How We Connect With Nature

                       Connecting With Nature  

For those of us that are long time gardeners, most have found their true connection to nature.  Some find it in herb gardening, others flowers, and some with vegetables, some with a combination of all.  

I am happiest when I have my hands in the dirt planting something, there's just something that is very elemental to me, maybe it's the nurturer in me, that wants to make everything for everyone better, or maybe it's just giving a hand to create new living organisms that makes it special, whatever the reason, I look at is as a wonderful gift from the creator.  

I think where some of us are soul bound to the plants and ground others are more in tuned with just creating a perfect garden.  However in doing that, they miss out on the joys that unexpected rootings of new seedlings that blew in by the wind bring, the joy of seeing that the rosemary branch I laid on the ground has actually put down roots, or the joy of seeing that first ripe tomato in the summer.  I spend an inordinate amount of time just watching the bees and when butterflies come by I am happier than a kid with a raspberry blue slushie and a blue tongue.  In America I had many butterflies covering my butterfly bushes and other plants everyday in the summer, here in Europe there are not so many to be seen where I am, and that makes me sad.  I have attempted to create a natural habitat in my allotments for the butterflies and bees, as well as the birds (I am not so popular with my gardening neighbors over the birds) ahem, however I am not deterred by that.  I respect my gardening neighbors, and I respect nature, and birds are certainly playing a huge role in our ecosystem.  Most people know of my love for the bees, butterflies, dragonflies and birds, but I had never had a hummingbird actually land on me until I came here.  I was outside and I had on my ugly Hawaiian shirt, it had huge flowers on it in vivid colors and I was pulling weeds out of my rockbed, I stood up and this tiny little bird just hovered in front of me, then darting to the flowers on my shirt.  It looked like a mini helicopter it was so fast, he darted away and my heart fell, but he immediately returned and attempted a few more times, I was holding my breath afraid to move that I would scare him away, and just for a brief second he landed, that was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.  One of my other experiences here was going to a recreation park and the group that takes care of hurt wildlife had a huge owl, I was allowed to hold him on my arm and that was just a wonderful feeling to be that close to a fully grown owl that could literally peck my eyes out had he chosen to.  I was so saddened to hear later that he was stolen, I can only hope that who ever took him gave him a good home.  

So connecting with nature isn't always about growing things, it's about the deepest feelings that we have for living things, albeit plants, animals etc.  It's a spiritual connection that reaches deep into our souls and finds the best part of us, the part that we do not really share readily with the world.  It has been my experience that most gardeners are very honest and kind people, but there is always the proverbial bad apple, but even with that, they too can find a spiritual connection with mother nature's beautiful environment and be transpired to new heights in their lives, after all, none of us are perfect, and we all have traveled roads that have ultimately helped shape and define our lives.  

Let's all going forward attempt to be good stewards of the environment, focus on something that can benefit Mother Nature's earth and please plant flowers for the bees, birds, and butterflies.  I should also say, attempt to learn the good insects from the bad ones, and try to find companion plants that will entice them away from the plants you are attempting to harvest from.  We need all of these animals, why else would they be here?

PART TWO

MUSIC  TO MY EARS

The birds make beautiful music, and I always think the plants appreciate the sounds also, but did you know that they actually do respond to music?  While we may not see eyes and ears on our plants, they are actually living and breathing, just not in the same way we do, so is it so far fetched to believe that they too enjoy giving us pleasure?   How would one test that?  I have no idea, but I do feel like some days a plant just goes out of its way to bloom early to make me smile.  Perhaps that's God's way of giving me incentive, but whatever it is, that makes me feel connected more to the living part of life. 
According to Aerify, and I quote:  "There have been multiple studies regarding the potential impact of music on plants. One study, conducted in 1962, found that the growth rate of plants can be accelerated when plants are exposed to music. This study found that different types of music, including classical music and raga music, all had an impact on a plant’s growth rate."  

With that being said, I think I have listened to too much music and I am growing out instead of up :(    

So enjoy the garden and play them some special tunes, or perhaps just sing them a song, (unless you are tone deaf, then please don't, I don't want angry posters telling me their plant died after they sang to it.  :)  Ok, now I am seeing that in my head and laughing.  

Let's enjoy what we have, we never know what the future holds, and as Corona has shown us, we can be stuck indoors like prisoners.  So live it up, go have that fake cocktail in the garden.  

Homemade Ice Cream

Hot Chocolate Homemade Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Buisman Premium Hot Chocolate (Single Serving Packs) - 1

Jello Pudding (Instant) 1

Milk - 3 1/4 cups

(Note you can use half-half if you wish, or almond milk)

Strawberries - Fresh 1/2 cup (or more if you prefer)

This is a recipe I made myself, I didn't get it off the internet, I like strong flavors, not washed out tastes, thus the Buisman Premium Hot Chocolate Mix.   

Pour milk into a chilled metal bowl (just throw a few ice cubes in and let it cool it) then dump out the cubes.  Then add the Jello Pudding with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar (yes the icing sugar kind)... (or make your own with regular sugar in a blender blend until you have fine powdered sugar.  I use an immersion blender because I am too lazy to drag out that beautiful do it all mixer for baking, and because it isn't necessary, you could even do by hand.  I'm all about quick if it works well.  You can pre-chill your freezer bowl for the ice maker, but it isn't necessary.  Once you have blended pour into your ice maker freezer bowl, set up your ice maker and set to 30 minutes, the last ten minutes add in the strawberries and hot chocolate mix through your blend area.  I did mine an extra ten minutes.  
Then just pour into your freezer container and put in the deep freeze or refrigerator freezer until it's the desired hardness.  This ends up to be more of a gelato consistency, and if you want softer you can actually use a stand mixer on low for 1 minute to change the consistency.  It's all about your preference, but don't leave out the hot chocolate, that's the key ingredient.  

Let me know how you like it.  I know everyone will love it.

How Do I Start Successfully Gardening?

 

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITH YOUR GARDEN

I answer many questions online about gardening and one I get often is, how can I make sure my garden is a success after I do all of this work?

The answer lies in a few straight forward things:

1) If you are new to gardening and want to begin, the best advice, start small with some container boxes or a garden by the square foot box, or two of those. Most people end up hating gardening because they do not put in the prep work required to have success without spending all of their time only managing weeds and insect issues, etc.

Example of a 4x4 Square Foot Gardening Bed
This is a great starter garden with Herbs.

You can use this without the raised bed, just layout your squares with a tape measure .

Basil & round carrots around the basil	Beefstake Tomato (Do on outside so you can stake it)	9 Beets	8 Dill Plants 2 Oregano or 1 Sage 2 Parsley
Bell Pepper (patio) 2	1 cabbage	2 Chives and do remaining with leaf lettuce	Corn Plant Beans to grow up the Corn
Leeks/Spring Onions 9-12 (Harvest and replant)	1 Catnip Plant or other Herb 2 Cilantro	4 Argula or Head Lettuce	Green Beans grow to climb the Corn
4 Strawberry	9 Peas	4 Geraniums (red or pink)	Nasturium With a Stake
			| |------||

There are a million ways to make a raised bed, just google or use pinterest. Above I have given you an example that would be easily done by anyone and if you live in a warm climate the only thing you have to really grow before is the tomato, the rest you can use seeds and it can all be planted as soon as the ground is warm and no frost or cold temperatures.

Do use small varieties for the carrots, the typical round apple carrots, normal size beets, Patio bell pepper and tomato, normal cabbage or red cabbage or a chinese cabbage, the spring onions or leeks you can harvest and replant (I would sow some in containers to keep replanting throughout the summer); Try a pretty strawberry with red blooms, peas you need sugar snap or regular (not tall varieties that have to be staked unless you want to stake).

This is a garden anyone can grow anywhere (except in shade or cold temps). The maintenance is not difficult, water, fertilizer, harvest, weed....

So before you start digging up your back yard, think about what your goal ultimately is. How much time do you want to invest everyday in having a garden? What do you really want to grow?

How much do you want to grow of a particular item? After you answer those questions then it's time to move on to ask yourself do I want to do container gardening, raised bed (or semi raised bed) or in the dirt.

DO NOT rush out and start digging until you have answered those questions because you are setting yourself up for failure. I do raised beds, in the ground, and container gardening, in addition to a hoop house and very small greenhouse which I have half of and I've run out of room, I am now rethinking going vertical. Gardening in small spaces can be difficult if you choose to grow alot of different things like I do, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries and strawberries. Strawberries take up alot of my garden space mainly because I use them year round everyday and I freeze them, also greenbeans take up a huge amount of space because I also use them all year and freeze them. The other berries I also freeze.

Seriously ask yourself what you grow, research how much space they take (both when you plant and when they mature), otherwise you will be digging up and replanting when they overgrow their space and that's not always with a good outcome.

Start small, grow up and out :)  

Gardening is really all about the joy it brings in growing things, the rest inside your mind and body, the pleasure of actually growing something to eat or cook with, or to use as a medicine.  

If I scared you, that was my intent, I hate to see people give up and it's easily to become discouraged when the weeds and snails or other insects start devouring plants, or the plants become sick.  That's why it's important to have a plan that aligns with your expectations.  As with life, it's all about choices and how they affect our journey.

If you want to start a small herb garden -- a great container garden is a galvanized tub, a wooden fruit box, or plastic or pottery clay flower pots.  Just be aware that you need to use a good mix of coco FIBER mulch, not the stuff that you see lining pots, and a good potting soil or compost.  This is a really great way to start gardening and have herbs to cook with, make salad dressings, etc.  I'll do an article later that outlines some good choices for a small container herb garden.  

CILANTRO / CORIANDER / CHINESE PARSLEY Herb - How To Grow From Seed

 CILANTRO/CORIANDER/CHINESE PARSLEY 

Coriander is a finicky herb, prone to bolting in the heat and short lived in hot regions, however you can combat some of that by planting in pots and bringing indoors or covering outside with a shade cloth on hot days.  

To start seeds yourself, use a good base for the soil, I recommend coco mulch to start the seeds, it holds moisture well and can be popped into the ground or into a bigger pot easily.  Don't use that as it's permanent home because it doesn't have enough nutrients, just to start, and you can mix a bit of compost with if you prefer.  The seeds need to be sown no deeper than 1/4 inch, and in the coco mulch I don't sow them that deep, slightly less.  When they appear and reach around 2-1/4 inches tall repot them into a larger container with good potting/compost soil and give them a drink of my homebrewed tea (search for tea on this blog) as I have moved things around.  I suggest only doing 3-4 seeds at one time and then a week later do more, etc.  Succession planting is best because of the bolting issues, and sometimes insects such as aphids, white flies, etc. attack a plant.   Bolting occurs when temperatures go from one extreme to the next, or just several days of heat will cause it bolt.  

You can plant directly in the ground after the plants have been transplanted to the new pots for a couple of weeks or you can move to a larger container with good compost/soil mix.   If it bolts, you can let it go to seed and hopefully new plants will come up from the seed, or you can try cutting it back to about 4" high and see if it will restart.  Either way with succession planting you have some to replace it with.  Don't overwater  just water when it's surface down to the knuckle on your finger is dry.  

My observation, and others may disagree, but I have found that coriander is not bitter when it is started in the greenhouse and kept inside under a shadow cover.  I have successfully grown in outside and still do, but sometimes it turns bitter.  Make sure you pick the leaves often, if you can't use them, put them on a piece of cake paper in the oven preheated and turned off, just line them side by side on the paper and they will dry quickly, then you can either grind in a bullet blender or just scrunch them up with your hands.  Put them in a glass jar or ziplock bag for later use.  

I've read several articles about the health benefits of Coriander, and when eaten raw it is suppose to help with ringing in the ears, upset stomach and fatigue.  You can also make a tea from the leaves and drink it if you prefer. 

 (Disclaimer:  I am not a Doctor, I only research what Doctor's online write, so please do your own research to be sure that any herb used outside of normal culinary means is safe for you, and with the medication you use).