Banana Peel Fertilizer

Here's an easy, free way to nourish your plants, any plants.  Make your own banana peel fertilizer.  Here's how it's done.

1.  Cut the peel from an eaten banana into about 12 pieces.

2.  Place cut banana peel in a jar, and cover completely with water.

3.  Let jar sit for three days.

4.  Mix ingredients well, then using  a sieve,  pour liquid into another jar, and discard the banana peel.

5.  Voila!  Your fertilizer is ready to use on any plant, indoor or outdoor.  You will be very happy with the results.

Have You Tried Straw Bale Gardening?

I have heard of hydroponic gardening and planting tomatoes and having them grow upside down, but until Linda told me about straw bale gardening, I had not heard of it. Straw bale gardening is for anyone who has difficulty bending over, tilling soil or weeding. It is also good for anyone with poor soil. Straw bale gardening makes all these issues easier and makes difficult chores like weeding obsolete. There are no weeds in straw bale gardening. It will completely change everything you thought you knew about gardening. Why haven't I heard of this before?

Bales of straw is the perfect container for growing vegetables. The hollow tubes are designed by Mother Nature to suck up and hold moisture. As the insides decompose, they provide a rich medium for vegetable growth. The hardest part of the process is getting the bales of hay from a farm or nursery to your backyard. Pick a nice sunny spot for your garden, then find a nice strong husband or neighbor to carry the bale into the yard. Two weeks prior to planting, condition the bales. This means wetting and fertilizing the bales for 10 days to start composting the inner straw. (stick your finger in the bales and they'll be hot and moist). An added feature is that you can build a trellis and greenhouse in one. Stick posts in the end of each row of bale, and run wire to make a trellis. You can drape a plastic tarp over the wire to create an instant greenhouse. As the plants begin to grow, the wire works like a vertical trellis. If you're planting seedlings, use your trowel to separate the straw in the shape of a hole and add some sterile planting mix to help cover the exposed roots. If you're planting seed, cover the bales with a layer of planting mix and sew into this seedbed. As the seeds germinate, they'll grow roots down into the bale itself. How easy is that? I hope someone tries this and tells me about it. Unfortunately I currently have no place in my yard to do this. All you do is lay a soaker hose over your bales, and you've pretty much eliminated all your work until harvest.

Joel Karsten is the guru of straw bale gardening. He's got a book, a blog, and a great website. Go to strawbalegardening.com for more information. Oh, did I mention that at the end of the growing season the bales of hay will continue to decompose and you will be left with a pile of wonderful, nutrient rich compost? This process of gardening is a win/win situation.

Mini Composting

When I lived in Los Angeles and went through the master gardener program at UCLA, composting was an important thing we all learned to do.  When we went out in the community and helped teach others how to garden, we were to teach composting as well.  Many home gardeners today have a simple patio or very small yard area to take care of, which makes composting difficult.  You need space to keep your compost pile, and you need lots of time for food to break down and create beautiful dark soil.  My friend Linda from Bakersfield gave me a great idea to pass on to you, which makes composting so easy.  She read about it in a magazine and has passed it on to me.  Here it is.

  Keep a plastic tub or container (I use a gallon size plastic container I got at the Dollar Store for a dollar) next to the sink or chopping block, along with your blender, instead of throwing scraps in the garbage can (veggies skins, left over fresh food, egg shells, just about anything but no meats) put them in here...then at theend of the day do a quick extra chop or two and put in the blender with some water to cover, blend up well, then go pour in your veggie or flower garden (or under trees, on lawn, where ever fertilizer or compost would go). Its easy, instant compost, and reduces what you fill your garbage can with.

What an easy way to fertilize your flowers and vegetables.  I can't wait to get started.

Another Free Food: Purslane

I'd never heard of purslane before Lynda sent me a recipe for purslane salad, and told me where to find it in my neighborhood.  It's actually thought of as a weed, although it's really a vine like succulent.  It's also good, and good for you.

Purslane herb has turned some heads at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, no less, reports Usha Palaniswamy, Department of Plant Science, University of Connecticut. "Purslane is receiving much attention for cultivation by the United States Department of Agriculture as part of their effort to bring about a modification in the western diet with increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables."
Purslane just happens to contain alpha-linolenic acid, one of the highly sought-after Omega-3 fatty acids. Why pay money for fish oil when you can grow your own Omega-3 fatty acids as part of your edible landscaping? Especially when it takes little effort to grow purslane, since it does grow like a weed.

I was just told by a friend that purslane can be found for sale in some farmers' markets for around $7 a pound!!

 Purslane is more than merely edible landscaping -- it is a culinary delight! In fact, it is a succulent herb.Purslane's stem is round and smooth, and it trails along the ground like a small vine. Young plants have a green stem, but, with maturity, stems take on reddish tints. Purslane has small, oblong, green leaves, which form clusters. The leaves resemble small wedges and, like the stem, are juicy.

In order to preserve purslane's juiciness for eating, harvest this delight of your edible landscaping in the morning or evening, when you won't have to compete with intense sunlight. Purslane can either be used raw in salads or sauteed as a side dish. In addition to the crispy texture you would expect from a succulent, purslane also has an interesting peppery flavor.
Star chef Steve Johnson has a purslane cooking recipe for cucumber-yogurt salad (you can view his recipe for purslane at the Star Chefs Web site). Although you won't find it at the salad bar of your local fast-food stop any time soon, purslane has made it onto the menu of a number of upscale restaurants.

But there's more to the eating of the herb, purslane than its use in gourmet recipes. Its benefits extend to nutrition. Not only does purslane have five times the amount of Omega-3 fatty acid that spinach has, but it also has stems high in vitamin C. Omega-3 fatty acids are instrumental in regulating our metabolism. Purslane also contains alpha-linolenic acid.

If you can find purslane in your neighborhood, pick some and try this recipe.  Look on line for other ways to use this nutritious weed.

All About Tomatoes: Looks Aren't Everything

Tomato season is upon us, and my mom sent me a great guide to what to look for in a tomato and how to store them.  First, the prettiest tomatoes are not necessarily the most flavorful.  Oddly shaped tomatoes are fine.  Only coommercial tomatoes have been bred to be perfectly symmetrical.  However, avoid tomatoes that are overly soft or leaking juice.  Thin walls are preferable, which leave more room for the most flavorful part of the tomato: the jelly that surrounds the seeds, which is three times richer in savory glutamates than the flesh is. 

Storing tomatoes is key to maintaining flavor and longevity.  Don't refrigerate tomatoes.  Cold damages enzymes that ruin texture by rupturing tomato cells.  Keep them at room temperature.  Freeze for the off season.  Listen up, Lynda and Dick.  Core them and freeze them whole in freezer storage bags for later use in sauces.  Freezing preserves tomato flavor better than canning.  Store stem end down.  Place unwashed tomatoes stem end down at room temperature.  This will prolong their life.  Finally, if your tomatoes are underripe, store them in a paper bag with a banana or an apple, both of which naturally emit the ethylene gas that hastens riping.  I hope this helps your tomatoes last longer and taste better.  Enjoy.

Regrowing Celery

I haven't written any gardening articles in quite a while, but this caught my eye, I tried it, and it worked.  So, I'm sharing it with all of you who like to experiment a little.  Celery is one of those vegetables where all we eat are the stalks, discard the small stalks and stem.  Well, you can regrow celery in the following way.  Try it, it's kind of fun, and if you have children or grandchildren around, they will love to watch what happens in just a few weeks.

Take a bunch of celery, cut off the bottom, about 3 inches.  This is what you will use to regrow a new plant.  Take the piece that you cut off, and put it in a dish with water.  Place in a sunny place, like a window ledge, indoors.  If you don't have a sunny place, take a plastic container and invert it to make a "hot house."  In a few weeks you will have something that looks like the picture above.  Be sure to water it frequently.  It needs to be kept pretty moist.  When you have good growth on the new plant, transplant it in your yard.  Celery does not like extreme heat, so watch it. 

As the celery grows, you have two options.  Either let it grow to maturity, pull out the plant, and regrow the base of it again.  Or, you can just pick off celery stalks as you need them (the outside first), and allow the rest of the plant to continue to grow. 

I had a very large vegetable garden when I lived in LA,  but I never grew celery.  First, I don't like it all that much, and second, it seemed like a lot of work for a stalk of celery.  Regrowing it from an existing plant is just fun.  If you feel like trying something new, this is for you.  No fuss, no mess, and if it doesn't work well, oh well. 

Tips to Beautify Your Garden

I was a huge gardner when I lived in Los Angeles. I had a vegetable garden to die for. I had the earth tilled and enriched every year, and the result was a bumper crop every year. Since living in the San Diego area, my garden has NOT been something I'm very proud of. Part of the problem is the soil. It's very hard, dry and needs ammendments. I recently read a magazine that gave me several good tips for the home gardner, and here I share them with you.

1. Use empty eggshells as pots, to get seeds or seedlings started. Then, when they're ready for the ground, simply place them in the ground. The egg shell will protect the plant and provide much-needed nutrients to your young, tender plants.

2. Use cayenne pepper and pre sifted flour on and around plants to keep bugs, especially worms, off your plants.

3. To get rid of gophers, take ammonia soaked dryer sheets and drop them in gopher tunnels, then seal them off.

4. When planting vegetables in containers, add the following recipe to a half and half mixture of good commercial potting soil and compost. You'll get a harvest that will make you proud. 1/2 c. Epsom salts, 1/4 coffee grounds (rinsed clean), 1T. instant tea granules, 4 eggshells 9dried and crushed to a powder) per 2 gallons of soil.

5. Use a mixture of 1c. of hot pepper sauce and 2 T. of baby shampoo in 1 gallon of water. Pour this solution into a handheld sprayer bottle, then apply to any of your troubled plants to the point of run-off. It will keep pest away from your garden.

6. To help prevent snails and slugs from climbing your citrus trees, smear the following recipe on the trunk of the tree: 1 1/4 c. petroleum jelly, 1 c. castor oil, 3T. each of cayenne pepper and hot peppersauce. Your visitors will go somewhere else in a hurry.

These are just a couple of tips to keep your garden, both plants, trees and vegetables happy and healthy. I hope some of them work for you.

Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center

I love to garden, although I am unable to get anything to grow in my Carlsbad garden. I just talked to my gardener and asked him to roto till the small space I want to use for vegetables, then I will add humus and soil ammendments and water the hell out of it for a week or two, then try to plant some summer vegetables. I'm a little late getting started, but Ron, who has learned a great deal about gardening over the past 18 months, will take over the gardening duties when he gets home.

In the meantime I have discovered another great garden in the San Diego area. It is Olivewood Gardens, located in National city. There are so many farm to table restaurants in our area now, and so many people that want to think locally when it comes to food. Here's a little history on Olivewood Gardens.

In July, 2006, Christy Walton donated her former home and garden in National City to the International Community Foundation with the goal of growing and promoting healthy communities. After finally securing the zoning approval, the ICF relocated its offices to the property, then began restoring the 1925 Craftsman Home which is now its headquarters. The center was renamed to include Learning Center, and its mission statement now includes connecting and motivating students and families from diverse backgrounds through organic gardening, nutrition education and environmental stewardship.

In keeping with this mission, Olivewood Gardens offers classes and tours that are free to the public. For example, this summer they will offer, on four Saturdays, Gardening 101, How to Grow Your Own Food. Much of their is education is geared for children and families, but people of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Olivewood Gardens also partners with Whole Foods for many interesting activities. Recently the Hillcrest Whole Foods offered "A Trip to the Growers." For $28, participants met at WF Hillcrest, visited Suzies Farm, Sungrown Organics, and Olivewood Gardens. The day included lunch and snacks. What a deal.

If organic gardening interests you, or if you are interested in seeing where much of our local fruit and produce is grown, go to the Olivewood Garden website and check out some of their programs. (www.olivewoodgardens.org) With locally grown food all the rage, this is a great place to see a farm in action.

Really Fresh Food

Gardening has always been a passion of mine. Many years ago in Los Angeles I became a master gardner, worked in a community garden, and had my own vegetable garden at home where I grew everything from artichokes to zucchini. I loved it. Right now my space is limited, so the best I can do each season is a few tomatoes, some squash, herbs and some fresh lettuce. Luckily for us we don't have to grow our own to have fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

Farmers Markets abound, my favorite being Sunday in Encinitas, at the elementary school on Vulcan. Many local farmers sell their crops here and are delighted to share their knowledge with you. If you happen to be in Santa Monica on a Wednesday, be sure to visit the Farmers Market there. It's about 5 times the size of anything we have here. Many of the best chefs in town, both in San Diego and Los Angeles, shop regularly at the Farmers Markets for their restaurants. Chino Farms is a local favorite in Del Mar where you can buy for your own home use exactly what the best chefs in town are buying for their restaurant. Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe is just one of the many restaurants that names Chino Farms as the source of their vegetables.

I love restaurants that change the menu according to what's available that day at the market. That tells me the chef is innovative and that the food is fresh and locally grown. Rocket Bistro in North Park is another restaurant that tells you where all the food originates.

Ann Shepphird waited years to get a plot at a community garden in Santa Monica. When she got it, she realized she didn't know what to do or where to go for answers. So she and Janine Warner, a gardner, started www.gardenstotables.com. They created an on line community where ideas and recipes are shared. It features gardening advice, links to classes and restaurants offering farm-to-table dining. Check it out.

There are so many opportunities for us to eat healthy today. Growing our own food (or some of it), eating in restaurants that tell you where the food comes from, or shopping at farmers markets are just a few ways to enjoy good, wholesome food. I'm planting my tomatoes next week, and I can't wait to eat a fresh grown heirloom tomato with buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and a little salt and olive oil. Yum.

Gardening Odds and Ends

Thanks, Jean, for alerting me to a recent L.A, Times article about gardening. It reminded me that I haven't talked about the garden lately. Actually, since I did not plant any winter vegetables, I don't have much to talk about. This is, however, a good time of year to do a little research, see what's new in gardening and composting and plan for the spring. Even if you only plant one tomato plant in a pot this spring, try to do so. It will be fun to watch it grow, and the results will really satisfy you. In the meantime, here are two good websites to browse. http://www.blogger.com/www.gardners.com was mentioned in the L.A. Times. I spent a few minutes looking at all the great stuff they have to buy. New Bamboo Crocks for kitchen refuse is attractive and made from a sustainable material. It is $39.95. The stainless steel composting pail at $19.95 will look good in almost any kitchen and will not omit any odor. After it's full, just dump it in your composting pile outside. They also have biobags, which you can use to line the pail, or dump the contents into the bag and place in the composting pile. It's biodegradable, made from cornstarch. Other great items that they sell include gloves, knee pads, watering cans and spades. Great website.

Another good gardening website is http://www.gardenweb.com/. This site is a great resource for gardeners. They have an "ask the expert" section and a "zone buddies" section. Zone buddies is great for keeping in touch with other gardners in your area and building a network of garden buddies. They also have a section that will help you identify and describe hundreds of plants.

Finally, there is a calendar of events worldwide, so you can visit garden events wherever you travel. I feel this site would be helpful to both the casual beginning gardner and the expert.

Most importantly, get out there and do a little gardening. It's good for the mind and the body. It's so satisfying to plant something and watch it mature. Keep in mind that composting is easy and clean and will significantly reduce trash that you send to the landfill. That's good for everybody.