Gardens save you money!

Today I plugged all the numbers into an Excel sheet and guess what...

The value of vegetables I grew (so far!) minus the cost it took to grow them equals over $150!

In this photo from Oliver's birthday party you can almost kinda see the organic jungle that is my veggie garden. I think in the bottom right photo I may have caught Chris stealing a tomato. Or it could be a water balloon:

I encourage you to do the math on your garden, every year. It's so excited and that much more motivation to keep doing what you're doing and to encourage others to garden as well.

To find your profit just write down your yield of each veggie. Multiple it by the cost in a grocery store of that product (for example, 1 bulb of organic garlic x $1.99 at Loblaw's) add all of those numbers up, then subtract your expenses. Those might include buying a new hose, gloves, trowels, soil, and of course seeds. If you want your profit to increase you need to of course grow more, but also spend less. Here are some easy tips for making gardening cheap:

• Make your own compost by throwing veggie scraps, coffee grinds, tea bags & egg shells into a makeshift bin. After a year, dump it on top of your existing soil - no need to buy anything new!
• Take care of your hose and other equipment so you don't have to buy a new one
• Make a rain barrel out of any old barrel you can find, and you won't see an increase on your water bill
• Host a seed swap so you can give seeds away and get new ones for free -- combine this with seed saving and you won't need to spend a penny at all!

I find some veggies easier to seed save than others. For example, beans and peas can be left on the vine and once they dry out you just pick them off, open them up, and save the dried seeds for next year. I think I have an inventory of scarlet runner beans in my seed envelopes that will last for the next 3 years minimum, including sharing. Peppers are relatively simple as well, save them while you're chopping one up for dinner - it should yield like 10 seeds which is enough for 10 plants next spring. Squash is majorly easy - even if it's a pumpkin just eat most of them baked with cinnamon and sugar, and save a few raw to dry out for planting next year. Garlic's the easiest - plant a clove and it turns into a bulb before your eyes. Some, like chives and basil, likely go to seed and self-plant themselves for next year. Pretty much the hardest is tomatoes - I have never experimented with fermenting and saving the seeds, mostly because Oliver eats EVERY tomato as soon as its any shade of red, whole, right before my eyes. He easily eats 5 whole tomatoes - not including the cherry tomatoes he eats - per day, unless we spend most of the day away from our backyard. In this case, I just seed save the varieties I can, and I bring them to swap with my friends at my annual seed exchange party, hoping I can pick up some tomato seeds from someone else, in exchange for say, something easy like sunflower seeds. All else fails, I order from The Cottage Gardener.

Now tell me about your gardens and how they save you so much money!

Young Gardener Videoes #4 and 5 and Garden Update!

Oops. Did I not post THE YOUNG GARDENER #4: Rain barrels video?

Here it is!

And while I'm at it... here is #5: Planting!

As you can see, I have the garden in full force! I'll try to list what I'm growing this year but honestly, it's not easy to remember without standing out there.

I am growing:

• Tomatoes: 3 red varieties, 2 green varieties, 2 cherry
• Cucumber: straight eight and 2 pickling types
• Peppers: bell, cayenne, banana
• Herbs: stevia, mint, basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, marjoram (how do I use this?)
• Onions, chives, garlic, green onions
• Kale, spinach, lettuce mix
• 5 kinds of beans, 3 kinds of peas
• 2 kinds of sugar pumpkin
• 2 kinds of winter squash
• Zucchini 
• Broccoli
• Eggplant

My guess is I'm forgetting at least one thing but I'll update if I remember.

Also, I just realized I don't know where my corn seeds went! Shoot!

Do you have any gardening questions for me? 

Now that everything's planted it's harder to think of what topics to discuss for the YOUNG GARDENER videos. I was thinking: composting, watering, caging tomatoes/trellising trailing plants, maintaining healthy plants, and then harvesting. Maybe if people are still interested after harvest I could show how to seed save some crops, and how to preserve your harvest (like how to can tomatoes, etc.) Would you like that?

YOUNG GARDENER VIDEO 3: Hardening off

So you've successfully started your seeds inside, now watch this video on how to bring them outside without killing them!

Starting seeds video (YOUNG GARDENER YOUTUBE SERIES)

Gardening Tips That I Learned From Pinterest

Pinterest may be the time suck of the century, but it's taught me a few things. (It's taught me that most people love dieting and Oreo cupcakes, so I'm a little confused...)

Here are the top things I learned about gardening from Pinterest:

1. The most popular veggie that people grow in their gardens is tomatoes. Then cucumbers, then bell peppers.
2. If you grow the veggie for its leaves (spinach, lettuce, kale) you need partial shade. Everything else can use full sun.
3. Epsom bath salts are not only a code name for high schooler's favourite drug, they also give magnesium to your soil which yields better veggies.
4. Avocado pits aren't the only kitchen scrap that you can use to grow a house plant; also onions, garlic, ginger, celery to name a few!
5. You can put the garbage from your vacuum bag, and the hair you pull out of your comb/brush into your compost.
6. Carrots hate to grow near strawberries. Beets like to grow near anything. And more.
7. An easy way to practice crop rotation: for each area of your garden choose root, fruit, or leaf. Swap them each year. So the root section would grow onions, carrots, etc; fruit would grow broccoli, bell peppers, etc; and leaf would grow all greens.
8. You can easily make small starter pots out of wet newspaper. (False, tried it.)
9. There are tons of fun apps that you can download to plan what your garden will look like.
10. The cutest way to store seeds for next year is Tic Tac containers. Do you have some I can use?

My First Gardening Tutorial Video: Choosing Your Garden's Location

Say No to Disposables!

Isn't it hilarious how many things are disposable now-a-days? Like somehow we think using something once immediately destines it for a landfill, and pronto! There are so many products that we can choose a reusable option beyond cloth diapers and diva cups.

Paper towel - For goodness sakes use a dish cloth. Someone needs to confirm for me that I'm using the correct term there because in my Euro-mennonite upbringing we used the german word - a "lapin". However you label it, this handy piece of cloth can wipe up messes in a snap, and *news flash* it's only a bacteria magnet if you let it be. Soak it in hot water, use some vinegar, run it through the laundry or dishwasher, or even microwave it for 30 seconds to get rid of microbes. And did you know you can knit/crochet a dish cloth?

Razors - Your legs may be important to you (hey I love me a good leg) but they don't merit a new hunk of plastic every 2 weeks. Purchasing a permanent shaver with a replaceable head is a great option - or go gentleman style and use a straight edge blade. (Replaceable heads on permanent handles are a great choice - see my post on Radius Toothbrushes!)

Styrofoam cups at parties - I do declare: your party guests can be trusted with glass drinking cups and ceramic coffee mugs. If they can't, pick some up at the dollar store and you can feel better about the ones that don't make it. And as for the dishes, isn't there always that sweet friend that asks if they can help clean up? If there isn't, get the dishwasher rippin' or fill a sink up gosh-darnit. Styrofoam is the worst!

Facial cleansing cloths, take out containers, grocery bags. I rest my case!

What disposable things do you choose reusable for?

Make it Monday: Compost!

We have two problems: we waste too much and our soil sucks.

Luckily, if you have a box you have a solution.

I have been composting since I was old enough to throw a banana peel. When I was in elementary school our compost actually lit on fire due to an abundance of dry materials and a lot of sun, and it burnt down a tree and some of our neighbour's fence. This didn't slow me down. When I moved to an apartment in February of last year, I continued composting, although out of used ice cream buckets, and only enough to nourish a balcony sized garden.

I might not be able to convince you to eat wild mushrooms or throw out your shampoo, but I beg you to take my advice on this one. Start today. Never contribute perfectly good food scraps to an ever-growing land fill again.

Here's how.

Start with your box. You can buy one, or you can be that much more interesting of a person and build it yourself. Procure wood boards (ship wreckage or an abandoned barn will do) about 2 feet long each. Use a log cabin method to build up your composting bin, about 3 feet high. Long nails will be of help, and a solid, level piece of ground to work on will prove helpful also. You can also create a lid or simply deal with the ... aroma. But keep in mind: a good compost smells great. Keeping gaps between the boards will allow air to reach the lovely brew.

You may now laugh uncontrollably at my ability to explain carpentry.

At this point if a box has actually been created you're off to a good start. It's time to fill it. Start with a layer of bricks to further promote air circulation. Then alternate wet and dry materials.

Wet: any kitchen scraps such as vegetable peelings, spoiled non-animal foods, egg shells, coffee grinds, tea leaves, pet litter, failed plant growing attempts...

Dry: dead leaves, dead branches, newspapers, compostable coffee cups, cardboard...

You can add tiger worms to encourage the process but remember they're fussy. They need the right amount of light and moisture to really bury and thrive. Also, with this method your best compost is at the bottom and the top will take a long time to decompose, so it's best to have a box with a bottom feed opening. You can buy these at Lee Valley.

Your compost is ready when it is deep brown, crumbly, moist and earthy-smelling. You may want to have 2 composts going so there is always one ready (much like sprouting!) This delicious concoction will nourish all of your future plants and will constantly thank you for saving it from certain death.

How to Close Down Your Garden for Winter

My sad little plot before the annual "closing ceremonies" began

We've been blessed this year in Southwestern Ontario to be snow-free by mid-November, but don't go sprinkling another round of carrot seeds just yet. It has already begun frosting and that means it's time to close down your garden for the winter. Although somewhat emotionally challenging, the act itself is easy to accomplish. All you need are a shovel, some mulch and this guide.

1. Harvest whatever's left.

• Broccoli can be pulled all the way up until it flowers. Once it does, it's only good for seed.

Gathering tomatoes



Pole beans all dried and ready to be saved

• Eggplant can be pulled when it's about 6 inches long, and shiny.

• Garlic should have at least the lower half of leaves brown.

• Squash should be the right colour depending on their variety and the vine should begin withering.

• Cabbage are ready when they feel hard.

• And tomatoes: well it really doesn't matter! At this point, pull them green if you need to. When frost is threatening it's best to get your tomatoes inside to ripen in a sunny window.

Gathering

Letting tomatoes rot in a ditch in hopes
of having some self-seed next year

2. Pull remaining plants and layer in an inch of compost. Of course you can leave your perennials (all I leave are berries and anything I'm going to overwinter - this year, carrots).

3. Protect perennials or plants to overwinter with mulch cover. Raked leaves make nice mulch.

4. Plant bulbs. For me this will be garlic and paper whites (if I can find them buried under Christmas decorations in the cold storage).

5. Plant green manure. Click here to learn how.

6. Make notes of what worked and what didn't so that you can do better next year. A garden journal is an incredible resource.

Allowing sunflowers to dry out

7. Preserve your harvest.

• "Sun-dry" tomatoes in your oven on low heat - or make a batch of salsa or tomato sauce
• Leave winter squash and root vegetables in a cold storage for months
• Dry beans for use in soups (or to use as seed next season)
• Make fruit into jam
• Make vegetables into pickles

Spring and summer are not the only important times for your veggie crop. What you do before winter hits can have just as much impact as what you do after it. Closing your garden down the proper way makes spring planting that much more glorious. Take the time - you won't regret it.

My garden assistant - Oliver, age 3 months

Try it Tuesday: Green Kitchenware

Cooking your own meals at home is eco-friendly in itself but what if you're whipping up batches of millet & mushroom cakes all while releasing toxins into your food? You may not even know you're doing it.

So here are a few easy swaps to make to avoid poisoning your healthy food by using unhealthy kitchenware:


Stove Top Cooking

Trade in your non-stick frying pan, your electric griddle and your casserole dishes for one cast iron skillet. It's an all-in-one kitchen tool that is safe, easy to clean and even makes your food more nutritious. Scientists believe frying in a cast iron skillet will transfer dietary iron to your food - sounds good to us prone to anemia! I've been a die-hard skillet-fan for some time now but the key is to get a nice old one. New skillets have not been seasoned and tend to stick. See if a family member has one that they'll part with, or check the second hand store. If you must buy new, oil the skillet often and bake it for a while with a layer of oil. Never wash with soap, or in the dishwasher. Keep in mind a hardy skillet can wreck the nice finish on those fancy flat top stoves so it would be better suited for the BBQ. 


Storing 
It goes without saying that almost all plastic is a no-no, especially when you plan to reheat certain things in a (*hushed voice*) microwave. So many parents make an effort to pack their kids a healthy lunch for school, and then ruin it with a container that leeches yucky chemicals into the food. For storing food, choose glass. It's also nice and easy to pop into a hot oven for reheating. The glass storage containers I've seen are pretty tough and not prone to shattering easily.



Cutting 
Slicing can cause fragments of your board to chip off and enter the food. Now this is on a microscopic level so it's nothing you'll taste or hurt yourself on, but if you're cutting on plastic it's not the best thing to expose your body too. I love using a wood cutting board. There are, however, two considerations when switching to wood: cleanliness and sustainability. Wood is a bacteria-promoter and needs to be thoroughly washed after every use. Use hot water and soap. Or, for less threatening items like red bell pepper, wipe down with half a lemon. Allow to dry fully. With any wooden item we need to be cognizant of its environmental impact. Choose a product that is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council.


Wiping 
If you're still using paper towel, it's time to stop! Disposable products like this are unnecessary and brutal for the environment. With each use you transfer a beautiful piece of our forests to garbage in a land fill - not pretty. A simple kitchen cloth can handle any of the messes that paper can, and a dirty cloth will take no space at all in your weekly laundry load (or rinse and dry for simple messes). If you really want to go all the way, purchase a cloth made of organic cotton. Cotton's one of those things that is just nasty when it's not organic.

When you're ready to convert more disposable products to reusable check out my posts on diapers and diva cups.


Lastly, Filtering
The best water system I've seen is the Santevia. The countertop model fits nicely on any flat surface and uses gravity and a layered filtration tube to remove most toxins (not fluoride however), alkalize and mineralize.

The kitchen is a great place to change the world, but you've gotta change your tools before you can do it!

Wild Foraging

Forage: To wander in search of food or provisions.

It's unbelievable what delicious bounty our city has to offer for free if we'd only look for it. My friend Brad has a secret spot for wild asparagus. A nature hike near my cottage turned up fiddlehead ferns long before I knew they were one of my favourite vegetables. Almost every forest contains copious amounts of rhubarb. And you'll find an unreal variety of edible berries within our city. You can eat dandelion leaves, sorrel and nettle to name a few.

Yesterday I picked a quart of saskatoon berries from a tree outside my work. I ate a few and then made the rest into jam. The only tricks to eating wild edibles are finding them and confirming that they aren't poisonous. Sources tell me that all wild berries with a crown are edible. Typically if I see animals eating them it's a pretty good sign - but a quick check at the library and a test on my lip a few hours before the big chow down is my standard protocol.

Community Shared Agriculture

I just attended a great talk at the Western Fair Farmers' Market through On the Move Organics. It featured a farmer from Aylmer, Ontario who runs the Triple Cord CSA.

A CSA is a program where people pay up front to secure a number of weeks of fresh produce. In this case it is $400 for a small, or $600 for a large, box of organic fruits and vegetables, grown in Aylmer, for 20 weeks - starting May 21st and ending October 1st. Boxes can be picked up Saturdays between 8am and 3pm at the farmers' market. They are packed full of fresh, organic produce ranging from spanish onions to potatoes to kale and even berries. There is also an opportunity half way through to visit the farm and get a tour of where and how everything is grown.

Reasons to join a CSA:

Support a farmer! These hard workers incur all of their costs at the beginning of the season and all of their profit at harvest - it's not easy on their bank accounts. By paying up front you give them both income for purchasing seed, etc. and a guaranteed market so they know exactly what to grow. It saves them from wasting a work day at the market when they could be tending to the crops. This in turn promotes the local economy.

Receive quality produce! You know this stuff will be fresh and organic. It will have high nutrient content and the very person who grew it will be giving it to you with pride. Grocery store produce is not often picked ripe and doesn't receive full nutrition. Instead it sits in a truck pumped with ethylene gas until it looks ripe. You eat a red tomato, but you get the nutrition of a green tomato. And grocery store produce is genetically bred for shelf stability and looks not taste and quality. Besides if you have a box of fresh vegetables sitting in the house you're going to eat a lot healthier than usual.

It's better for the environment! Rather than shopping around for avocados grown in Chile that must use gallons and gallons of gas getting to your plate why not eat the local food that your body was designed for that has only traveled less than an hour. When you accept a box of produce you eliminate the incredible food waste that goes on in grocery stores because people pick and choose what they want that week. And if it's organic you can be sure the soil and water practices are ethical and planet friendly.

Enjoy a new experience! Not only will you learn a lot about farming when you're touring the land but you'll come to see what crops thrive or don't in certain weather. Perhaps the melons in your box will be smaller this week because rain fall has been short, or your box will contain more spinach than arugula because weather's been unseasonably cold. You will also learn about vegetables that you wouldn't normally cook with (kohlrabi, turnips, bok choi), forcing you to experiment. If you receive an abundance of something one week that can't be eaten or shared before going bad maybe you'll learn a new method of preservation. This also grows community because it gives other CSA contributors a chance to talk amongst each other about uses for certain vegetables.

You can get more information about the Triple Cord CSA by emailing Jeff at onthemoveorganics@gmail.com or visiting the farmers' market on a Saturday.

This was originally posted on the Farmers Almanac site. I loved it, and wanted to repost it.

Grow a Garden for Good Health

by Jaime McLeod | Monday, April 11th, 2011 

Gardening has exploded in popularity in recent years. As food prices rise and paychecks go down, more people are growing vegetable gardens than ever before. In fact, between 2007 and 2009, the number of gardeners in the United States increased by 40%, and seed sales spiked by 25%!

Whether driven by the economy, concern for the environment, a desire to teach kids where their food comes from, or just for its value as a relaxing hobby, people are lining up at their local garden centers in droves for a chance to get their hands dirty in their own backyards (or, for urban dwellers, in one of the growing numbers of community garden plots now available in many major cities).

In addition to being an inexpensive source of fresh, local produce, and an enjoyable pastime, gardening also provides many important health benefits. Here’s a look at just a few of the way raising a garden can keep you healthy.

Exercise
Though it may not look a lot like going to the gym, gardening is actually great exercise. Planting, digging, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting are all very physical activities. All of the lifting, crouching, and pushing can build strength, improve muscle tone, increase flexibility, burn calories, and raise your metabolism heart rate. Do that enough – doctors recommend at least half an hour of moderate exercise per day – and you can even give up that expensive gym membership.

Stress Relief
Most hobbies are relaxing (unless, of course, your hobby is skydiving). We do them because they help us forget the stresses of everyday life and make us feel good. The good news is that feeling good may not be as frivolous as you may think. Chronic stress can contribute to a whole host of health problems, including depression, diabetes, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, anxiety disorders, ulcers, cancer, and even gum disease. In fact, as many as 90% of doctor’s visits are for symptoms that may have been prevented with lower stress levels. Regularly engaging in activities that you enjoy lowers stress, which can help your body to function better. Gardening can help to lower blood pressure, decrease triglycerides and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, improve chronic health conditions, and generally make you feel better.

Nutrition
Of course, nobody would bother to garden if it weren’t for the ultimate benefit: all of that fresh, delicious, homegrown produce. Growing a garden can inspire the whole family to eat healthier. After all, what could be more exciting than sinking your teeth into something you’ve worked so hard on all summer long? Gardening with kids is a great way to get picky eaters excited about eating vegetables. Even the most finicky kids will be hard-pressed to resist some broccoli or spinach that they grew themselves. Children are naturally curious about the world, and love doing anything hands-on. By getting them gardening early, you’ll create lifelong gardeners, and healthy eaters.

On top of that, local vegetables are more nutritious than vegetables shipped from across the country. Vegetables begin losing nutrients as soon as they are picked. The longer they sit around between when they are picked and when they reach your table, the more nutrients they lose. When you grow food in your own backyard, you know it’s as fresh as it can possibly be. In fact, in many cases, you can even wait to harvest your garden vegetables until right before you’re ready to use them. What could be fresher than that?

Whether you have a massive yard with room for rows and rows of lettuce, beans, and heirloom cucumbers, or a small fire escape garden with a few window boxes full of herbs and a washtub for tomatoes, get gardening this summer for your health!

Getting Started Gardening

 I'm only now realizing that not everyone in the world was blessed enough to grow up with a mom who taught them about gardening. From a young age we harvested chives if we were eating baked potatoes and we watered our own cherry tomatoes in hopes that it would yield a few miniature fruits to snack on while we played. Our mom was a trained florist and a botanist by nature. So for everyone who doesn't have that background, and would like to start gardening, here's an easy guide!

1. Find your space. It could be a huge plot in the backyard, it could be pots on your balcony. As long as there's enough room to grow what you're growin' then it works! To make room you can look into trellising (that's when you install criss-crossed wood or plastic pieces that vegetables that grow up rather than out). You could also pay into a community garden space.

2. Choose your veg. It wouldn't hurt to talk with seasoned gardeners in your area about what they think works well. Many gardeners have told me that corn is near impossible and that broccoli can be annoying too (hasn't stopped me yet!) Once you know what your options are, pick things that you'd normally buy at the grocery store, that way you know it'll get eaten. I'd suggest tomatoes, some greens and something high-yielding like zucchini or kale, for your self-esteem. Also, don't forget herbs. There's nothing better than fresh basil on your morning scrambled eggs.

3. Figure out when to plant. Some things you need to start indoors. This means place the seeds in soil, in pots, and leave them inside either in a sunny window or under a grow light, for a few weeks until the risk of frost is over (the frost-free date in London is May 9th this year I think). Other seeds you can plant right away, they're hardy to cold. Lastly, there are seeds that you should sow directly into the soil outside, but you have to wait until the frost-free date. Check out the list here:

Seeds to start indoors and to plant as seedlings

• eggplant
• peppers
• tomatoes
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• onions
• potatoes

To be seeded directly in early spring

• beets
• chard
• cilantro
• kohlrabi
• lettuce
• mustard greens
• green peas
• radishes
• spinach
• snap peas
• asian vegetables (i.e, bok choy, napa cabbage, etc..)
• carrots

To be seeded directly after the frost-free date (typically after May 24)

• beans
• cantaloupes
• cucumber
• honeydew
• melons
• okra
• squash
• corn
• watermelons
• pumpkins

Keep in mind, when you start something indoors chances are the container it's in isn't big enough to keep it for long. If your plant has overgrown its container, replant in a larger container! You can tell if it's growing really high really fast and not producing shoots or leaves horizontally. That means it's using all its energy to build above ground because there's no room for root growth, which is the most important thing.

4. Take good care. I water my plants whenever they seem dry, it works for me. I leave them under the grow light for 14 hours a day and turn it off for 10 hours at night. I also give them a powdered kelp supplement for added nutrition. When I bring them outside I harden off (slowing acclimatize them to the outdoors by leaving them outside for increasing amounts of time, but keeping them inside overnight, until they're ready) and by adding compost regularly. (Would you like a blog about composting?) If pests are a problem, I spray a diluted mixture of neem oil around the area.

5. Enjoy! And don't hesitate to ask for help. I don't consider myself an expert gardener but right now I have a future nursery room full of healthy seedlings that are excited to be outdoor-planted and to produce food for my family and I, so advice has gotten me far.

The Very Best Gardening Books...

... or, the very best gardening books that my library has to offer, would be a more suitable name.

Fresh Food from Small Spaces - RJ Ruppenthal

 This book goes way beyond growing vegetables in the city. It was my first in depth look at urban beekeeping and chicken raising. Yes, it did convince me to adopt a duck but don't tell Calvin. The book is a great guide to gardening in small areas like apartment building balconies, cozy backyards, fire escapes and even abandoned areas that you don't own (guerilla gardening). I found some of the information only pertained to southern, warm climates so keep in mind if you're from Ontario like me you'll have to adjust.

Carrots Love Tomatoes - Louise Riotte

I'm actually still waiting to read this book but just about every one who's anyone recommends it. It goes into the relationships (beneficial and harmful) between various garden crops. This year I'll be growing the classic companion planting combination: the Three Sisters. The theory goes that if you grow corn, winter squash and pole beans together they will each benefit the others in some way. Corn provides a pole for the beans to grow up. Beans bind nitrogen into the soil. Squash provide pest control and insulation through ground cover. 

Four-Season Harvest - Eliot Coleman

Finally, a Zone-5 specific book to teach me gardening techniques specific to my cold climate. This man believes (and has easily persuaded me) that you shouldn't just plant seeds once a year and harvest them when they're ready. Rather, you should practice succession planting. This is where you plant new seed every two weeks or so and enjoy multiple harvests. Using cold frames (built up boxes with glass on top) he eats fresh produce all year round.

You Grow Girl - Gayla Trail

Probably the most visually appealing book that this subject has to offer, Gayla does a great job at plainly, and interestingly, explaining a wide range of gardening topics with no risk of losing your attention. From planning a garden, to starting one, to caring for it, reaping the benefits and then winterizing, she has it all. She also throws in a lot of her creative flair with instruction how to paint your pots, make fancy seed posts, brew up herbal tea and use old garage sale junk to make your backyard look great.

Putting Food By - Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaugman

My reaction to this book is equally 'inspired' as it is 'entertained'. The book was probably written before my parents were born and uses some hilarious language. It is the ultimate guide to preserving food. I don't plan on using the guide to canning wild game or collard greens, I will remember the tips on sauerkraut and stewed tomatoes.



Lastly, if you would like heirloom, organic seeds for this growing season I am doing group orders through Quarter Master. The packets are $3 each and I prefer pre-payment but depends how well I know you. Varieties can be found at www.cottagegardener.com and will be sent/ready for pick up in May.

Grow Your Own: Stevia

When I think of the good qualities of a sweetener what comes to mind is: cheap, delicious, natural, low calorie, non-cavity-promoting and, well, sweet. Stevia is all of these things and more. It's a bushy green plant you can grow yourself and when the leaves are dried they are incredibly sweet like sugar. They make a great addition to tea, lemonade, even baking. Everyone should grow it. Here's how.

Obtain stevia seeds - I've seen them at most hardware/camping stores.

Start them indoors if you plan to start your season before frost. If it's already, say, mid-May then you can direct sow. Keep your seeds a good 10 inches apart because it spreads. It can also grow high, over a foot at least, so consider trellising.

Water, but don't over water. Stevia's roots grow shallow so they'll need a shower often but too much water will be worse than not enough. It also doesn't need much nitrogen in the soil so don't grow it around beans or peas, and don't throw old coffee grounds near them, but do add compost to the soil. Compost is a gardener's best friend.

When tiny leaves have formed, hand pick them and keep them in a metal tin to dry. They can then be ground further into a powder and used to sweeten just about anything.

For sweetening 2 Tbsp of ground stevia = 1 cup of sugar but of course if you're baking your wet/dry ingredient ratio will have to be played with a little, as with your oven's temperature.

In an old family-sized pickle jar add 2 teabags, a few lemons, sliced, and a dash of stevia leaves. Fill with water to the top and leave in the sun. Nothing is better.

DIY Maple Syrup

Be a Canadian. Make your own maple syrup.

Here's my Mom's blog from last year:
http://rosesunread.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-we-get-our-equipment-set-up-5.html

Easy-Peasy Laundry Soap

Guest blogger: Ashley Long

After my sister-in-law had raved about her homemade laundry soap, she gave me the recipe she found online and told me to give it a try. I finally did and love it! It makes your clothes soft, and whites whiter. Also, I can wash my clothes in cold water as long as i dissolve the detergent in a little bit of hot water first.

So here it is...

1 cup Borax

1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

Some shaved up natural plain soap

Use one - two tablespoons per load. (Heavier or dirtier loads need two.)

You can also add any preferred scented oils, as long as they won't stain. Haven't tried that myself, but I've heard you can do it. Just be careful. :)

Some amazing facts I learned while working on this project.

1. The first two ingredients were found in the laundry isle in the Superstore

2. The soap I bought at the market and it smells ten times better than soaps with harsh bad stuff in them... uh you get what I'm saying I hope

3. The lady selling the soap is really nice and gave me a discount when I told her what the soap was for

4. Putting the ingredients together took 5 minutes... tops

5. I am saving money

Oh Cleaning: Green Methods for a Squeaky Clean House

Guest blogger: Ashley Long

Some would say I am a bit obsessed with cleaning. Afterall, I grew up in a very clean home and for the last three years I professionally cleaned with an employer who taught me to see and clean up dirt in places that no one else might notice.

Many nasty chemicals are used while cleaning and we have no idea the effects they are having on us, our future families, and the environment. The other problem with chemical cleaning is that it covers up smells and dirt but doesn`t thoroughly clean the suface. This is a totally new way of thinking for me. I believed that chemicals made surfaces clean and shiny and smell nice.

It is hard to make adjustments to old habits. Just like the grime in my toilet must leave, so must my unhealthly choices with cleaning. Let`s explore some alternatives, shall we. 

• Vinegar -Let`s be honest. Vinegar is the best solution to any cleaning problem. I`ve been researching a little and here`s the low down on this great smelling liquid.

It`s cheap

Non-toxic for everyone

Deodorizes rooms

With a bit of baking soda it can declog a kitchen sink. (thanks mom)

It`s an all-in-one cleaner - toilets, sinks, countertops, all flooring, windows, etc.

But I will say that it doesn`t remove stains on a white countertop.

So the search continues.

• Charlie`s Soap - A vegetable based, biodegradable cleaner which comes in an all-purpose spray as well as laundry detergent. Retail stores only in the U.S. Bummer, I know, but you can order online. I have not used this product, although my friend does and swears by it. A little on the pricey side if you are frugal like me.
• Norwex microfiber cloths - These cloths have silver particles in them that disinfects surfaces and the cloth itself. Use only water with these cloths and a deeper clean can really been seen.Stained countertops can finally be clean again with no bleach! I will be attending a Norwex party the end of the month to see this magic myself. If anyone is interested in attending, email me. ashley.j.long@gmail.com
• Baking Soda -I use some vingar and baking soda on my cutting boards. Just let the mixture sit for a little bit and scrub off. Also good for deodorizing the fridge and cleaning stuff animals touch, like a water bottle. (rinse thoroughly)
• Hydrogen Peroxide- Good for cuts on guinea pigs and humans; only if consent is given. Also good in your bathtub and sink. Peroxide kills germs. Try it out! Pour some around your bathroom sink drain and see if it starts fizzing. It is so much fun.
• Fresh Wave spray- odour neutralizing spray. All natural, smells a bit like pine needles. Works great to get rid of crazy smells like urine, stinky socks and shoes, and bad hallway closet smells. Find this amazing stuff at McHardys Vacuum.

That is it for the list but if I may rant quickly...Stick to the green method that is affordable and works best. Dont get suckered into buying products on the shelf at the store that are supposedly green and double the price as normal cleaners. Rip-Off. Ok I had to get that out. Im done now.

Ponder these ideas. Test them out. Save some money and your lungs. Yay!

Ashley Long is my long-time, always-willing lead acoustic guitarist. Her immense vegetable garden would make your garden shudder in awe. She serves coffee by day and crafts it up like no one's business by night, and one day hopes to open a charity coffeehouse. If you've never tried her berry muffins - you aren't living.

Sprouting: You Should Have Learned This Years Ago

I've never had a child, but I imagine the joy of bringing life into this world is somewhat comparable to how I feel when I sprout. If you can get past my hyperbolic nature, let me teach you.

We'll start with what you can sprout and in my experience this can been just about anything. If it's an organic, unprocessed seed with a bit of life left in it, chances are it wants to shoot something delicious toward the sky for you to eat. The short list goes something like:

Photo by: Sarah Goertz

Alfalfa
Almonds
Amaranth seed
Barley, unhulled
Buckwheat groats (not kasha, it is toasted)
Chia (salba)
Clover
Corn (popcorn)
Flax
Garbanzo
Lentils
Millet
Mung beans
Navy beans
Oats, unhulled
Peanuts
Pumpkin
Quinoa
Radish
Rice - brown or brown basmati
Sunflower
Wheat and wheat-relatives: rye, kamut, spelt

You can purchase a pack of sprouting seeds at a health food store or just pick up some of the whole grains, etc. and do some finger-crossing. To pull off this nutritious feat of botanical magic, you will also need a glass mason jar, a piece of cheesecloth and something to secure the cloth over the mouth of the open jar, like a rubber band or piece of twine. If you don't have cheesecloth, but do have skills, you may want to attempt using a coffee filter or thin piece of paper towel, taking great care.

Begin by placing about 1 Tbsp of seed into the bottom of your jar and filling it about 3/4 way to the top with water, then fasten the cheesecloth onto the mouth of the jar and let sit on the counter over night. This is called the introductory soak. After about 12 hours, dump the jar upside down, filtering all the water through the cheesecloth, and leaving the freshly soaked and rinsed seeds in the jar. Allow them to sit until late evening.

Now the only job is to rinse once or twice a day by removing the cheesecloth, filling the jar with water, replacing the cloth, and pouring the water out. Within 5 days or less you should see sprouts growing - they will look like little tails. Sprouts do well with a bit of sunlight especially during the first few days of growth. When they are long enough for your liking simply pop them in your mouth or favourite recipe. As a general rule, they're ready to go when the sprout (tail) is as long as the seed it began from.

Although my favourite way to eat sprouts is on their own, I also enjoy them in a sandwich, a salad, over a pasta dish or stirfry or blended into a bean dip.

As with anything, there are some exceptions to the rule. I think it's more fun if you find these out for yourself but here are a few to get you started:

• Amaranth is so small that it will not need to soak overnight. Try 2 hours.
• Buckwheat should not do an overnight soak and sprouts very quickly in sunlight.
• Quinoa must be rinsed before doing anything - this includes cooking it for dinnner

Sprouts have the highest nutritional benefit per calorie than any other food in the world. They protect us from disease and increase the digestibility of the foods we know and love. Take care of your sprouts and your sprouts will take care of you.