How Gardening (Practically) Saved My Life...

Yes, I know the title sounds extreme and dramatic but let's face it; in the big picture of things it's true.  Before gardening, my dinner plate was a literal world of tan and brown with no intention for change.  I lived thinking that carbs were the new green and I embraced their ability to bring me comfort and joy.  Vegetables were the enemy and the further away I could be from them the better.  

Oh, I embraced the perennial favorite, corn-on-the-cob and well, that was it.  Really.  I know...so sad.  It's not that I didn't want to be healthy, but hey - I was young and my body could take it!  So, I fed it lots of comfort foods and when I ate a small amount of green beans or an occasional salad, I figured I was "doing my body good." 

It wasn't until I began to have digestive issues that I began to take my health more seriously.  I was convinced that I was dying and when the doctor told me that I just needed more fiber, I was insulted.  How dare he say that what I had could be fixed by me eating better!  So, I added more fiber to my diet...like the Metamucil kind until I learned how I could get all the fiber I need from vegetables and fruit - who knew?!

Enter gardening.  I always liked to grow things when I was a kid...but these were of the flower nature.  So I started to plant lots of flowers...I mean lots.  I put them all over our small little yard and I still have a lot.  Then I progressed to herbs...after all, they flowered too and I was fascinated by the fact that you could eat and drink them and they could help you too.  Then I thought, why not plant a few tomatoes and a pepper plant or two as well?  Once that happened, I decided to can what I grew and the garden jumped into life.

So, I want to share with you how gardening is a practical way to "save" your life and learn how to eat better. 

1. Gardening Connects You to Your Food.

       I know it may sound silly, but when you grow it, you feel connected to your food.  You know the work and the effort that went into tilling and raking the soil, planting the seeds, and pulling the weeds.  It's a lot of effort and it makes you appreciate what you've had just grown.  It's way different than buying produce at the store. You didn't nurture that vegetable and you don't know where it came from - in other words, you have no emotional connection to it.  As strange as it may sound, planting the vegetables made me want to eat them!

I remember always planting a small patch of baby carrots and pea pods for our then toddlers.  I would tell them where "their" garden was and they would wander in and snack on them at will.  I'll never forget the time when our younger son came into the house with a dirt ring around his mouth after pulling some carrots...I very quickly introduced him to the garden hose!  The point is, he felt connected to his food and still loves those vegetables to this day.

2. "If You Plant It, You Must Eat It."
       This is very similar to the first reason; feeling connected to your food except in this case, it's more about feeling "responsible" for eating what you grow.  Yep, it's true.  I thought, "Wow, I just planted 10 rows of green beans and I really should can them and then eat them."  I never liked green beans.  I mean, I hated green beans.  However, they are one of the easiest veggies for me to grow and I grew them like crazy.  I had mountains of beans.  I felt very successful as a gardener but in order for that success to make sense, I needed to actually consume what I grew.   And I did, but I admit, very slowly!  

I also began to realize that if I actually ate what I grew, I could save some $$.  The practical side of me responded to this very much and I began to experiment with the vegetables, trying to find ways to "hide" them in food so I would eat them.  It eventually worked and I actually like green beans now and have fun growing lots of different varieties. 

3. Gardening Introduces You to Unique and Different  Vegetables.
      Everything from tomatillos to Mizuna...gardening has expanded my mind and palate to new flavors and textures.  After a while, growing just tomatoes, peppers and green beans radically expanded to new frontiers of vegetables like the vertical growing green; Malabar Spinach (which grew over 15 feet tall) to unique varieties of edible flowers.  I was amazed at all of the vegetable catalogs and the wealth of vegetables which were available to grow.

I began to include new and different varieties of the basic vegetables as well as including new kinds I had never tried before.  I remember talking about eggplant with my 100% Italian brother-in-law.  I began growing them, initially to give them to him and not realizing how many fruits they put on.  I knew we needed to start eating them too and eat them we did...slowly at first and now I don't think they've missed a season in our garden since...and that's been well over 20 years!  We grow them now because we love them and miss having them on our plates.  I have grown many different varieties of them as well.

There are many other reasons why gardening has "saved" my life, like the fact that it's a super fulfilling and even relaxing hobby.  I get so energized and yet still peaceful at the same time whenever I'm around my plants.  

And my health?  No more digestive complaints and I've been able to maintain the same healthy weight for over 20 years.  I thank my veggies for lending a hand in all of this and look forward to gardening for many years to come.  Most active gardeners live a long and healthy life!

I hope you are inspired to grow your own vegetables if you aren't already and maybe share how they helped to save your life as well!

How has gardening impacted your life?


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The Benefits of Black Mulch

It's about that time for me to be thinking of transplanting all my tomato and pepper seedlings.  May 20 is our frost free date, so we are pretty much in the clear from frost.  However, just because frost is not a threat cold night time temperatures still are for these heat loving plants.  We've just had a series of 80+ degree days but all that is about to change as a cold front is moving in bringing cooler weather and 40 degree nights as well.

Not to daunted however, I am planning on "cheating" the cold temperatures by using a black mulch on the garden for my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.  Even if daytime temperatures are nice, these plants like warm soil as well.  Black mulch does the trick.  I will lay the mulch down a good week ahead of planting as I am also trying to avoid surprise spring hailstorms.  I have found that giving the tomatoes the best soil conditions to start in predicts their outcome more than getting them in too early and watch them struggle to thrive. 

 Why mulch?  This is a great question...why should we even bother doing this in the first place?  Mulching certainly has its advantages that make it definitely worth considering.  There are many options when it comes to mulch, like straw, hay, coffee grounds, and other organic materials.  While we use a mix of these materials ( I have sawdust on the paths in the photo above), I want to look especially at this one particular kind.

1. It Warms Up the Soil.  Like I mentioned previously, mulch...specifically black, will warm up your soil temperature providing you with an earlier harvest - anywhere from 7-14 days earlier! (1)  Let's face it.  These Mediterranean plants LOVE the heat and black mulch is a huge help for our summers in Northeast Ohio.  Especially during a cool, wet summer...the mulch helps to give the plants the extra warmth they need to be nice and productive.  Straw, hay and other types of light colored mulch actually cool the soil so you'll want to consider this when choosing a mulch that matches your plants growing conditions.

2.  The Mulch is Moisture Retentive.  I like to use landscape fabric for our mulch as it is water and air permeable yet holds in the moisture too. This is a huge plus for a dry summer or if your area is in drought.  It's another great measure to protect your all important seedlings to make sure you enjoy a premium bounty of fruit.

 3.  It Serves as an Excellent Weed Control.  It's more work to put down the mulch, but it saves LOTS of time later by not having to weed your plants.  There will be a few weeds that poke through the plant holes, but unless you are fighting an especially aggressive weed, black mulch really cuts down on this issue.  I would actually mulch my plants for this reason alone because it's such a huge timesaver in the garden.

Other Benefits of Black Mulch:

1. Minimizes nutrient leaching by shedding excessive rainfall.

2. Helps keep the edible portion of vegetable crops clean, especially pumpkin and other fruiting vegetables.

3. Helps to prevent the transference of soil borne diseases from being splashed up onto the plant.

I have found black mulch to be invaluable in our home garden AND our Community Garden.  We've grown tomatoes with and without it and the mulch makes a huge difference in what the fruit looks like and how much we get.  It's a true garden help.

There are a few disadvantages mostly dealing with the cost of the materials and the time to lay it down.  I often find my fabric, if heavy duty, will last more than one season.  Otherwise, we pay about $15-$20 for a roll that covers most of our small garden space.  We use other more economical mulches that we have around the yard for other areas of the garden and save money that way.

Photo Source

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If you're a beginning gardener or haven't tried using black mulch on your tomatoes, peppers, eggplants as well as squash and melons; here's hoping you'll consider trying it this year and see if it makes a difference in your growing region.  

Blessings!!


References:

1. http://www.extension.org/pages/65191/synthetic-mulching-materials-for-weed-management
2. http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1099
3. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/veg/htms/colrmlch.htm

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How Gardening Can Make You Healthy

The idea of gardening contributing to our health seems on the surface to be a no-brainer but science is discovering different ways how gardening and nature in general can help give us all a better quality of life overall.

When I was a kid I basically only liked 3 foods and vegetables was not one of them.  I'm not sure how I survived on a diet of saltine crackers and American cheese but thankfully I'm still here.  I was very sick a lot though and it all makes sense now when I think what I ate or more like what I didn't eat growing up.

It wasn't my parent's fault either.  They tried their very best to get me to eat veggies and fruit but the canned stuff we were usually served didn't work for me.  My taste buds were enlightened the first time I ate a newly shucked pea from its pod from one of our summer time gardens.  We didn't garden every year but the few times we did I realized that vegetables could actually be tasty. 

Once married and with kiddos; I decided they needed to taste real food from its source and that's when I really plunged into gardening.  I was hooked on growing my own food and that meant I needed to eat this stuff too.  Which I did, although some vegetables took me a long time to like; I persevered on until I grew to love them too.

So how does gardening make you healthy? 

1. Stress Relief.  
Sounds funny when I think of it because weeds can make me feel stressed, but actually a recent study done in the Netherlands showed how it can relieve lots of stress.  Two groups of people after having completed a stressful task were then instructed to either read a book or work in the garden for 30 minutes.  The garden group reported better moods and had lower levels of cortisol than the reading group.1  Pretty amazing, huh?  It turns out that garden activity is a type of "involuntary attention" where we don't have to be intensely focused on a specific task and therefore can relax.  After all, pulling a weed or hoeing isn't rocket science.

2. Better Mental Health. 
"In a study conducted in Norway, people who had been diagnosed with depression, persistent low mood, or "bipolar II disorder" spent six hours a week growing flowers and vegetables.
After three months, half of the participants had experienced a measurable improvement in their depression symptoms. What's more, their mood continued to be better three months after the gardening program ended. The researchers suggest that the novelty of gardening may have been enough to jolt some of the participants out of their doldrums, but some experts have a much more radical explanation for how gardening might ease depression." 2

I know that when I feel anxious or stressed, going out to look at my plants, flowers, what-have-you makes a big difference in how I feel when I come back in from being outside.  But not just the warm sun, gentle breezes and the beautiful colors of nature can affect us, some researchers believe that the soil itself can be healing!

"Christopher Lowry, Ph.D., an assistant professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been injecting mice with Mycobacterium vaccae, a harmless bacteria commonly found in soil, and has found that they increase the release and metabolism of serotonin in parts of the brain that control cognitive function and mood -- much like serotonin-boosting antidepressant drugs do."3

This isn't to say that you should throw away your prescription drugs but to think if you're feeling a bit down or depressed that planting in the soil can help...why not?! 

3. Exercise and Nutrition.

This is a given.  Although the exercise we do in the garden is not cardiovascular, we are moving and that is always beneficial to the body.  The repetitive tasks help to tone muscle and are good low impact exercises.  It's not surprising to hear that many elderly people do well health wise when they maintain a garden of some kind.

Nutrition...well, when you plant the food you pretty much are committed to try to eat it!  And most gardeners eat more vegetables than non-gardeners.  This has to do with access to fresher food and making better food choices.

"Studies of after-school gardening programs suggest that kids who garden are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables. And they're a lot more adventurous about giving new foods a try, says Anne Palmer, who studies food environments as the program director of Eating for the Future, a program based at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future, in Baltimore."4

No room for a garden?  Not a gardener?  Studies have shown that even looking at some form of nature can bring health benefits as well.  Health benefits have been found even when looking at a portrait or photo. 5

"A landmark study by Roger S. Ulrich, published in the April 27, 1984, issue of Science magazine, found strong evidence that nature helps heal. Ulrich, a pioneer in the field of therapeutic environments at Texas A&M University, found that patients recovering from gallbladder surgery who looked out at a view of trees had significantly shorter hospital stays, fewer complaints, and took less pain medication, than those who looked out at a brick wall."6

Pretty amazing stuff, right?  But then again...as gardeners we're not too surprised.  Being connected with nature and being amazed year after year whenever we see newly sprouted seedlings emerge gives us immense joy. It brings back that childlike amazement of new birth which has to be great for our hearts and minds.  It also gives us a tremendous sense of accomplishment...always great for our health.

Hopefully this will inspire you to want to buy a patio tomato, a potted flower or a windowbox of lettuce...of all the health benefits, you'll be eating better for sure!

Blessings!

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1. http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5.http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/gardening-health?page=2
6.http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/features/gardening-health

Winter Sowing Seeds with Recycled Materials

I'll admit it.  I am basically a "lazy" gardener.  Well, at least in the fact that if I can find an idea that saves me from extra work, then I am all about it. That's what I've discovered with the idea of "winter sowing."    I actually tried this two years ago with lettuce plants and liked the results but forgot about it until a gardening friend shared a blog post about it recently.  

It's such a great idea.  You plant your seeds pretty early, some in January (like cold hardy perennials) and put them outside in mini-greenhouses, usually made out of gallon milk jug containers, and let nature do its work on the seeds.  Snow, freezing and thawing eventually soften the seed coating and help it to germinate when the temps become just right.  Now the seeds with the added protection of the greenhouses means that they'll germinate earlier for you.  

So, it's like starting indoors but in my thinking much better because I don't have to set anything up and I don't have to harden off any seedlings. This means I will start my cold hardy greens and lettuces now, as well as some perennial herbs, but will start my peppers, tomatoes and basil outside in April.  

Clear plastic cup having a second life as a greenhouse.

 
Normally I direct sow many of the seeds right into the garden, but this year I am going to attempt a no-till garden (less work, yeah!) and so I will need plants to begin the garden.  Because we are so limited in space, I normally have to buy almost all my plants which is $$$ and often times they run out of my varieties or the plants don't look so great.  So, winter/early spring sowing is going to help me out immensely. 
 

Because I am lacking in milk jugs, I ransacked my recycle bin to see what I could use.  Any clear, fairly tall container should work.  I will be on the lookout for milk containers as well but in the meantime, I used what I could find.  I don't need too many plants of most things so I am not concerned about their size as I can always transplant them right into the garden once the weather warms up a bit.
 

This rectangular spinach container makes a great greenhouse.

I am using the toilet roll holders as seed pots too.  I marked the what the seeds were on the little pots.  You could plant the whole container, but again, I don't need 20 plants of everything.  I also like the idea of just planting the little pots into the ground.  It gives the small plants more of an anchor when starting them out in the garden.  

When making mini-greenhouses, you want to make sure that there is at least one hole in the top for snow/rain to get through and also drainage holes at the bottom.  You can duct tape them closed if you had to make a cut in them to use them like the honey container above.

When temps rise you only need to remove the tops during the day and seal up at night.  If it goes below freezing after the seedlings have emerged, cover with and old blanket or shower curtain to give them extra warmth.  
 

You may want to try this for spring vegetables or if you don't have a lot of space inside.  I am space limited inside and out but the outdoors is much easier for me to start lots of seedlings because I'm not stuck to a few sunny windows. 

Plants started this way are often hardier and healthier because they have adjusted to the temps in their own setting.  It's like a lot of small cold frames but these are moveable and adjustable to the specific needs of each plant variety.  If you have very tender plants like tomatoes, you could also bring them inside on frosty nights...you'll just need to watch the weather during the early spring transition.

For more information, please check out this great post on Winter Sowing.  He will show the technique with milk jugs ( which I used successfully too) and even a list of plants and when to start them.  You'll have to adjust the dates according to your own planting zones. 

Have you ever tried winter sowing?  What kind of items do you use as mini greenhouses?

Blessings!



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Seed Packets: Packages of Promise

 

There has always been something very enticing about a seed packet.  Whenever I see them in a store or in a catalog, I have to stop and look at them; almost as if I've never seen them before.  Maybe it's because they only make their appearance once a year.  Or maybe it's the rows of enticing pictures and colors that pull me in. They seem to stand out like picture postcards foretelling of happy times to come.

Whatever it is; I'm always drawn to them.  They scream out life in the middle of winter,  speak of hope for new seasons, and forecast great things coming my way if I'll only bring them home.

  

 It's not just the pictures that draw me either, the names are compelling as well.  The old timers who named many of the heirloom varieties were very creative and descriptive.  No Green Bean No. 17 here.

 With such names as "Green Tiger," "Red Russian," and "Dragon's Tongue," I feel as if I'm in the middle of a fantasy story itself, anxiously waiting for the story to unfold.

 Each packet holds the key to a new life in the recesses of it's paper shell.  Tiny seeds of promise, hope, life and renewal.  Promises that if you carefully follow its instructions, you will reap a harvest of fruitfulness and abundance.  I really like that...

All this in a 98 cent packet + good soil and water + a little hard work + faithfulness and hope = Abundant Harvest.  Wow.  I'm in!  Guess that's why gardening is such a rewarding way of life.  

Here's hoping all your promises come true this year...blessings!

Are you seed packet addict fan? 



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African Violets: A Color Feast in January

African Violet "Saint Paulia"

I started out gardening with houseplants.  After all, when you don't have any outdoor space, it only makes sense.  But philodendron, ivies, aloes and dieffenbachias just don't seem to satisfy everything in gardening...after all we garden not just for the love of gardening, but for "fruit."  This means either flowers, or something we can eat.  

Just looking at green is pretty nice, but to be honest, I need to anticipate something wonderful that comes with the plant...it's kind of like the change of seasons.  Even though it's difficult to switch from summer to fall to winter; there is something about the change that's gratifying. Moving from summer's greens to autumn's golds and reds and then to winter's white, blues and grays makes everything a little nicer...especially when winter is followed by the brilliant burst of the colors of spring.

 

So, growing these violets is a beautiful thing in the bleak days of winter.  I practically ignore them every other time of the year except to water and feed them.  But winter is when they become my focal point again.  As they bloom, I feel springtime is awakened!

This variegated purple version is my oldest.  A friend gave it to me as a thank-you gift in the year 2000.  Yes, I still have it and have almost killed it but thankfully it resisted my attempts. 

It's a great reminder of a friendship from long ago (my friend moved out-of-state) and I love the memories attached to it. 

So, just taking a little break from winter to enjoy these little blossoms of vibrant colors...hoping you enjoyed them just a little bit too...

What's your favorite indoor plant or flower?  Blessings!

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