ecological health The demand for hemp in the world market has made it a contemporary cash crop.
Hemp is easy to grow in a variety of soils and conditions, drought tolerant and resists pests. Extraordinary survival food Hemp is an incredible superfood. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country Sources for this article include: “Perfect Plant? “Hemp: Miracle Fiber or Dangerous Drug?” Raised garden beds: hugelkultur instead of irrigation. Raised garden bed hugelkultur after one month raised garden bed hugelkultur after one year raised garden bed hugelkultur after two years raised garden bed hugelkultur after twenty years It's a german word and some people can say it all german-ish.
I'm an american doofus, so I say "hoogle culture". I had to spend some time with google to find the right spelling. Hugal, hoogal, huegal, hugel .... I learned this high-falootin word at my permaculture training. Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. I do think there are some considerations to keep in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that wood is high in carbon and will consume nitrogen to do the compost thing. Pine and fir will have some levels of tanins in them, but I'm guessing that most of that will be gone when the wood has been dead for a few years. Vertical Gardening Tips - Organic Gardening. A few years back I was leading an old friend through my garden, all the while bemoaning my lack of growing space, when he suddenly interrupted me and asked, "Why do people build skyscrapers?
" What this had to do with my overcrowded garden, I hadn't a clue. "So they can cram a lot of people into a place without using up much ground room? " I ventured. "Exactly. My friend was right. One more thing: Most bush varieties were bred from climbing ones, and many growers think the original climbing cultivars have better, old-fashioned flavor. Of course, short varieties do offer some conveniences. Best Trellis Supports For plants to grow up a trellis or other support, you first have to build it. Some common supports are wood posts, metal stakes and thick-walled rigid PVC pipe. Don't forget bamboo. Steel posts are less aesthetic than wooden ones but are quicker to install and move. Thick-walled rigid PVC pipe makes solid end or corner posts when buried two feet deep.
Assembling Plant Supports. Amaranthus, King of “Grains” « The Arid Land Homesteaders League. Amaranth, pigweed Amaranthus spp. Among the many horrible things Europeans did to natives of the “new world” to suppress them, and ultimately attempt to render their culture extinct was to separate them from their food. Though a few new world crops were allowed into the cornucopia of everyone living in the new world, many crops were forbidden. Amaranth was one of those contraband crops. Among many tribes, especially in tropical and subtropical America, amaranth was the most important staple food, and a central element in native religion. Diabetes, a huge epidemic among native people, was unknown before Europeans imposed their ways of eating and living on the indigenous people. Many of the original native foods were balanced and among those balanced foods was Amaranth. Folk taxonomy puts Amaranth with the grains. Amaranth seeds looks similar to quinoa, a distant relative, but much smaller.
Golden Giant Amaranth How far you plant them apart depends on the species/varieties you choose. Organic Farms in Southwestern Ontario. 16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps. By Andy Whiteley Co-Founder of Wake Up World Looking for a healthy way to get more from your garden? Like to know your food is free of the pesticides and other nasties that are often sprayed on commercial crops? Re-growing food from your kitchen scraps is a good way to do it! There’s nothing like eating your own home- grown vegies, and there are heaps of different foods that will re- grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out or put into your compost bin. It’s fun. Just remember … the quality of the “parent” vegetable scrap will help to determine the quality of the re-growth. Leeks, Scallions, Spring Onions and Fennel You can either use the white root end of a vegetable that you have already cut, or buy a handful of new vegetables to use specifically for growing.
Simply place the white root end in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position. Lemongrass Lemongrass grows just like any other grass. Within a week or so, new growth will start to appear. Ginger. Spring Gardening: Tomatoes, Celery and 8 Other Foods You Can Regrow From Scraps. 17 Apart: How to Grow Green Onions Indefinitely. I'm officially dubbing this the week of Scallions and Pinterest. Mary and I separately came across 2 trending ideas for using and growing green onions on the highly addictive bookmarking site, Pinterest, last week — we couldn't wait to try them.
When I came home over the weekend with a bunch of scallions, Mary exclaimed, "did you see this scallion/ginger sauce I pinned — you should totally make that! " Little did she know I had pinned it hours before her, which is virtually light years in terms of Pinterest discoveries. I had been planning to make this ginger scallion sauce from Lottie + Doof since I first set eyes on it. It's a great little accompaniment that could be used in so many ways. So, back to scallions and Pinterest. All I can say is... it works! This is it guys — place a bunch of scallions with their roots in a glass full of water, then place in a sunny window.
Here's a shot of some of the green onions with 2 that I chopped down to the roots. P.S. Discover More: