More IMPORTANT INFO on Epsom Salts . . . .

Yesterday, I began planting tomatoes for this growing season.  My largest crop of vegetables are grown in Kashi Atlanta's garden, in raised beds.  The sides are made of stacked granite, lined with a landscape fabric (to help contain the soil).  The soil is an awesome mix of compost our worms have created.
** I enjoy the soil, at least as much, as I enjoy the harvest. **  
That being said, I would like to share an article that I found this morning, on line, concerning the use of Epsom Salts in the garden / turf.  It is somewhat lengthy, but worth the read.  It has demystified some of my beliefs, with more science. 
The paper was published by Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott.
Check out her podcasts @ :  www,theinformedgardener.com, for a lot of good information.

 

 

 

 

 

On The Day Of MA's Mahasamadhi . . . .

Blooming in the Gardens of Kashi Atlanta Ashram:

Thank You, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, for taking me as Your student.

With endless gratitude, I tend Your gardens.

... and garden.

 

... and garden.

Heirloom vs Hybrid Vegetables . . .

Here is a reposting from HGTV's online Magazine:
Heirloom and Hybrid Vegetables
Vegetable expert Renee Shepherd discusses the difference between heirloom and hybrid vegetables and the advantages or disadvantages of growing each.

 

Figure A

Heirlooms or hybrids, open-pollinated or F-1. If you need a dictionary to make sense of what to plant in your vegetable garden, you're not alone. Given the right circumstances, all these plant types have real merits.
Heirloom Vegetables: An heirloom vegetable is an old variety that is open pollinated. This means you can save the seeds, and they'll produce true to seed the next year. A few terms: Old varieties can refer to those that are anywhere from 50 to 400 years old. "Open-pollinated" means the flowers are pollinated by the wind or insects, therefore exposing plants to a bigger gene pool. There's a lot of genetic variability in open-pollinated plants, says veggie expert Renee Shepherd of Felton, Calif. "So, if you grew a whole field of bull's horn peppers (figure A), there'd be a lot of difference in shape and maybe a little different color. Some of the plants would probably be a little taller, a little shorter."

Harvesting seed from the plant with the most desirable characteristics – the tastiest or the biggest pepper – helps to reduce variability and increase the success of next year's crop. But for many heirloom aficionados, it's not the unexpected flavors, colors or shapes that are so captivating, as much as the legacy that grows from one tiny seed.That's the heart and soul of heirlooms and the thing that connects people to the past. "They have meaning and value in people's lives," says Shepherd. "They're associated with people and places, and they have stories."

Figure B

The problem some gardeners have with heirlooms is that they don't produce a reliable crop, leaving a hole in a person's food supply. Shepherd recently had a different problem with heirlooms – their lack of disease resistance left a hole in her garden. "This is a good example of what you do when you get Verticillium wilt, which is a common tomato disease," she says. Verticillium wilt (figure B) kills susceptible plants and multiplies rapidly without intervention. The tomato plants in Shepherd's bed were pulled, the soil removed and now she is trying to eradicate the disease with an organic method called solarization.To start the solarization process, thoroughly wet the soil and cover it with clear plastic. It's ideal to do this at the height of the summer when there's a lot of heat. It generally takes six to eight weeks to complete the process. According to Shepherd, there's a reasonably good chance of getting rid of the Verticillium, but it's not guaranteed.

Hybrids: Try planting disease resistant hybrids, which are plants that have bred for certain desirable characteristics. A hybrid is called an F-1 cross, meaning the selection of a male and a female for their specific traits that was hand-crossed to retain those traits in the offspring.

Figure C

For example, you might want tomatoes with superior disease resistance that are also medium-sized and good for slicing. Through controlled pollination, plant breeders can develop hybrids, like 'Carmello' (figure C), that offer those traits. The biggest disadvantage to using hybrids is that seeds taken from F-1 hybrids, or the first filial generation, aren't reliable for staying to true to seed. "Of course, you can save the seed. It would grow tomatoes, but they wouldn't be reliably consistent in having the same traits," says Shepherd. "You'd get a whole range because you wouldn't have the specific parents that you put together to get specific traits."

Figure D

With advantages and disadvantages to both heirlooms and hybrids, Shepherd recommends growing some of everything. "Find what you like, find what works in your garden, and then do that because gardening is an art – it's a fun art."Even though they're grown to eat, heirloom tomatoes produce a visually interesting platter (figure D), such as marble striped, orange yellow and classic red.

Figure E

Even her hybrids are showy (figure E). "These are very uniform. They're round and red, the same size, and I can depend on them to consistently look like this," says Shepherd. Their dependability can mean the difference between a bountiful harvest and a bust. Heirlooms offer excitement, while hybrids offer security. There's only one word you need to remember in creating successful gardens: diversity. "In my experience, heirlooms are better for certain places and certain reasons, and hybrids have huge advantages, too, so I always plant some of both," says Shepherd. You don't need a dictionary to tell you how scrumptious homegrown veggies can be. That's the biggest reward of growing your own: sinking your teeth into the fruits of your labor.

 

 

 

 

Puppy Gardening . . . .

I saw this on Pinterest

We Are . . . .

Ronnie's Iris

We often forget that WE ARE NATURE.
Nature is not something separate from us.
So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature,
we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.
...
~ Andy Goldsworthy

Rumi Quote . . . .

Organic Gardening: Secrets For A High Yield Garden

7 Secrets for a High-Yield Vegetable Garden

Here’s how to get the most out of your garden.

Imagine harvesting nearly half a ton of tasty, beautiful, organically grown vegetables from a 15-by-20-foot plot, 100 pounds of tomatoes from just 100 square feet (a 4-by-25-foot bed), or 20 pounds of carrots from just 24 square feet.

 

Yields like these are easier to achieve than you may think. The secret to superproductive gardening is taking the time now to plan strategies that will work for your garden. Here are seven high-yield strategies gleaned from gardeners who have learned to make the most of their garden space.

1. Build up your soil.

Expert gardeners agree that building up the soil is the single most important factor in pumping up yields. A deep, organically rich soil encourages the growth of healthy, extensive roots that are able to reach more nutrients and water. The result: extra-lush, extra-productive growth above ground.

The fastest way to get that deep layer of fertile soil is to make raised beds. Raised beds yield up to four times more than the same amount of space planted in rows. That’s due not only to their loose, fertile soil but also to efficient spacing—by using less space for paths, you have more room to grow plants.

Raised beds save you time, too. One researcher tracked the time it took to plant and maintain a 30-by-30-foot garden planted in beds, and found that he needed to spend just 27 hours in the garden from mid-May to mid-October. Yet he was able to harvest 1,900 pounds of fresh vegetables—that’s a year’s supply of food for three people from about 3 total days of work!

How do raised beds save so much time? Plants grow close enough together to shade out competing weeds, so you spend less time weeding. The close spacing also makes watering and harvesting more efficient.

2. Round out your beds.

The shape of your beds can make a difference, too. Raised beds are more space-efficient if the tops are gently rounded to form an arc, rather than flat. A rounded bed that is 5 feet wide across its base, for instance, will give you a 6-foot-wide arc above it—creating a planting surface that’s a foot wider than that of a flat bed. That foot might not seem like much, but multiply it by the length of your bed and you’ll see that it can make a big difference in total planting area.

In a 20-foot-long bed, for example, rounding the top increases your total planting area from 100 to 120 square feet. That’s a 20 percent gain in planting space in a bed that takes up the same amount of ground space! Lettuce, spinach, and other greens are perfect crops for planting on the edges of a rounded bed.

3. Space smartly. To get the maximum yields from each bed, pay attention to how you arrange your plants. Avoid planting in square patterns or rows. Instead, stagger the plants by planting in triangles. By doing so, you can fit 10 to 14 percent more plants in each bed.

Just be careful not to space your plants too tightly. Some plants won’t reach their full size—or yield—when crowded. For instance, when one researcher increased the spacing between romaine lettuces from 8 to 10 inches, the harvest weight per plant doubled. (Remember that weight yield per square foot is more important than the number of plants per square foot.)

Overly tight spacing can also stress plants, making them more susceptible to diseases and insect attack.

4. Grow up!

No matter how small your garden, you can grow more by going vertical. Grow space-hungry vining crops—such as tomatoes, pole beans, peas, squash, melons, cukes, and so on—straight up, supported by trellises, fences, cages, or stakes.

Growing vegetables vertically also saves time. Harvest and maintenance go faster because you can see exactly where the fruits are. And upward-bound plants are less likely to be hit by fungal diseases thanks to the improved air circulation around the foliage.

Try growing vining crops on trellises along one side of raised beds, using sturdy end posts with nylon mesh netting or string in between to provide a climbing surface. Tie the growing vines to the trellis. But don’t worry about securing heavy fruits—even squash and melons will develop thicker stems for support.

5. Mix it up.

Interplanting compatible crops saves space, too. Consider the classic Native American combination, the “three sisters”—corn, beans, and squash. Sturdy cornstalks support the pole beans, while squash grows freely on the ground below, shading out competing weeds. This combination works because the crops are compatible. Other compatible combinations include tomatoes, basil, and onions; leaf lettuce and peas or brassicas; carrots, onions, and radishes; and beets and celery.

6. Succeed with successions.

Succession planting allows you to grow more than one crop in a given space over the course of a growing season. That way, many gardeners are able to harvest three or even four crops from a single area.

For instance, an early crop of leaf lettuce can be followed with a fast-maturing corn, and the corn followed by more greens or overwintered garlic—all within a single growing season.

To get the most from your succession plantings:

• Use transplants. A transplant is already a month or so old when you plant it, and so will mature that much faster than a direct-seeded plant (one grown from seeds sown in the garden).
• Choose fast-maturing varieties.
• Replenish the soil with a ¼-to-½-inch layer of compost (about 2 cubic feet per 100 square feet) each time you replant. Work it into the top few inches of soil.
• Adding a few weeks to each end of the growing season can buy you enough time to grow yet another succession crop—say a planting of leaf lettuce, kale, or turnips—or to harvest more end-of-the-season tomatoes.

7. Stretch your season:
To get those extra weeks of production, you need to keep the air around your plants warm, even when the weather is cold, by using mulches, cloches, row covers, or coldframes.
Or give heat-loving crops (such as melons, peppers, and eggplants) an extra-early start by using two “blankets”—one to warm the air and one to warm the soil in early spring. About 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date, preheat cold soil by covering it with either infrared-transmitting (IRT) mulch or black plastic, which will absorb heat. Then, cover the bed with a slitted, clear plastic tunnel. When the soil temperature reaches 65° to 70°F, set out plants and cover the black plastic mulch with straw to keep it from trapping too much heat. Remove the clear plastic tunnel when the air temperature warms and all danger of frost has passed. Install it again at the end of the season, when temperatures cool.
 

+ you Get Strawberries . . . .

Epsom Salt Spray . . .

Remember for Spring ~ Add 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt to a gallon of water and spray your lawn for a lusher, greener lawn. Epsom salt is loaded with magnesium!

A Seed . . .

love this . . . .

Temperature of Your Compost Heap . . .

From Organic Gardening :
When ingredients going into the compost pile include diseased or pest-infested plant matter and/or weed seeds, hot composting offers a way to deal with those problem organisms so they don’t return to your garden in the finished compost. Frequent aeration—achieved by turning the pile—and temperature monitoring are necessary to ensure that hot, or thermal, composting controls bad actors like weeds and diseases without producing so much heat that the compost bursts into flame.
Elaine Ingham, Ph.D., chief scientist at the Rodale Institute, compares a thermal compost pile to a lively party scene: “Just think about any crowded bar, with people dancing, partying, and getting rowdy, and think of the heat that can be generated in a place like that,” Ingham says. That’s what happens in a compost pile where nitrogen-containing foods such as legumes, seed meals, and manures get the party started by boosting the activity of the decomposers in the pile. As bacteria and fungi grow and reproduce rapidly under the influence of high-nitrogen organic materials, heat is released.
To generate the heat needed to thoroughly process problem ingredients, Ingham notes, the party in your compost pile has to go for 10 to 15 days. This takes quite a bit of food, and the pile needs to be turned at least five times during those 2 weeks to get oxygen back into the pile and to cool things off a bit. “Also, the pile needs to be evened out, so the really hot spots get mixed with the ‘wallflowers,’” she continues.
After a compost pile is constructed, rising temperatures within the pile indicate that microbes have begun to break down the organic materials. Regular temperature monitoring lets you make sure the decomposers are at work long enough to kill diseases, pests, parasites, weed seeds, and pest nematodes. While experienced compost chefs may be able to judge their pile’s temperature by feel, a 20-inch compost thermometer is a worthwhile investment of about $30 to provide a more reliable measurement of temperatures within a heap. Composting fanatics might opt to splurge on a thermometer with a 3-foot probe, costing $120 or more and able to take readings from deeper within a pile. Using the thermometer’s long probe, monitor the compost daily during the first week to 10 days to see if the interior of the pile remains in the desirable range of 140°F to 160°F.
Your compost pile can get too hot, Ingham cautions. “If the pile starts getting into the range of 160 to 165 degrees, the organisms are growing so fast that they can use up the oxygen in the pile, causing the good-guy aerobic organisms to start to go dormant or die.” Then the anaerobic bacteria and yeasts (the anaerobic forms of fungi) start growing and, sooner or later, alcohol will be produced. “There are hundreds of different kinds of alcohols that these anaerobic organisms can make, and some have a heat of combustion around 180°F,” warns Ingham. “If the pile is anaerobic and temperatures reach 180°F or thereabouts, it is very likely that the pile will spontaneously combust.” To prevent this from happening, turn the pile if its temperature exceeds 165 degrees F.
Conversely, a pile that is short on nitrogen-rich ingredients may never reach the thermal range needed to wipe out pathogens and weedy seeds. If things aren’t heating up, it’s time to mix in some high-nitrogen materials, such as fresh grass clippings, legumes, cottonseed meal, or manure, as you moisten and aerate the pile.
After your first attempt at thermal composting, Ingham says, you figure out how much high-nitrogen “party” food, green bacterial food, and woody, high-carbon food to add to make things heat up. “Monitoring temperature takes mere minutes,” Ingham concludes, “but is essential to letting you know when you need to turn the pile or add party foods to keep things just right for your guests.”
Originally published in Organic Gardening magazine, December 2013/January 2014

Take care of the Birds . . .

The Farmers' Almanac is projecting a cold winter this year.
Taking care of  the birds is always important.  Their needs are simple :  high energy food and unfrozen water.

A fun option and great gift for bird lovers, of all ages, are bird seed wreaths.


Recipe for bird seed wreaths :

Supplies
4 cups bird seed feed
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
3 Tblspns. corn syrup
1 package of plain gelatin
Non-stick cooking spray
*Options to add include melted peanut butter, raisins ..... crushed nuts

For the mold: used, washed out butter tubs + an empty toilet paper tube for the center to make the hole.  Or anything that has the shape you want.
Bundt pans work wonderfully.

Directions:
Step 1: In a large bowl put 1/2 cup warm water and gelatin mix together and let the gelatin dissolve.
Step 2: Whisk in the corn syrup and flour to create a paste.
Step 3: Add 4 cups of the bird seed + options, to the large bowl and stir well.  ( I would suggest a large serving fork with at least 4 tines. )
Step 4: Spray the mold, generously, with a non-stick cooking spray, then scoop the seed mixture into them as evenly as possible.
Step 5: Tap down the seed with the back of a spoon.
Step 6: After 24 hours turn them over onto little paper plates and then allow to dry for an additional 24 hours.

Tie ribbon on the wreath for hanging.   (I would not suggest hanging a wreath on the door of your home.   Though it would be attractive for a minute, you really don't want to encourtage birds to fly near your door and possibly into your home.)

*Personal Tip:  I usually have scraps of 'hardware cloth' (wire mesh screen) waiting for a project,  I am adding it to the mold after adding 1/2 of the seed, to add extra stability to the wreath.  Once bird and squirrels start eating the seed wreath, they often crumble.  The addition of the metal will help hold it together a little longer.

Bhadra Kali's Dog Biscuits . . . .

PEANUT BUTTER OAT DOG TREATS

 

MAKES  approx. 2 ½ lbs of treats

 

Ingredients:

3 cup whole wheat flour or corn meal (or combination of the 2)

2 eggs

2 cups quick cooking oats

½ cup flax seeds, flax meal or wheat germ

2 ½ warm water

1/2 cup peanut butter

¼ tspn baking soda

¼ tspn baking powder

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  (You’ll be baking low & slow.) 

Combine flour, 2 lightly beaten eggs, oats, and flax seeds in large bowl.

In a separate bowl, pour warm water onto peanut butter. Gently stir until peanut butter has dissolved.

Pour warmed peanut butter/water mix into the other bowl

Hand mix lightly to combine ingredients in large bowl.  

Clean and dry hands.

Flour your hands. Then pull out softball size clumps of dough, rolling them in your floured hands.

From this size dough ball, pull out meatball size dough balls.

Re-flour hands and tightly roll these ball.

Place these 1/4 inch apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets (They don't spread.).

Bake 60 mins. on middle rack of oven.

Remove from cookie sheet and cool on baking rack.

 

Store your homemade dog treats in an airtight container and place them in the freezer. Allow the treats to thaw for 10 – 20 minutes prior to serving to your dog. Treats can last for up to 6 months in the freezer.

 

*When preparing homemade dog treats, make sure you take into account any allergies that your pet may have to specific ingredients.  If you are experimenting with new flavors, feed the treat to your dog in a small amount to see how they react to it before distributing an entire treat.

Organic Gardening : Crop Rotation

Crop rotation is a systematic approach to deciding which crop to plant where in your vegetable garden from one year to the next. Crop rotation is very important to organic farmers who grow crops on a large scale and of varying importance to home gardeners. There are general principles of crop rotation that can help you make these decisions, but in the end, each farmer and gardener devises a unique crop rotation plan depending on which crops they grow and in what amounts.

The goals of crop rotation are to help manage soil fertility and also to help avoid or reduce problems with soilborne diseases and some soil-dwelling insects, such as corn rootworms.

 

Balancing soil fertility
Different crops have different nutrient requirements and affect soil balance differently. Some, like corn and tomatoes, are heavy feeders that quickly deplete soil nitrogen and phosphorus. Thus, if you plant corn in the same spot year after year, that plot of soil will run low on nitrogen and phosphorus more quickly than other parts of your garden will. By changing the location of corn each year, you'll be able to renew the plot where it grew the preceding year, so your soil won't get out of balance. 

 

There are other crops that also use up nitrogen rapidly. They tend to be the leafy and fruiting crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes. In contrast, root vegetables and herbs are light feeders. Peas, beans, and other legumes add nitrogen to the soil but need lots of phosphorus.

 

The general rule of thumb for balancing out soil nutrients is to avoid planting the same general category of crop (root, legume, and leafy/fruiting) successively in the same place. It's best to follow nitrogen-fixing legumes such as peas or beans with nitrogen-loving leaf or fruiting crops such as lettuce or tomatoes. Then, follow the heavy feeding crops with light-feeding root crops.

 

Disease and pest prevention
If you have a large home garden, you may want to plan your crop rotation on the basis of plant families rather than on nutrient needs. This can help in your overall program of avoiding diseases and pests, because crops in the same botanical family tend to suffer from the same pest and disease problems. For example, Colorado potato beetles like to eat potato plants, but they also enjoy feasting on tomato leaves and eggplant foliage. Since these beetles overwinter in the soil, if you plant eggplant in a spot where you grew potatoes the year before, you could be inviting a beetle problem for your eggplants from the day they're planted. Likewise, several serious bacterial and fungal diseases overwinter in plant debris in the soil. 

 

Lengthy rotations are sometimes necessary to control chronic soil borne problems. Bean anthracnose fungus can persist in soil for up to three years, so a four-year rotation is needed to keep the disease at bay. The same holds true for such fungal diseases as Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt. A few problems, such as club root, persist in the soil for even longer, so rotation is less useful for controlling them.

 

Choosing your crop rotation plan If you have a small garden, you may not be able to set up an effective rotation by crop family. That's also true if you grow only a few kinds of crops. In that case, stick to a basic soil-balancing rotation. But if you have a large plot and grow many different crops, you may enjoy the challenge of setting up a rotation by crop family. Refer to the chart on the previous page to learn which crops belong to the same family.

 

Keep in mind that cover crops can be included in a rotation plan to discourage specific types of pests and to improve soil. For example, beetle grubs thrive among most vegetables, but not in soil planted in buckwheat or clover. A season of either crop can greatly reduce grub populations and at the same time will increase soil organic matter content.

 

Rotating Vegetable Families

Susceptibility to pests and diseases runs in plant families. Leave at least two, and preferably three or more, years between the times you plant members of the same crop family in an area of your garden. When planning a rotation scheme, refer to this rundown of the seven family groups most often planted in vegetable gardens along with ideas for rotating them.

 

Onions, garlic: 

Rotate with legumes; avoid planting in soil with undecomposed organic matter. 

 

Carrots, parsnips, parsley, dill, fennel, coriander:

Moderate feeders. Precede with any other plant family; condition soil with compost before planting. Follow with legumes or heavy mulch. 

 

Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips:

High level of soil maintenance required for good root health. Heavy feeders. Precede with legumes; follow by first cultivating the soil to expose pests for predation, then spread compost. 

 

Cucumbers, gourds, melons, squash, pumpkins, watermelons:

For improved pest control, precede with winter rye or wheat; follow with legumes. 

 

Beans, peas, clovers, vetches:

Beneficial to soil; few pest problems. Rotate alternately with all other garden crops when possible. 

 

Wheat, oats, rye and corn:

Plant before tomato- or squash-family crops to control weeds and improve soil's ability to handle water. 

 

Eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes:

Heavy feeders with many fungal enemies. Precede with cereal grain or grass; follow with legumes.

 

Be . . . .

Happy Valentines Day . . . .

Floral Composition . . .

A floral composition that will "dazzle you with simplicity."

For step-by-step instructions for making this floral arrangement, see the full story.

Click button to listen to Bamboo Arrangement and rightclick to download

FLORAL JOURNEY: Bedazzling bamboo: Blooms add beauty to a magnificent plant by Sakul Intakul

In Asia, bamboo is one of the four great plants that are the pillars of civilisation - the others being rice, coconut and banana. Bamboo is also part of the staple diet throughout this part of the world. A house can be built entirely from bamboo. It can be a toy, a tool, a utensil or a container, or it can even be used in vehicles. Besides, arts and handicrafts in endless forms are inspired by and created from this magnificent plant.

In the creation of my modern flower designs, as an Asian artist, I am greatly inspired by this modest plant, which grows in abundance and in great varieties here in Thailand. I use thin bamboo strips to create simple forms, such as round and sphere shapes, to serve as the base for my exotic bloom arrangements. But sometimes irregular shapes can also be accomplished by this versatile natural material. Bamboo culms can be cut at desired lengths and used as natural containers for water and food. For today's floral arrangement, I used these natural containers.

The process of making this design is very simple and very easy to follow.

I used pink anthuriums and the culms of golden bamboo with a diameter of about 2.5cm as my floral and plant materials. A round glass container is the secondary receptacle of the composition.

Firstly, as the primary receptacle for the anthuriums, I cut the bamboo culms to a length twice that of the height of my glass container. The size of the glass container dictates the number of bamboo pieces to cut - in this case, 12. I continue to put the cut bamboo pieces into the glass container, making sure that all the pieces turn to one direction. I then add fresh water to fill the pieces of bamboo culms. The stems of the anthuriums should be cut to the proper length when they are being arranged; the total height of the floral arrangement should be 3.5 to 4 times the height of the glass container. Finally, I put one or two anthuriums into each bamboo culm - and there you have it - an arrangement that will dazzle you with the simplicity and beauty of the composition inspired by one of Asia's most modest, yet magnificent plants.

(Source: Bangkok Post, FLORAL JOURNEY, 3/31/2011))

To believe . . .

On The Top Of A Mountain . . . .

Life Changing Loaf Of Bread . . .

Recipe of Sarah Britton:

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread

Makes 1 loaf
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup flax seeds
½ cup hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee, melted
1 ½ cups water
In a loaf pan, combine all dry ingredients. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a separate bowl. Add mixture to the dry ingredients and combine until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick, adding 1-2 teaspoons water if dough is too thick to stir. Smooth top and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake bread for 20 minutes, then remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down, directly on a rack, and bake for another 30-40 minutes (it should sound hollow when tapped). Let cool completely before slicing.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

February Gardening Tips For Zones 10 - 11 . . . .

Gardening Tips For Zones 10 – 11 :

With our remarkable and pleasant weather, we need to have a good pest plan in place. The effectiveness of both, insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils, are enhanced by adding isopropyl alcohol  to their mix.  Add ½ cup of alcohol to a quart of your insecticidal soap mix.  For your horticultural oil mix, add 1 cup of alcohol to ½ teaspoon of oil to 2 quarts of water.  (The alcohol kills the insect, usually on contact.)

Insecticidal soaps are a contact insecticide, so spray the underside of leaves as well as the tops. 

The hort oil smothers unseen young and eggs, and will linger on the plant material longer than the insecticidal soap may.  Care needs to be taken when applying a hort oil during warm to hot weather.  You can fry the plant material, and that is not our goal.  Consider applying in the early evening, when temperatures have dropped slightly.  A heavy dew may help dissipate the oil overnight.   Keep close watch.

A gardener’s keen observation is the best defense, and tool, that we can have.

Reapply, if needed, following a rain.  

Adding a strong garlic mix (garlic tea for the soap, and garlic oil added to the hort oil) may prove to have additional benefits in controlling pests, without harming beneficial insects.

Continue to clean off soil from your garden tools.  Applying linseed oil to wooden handles will help preserve them.  Safely store your tools when you are done with them.

Clean pots for your spring plantings.

 

Vegetables:

Direct sow cool-season vegetables.

Continue to plant peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, and other aboveground crops.

Plant asparagus and artichoke roots.

If you have saved vegetable seeds from your past seasons’ bounties, be aware that different varieties of vegetables stay viable for different lengths of time.  (Last year’s seeds should perform well for you.)

Onion, spinach, parsnips are typically good for 1 to 2 years. Corn, okra, and peppers last up to 3 years.  Beans, broccoli, carrots, kohlrabi and pea seeds last 3 to 5 years.  Beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkin, squash, and tomato may last 4 to 6 years.

The success of your saved seeds depends on how you have stored them.  A cool, dark, dry location will keep the seeds in a dormant state plus resist mold and mildew.

On mild days, prune berries, brambles, grapes.

Plant new grapes vines.

If your strawberries did not perform well last season, you may need to consider renovating the bed, to allow the younger plants to take over.  Snip the runners (also known as ‘sisters.’) and come up with a plan for relocating them and for fertilizing (2 ½ pounds per 100 square feet).  Remember to keep them watered during hot, dry weather.

Each strawberry plant will typically produce about a quart of strawberries per year.  Plant a minimum of 6 to 7 plants per person. (30 to 35 strawberry plants should feed a family of five.)   If you plan on freezing your strawberries, plant at least 10 plants per person.  February is our last month for planting strawberries.

 

Flowers:

If starting your next season’s bachelor’s buttons, liatris, nasturtiums, and poppies from seed, sow the seeds in a light soil, rich in compost and in full sun, lightly covering the seeds with soil.

Gaillardia is a self-seeding, daisy-like, native wildflower with scarlet and yellow petals. Barely cover the seeds in a bed with full to partial sun.  

Salt and drought tolerant, you can plant the Spanish Bayonet anytime. I would suggest doing this when the plants are young and small.  Provide a sandy and dry area, far away from pedestrian traffic.

Blooming, here, all year long, Blue Daze, is a moderately fast grower, preferring a well drained location.   When mulching, keep the mulch away from the plant stalks to reduce the threat of fungus.  For the best color, plant in full sun.  The flowers fold up in the middle of the day, so strolling around your garden in the morning will delight you.

Trees:

Typically, container grown trees can be planted at any time of year.

February is about the last month to get your new tangerine trees in to the ground. Dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball, but no deeper.  Create a berm, and keep mulch and other plant material 2 -3 feet away from the trunk.  Water daily for the first few weeks, then feed 4 -6 weeks after planting (always water following a feeding). 

Prune to remove lower limbs on your citrus, if they are interfering maintenance tasks.  They will grow vigorously in the following months.

Do not fertilize established citrus in the winter.

Soak the pots of your container grown citrus to help remove salts from fertilizer.

 

Lawns:

To minimize turf stress, do not over water or over fertilize.

If you have an irrigation system, check your irrigation heads for silk blockages.  Typically, it is easily cleaned, by rinsing or blowing out the debris. Use care when pulling the irrigation heads out of the ground.  When in doubt, consult a professional.

 

February Notes From The Farmers' Almanac . . .

February 2014

1st-2nd Plant Peppers, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, And Other Aboveground Crops In Southern Florida, California, And Texas. Extra Good For Cucumbers, Peas, Cantaloupes, And Other Vine Crops.
3rd-4th Seeds That Are Planted Now Will Grow Poorly And Yield Little.
5th-7th Fine For Planting Beans, Peppers, Cucumbers, Melons, And Other Aboveground Crops Where Climate Is Suitable.
8th-9th Any Seed Planted Now Will Tend To Rot.
10th-12th Fine For Planting Beans, Tomatoes, Corn, Cotton, Cucumbers, Peppers, Melons, And Other Aboveground Crops Where Climate Allows. Plant Seedbeds And Flower Gardens.

For the birds . . . .

It Has Been Too Cold To Work Outside . . . .

 

 

 

. . . . for me. 

 

So, I've done a few bonsai  for friends.

 

 

 

 

The moss was collected from our driveway at the cabin.

 

 



Thich Nhat Hanh . . . .

"We should practice this year with the flavor of right thinking to plant good seeds. Will our speech carry the language of love and compassion? We should only use loving speech and harvest the fruit of right speech."

WINTER. . . .

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash . . . .

Orange Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pecans

Posted on GOJEE by Marie Poulin

Seasonal acorn squash stuffed with quinoa. pecans and cranberries is my idea of a healthy vegetarian meal. This recipe for orange quinoa stuffed acorn squash is easy to prepare and a real feast. I love the sweetness of the squash and the nuttiness of the quinoa.
Quinoa is addictively delicious.  Quinoa is usually treated like a grain or starch, cooking up like rice or pasta in a fraction of the time.

Choose squash that are heavy for their size and have a hard, deep-colored rind free of blemishes or moldy spots.

Once the seeds are removed, winter squash can be baked, steamed or simmered.

 

Ingredients

• 2 small acorn squashes, halved length-wise, seeds removed
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup orange juice
                  
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 small onion, diced
                  
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup chopped pecans
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

Make Simple Maple Pumpkin Pie Bars

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Rub squash flesh with 3 tablespoons oil and place face up on baking sheet. Roast 30-35 minutes or until flesh is easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and cool.
2. Meanwhile, in saucepan bring broth and orange juice to a boil; stir in quinoa, lower heat and simmer, covered until ready. When quinoa is done cooking, turn off heat.
3. In medium pan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and sauté an additional 1 minute.
4. Add onion mixture, cranberries and pecans to cooked quinoa and toss until combined; add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Fill each squash half with quinoa mixture. Drizzle with a bit of maple syrup before serving, if desired.

3.1.09

Arugula Salad . . . . .

From Emily @ fiveandspice.com

For the most part in my kitchen, salads are creatures of whim, not foresight.  They are MacGyver-ed, not planned.  I compose them from whatever I find when I take a look at what I have that could be tossed with dressing.
In spring this may be young greens and radishes, or peas with dill and feta. Midsummer salads become wild tangles of lettuces and berries and cucumbers and herbs and summer squash and corn and peaches, and, and, and.  Towards summer’s end salads are tomatoes garnished with more tomatoes.  When winter reaches its deepest chill, I like to combine any leftover roasted vegetables I have with thinly sliced kale or cabbage or other hearty greens.


This salad did come about basically the same way, that is by happy accident.  But it hit the spot so perfectly in the bullseye that I have since started buying the ingredients specifically to make it again.  Which is truly something.
This salad follows the formula that many of the most satisfying salads do, something fresh, something sweet, something salty, something crunchy, something soft, something juicy.
Here the arugula is bracingly sharp and peppery, in diametric opposition to the mild creamy flesh of the delicata squash.  The pomegranate arils twinkle and burst in your mouth with a tart pop of juice while the toasty pine nuts – remarkably similar in size and shape – gently crunch. Then there’s the cheese shavings, spare but luxurious, alluring, like just a peek a fine lace from behind a hem, it doesn’t take much to seduce, but seduce it does.  Use a high quality hard cheese, you won’t regret it.  (A few slices of avocado and pinches of sea salt make a reasonable substitute in spirit if not in flavor, if you can’t have dairy.)

A lemon-maple dressing, equal parts syrupy, acidic, floral, and grassy, (and 100% sunny yellow) pulls together all these opposing parts into something unified and glorious (and so pretty!).
Something which you’ll want to be sure you prepare in double or even triple quantities so you can have it again tomorrow.  Even if it’s still cold enough to freeze your nose off.

Arugula Salad with Delicata, Pomegranate, and Pine Nuts (serves about 4)

• 1 medium size delicata squash (if you can’t find delicata you can sub a different winter squash, just peel it and cut it into small chunks)
• 4 generous handfuls of arugula
• a generous 1/4 cup pine nuts
• the arils from 1/2 of a pomegranate (about 1/2 cup)
• a pungent, hard cheese (like Parmesan or an aged goat cheese) for shaving
• 2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tsp. maple syrup

1. Heat your oven to 425F.  Wash and halve the delicata squash lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds.  Cut each squash half into lots of little half moons, a bit over a quarter-inch thick.  Toss them with some olive oil and salt and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake, flipping halfway through, until they are caramelized and tender, about 20 minutes.
2. While the squash is roasting, put the pine nuts in a separate baking dish and pop them in the oven for just about 5-8 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant.
3. Let both the squash and pine nuts cool for a little bit. (I like to use them when they’re still slightly warm, though.)
4. While they are cooling, whisk together the lemon juice, 3 Tbs. olive oil, maple syrup and pinch of salt.  Then toss the squash with about 1/3 of this dressing.
5. In a large salad bowl or serving platter, combine the arugula with the squash and pomegranate.  Add more dressing to taste and toss.  Then, add the pine nuts.  Use a vegetable peeler to shave pieces of cheese over the top of the salad (however much you want to use – somedays I use very little while other days I’m a bit more heavy handed).  Toss again gently, and serve.

Our Backyard Hawks . . .

I photographed these 2 Red Tail Hawks from our back deck, in Atlanta.
These gorgeous Hawks are each the size of a Welsh Corgi, and have never been noticed by us together in a tree.

Native American Tradition :

The red in its tail represents a strong life force or energy. Its message is to flow with life instead of struggling. If you have hawk medicine you are a visionary and can see beyond the surface of things and situations. You are capable of looking at the big picture before making important decisions. Remember to focus on problems before trying to solve them. You are a strong and courageous person. Freedom is important to you so give yourself space in relationships. Hawk is a messenger of the Great Spirit and when hawk is seen circling above you, it is a blessing from the Creator.

Hawks piercing shriek tears through the air. In its shrill cry lies an important message which represents illumination. Hawk teaches us to scope out the situation and focus on our talents, trying to draw them out. Hawk learns to see the big picture in order to understand the past, present, and future. Hawk asks us to be observant of surroundings so we won't get distracted from our path by others. It also reminds us not to get caught up in minor annoyances so we can maintain our inner balance.

 

Sustainable KASHI's Rainwater Harvesting Series . . . .

Rainwater Harvesting Series with Eric Phillips

Sustainable Kashi is located on Kashi Ashram  11155 Roseland Rd, Sebastian, FL

Ever thought about catching the rain from your roof? Come join Eric Phillips and Sustainable Kashi for a 2-part Permaculture Series on rainwater harvesting! January 18, 2014 - 9-12 - Part 1 "Beyond Rain Barrels" Learn the basics of sizing and designing a rain water catchment system for your home and garden. Participants will learn: proper system sizing, planning for average rainfall, planning for storm events, material options for cisterns, techniques to keep debris out and water clean. February 15, 2014 - 9-12 - Part 2 "Hands Dirty Workshop" Construct and install a rainwater catchment system on site. Participants will learn: how to construct a water catchment system with a focus on sourcing local materials, how to keep costs low, leveling the site, defining structure size, erecting and down water spout plumbing. $30 per class. Includes an organic vegetarian lunch.  Please RSVP by 8pm January 15.  Minimum 5 participants required. Call or text Eric at 928-637-4828 to reserve your spot today!