Growing LETTUCE Organically

Lettuce is one of those crops that can easily be damaged by insects. I would find that to be true, especially in the southern states. 

There are a few tricks however, that I have found in growing greens organically. I hope to share a few with you and help keep you chemical free.You will find that I do not believe in any sort of pesticides or herbicides. Not even organic!!

The FIRST important step I've found is growing them in diverse conditions. What this means is simply forgetting all about nice tidy rows of lettuce. Instead introduce a whole lot of companion plants to let them grow with. The fun part about this is you can create a beautiful edible landscape in the process.

Radishes are truly a fantastic trap crop to grow along with your greens. What this means is that the insects will chew on your radish leaves instead of your lettuce, spinach and other greens in your garden. The best part about this is that you still get radishes too!

You will find that the addition of all kinds of different herbs growing in and around your lettuce is quite beneficial. One of my favorite herbs to grow with greens is Rosemary. I've even taken cuttings from Rosemary and sprinkled the needle like leaves throughout all the greens and cole crops. Laying the stems and sticks of Rosemary after you've pruned them will help ward off everything from aphids to cabbage loopers. Garlic and Onions are fabulous companions for all the greens as well!

You will find that lettuce grows very well with carrots too! The lettuce have very shallow roots and carrots are long. This works well for fitting more into your garden space as neither the lettuce or the carrots compete for nutrients in the soil.

Secondly, a whole lot of composting should be happening near the garden. Adding compost that is rich in organic matter will get all the greens growing rapidly and improve the texture and beneficial insects within the soil. 

We have found that tilling is one of the worse things that one can do in an organic and natural garden. Layering constantly with compost and organic matter keeps all of the living organisms healthy and alive beneath the soil.

We raise chickens here as well. We add chicken manure directly into our compost bins to break down naturally. This can be done with most poultry and livestock manures. It is important though to be sure the animals are raised and fed organically as well.

Thirdly, mulching is imperative! We use a whole lot of hay, straw and mulched leaves. This helps keep the moisture in the ground as well as create healthy bacteria that will make your plants flourish. Again, we must be careful that the mulch we are using is grown organically. Many farmers pour the herbicides and chemical fertilizers to their hay fields. You don't want this to end up in your garden.

All that is left that's needed is sunshine, healthy soil and some rain. 

Wishing you an abundant Harvest!

Pammy

Bird's Nest and Primrose

Bird's Nest and Primrose

By ~ William Henry Hunt
 

I

I heard the spring wind whisper
Above the brushwood fire,
"The world is made forever
Of transport and desire.

I am the breath of being,
The primal urge of things;
I am the whirl of star dust,
I am the lift of wings.

"I am the splendid impulse
That comes before the thought,
The joy and exaltation
Wherein the life is caught.

"Across the sleeping furrows
I call the buried seed,
And blade and bud and blossom
Awaken at my need.

"Within the dying ashes
I blow the sacred spark,
And make the hearts of lovers
To leap against the dark."

II

I heard the spring light whisper
Above the dancing stream,
"The world is made forever
In likeness of a dream.

"I am the law of planets,
I am the guide of man;
The evening and the morning
Are fashioned to my plan.

"I tint the dawn with crimson,
I tinge the sea with blue;
My track is in the desert,
My trail is in the dew.

"I paint the hills with color,
And in my magic dome
I light the star of evening
To steer the traveller home.

"Within the house of being,
I feed the lamp of truth
With tales of ancient wisdom
And prophecies of youth."

III

I heard the spring rain murmur
Above the roadside flower,
"The world is made forever
In melody and power.

"I keep the rhythmic measure
That marks the steps of time,
And all my toil is fashioned
To symmetry and rhyme.

"I plow the untilled upland,
I ripe the seeding grass,
And fill the leafy forest
With music as I pass.

"I hew the raw, rough granite
To loveliness of line,
And when my work is finished,
Behold, it is divine!

"I am the master-builder
In whom the ages trust.
I lift the lost perfection
To blossom from the dust."

IV

Then Earth to them made answer,
As with a slow refrain
Born of the blended voices
Of wind and sun and rain,

"This is the law of being
That links the threefold chain:
The life we give to beauty
Returns to us again."

 

 

Happy Spring and Happy Gardening!

 

Pammy

Making Seed Starting Pots Using Loofah Sponge

 

Lettuce Sprouts in Loofah Sponge Pots

This has been one of the most exciting garden experiments EVER! I have to give total credit to Mr. Garden, (husband Bryan) for his awesome "Out of the Box" thinking skills! Not only are we finding a successful earth friendly seedling pot, we are growing them ourselves as well. 

I had so much fun growing Loofah last summer. They were quite beautiful in the garden too! They proved to be a vigorous source of shade growing over the trellis keeping the soil cooler underneath. 

 Loofah on trellis in June

Once June arrived the Loofah came into full production by blooming profusely with exotic yellow flowers. This gave refuge for heirloom melon vines to grow below and on out into the rest of this part of the garden.

With the success of nice big baskets of harvested and dried Loofahs I began searching further for more alternative uses for them other than the luxurious sponge they make in the bath. I found all kind of artsy things that folks were making with them, from slippers to adding them to homemade bath soaps. 

  Our first Loofah Pots

It wasn't until December was ending and the quest for a more sustainable seedling pot was weighing heavily on my thoughts that this experiment first began. Although we've always been keen about recycling used plastic pots, the resources for them are not always available. We of course refuse to buy them new since plastic contributes an outlandish amount of trash to landfills that simply does not decompose.

I experimented earlier in the summer with making seedling pots out of toilet paper tubes. That worked just fine and was a great way to recycle them. Although I find such things can be simply composted as well, it does take the stress factor out of unnecessary consumerism.

But for a person seeking true sustainability, how could I possibly resist our homegrown Loofah Sponge revelation. 

Since each gourd contained tons of seeds I was able to save enough of them to grow some serious quantities of Loofah this summer. This should prove to provide me with loads of seedling pots at the end of the growing season. I may need to discuss the need for more greenhouses with Mr. Garden! :))

Happy Gardening!!

Pammy

Growing Organic Potatoes Made Easy

Red LaSoda Seed Potatoes

Valentines Day means more than just Cupids here in the garden. It really means Potato Planting Thyme in Texas!

Mr. Garden, also known as El Spud by some has the easiest system for growing clean and easy potatoes in raised beds.

This year it seems one of the several compost piles had lots of extra oak tree leaves. We always use what we seem to have the most in as far as organic material goes. Last year it seems it was pine straw that was used. 

Part of the raised beds get filled with leaves. Then as you can see, Mr. Garden tosses in some seed potatoes.

Then we get in there and space them in nice straight rows about a foot to 18" apart. Pretty easy so far!

Next he simply covers the potatoes with more leaves. 

Our four raised beds take about 6 lbs. of seed potato. Mr. Garden likes to buy them just the right size (smallish) so we have no need to cut them like you would for the really big seed potatoes.

All that will be left to do is to water them in and wait for them to grow. As they grow you will just simply add a bit more leaves on the top. 

Be sure to check out my potato harvest article from last year.Storing and freezing harvested potatoes.

Here's to a Fresh New Year and Bountiful Harvesting!

Happy Gardening!

Pammy

.

The BEE"S in the Lavender BASIL

Lavender Basil Lovingly Embraces Cole Crops

I haven't found a Lavender Variety that wants to flourish in my humid Texas Gulf Coast Climate. I've tried them all, only to be disappointed. So I was very intrigued when I discovered this Lavender Basil. A lovely garden friend so graciously shared seeds with me from her garden. 

The discovery didn't come until late in July, so I knew I would barely have time to get them grown to flower for seeds of my own before the chance of an early frost. I had to go for it quickly! I had a fantastic germination rate and quickly added the plants to lovingly embrace the broccoli, cabbages and Brussels sprouts. 

This combination of companion planting showed tremendous benefits in deterring insects that might want to creep into the Cole crops. But more than that, I was totally surprised by the onset of every type of BEE that could possibly be found simply lavishing in lavender abundance.

My deepest dreams of traveling the countryside of Southern France and running through the hills and fields of lavender suddenly became real in my own gardens right here in Texas....only in a basil sort of way. As I began harvesting baskets full of blooms enhanced with the light sweet floral essence, I found myself totally enchanted.

The questions have been pouring in as to how I intended to use my Lavender Basil. When I first caught wind of this herb my first thoughts were on the perfect answer for creating my favorite blend of Herb De Provence.  Since the French version includes both Basil and Lavender...well....  ;)

French Baguettes with Herbs

You may find it delightful in a savory herb baguette! You'll find my recipe right here!

You might enjoy my story about creating your own Herb De Provence as well!!

Happy Gardening!

Pammy

Summing Up Your Permaculture Efforts With Grain Crops

Triticale (Wheat/Rye) at Thyme Square Gardens

No one says permaculture like Masanobu Fukuoka residing on the Island of Shikoku, in southern Japan. It is quite strange how Mr. Garden and myself happened upon many of his practices all on our own long before we knew of this amazing farmer. 

I know it all began when we stopped using chemicals here long ago. We found the urgency for bringing a natural balance into our gardens. One that utilized every ounce that nature had to offer. The day when Mr. Garden decided to cast off the tiller to utilize the no-tillage technique was a huge step for us. 

We seen right off the need for creating and using a forest floor plan. One in which I've written about called Beginning Steps into Forest Gardening. After all the whole concept is one to recreate and mimic nature. What more balanced bounty could possibly be found in a natural forest that has been unhampered by man.

I think the hardest part for us in the beginning was living somewhat on the prairie where things such as trees and leaves could have provided a whole host of organic matter, but which we were in short supply. One can never have enough organic matter. NEVER!! Not when farming and gardening! For it is the organic matter that allows us to create the most fertile and living soil for growing our chemical free world of vegetables and fruits. 

 Small 12X25 plot of Triticale Late Fall of 2012

To sum it all up quite simply, grain crops hold immense sustainability to your homesteading efforts. I found this out after several years of strawberry growing here in the deep south. One must do some serious mulching in Texas, this is a fact! 

Point one, one cannot obtain healthy organic hay or straw easily in these parts, if at all. It has actually become a valuable commodity for organic growers. 

Point two, I don't like hay for my strawberries. It disintegrates to rapidly for one thing. This is why they are called STRAW berries and not HAY berries. I think I'm learning to pay a little more attention to these minor details. .I must have my strawberries, so I must have my straw!

Point three, Non the less, straw is an excellent source of mulch. One in which you can easily grow yourself, thus said "permaculture." It acts as an excellent source for choking out unwanted weeds. By laying it down in your crop and path areas you will be enriching your soil too.

Point four, straw is also an excellent source of bedding material for your chickens as well as the seeds being a supplement to their diets.

Point five, The triticale we grow is non hybrid. It is a natural cross and open pollinated. Therefor we save the seeds and replant when necessary without repurchasing the seeds.

These days it seems the strangest things have become valuable resources that were once taken for granted. Organic and chemical free is not so available these days on your local level. It's time for all of us gardeners to incorporate some very important things within our fields in which to create a sustainable environment for our future generations.

Happy Gardening!

Pammy

Black and Strawberry Orange Zest Muffins

Black and Strawberry Orange Zest Muffins

My daughter~in~law has no idea how very proud I am of her! She recently gave up her job to stay at home with my beautiful Grandchildren. She and my son are picking up our family tradition of homeschooling, home cooking with healthy natural ingredients and in the works....a garden! Gives me goose bumps!! Seriously!!

They had recently bought their first home, not so far away from us in the gorgeous rural life of Texas. Theirs is a homestead in the making indeed!

So now Granny Pammy feels both proud and free in the same breath...I've now taken on a new, but old challenge of my own. I've taken on a job as grower for an organic farm called Hibiscus Hill Plantation. You will probably be seeing me blog all about my new adventures very soon!

So the challenge is seeing if Mr. Garden and myself can both maintain Thyme Square Gardens and Hibiscus Hill. I've felt such a calling to share the growth of growing clean and healthy food using natural growing methods as well as utilizing a more permacultural diverse method. It's all for the love of our future generations!

But getting back to this glorious recipe made by Monica! I think you're going to LOVE IT! Blackberries! Strawberries! With those awesome in season Oranges!! Talk about making the whole house fill up with delight as these bake fresh in the kitchen!

Monica lovingly enjoying being Mom!

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached white all purpose flour

3/4 cup Ideal sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons milled ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons water set a side to make up for not using two eggs

1/2 cup sunflower seed oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 cup mixed  berries smashed (black berries and strawberries)

                        

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F

Line muffin tin with paper liners

In a large bowl, whisk together first 6 dry ingredients

In a medium bowl whisk together remaining ingredients except berries just until combined

Gently fold in berries

Fill liner to top with batter

Bake 23 minutes

Insert tooth pick in center should come out clean.

Cool on wire rack

Enjoy!!! Monica!!

 

Happy Gardening!

Pammy