Bringing healthy food to the table, especially for the growing children, has never been this easy. We soak the seeds the first day for 24 hours. Then every morning and evening we fill the jars with water to do a shake and rinse. So, simply fill the jars, shake and pour the water out. once you’ve shaken the water out of the jars simply lay the jars on their side next to the sink. Keep them close and convenient. In six days you’ll have jars full of clean and organic sprouts for salads and sides. The nutritional value is exponentially higher when the beans open and the taproot grows. This is a great solution for anybody who feels they are too busy to grow their own healthy foods. With simple old-school methods no one has excuses and there is no light required. Moreover, the sweet and crunchy experience usually wins over the children.
From our experience, if you have an active lifestyle and need easily digestible foods that translate into quick and clean energy, this is definitely a route for you guys to explore.
I hope this message finds you guys excited about getting ready for the spring time.
Having a greenhouse at home is a definite blessing. Season extension is one. We planted these tomatoes from cuttings in a 15 gallon bucket in September. The 4 plants are now 7+ feet tall, bearing flowers and fruits. We should probably begin eating tasty, soil (compost) grown heirloom tomatoes in mid January or sooner. A important FYI for you… when you see the flowers, it’s important to pollinate those flowers. Pollinators don’t go in the greenhouse this time of year and if you want fruits, you gotta help the plant and act like a bee.
#SimpleFoodSmallFarmz is the hashtag to look for. Follow us on social media and book that EXPERIENCE today.
Yup, we grow food in Atlanta Urban Ag like we grew food in Raleigh Urban Ag like we grew food in Youngstown Urban Ag like we grew when we started in Cleveland Urban Ag.
So far in February, the weather in Atlanta has been like a rollercoaster and in the span of just a few short days, the weather went from the high 60’s to torrential rain to snow flurries. Reminds me of Ohio except way warmer.
Book a 1 hour demo or 2 hour hands on class. It’s really simple. #SimpleFoodSmallFarmz #AtlantaUrbanAg
Gonna wash and disinfect these compostable pots and get them ready for the 2020 season. These pots will hold tomatoes and peppers and we will start our seedlings in the next four days (January 15-18). Our planting zone here in Atlanta is a rapidly rising zone 8a. What are you planting now?
Want to learn more about the benefits of cleaning pots and planting tomatoes and peppers? Book a tour or working experience with Atlanta’s number one urban agriculture Air BnB experience. #SimpleFoodSmallFarmz
Drinking The Farmer’s Market: Homemade Organic Liquor Infusions For Exceptional Summer Cocktails #herbchat
Left to right: mint, lemon basil, peach, rosemary, ginger, thyme, lemongrass, strawberry, and grapefruit. Completely submerge the fruits in vodka (or liquor of your choice), wait a week or two, strain, and Voilà!
Hügelkultur (German, meaning “hill culture” or “mound culture”) is the garden concept of building raised beds over decaying wood piles. Decayed timbers become porous and retain moisture while releasing nutrients into the soil that, in turn, promote root growth in plant materials. As the logs decay, they expand and contract, creating air pockets that assist in aerating the soil, allowing roots to easily penetrate the soil. This decaying environment creates a beneficial home to earthworms. As the worms burrow into the soil, they loosen the soil and deposit nutrient-rich worm castings, beneficial to plants. An earthworm can produce its weight in castings on a daily basis.
The best decayed wood for a Hügelkultur, according to A Growing Culture, comes from alders, applewood, cottonwood, poplar, maple and birch. Use wood products that have been in the process of decay for about a year (using green, or fresh, wood products will rob the soil of necessary nitrogen). Some wood products, like cedar and black walnut, should be avoided because they produce organisms that negatively effect plant growth.
Become a Biodynamic Gardener, and grow your own. Learn about “the buddy system” and “companion plantings” as well as composting and crop rotation. Certain plants benefit by growing near other plants: tall crops can provide a canopy for shorter crops; leeks will repel carrot flies; include flowering herbs and perennials to attract beneficial insects.
Herb Garden Design with Essential Fruits and Vegetables
Before planning an edible garden, think about the purpose of the garden first. These four window boxes were designed so that the client can easily open her windows and make a selection, or water everything from the convenience of her kitchen. We chose all my client’s favorite herbs and edible flowers: garlic chives, marigolds, parsley, several varieties of basil, creeping thyme, cilantro, and even a couple of strawberry plants.
Some herbs are also “perennials” and will last year round, while others (like basil) are seasonal. Group seasonal items together so that they are easily replaced with something else once their growing season is complete.
When replacing plants, don’t forget to replenish the soil, especially if you are planting in window boxes or containers. Valuable nutrients pass through containers quickly, so fresh soil amendments will ensure that the new plants get off to a great start.
Theme gardens are popular right now. Consider grouping herbs and vegetables together in a raised bed for cooking purposes. If you love Asian cooking, you might want to grow lemongrass, Thai basil, Vietnamese coriander, Chinese eggplant, and dwarf pepper plants (like ‘Baby Belle’). A great way to introduce children to the concept of gardening is to grow something they will also consume. Create a “Lemonade Garden” with all the plants you might use to make fresh lemonade: pineapple mint, orange mint, basil, cucumbers, and lemongrass. Plant a Meyer lemon tree, dwarf blueberry bushes, and strawberries in containers to complete the Lemonade Garden. Don’t forget to make ice cubes with the blueberries and strawberries for the lemonade.
Get creative. Did you know you can regrow many herbs and vegetables from your own garden, or re-root favorite edibles from the farmers market (celery and mint, for example)? Mother Earth Living provides a great how-to, HERE. Many of these can be started indoors on a sunny window ledge, and then transplanted outside after all danger of frost has passed.
Keyhole Gardening: a Drought-Tolerant, Compost-Style, Sustainable Concept
The key hole garden concept is quite simple. A circular planting bed (with a “keyhole” to allow access to the center) is constructed with bricks, stone, gabion-style walls, or even aluminum siding. In the center of the keyhole is a circular compost bin in which kitchen scraps and household “gray water” are poured.
Layers of soil inside the circular walls slope slightly outward to encourage positive drainage away from the central compost bin. As kitchen and garden waste breaks down and gray water is added, a natural “compost tea” soaks into the surrounding soil providing nutrients to plants growing within the circular wall. More information and instructions at the link.
Graphics by Natalia Cancer, a graduate of Fine Arts in Lodz, the project is an interpretation of the story “Giants” (“Wielkoludy”), at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Poland, 2010. Her works can be seen in Warsaw, Turku, and other cities in France, Austria and the U.S.
In other news, my fava beans have started to bloom:
These are the large seeded kind, for eating rather than use as a cover crop. I really like their flowers, though I feel like the cover crop version has more flowers. These are still gorgeous though.
And yeah, there are weeds in there. That’s life. Especially when you garden for other people for a living, and thus don’t have so much time for your own garden :/
If you want to support bees and have really hardy plants that don’t require a lot of fussing, native plants are the way to go. I’ve got several in my yard, but I’m particularly excited about three berry species: thimbleberries, black cap raspberries, and native blackberries:
There are so many flowers on these guys, and I’ve been seeing multiple native bees on them, including bumble bees. Because they’re native, they’re well adapted and I don’t have to water them- and they don’t care at all about how wet and cold it has been this year. Really looking forward to the berry crop.
Highly recommend looking up what is native to your area and connecting with a native plant salvage group.
GARLIC CURING SYSTEMS AND CONDITIONS FOR HOME AND SMALL SCALE GROWERS
Properly curing your garlic is incredibly important for future seed quality, optimising natural storage, improving flavour and preventing disease progression.
So what is the best way to do this and what conditions are required to do this well?
Most of us are familiar with hanging bunches - but let’s go a little deeper into the curing conditions and some alternative approaches you may not have seen before.
IDEAL CURING CONDITIONS: 1. Out of direct sunlight 2. Dry air < 55% relative humidity 3. Warm weather 22-27 degrees C 4. Great air movement 1m/sec
Most of us will be challenged by cool weather or high humidity .. and in these conditions, your garlic can’t lose the 30% of weight in moisture and may have problems … even if you have good breezes.
Whilst we’ve usually hung garlic in bunches - having 8-12 bulbs in such close proximity, in poor curing conditions, can often cause problems.
The best curing systems for small-scale home growers and producers are those that allow air movement and space around each bulb and provides ample space between garlic lines to allow good ventilation.
Take a look at the attached photos and see which one would suit you or share your own systems with us.
I particularly like the timber frame and reo-bar system with the tennis balls on the front for safety — the strength of the bars will support the bunches and you can see how the leaves and roots have been trimmed to provide space between the rows.
If your relative humidity is too high (> 60%) … then even using domestic or commercial fans won’t help as the air won’t be able to absorb the moisture that needs to come out of the garlic … and you might have to consider ovens, dehydrators, heaters or a dehumidifier.
Hope this helps everyone. Letetia Ware from Tasmanian Gourmet Garlic
