January 02, 2020
Gardeners gather the ingredients to a healthy soil the way cooks stock their cubbords. We are always on the lookout for soil amendments because you can never have enough. I've been known to slow down when driving past bales of hay or straw, wondering if they have gotten wet and will soon be available for a buck each. Leaves are best raked up when thick, so I'm attracted to the 'easy pick'ns' under big old oak trees..
I got a wheelbarrow full of moldy hay yesterday and wondered how to use it. It's stuck together in flakes like the last two batches and can make a great weed suppressor as is, or I can soak it and use it as mulch around plantings. Maybe if I just spread it out the incoming rains will soften it up..
January 03, 2020
I got two 6 packs each of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, lettuce and Brussels sprouts planted yesterday. I don't have a grow light so they will get moved outdoors in the mornings and back in at night. This gives them a cooler growing environment during the day which slows down their growth. If they remained indoors under a grow light they might get too big to get past six weeks, and need to be transplanted out before I'm ready. I sat in front of the electric fireplace to plant the trays, like I do every year, but this year I got too hot. Turned it off. When I sat in the greenhouse with the door open it was too hot..
I went and sat in the shade. I saw grass and weeds sprouting like spring, and I saw a buttercup flower. We hear you Gretta. I hope your generation can muster up the dedication to curb global warming. Your adversaries are the richest people on earth, and the most powerful of the corrupt politicians, so the battle will be legendary..
January 04, 2020
The more we learn about the gut biome, the more validated veggie gardeners become. It's becoming increasingly evident that a diet with an abundance of fruits, vegetables and nuts contributes to a healthy mix of bacteria and fungus in the intestinal track. Consuming thirty different fruits, veggies and nuts per week has been linked to a healthy gut microbiome. Not only is the health of our bodies at stake, but our mental health as well, according to some research..
Healthy gardening leads to the production of the healthiest veggitables, which are composed of all the nutrients that our bodies require. We can't say that about chemically produced crops because we've interfered with nature's intentions in ways that we don't fully understand..
