How happy my edible garden makes me. I hope I always remember that, no matter where I live, no matter how old I am, how important it is for me to have an edible garden -- to water, prune, and love my plants. I especially like to walk through my garden after watering in the morning and sample all of my herbs, and my arugula. I planted arugula by seed and have tons of it. We are just starting to get tomatoes now. I am hoping for a bumper crop. I thought maybe I planted too early, (October). I was getting impatient, for the plants were huge and green and healthy looking for 2 months, but no fruit.
Even though the weather is warm year round here, "the plants still know it's winter," as a wise gardener friend pointed out to me once. He was telling me how he was growing a tropical herb (tulsi), from seed, in Michigan, putting the tiny plants under lights indoors in his basement for the coldest part of winter. Giving them two hours of TLC a day. Now that's dedication.
Even though the weather is warm year round here, "the plants still know it's winter," as a wise gardener friend pointed out to me once. He was telling me how he was growing a tropical herb (tulsi), from seed, in Michigan, putting the tiny plants under lights indoors in his basement for the coldest part of winter. Giving them two hours of TLC a day. Now that's dedication.
Explanation of my photos:
#2 is thriving tulsi. Tulsi is holy basil. I talk about it a lot. It is my favorite plant. I am kind of obsessed with it. I have about 20 tulsi plants in the ground, and another 20 I have started from seed in pots.
It cracks me up when the kids are looking for me, and I overhear them say, "Where's Mom? Oh, she's in her tulsi garden as usual."
Hint: I noticed a month ago that the tulsi had an infestation of scale. :( I pruned the plants, painstakingly removed the remaining bugs, sprayed the plants with neem oil mixed with olive oil, and 90% of them are back and thriving, and bug free! So worth my time. Neem is great for bugs because it actually stops them from reproducing. But you have to dilute it with 80 - 90% olive oil.
#4 is my first broccoli. Can you believe how huge the broccoli plants are?
Organic home grown food is the best! So good for us, our kids, the earth. If you are considering starting a garden or wanting to begin composting, let me know and I will help you. I have lived in many other climates, so I know a fair amount and can steer you in the right direction. Plus, farming is in my blood. All I can say is, it's so much fun, and great for the kids. Have a great weekend. I have something kind of fun to share with you all soon. Suffice to say I have a new job that I love.
11 comments:
My mum planted a Neem tree, and the whole thing was stripped one night by 'Batchac' leaf-cutting ants. The tree died, but so did the ants!
oh, it is amazing to have your own organic veggies! your tulsi plants look fantastic. we have a communal garden and also a little garden which is just ours. the second one is more experimental. we would have things seeding and growing in the compost, so we just threw them back into soil and later would get all these lovely surprises!
enjoy your weekend!
p.s where do you live?
I'm glad your tulsi his healthy again! Neem oil is new to me I think, I'll try to find a translation, and it sounds like a good remedy to have!
My son Oliver and I are thinking about starting a small, very small, vegetable garden. He works in a gardening program at his school (Edible Garden program from Alice Waters) and knows a good bit about it so he's very enthusiastic, despite being eight years old. We don't have any real ground room, but I'm thinking a container. I'd love to get your ideas on how we should start!
And your garden is fantastic! I envy you all that holy basil. It must smell fantastic.
Garden love... so good.
that is great! this year we will start our edible garden too. For the moment and since few years i have some herbs in pots: basil, mint, thyme, rosemarie, ciboulettes, sage, oregan, etc... finally last year we bough a house with a great large garden... so is time to eat our owns veggys and hope do it good!
happy weekend!
Your garden is beautiful! Lots of greens! Thank you so sharing!!
I can't wait until we can get our garden going. Yours looks gorgeous!
Its great to hear about your gardening expertise. We have a vegetable patch which I love, and I have just started composting. If I have any questions, I just may take you up on your offer.
I can't wait to start our garden this year. We have a VERY short growing season, but it is still so worth it...and fun for the kids, too :)
Gorgeous garden! Happy eating :) Our broccoli and cauliflower are just about done and now we are eagerly waiting for our carrots to be ready. I love being able to pick and eat things right away a whole new definition of fast food :)
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