17 Oct 2012 No Comments

I LOVE This Idea…

Now why didn’t I think of this?  A vegetable washing table, complete with hose and close proximity to the harvest bounty! 

I do like a gardener who thinks “outside” the garden—as in:  ”Where am I going with this stuff?”

Probably because he’s a man.  A woman thinks practicality:  Going to the kitchen now to prepare my fresh veggies…  She knows there’s a sink in the kitchen.  A man thinks solution:  This stuff is dirty and I’ve got to clean it off before bringing it anywhere near the kitchen.  A well-trained husband, that is. :) More

by gardenfrisk in Garden coaching - watch how easy you TOO can have your very own garden! Tags: , , , , , , ,

12 Oct 2012 No Comments

Dirty Dozen

You’ve all heard of the dirty dozen, right?  Not to be confused with Dirty Harry (though my mother would plant him in her garden, if she could!).  These are the top twelve fruits and vegetables known for being laden with pesticides and fungicides.  Unfortunately, my favorite “Granny Smith” tops the list every year. 

Apples.  The number one offender when it comes to toxic residue.  According to Environmental Working Group (EWG), the group who publishes the list every year, it’s believed “more pesticides and fungicides are being applied after the harvest so the fruit can have a longer shelf life.”  Huh.  Well who’d a thunk it.  Yet another reason to grow your own.  That’s what the kids think, anyway.  This week we chased caterpillars from the garden and talked pesticide.  Organic pesticide.

The little boy looked up at me in horror.  “You want me to squish it?” More

by gardenfrisk in School Garden - follow the kids as they grow! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

10 Oct 2012 4 Comments

Hornworms Anonymous

I quit.  I’ve had it up to here with the dastardly hornworm.  He’s BACK in my garden and devouring my tomato plants at alarming rates.  Egads–have you ever seen anything so horrid?

It’s not pretty.  Probably can’t see him in there, tucked beneath the leaves.  But look closely.  Head like a walrus on one end, cute little tail like a puppy dog on the other, these creatures can eat their weight in tomato leaves in the space of ten minutes, taking out your entire plant by the end of the day.  (Those missing leaves are his doing.) More

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

05 Oct 2012 No Comments

Pinching and Planting

This week the kids were taught how to pinch their plants.  Their tomatoes, to be specific.  (No pinching the others, or slapping that rosemary either.  Kids.)  We pinch our tomatoes to encourage nutrients and water to go where needed—the main stems and branches.  Scraggly, overgrown and unkept tomato plants help no one, least of all the gardener looking for some ruby-red produce.

And it’s simple.  The tiny branch growing in the crux there?  Pinch it—a difficult task if your gloves are ultra thick, so take care, and pinch with precision. :) More

by gardenfrisk in School Garden - follow the kids as they grow! Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

01 Oct 2012 No Comments

Updates

Remember the horrible squash washout?  The one where someone–Mother Nature, mystery visitor or something–washed the end of my squash row to nothing?

Well, I solved the mystery.  I didn’t tell you, but it happened again. Twice.  The first time I thought it may have been the rain, but the second? More

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

28 Sep 2012 No Comments

Now We’re Talking Icky Eaters

Plants.  Plants are icky eaters.  They eat stuff like worm and chicken poop, cow manure, fish emulsion, blood and bone meal and seaweed.  Yuck.

But those are the organic sources for the important nutrients like N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) that plants need, so that’s what we give them. More

by gardenfrisk in School Garden - follow the kids as they grow! Tags: , , , , , , , ,

24 Sep 2012 2 Comments

Picky Eater?

Okay, call me crazy (most folks do), but I have a finicky eater chomping away at the greens in my garden.  This little pest is devouring my Brussels sprouts.  Not my broccoli, mind you, taking up residence in the very same row.  Only my Brussels.  Chomped this one clear to the stem.

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21 Sep 2012 No Comments

Inspectors in the Garden

Well, you knew it would happen.  Yes, our plants have come under attack.  By what, you ask?

Not sure.  But these kids are on the hunt.  Folded within the leaves of the beans are bugs, the kind with numerous legs and countless more eggs.  As you can see, once fully grown, these little fellas can do some damage!

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by gardenfrisk in School Garden - follow the kids as they grow! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

19 Sep 2012 No Comments

Meet My New Garden Project

Meet my new “garden coaching” subjects.  Justin and Eyry have decided to start a garden (yipee!) and have graciously accepted my offer to help, so long as I can take pictures and post online.  No problem.  Now they’ll tell you they’re novice gardeners, but one look at their new plot and you’ll cross your arms and knit your brow and say, sure they are…

Okay.  Those are some gorgeously formed beds, I’ll give you that–but they’re not that hard to make.  Seriously.  Not when you have the right tools, they’re not.  And I’m not talking about a well-trained husband–as shown above–I’m talking gas-powered tiller!  More

by gardenfrisk in Garden coaching - watch how easy you TOO can have your very own garden! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

17 Sep 2012 2 Comments

What the Heck Happenend?

Yesterday morning I strolled out to the garden, ready for a day of transplanting tomatoes and peppers.  You may recall I started my seed trays a month or so back and now felt ready to settle the little darlings into their new home.  The kids had their cousins over for a sleepover and I’d enlisted their help. Gardening is BIG fun for those kids without their own garden at home (though I was pleased to learn their public school has a garden).  As we strolled down the rows, tomato trays in hand, we stopped short.  There, in the middle of my perfectly lined walkway was a pile of mud.  Looking further, we noticed the entire end of squash were washed out.  I mean, seriously washed out.

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