If you just plant one thing.....

Hello, Friends! It's a little late but it's time for my bi-annual garden plug. I pray you all have something growing. I have blogged several times why you should all be gardeners but if you came late to the game, here's a little recap:

Having produce on hand in case our food supply changed

Knowing where your food comes from

Increased health benefits from fresh picked produce

Becoming educated in gardening in case you HAD to garden

Being self-reliant

The list could go on, but please, please plant something. IF you only plant one thing, one easy to grow, simple thing; let me give you an idea:

KALE

Kale is as simple as it gets to grow. You can buy seed or plants but it takes very little effort to grow it. You can plant it in a pot if that's all you have. It will give you a good supply with one even plant. I would go for a good set of two at least. Kale doesn't get as much attention as spinach and broccoli in the health news but in actuality, it is even more of a rock star. It is also so very versatile! Let me give you the 411:

Kale is HUGE in the antioxidant department. It contains a whopping 684% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin K. Vitamin K is responsible for increasing your antioxidant activity. It will help kick cancer in it's face and help the body get rid of all sorts of toxic elements. Kale also contains huge amounts of A and C which are also big on the antioxidant scale. It contains Quercetin which is a natural anti-inflammatory. This is great for healing gut issues along with other inflammatory ailments. Kale is also great for lowering cholesterol. The cholesterol lowering properties are increased when lightly steamed. This powerhouse green is loaded with calcium also and a chemical to boost DNA cellular repair. Who wouldn't want this growing in their back yard?

What to do with it? I put it in smoothies, in soups, in salads. I added it to our frittata last night. It has a very mild flavor akin to spinach. You can also puree it and freeze it in ice cube trays to use in smoothies later. Kale plants will provide for you up until the hottest part of summer when it bolts. I keep chard growing all year, which has great antioxidant properties as well. I just pulled out a 3 year old bush of chard a month ago. 

Don't over cook your veggies! Keep the nutrients in by eating them fresh or lights steamed or stir fried. They taste much better that way anyways!

To keep your garden healthy and productive, start a compost bin! I am always amazed at how those scraps of left over food and yard waste turn into dark, rich soil. The only amendments I add to my soil are mulch and manure. My plants are healthy and productive. I don't get all fancy with fertilizers. When I have tried that, I suffered plant atrophy. I am a "keep it simple" gardener. 

See that nice compost I just turned in? Oh my garden is happy. The best part is that it is free! You can put all produce and yard scraps, rice, egg shells, noodles and breads in the compost. Don't add anything with fat or meats of any kind. Compost shouldn't smell bad. Mine has lots of cockroaches in it. Pretty disgusting but they don't carry over into the garden and pretty much stay put. I add some DE in the compost now and then to get rid of them but they are harmless. 

Happy gardening my friends! I got my garden in late this year due to our fall break vacation but I have faith that the plants will flourish and provide! I truly love being outside playing in the dirt. I love to see life come from my hard work and I love that I can feed my family food that I know is free from pesticides. 

Good luck and get to work!

Fresh greens, flatbreads and a little catch up.

I have had a few technical difficulties over here lately in blog world. Thanks to my helpful Facebook friends, I am back in the game. 

First off, I am ordering supplements Monday so let me know what you need. I won't order again until after Christmas. 

Now, a little catch up. 

Politics: Frustrated. The election sparked a trip to Costco to top off some supplies. Not that a Republican could have totally changed where this world is going but seriously folks, we are messed up. Prepare yourselves. Physically, Spiritually, Financially. This year is a year to gear up. Get out of debt. Stock up your supplies. Strengthen your faith. Become educated. Don't just look on Facebook for your news. Read all you can so you can be prepared. I have to admit, I do tend to overdo it on the information overload and get totally overwhelmed. I have to remember that the Lord is in charge and that if I have faith in him, it will be OK. It is just so frustrating when you see so much corruption.

Surgery: Thanks for all your well wishes. It is over. I healed well and quickly. I have to say, if any of you are facing that surgery in the near future, load up on B complex and iron. Everyone told me that I would be exhausted for a good 6 weeks after the surgery. I actually had amazing energy which made it hard for me to slow down and heal. I had more energy after the surgery than before. Any surgery can be greatly helped with those supplements. I also used Arnica cream on my wounds for healing. If I didn't have such issues with the gas that they inject me with, it would have been not too bad. It did take the full three weeks to feel good but that isn't bad compared to lots of the stories I have heard. It took me years to decide to do the surgery and I can't tell you how happy I am to have done it. I am pain free. I am super happy about that.

I found this photo snapped from my iphone just post surgery. I have no recollection taking it. Drugs are a funny thing. That smile was quickly gone when the drugs wore off. Thanks to my sister in law for giving me fake lashes since I couldn't wear make up. 

Garden:  It is growing just lovely. I went back to the simple stupid method that has always worked for me. If I get fancy with fertilizers, I ruin it. I just use a little manure and mulch when I plant and just water after that. Everything is happy. I planted at the beginning of October and I am harvesting daily.


I planted some sweet potatoes in May. I have planted these once before and after 6 months, I had a couple little tiny sweet potatoes. I decided to have one more go round in my new garden. I had a beautiful vine that grew all over the place but was very curious what was going on under ground. Finally, the purple flowers appeared and the vines were dying which tells you that the sweet potatoes were ready.

It was like digging up a treasure. You didn't know how many you had or how big or even where they were. I just planted two little sprouts and here was my bounty:

I wish I planted a whole garden full. They were bigger than my hand and super orange inside. They loved the sandy soil in the new garden. Next year I will make a new garden just for sweet potatoes. 

The brocolli is looking promising. Last year they were so small and barely worth harvesting. I am hoping for some good heads this year. I won't know for a little longer. 

Last year, kid you not, it took me almost 8 months to get carrots big enough to pull. I was still harvesting them after a year. I used fertilizer that should have sped things a long but I think it really just messed up the soil PH. This year, I am already pulling some after only 8 weeks. I am sure this warm weather is helping that along as well.

I planted lots of cabbage this year. They are looking happy. The cabbage in the new garden are about double the size of the ones in the new garden. They like the extra sun. This will help me to stagger the harvesting. Who wants 20 heads of cabbage at once?

Here is what I have growing right now:

carrots; red, orange, yellow and purple
cabbage
broccoli
snap peas
onions
spinach
lettuce varieties
bush beans; purple and green
kohlrabi
basil
cilantro
celery
peppers
chilis
kale
collards
radishes

Just a funny little garden story for you. I took my cute little preschool class outside today to enjoy the nice weather. I asked them if they wanted peas in the garden. They all raised their hand and followed me. As we gathered to pick peas, I noticed one little boy who dropped his pants and started to pee in the garden. Guess I needed to clarify that I meant "peas" in the garden, not "pee" in the garden. Just a little misunderstanding but it made me giggle. 

Speaking of preschool, I may have a pm slot open starting in January if you are interested. I have a few slots left for next school year. 3/4 year olds and pre k. PM me for info.

Flatbreads:  Seeing as we have the most amazing weather here in AZ, I have wanted to use the grill and eat outside more often. Grilling flatbreads is just soooo good! Since we don't do cheese on our pizza's, I have found that flatbread is the way to go. You cut them into little squares so you can hold them better without the toppings falling off. 

This one below is a carmelized onion and white bean flat bread. I put about 1/4 cup of parmesan on this one but the other one I made without it tasted the same. Totally not necessary. Parmesan is aged over 60 days so it is digested much easier than most other cheeses. Still, it is very rare that we use it at our house. I found this recipe at Eating Well. com. You can find it here. I didn't add the cheese or the pepitas. The bean mixture was very yummy!  

The iphone picture below doesn't do justice to Sunday's flatbreads and pinwheels but they were super delicious! I did a prosciutto and spinach pinwheel and a BBQ chicken flatbread. They are both easy as pie.
Make your dough. For the pinwheels, just roll out a rectangle. Brush with olive oil. Lay on thin layer of prosciutto and top with a generous amount of spinach. Roll up and seal up seams. Place seam side down on pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes. 

For the flatbread, roll out a thin rectangle on some parchment sprayed with a fine mist of oil. Brush the top with olive oil. Place on a hot BBQ grill top side down so the parchement is now on top. Pull of parchment while cooking and brush the top side with oil. When it gets all bubbly and golden on the bottom, flip over. Watch your heat so it doesn't burn. When both sides are golden, bring them inside to finish them off. You can put the toppings on and put them back on the grill but I just put them under the broiler in the kitchen so I can monitor the heat a little better and also to free up the grill for more flatbread. I sauteed some chicken, peppers, onions and spices. I sprinkled the flatbread with the chicken mixture and drizzled some BBQ sauce on it. I just broiled it until the toppings were hot. Super yummy! I have gotten so used to no cheese pizza's that the idea of cheese sounds horrible on pizza. You can't taste the toppings this way. Try it. So much less guilt as well.

The pizza dough was half white, half wheat. I don't do all white pizza dough. It is my indulgence. It  just isn't the same. It won't crisp up as much. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. Utah was lovely and it was fun to be surrounded by family. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas! Take care of yourselves and don't get sick! We are taking extra vitamin C, garlic and D3 around here. Almost all our extended family in Utah caught the flu or some other bug. We came home healthy. Hopefully we will keep that good streak going. Just a little nose drizzle here and there but nothing sticks. 

A Few Gardening Mysteries Solved.

My friend, Julie, Hatching Bunnies Farm, read my post and sent me an email with some great info about what went wrong this year. I had to share it with you so you won't feel so bad about your crops. I know it makes me feel a little better. Read on.

Just read your blog, let me  try and solve a few mysteries for you :)
Tomatoes-didn't do well for anybody this year because our heat was high early.  The pollen is killed between 90-95 degrees depending on the variety.  It hit 100 in late April-so there wasn't much time to set fruit.  Last year was better because the triple digits didn't hit until early June.  As temps go down in the next few weeks, we should see some fruit forming once again.  Also, southern Arizona was hit hard with russet mites.  They can't be seen by the naked eye, but cause browning of the leaves on the tomatoes from the ground up.  I didn't figure out what they were until too late.  A couple of dustings of sulfur (which is great for tomatoes-all natural) would have taken care of them.  I will be treating mine next year as a preventative measure.  

The squash bugs were terrible as well this year.  I have contacted an entymologist at Arbico (organic company in Tucson) and was given some good tips for next year.  I have also found a squash bug and powdery mildew resistant heirloom squash for next year that should help.  Here's what she said:

As for your problems with squash bugs, these critters are best controlled using 
physical methods.  If you place small boards or squares of cardboard near the 
base of your squash plants, the squash bugs will congregate there at night.  Go 
out early the next morning, lift up the boards and sweep the bugs into a bucket 
of soapy water.  If you have outbreaks of the nymphs on your plants, you can 
spray them directly with insecticidal soap or neem oil--or  pyrethrin as a last 
resort. (Avoiding the blooms, of course).


My daughter came up with a homemade aphid killer that worked well this year.  Check my blog hatchingbunniesfarm.blogspot.com for that recipe.

Hopefully this fall's weather and bugs will be kinder to us. :)

Summer Garden Recap

This summer's garden was interesting. My plants either thrived and produced amazingly or they didn't . There really wasn't much in between. There is still much growing right now and many have gotten their second wind after the aphid infestation. The chard has been around for almost a year now which gives us great greens for smoothies. 

The Good: 

Cucumbers! I planted these in February against all the rules and I had cucumbers from April to July. They were never bitter even with the high heat. And....I went out today and the Armenian's that suffered the aphid attack have come back and look what I found:

More cucumbers! There are many babies growing and so I have a dilemma on my hands; let them grow and sacrifice some room for the fall garden or pull them and plant broccoli. Hard decision. 

Zucchini. Tons of zucchini. I also planted these early and had zucchini from April to July. I should have planted again in June so I would still have some but the beetles came in July and decided they wanted in on the treats. Ugh. I may plant another one now. We will see.

Melons. 

Amazingly sweet. I had about 5 then the aphids hit. I cut them back and they are now growing everywhere and I just picked a couple the other day. I have a good handful more almost ready. I hope they hurry soon. I will need to pull them out. I wish I had room to do a whole melon garden. Someday. 

Peppers and Chilis.

I have many different varieties growing and they have  all flourished this season. I have loved them in omelets, fajitas, fritatas, stir frys and about every thing else. I had onions until this past month and I am sure missing them now. Time to plant more.

I am not quite sure what these peppers are above but they are so cute. They are mini but go from yellow to orange then to red. I pick them at all various stages of color for a great variety. They are sweet and crisp. 

I picked this a couple weeks ago. The last of my carrots. They were under a tomatillo plant and I have been picking carrots for a year. They were always super sweet. I am sad to see them go. I planted the acorn squash early and have a few sitting in my pantry. The aphids ate the plants but not before I was able to get about 6 of them. I planted some butternut squash as well but they are going everywhere! I think I may pull them up for my fall garden. They will still take a while to get big so I am not sure I want to wait.

Take a peak. See how cute. Hurry. Grow.

The not so good: 

Tomatoes! Ugh. I have talked to many people and no one has had tomato success this year. I don't know why this year. I had about two plants out of 15 produce. They are starting to bud again so we will see if I can get anymore. I hope.

Tomatillos. Huge plants. only a handful of tomatillos. I made a couple batches of tomatillo salsa and stir fried some up in some fajitas but sure wish I had more. 

Green Beans. I planted three varieties and the plants looked great. They flowered but I only picked a handful for one bowl of soup. Not sure why these didn't work as well. I had great hopes of freezing lots for future use. Darn.

I have planted some sweet potatoes that should be ready by November if all goes well. The vines are huge:

Is there anything under those vines? I hope. I am not sure it is worth growing potatoes in a small garden but we will see. My other potatoes didn't do so well.

It is time to start planting in a couple weeks. I will have a list soon for pre-orders from The Hatching Bunnies farm for those wanting organic Heirlooms. She will have it all. I hope you are getting your plots ready. I am ready for the fall produce.

My mouth is watering for these:

Soon. November will be here before we know it. 

Hope you had some success this summer. Gardening is a an experiment. Even the best have flops. You just dust off your gardening gloves and start over again.

Maintenance

Twice  a week I pull weeds in my garden. It is me and my cute little pink bucket. If I don't do this a couple times a week, the weeds will overtake the garden and my plants will be strangled. 

If I don't check my plants on a regular basis for bugs or general ill health, it may be too late. I might not be able to save them.

I guess we are just a lot like plants. We wait until we are taken over by disease (weeds) and the germs (bugs) are eating away at our healthy cells. We need to also do the daily maintenance and routine care so that we can keep our bodies in check before it is out of control. 

This really is going to be a gardening post but I have had an enormous amount of calls and emails this week from women who are struggling with health. We give so much to our families and others that we forget to take care of ourselves. We don't get enough sleep, we don't feed ourselves right, we demand that we are perfect and let ourselves know when we are not and we plain run ourselves down.

Since it is Mother's day tomorrow, I just wanted to give a little shout out to my favorite ladies out there: Take care of yourselves. It isn't selfish. It is vital. If we don't, we will wither and won't be able to nourish others just like a healthy garden. 

There. I hope you all paid attention.

Now on to gardening. I promised a few of my best , and not original tips. 

Here is my jungle. It is flourishing and this is why; fish emulsion, sea kelp, fertilizer from The Backyard Farmer and lots of love. 

Here is the basic routine:

Fish emulsion/sea kelp every two weeks. I fill a gallon jug with 2 T. of emulsion/kelp mixture and dump some on each plant. You can also spray it but do so only after the sun is down. Be very careful of blossoms. 

I feed with the Backyard Farmer fertilizer every month. 

The love part is the regular weeding and watching. I check the plants for bugs to catch them early before they overtake them. If a plant looks a little less green, I give them a little extra fish emulsion to boost the nitrogen level. If a plant looks a little wilty, he gets more water. Temperature changes daily so a watering schedule might need to change as well.

I put extra mulch around the plants as needed to protect the roots and soil balance. 

I trim dead leaves off plants and harvest daily so that it will stimulate more blossoming.

It sounds like lots of work but it really is just a little time each day. I would really spend the entire day out there if I had no other responsibilities. It is my happy place. 

The peach tree is out of control. The branches are literally breaking because there are too many peaches. I even thinned them out but obviously, not enough. They are small but delicious. The freezing begins.

The boysenberry plant that was supposed to be a blackberry plant is full of berries. I pick a couple when I go out to check on my plants and love their beautiful color. I can't wait to come in with a bowl full.

The cantaloupe trellis is working splendidly. Thank you , Pinterest. Underneath them are herbs and little potato plants. I have some pinto bean plants that popped up from the little preschoolers who planted them there. I didn't intend on growing pinto bean plants. We will see how that goes. 

I pick at least one cucumber a day. Soon I will have several bushes ready to pick from. The key to a good cucumber is lots of water. Melons and cucumbers love lots of water. I water them daily.

If you have bugs, spray them down with a mixture of about 1/4 cup natural dish soap or charlie's soap and the rest water in a 32 oz spray bottle. Spray them in the morning before the sun avoiding the fruits of the plants. It will smother the bugs. Pick worms off as you find them. I don't really get bugs anymore. If you keep your plants healthy and green, bugs don't like them. Just like germs, they come to the unhealthy plants. They are part of the natural decay process. This isn't all the time but I have only had bugs when my plants weren't healthy. Worms come regardless but they are easy to get rid of. 

If you want to be a gardener, be a good gardener. Otherwise, you are just wasting water and money. 

Happy Mother's Day! Hope you get spoiled.