Grow your food with your flowers In the city, we don’t have a lot of space to work with so what better approach then to mix leafy edibles in containers or garden beds around our homes.If you want to start growing more organic vegetables in the city, you need to look at your lot as a…
Have you ever tried perennial Salad burnet with your hummus?
YUM! In 2015, I started introducing more perennial edibles to our garden for it makes early winter to spring a bit easier for eating year round. Also, many annual vegetables and herbs are initially grown inside under lights and then placed outside in the garden soil. I have found by the end of January or…
You can grow nature and food on your city lot if you learn to mix it and see what happens
Is it food or nature I am trying to grow on my city lot? Both I believe…. I love meadows. Don’t you? There is something about a meadow that takes us back to our childhood. I remember running and chasing butterflies in a field near my house.When you live in an urban area, you hardly…
Don’t forget to start Swiss Chard and Kale this week
Kale and Swiss Chard inspired me to expand my urban potager in 2006! We have a wonderful year round, indoor + outdoor farmer’s market in the Quad Cities. Not only do we have that but we also have several smaller farmer markets in the parking lots of our hospitals on the weekends. There are 100’s…
Are you starting your pansies in the dark this week?
My goal for 2016 was to take you through the growing of our Urban Potager in the city from January and share with you all the projects or activities I am doing each week to keep our Potager producing for us and nature all year long. I have learned over the years that certain plants…
Don’t be afraid to be different! Stop standing on the sidelines and jump in the game of change!
I am starting to see a society that is becoming too afraid to be different. If you want change, you have to stand up and make a statement. Yep, you may not find a lot of people following but eventually they will see that your ideas are not so far-fetched. For the good of nature…
Why not put Raspberries on your city lot, do you need ALL that GRASS?
Our summer is slowing down, and we are having a lot of cool weather which I don’t mind this year! Our raspberries have been emerging the last few weeks. I have been busy getting all our fall crops into our garden beds. Fall planting and raspberry harvest occur every year around the same time….
Did you know Milkweed plants have matching insects same color scheme as the Monarch Butterfly?
I am an insect “wannabe” geek! I would love to be an entomologist in my other life, as well as a few other careers. An “entomologist” is not something that was taught in school as a possible career choice.When I was growing up, no one ever said, ” HEY, You like bugs why not become…
Have you found when adding native plants to your garden you need to be careful?
This past week, I was in the garden clearing out an area to create more space for perennial edible foods and more pollinator friendly plants. I was not paying attention to where I was working and not wearing appropriate weeding clothes. I got poison ivy! Yep, I let my garden area run a bit wild…
Have you ever noticed a garlic bulb is like life?
My garden helps me with changes in my life. I find when I go out there and weed, sow, harvest or just enjoy the beauty it helps me “understand” the changes I encounter in my life….. I had a lot of weeds in my garlic bed this week. I usually try to keep it weed…
Spring without strawberries can you imagine?
I can’t! We are now into summer, and our strawberries are starting to wane.They are one of the first plants in spring to leaf out and fill their bed. I can hardly wait when I see the strawberry plants spreading across the ground. Here, is my first strawberry patch that was inspired by others in…
Historical Pansies are a healthy addition to your spring salad!
I can’t imagine a spring salad without historic pansies gracing my plate.,,, I have been growing old-fashioned pansies (historic pansy growing with Chard 2014) in our Urban Potager for many years. I have grown a variety of other pansies. and the colors and faces could never compete with these dainty beauties.I usually pair them with my…
Immunity Gardens 