Growing with the Tao

[thelerner]

I picked up an impressive gardening magazine, 'Guide to Growing Your own Food' by Mother Earht News wiser living Series.

 

Most articles are on organic gardening, but it covers real simple methods to more complex. Articles suc h as Compost made easy, Building better soil w/ free organic fertilizers, organic pest control, Best fruit trees ranked by taste and disease resistance. It even has article on setting egg laying chickens coops, laying out which breeds are best, care and easy coop designs.

 

I'd like to recreate a garden area I saw in Connecticut last year. It had two raised beds a few feet apart so they made a walk way. The beds were very narrow, just a foot apart. So the gardener just picked up two water cans and walked the path and watered the two rows every other day. Plus she had several thick bridging wires between the raised gardens growing vines and twining flowers. It was very impressive.

 

One of the super easy methods layed out in the magazine had you buying bagged soil, punching holes in the bottom, ripping open the top and thats it. Growing crops 'out of the bag'. That might be a very simple solution for filling up my two rows. A bit expensive though, but instant. At the end of the season you remove the bags, but by then you have good soil and have hopefully mixed in some good compost through out the season.

 

What gardening do you guys do? Rumour has it Yoda does chickens .

 

 

Michael

 

 

With the discussions like Loose Change post, it's nice to write about getting ones hands dirty and watching things grow.

[DaoChild]

Hi thelerner,

I live in Connecticut with my family when I'm not at college, and I think it's so much fun to grow food. We live in the Southwest, so we don't have a huge amount of property -- maybe 1/2 acre, an acre, so it's definitely enough for a nice backyard to grow food in.

 

Typically my parents grow the food stuff - Broccoli, eggplant, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, tomatoes, peppers, lots of lettuce. That garden is about 6 feet wide by 15 feet long - not a huge garden, but it gives us enough to add an extra amount every night from June -- October of homegrown veggies. My garden is the herb garden (being the wee little herbalist I was / am ), and so if we want to make pesto or anything of that nature I grow the Basil, Mint, Lemon Balm, Calendula, Comfrey, Sage, Lavender, etc. I like making my own remedies this way, because it's great going from planting the seed to harvesting it and cooking (concocting??) it up!

 

One of the most fun and purest routes to connecting with the Way if you ask me .

[NeutralWire]

Sounds like a good mag, thanks for the recommend. NW

[zanshin]

We have a couple raised beds (made with old railroad ties). I grew up on a farm, thought it horribly boring when I was a kid, but now I'd like to have at least a few acres in the country somewhere. You should be able to start pretty soon for cool season crops, mid to late MArch for Conneticut (no tomatoes or eggplant til May)- plant peas, lettuce, spinach, be sure to plant radishes too very easy to grow from seed and quick to mature- about as close to instant gratification as there is for gardeners.

[soundhunter]

I garden some, am planting shelling peas today actually, and we eat kale/parsley/rosemary all year round. We're also going to get some chickens this spring I'm also into wildcrafting, the harvesting of wild plants for food, stinging nettle season is here now, and chickweed is good, dandelion leaves, miner's lettuce and more, any bums also do this?

[Wayfarer64]

As I stated on another thread just now - growing a garden is a wonderful way to be alive!!!- I am in an unusual state of inticipation for spring this year... I expect a real blossoming and renewal on a grand scale!!!

[Aetherous]

I worked a landscaping job this past summer, and it was the best way to ground out...to have dirt in your hands and be working with plants. Very relaxing...when you're not digging huge holes to plant trees.

 

I can't wait to have a yard so that I can grow my own stuff. Nothing is better than eating fresh veggies from the garden.

[DaoChild]

Oh yeah, wildcrafting is so much fun. Unfortunately I'm still not too familiar with the wild edibles here at school ( South Carolina). But soon we should be seeing Redbud flowers, violets, I saw some chickweed today, dandelions.. those all make a pretty good salad.

 

At home there are plenty of nettles and wild leeks, whole fields in the forest - it's pretty cool.

[Ya Mu]

We work a large garden every year. There is no doubt in my mind that the fresh food has WAY more qi than the grocery store junk. There is really no reason most people couldn't grow at least a couple of raised beds chock full of really good food. You would be surprised, if you haven't tried this, how much food you could get from 2 small raised beds. Or try an acre - that will keep anyone busy.

[shontonga]

I like the bag of dirt garden idea

appeals to my lazy (no time) side!

 

What would be some cheap ways to make raised gardens

for those of us who are flat broke bums?

... with out tools?

 

Truck tires would work well

but would they be ok for the soil?

 

Thanks!

 

Shon

 

Like this topic.

can't wait for warmer weather!

Will plnt some peas on St. Patricks Day!

Good to turn the garden then

before the last frost ... kills all the nasties.

(No offense to the cut worms!(yuck ))

 

Stay well!

[Ya Mu]

I like the bag of dirt garden idea

appeals to my lazy (no time) side!

 

What would be some cheap ways to make raised gardens

for those of us who are flat broke bums?

... with out tools?

 

Truck tires would work well

but would they be ok for the soil?

 

Thanks!

 

Shon

 

Like this topic.

can't wait for warmer weather!

Will plnt some peas on St. Patricks Day!

Good to turn the garden then

before the last frost ... kills all the nasties.

(No offense to the cut worms!(yuck ))

 

Stay well!

 

Shon,

For our raised beds we picked up larger rocks and laid them the length and width of the bed. Then used a wheel barrow to move dirt. Mulch from forest, your own compost, composted animal (horse is what we use) droppings, etc.

Doesn't have to be expensive.

[soundhunter]

For people who can't garden for any myriad reasonds, fresh sprouts, dried out seeds that burst with life once soaked in water are an option. Sprouting is very cheap, very easy and it's amazing how good one feels after eating them. There's so many great recipes online for the use of these sprouts now too, I recently sprouted lentils and made this with them and it was scrumptious. One doesn't even need a garden to grow their own food, a jar, cheap seeds and tap water work too!

 

DaoChild, do you harvest for medicinal uses too? I've been making some tinctures lately, started with california poppy and nettle seeds, hope to make more this year. I don't know your area at all, but I've been amazed to learn how so many of the best wild weeds grow all around the world, people step on them, wage war on them, and just ignore this bounty that is free for the taking and optimal for human consumption.

[Yoda]

Randi is a real gardener!! Daochild, if you are in Columbia, SC you'll have to swing by once she is under way. Every year she does more and is better at it. Last year she grew 300lbs and this year I think she is shooting for 600!!! She's found a lot of plants that rock out: Matts Wild tomatoes blew us last year and pumkin squashes that are the ninjas of the gardening world: they grow like jack in the beanstalk and will climb trees so you can even plant them in a forest! (good luck harvesting them!! ) I'll try to report on her secret weapons. She and her friends need to start a gardening forum... one of them has a masters in horticulture... very serious crew. And 4 chickens, of course. I'll post her specific seed list at some point: onions, garlic, jerusalem artichokes, matts wild tomatoes, pumpkin squash, sage, lots of basil, rosemary, sweet potatoes, carrots, okra, lots of cucumbers come to mind at the moment.

 

We'll pray for lots of rain as the plants grow much better on rain water than with tap water.

 

Can anyone recommend an organic gardening forum?

 

Apparently, seed catologues are going crazy these days. Business is up 2-10x these days. Chicken feed too. It's in the air.

 

Going to plant some peach and plum trees etc this year. Peach is supposed to be good fengsui too.

[Franklin]

right now i have some arugula, swiss chard, beets, collard greens, parsley, lemon grass, mint, eggplant, peppers, and banana growing

also just picked up some baby chicks the other day...

 

i used to help a friend out at his organic farm... and learned a bunch there...

 

been doing some research

for my home i think i am going to try to do some permaculture ideas.. (very cool stuff)

 

can check out this youtube channel for some ideas about what it is

http://www.youtube.com/user/permascience

 

last year i had some raised beds and grew loofah, eggplant, beans, and pepper

they were the regular raised beds- piling up the soil, using compost, etc

i think i will try it again but with the permaculture idea of no dig gardening

basically you lay cardboard down and then you pile up lots of hay (a couple feet thick) and soak it good with water

you plant the seedlings right into the hay with a handful or two of dirt

and as things grow you just keep mulching the top with the pant trimmings

 

supposed to simulate the topsoil production that takes place naturally in a forest- all the leaves fall and decompose to make a very rich and futile topsoil

 

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Franklin

Edited February 16, 2009 by Franklin

[gendao]

Sage

Where can I get white sage seeds?

 

Or where's a good online herbal seed shop, for that matter?

[eighty4proof]

Where can I get white sage seeds?

 

Or where's a good online herbal seed shop, for that matter?

 

http://www.horizonherbs.com/group.asp?grp=48 has salvia aplana and many other herb seeds.

 

Under $3 for a pack of 100 (approx.) or if you want 1/2 lb to 1lb try ebay.

[hyok]

Bean sprouting. Never knew how easy and awesome it is.

 

Highly recommend watching this. Short and to the point.

 

 

Also, sprouting Buckwheat, Oats and Sunflower seeds to make granola...

 

[xenolith]

Artichokes and garlic are up, lettuce in the coldframe and mrs. x is planting seeds in the greenhouse.

 

 

All is well in xeno's little pocket of the Tao

 

vortex, Seeds of Change is a great seed supplier...they have garden sage (salvia officinalis), didn't see white sage...but their garden sage is yummy!

Edited October 19, 2009 by xenolith

[soundhunter]

Bean sprouting. Never knew how easy and awesome it is.

 

Highly recommend watching this. Short and to the point.

 

 

Also, sprouting Buckwheat, Oats and Sunflower seeds to make granola...

 

 

It's even easier than that first video shows, you don't need a screen first. Cheese cloth or a piece of cotton t shirt or anything really, to strain them with after you rinse them out works just as well, a screen lid from a health food store is not necessary, nice, but not necessary. You can sprout almost any kind of bean or seed except NOT kidney beans, they're toxic unless cooked well as a bean.

Edited February 16, 2009 by soundhunter

[Aetherous]

I've tried sprouting, and it turned out all slimey and I couldn't dry it quickly (took over a day).

 

Do you suggest giving sprouts lots of sunlight?

[soundhunter]

I've tried sprouting, and it turned out all slimey and I couldn't dry it quickly (took over a day).

 

Do you suggest giving sprouts lots of sunlight?

 

No. You soak them for a few hours or overnight, then you rinse them thoroughly twice a day and drain them well, eating them before they spoil is important too. I don't put mine in the sun, just on a regular kitchen counter. If you were going for more chlorophyl sun would be good though, maybe I should experiment with that too. If you want to sprout I can start up a batch and guide you through a round at the same time and show you mine with pictures, I've been meaning to on my blog anyways, got any mung beans or lentils or organic gardening seeds, anything like this around you can get started with? (If you want to, that is)

[Aetherous]

I have tons of different varieties of seeds waiting to be sprouted, like 5 pounds or so haha...I'll stay tuned to your blog and follow along.

[soundhunter]

Do you have mung beans or brown lentils? Or were you thinking more alfalfa style?

[Aetherous]

Yes I have tons of Beanie's Mix and San Francisco Mix from sproutpeople.com which includes those.

[Spectrum]

Best chi from germinated sprouts. Use a meat grinder and make a paste for making home made chi cakes kinda like cliff bars, but chi bars. Sprouts are a natural superfood!

 

Xeno, nice setup@!