A friend of mine forwarded the news link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ31Ljd9T_Y&feature=share
to me regarding how Whole Foods has been selling food from China as "organic". Even without watching the video I am quite certain that there is no way to tell if food imported from China is organic or not. Remember the baby food? How about the dog food? I for one do not want to eat anything that is imported from China.
I now have further proof that the only way to be CERTAIN that what you eat is organic, is to grow it yourself!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Giant Sunflowers and keeping mice out of my garden
I'm sorry I haven't written sooner, but I've been very busy at work. But that hasn't kept me out of my garden. Here's what's happened so far this summer:
My sunflowers are now 12-14 feet tall. I've never seen such large sunflowers. I actually harvested some seeds and ate them. Have you ever harvested sunflower seeds?
It's actually kind of gross. First of all, if you are organic, as I am, there are these teeny red mite like bugs that live in the head of the sunflower. I took a high powered sprayer and blasted the head to get rid of the bugs. Then I let it dry in the sun for a day. When it was dry and bug free, I removed the seeds. Once they were removed I put them on a pan and let them further dry in the sun. My husband said that all the work I put in wasn't worth it. But where else can you get organic sunflower seeds?
Now for the rest of the garden. Mice kept eating my melon plants (and my pepper plant) down to nothing overnight. Afraid that I wouldn't get ANY harvest from my hard work, I did two things: First I put an electronic mouse trap in the garden, and I've been collecting little dead bodies every week. And second, my husband made me four little "cages" to put around my plants. These worked great until I went on vacation and the zapper trap broke, and a mouse dug underneath the cage and ate an entire plant! Those darn mice!
Anyway, one of the cassabananas is doing well (I have three) and I'm hoping that I'll get flowers and fruit sometime this summer. I know, it's late so I might not get any. I did get some ground cherry flowers and I'm hoping that I'll be able to harvest some in a few weeks. I've never tasted them before.
Anyway that's the update. Sorry it's short, but I have to get back to work!
Happy Gardening!
My sunflowers are now 12-14 feet tall. I've never seen such large sunflowers. I actually harvested some seeds and ate them. Have you ever harvested sunflower seeds?
It's actually kind of gross. First of all, if you are organic, as I am, there are these teeny red mite like bugs that live in the head of the sunflower. I took a high powered sprayer and blasted the head to get rid of the bugs. Then I let it dry in the sun for a day. When it was dry and bug free, I removed the seeds. Once they were removed I put them on a pan and let them further dry in the sun. My husband said that all the work I put in wasn't worth it. But where else can you get organic sunflower seeds?
Now for the rest of the garden. Mice kept eating my melon plants (and my pepper plant) down to nothing overnight. Afraid that I wouldn't get ANY harvest from my hard work, I did two things: First I put an electronic mouse trap in the garden, and I've been collecting little dead bodies every week. And second, my husband made me four little "cages" to put around my plants. These worked great until I went on vacation and the zapper trap broke, and a mouse dug underneath the cage and ate an entire plant! Those darn mice!
Anyway, one of the cassabananas is doing well (I have three) and I'm hoping that I'll get flowers and fruit sometime this summer. I know, it's late so I might not get any. I did get some ground cherry flowers and I'm hoping that I'll be able to harvest some in a few weeks. I've never tasted them before.
Anyway that's the update. Sorry it's short, but I have to get back to work!
Happy Gardening!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Seeds from Brian
I received an unexpected packet of seeds in the mail today. It was so cool!
Here's what Brian sent me:
Japanese Eggplant (I need these because I'm having the worst time getting my eggplants to live past the teeny seedling stage).
Colorado Columbine--these are very pretty.
Petunias- I wonder what color they are?
Italian Basil-I will definitely use these!
Getting these seeds in the mail definitely made my day. THANKS BRIAN!
And, Joelle & Clayton, your seeds are going in the mail tomorrow morning!
Happy Gardening!
Here's what Brian sent me:
Japanese Eggplant (I need these because I'm having the worst time getting my eggplants to live past the teeny seedling stage).
Colorado Columbine--these are very pretty.
Petunias- I wonder what color they are?
Italian Basil-I will definitely use these!
Getting these seeds in the mail definitely made my day. THANKS BRIAN!
And, Joelle & Clayton, your seeds are going in the mail tomorrow morning!
Happy Gardening!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Garden Update--Cassabanana
As of my last post one of my Cassabananas died. It was so sad, but I still have two left. The two seem strong so I'm hoping to plant both of them in my garden this year.
I'm giving the African Horned Melon to the little boy next door, once it has at least a few true leaves. Right now it just has the seed leaves and one true leaf is poking out.
I took the house down when we had two hot days in a row. Then immediately it got cold. Well, cold for here, because it's in the 60s. I know that some other parts of the country (like where my mother lives) its still snowing.
The sunflowers are about 3 feet high. The peas I planted to grow on them have all been eaten by something except for one. Such is what happens when you try to grow organic!
I planted the ground cherry that I received and I have five of the tiniest seedlings growing in my bedroom seedling nursery. I hope that I get one to make it. I'm not sure if it's an Aunt Molly variety because it was a trade. I hope so because I've read that these are the tastiest.
The tomatoes and peppers are both going strong. They aren't big enough to plant outside yet, but I'll keep you posted. I'll post some photos soon.
Oh, and I also planted a dragon tongue bean which has sprouted. It's kind of scarey looking as a sprout. I can't wait to see what it is going to look like as a plant!
The hyacinth bean I planted (3 of them) seem to be rotting instead of growing, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Oh, and I transplanted several plants out of the garden into red cups. I think that one is a cucumber, which is good because none of my cucumbers are growing that I planted this year. And then there are two mystery plants. I hope that they are eggplant, but no way to tell. I'll post photos later.
Or at least I hope I can post photos....
Happy Gardening!
I'm giving the African Horned Melon to the little boy next door, once it has at least a few true leaves. Right now it just has the seed leaves and one true leaf is poking out.
I took the house down when we had two hot days in a row. Then immediately it got cold. Well, cold for here, because it's in the 60s. I know that some other parts of the country (like where my mother lives) its still snowing.
The sunflowers are about 3 feet high. The peas I planted to grow on them have all been eaten by something except for one. Such is what happens when you try to grow organic!
I planted the ground cherry that I received and I have five of the tiniest seedlings growing in my bedroom seedling nursery. I hope that I get one to make it. I'm not sure if it's an Aunt Molly variety because it was a trade. I hope so because I've read that these are the tastiest.
The tomatoes and peppers are both going strong. They aren't big enough to plant outside yet, but I'll keep you posted. I'll post some photos soon.
Oh, and I also planted a dragon tongue bean which has sprouted. It's kind of scarey looking as a sprout. I can't wait to see what it is going to look like as a plant!
The hyacinth bean I planted (3 of them) seem to be rotting instead of growing, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Oh, and I transplanted several plants out of the garden into red cups. I think that one is a cucumber, which is good because none of my cucumbers are growing that I planted this year. And then there are two mystery plants. I hope that they are eggplant, but no way to tell. I'll post photos later.
Or at least I hope I can post photos....
Happy Gardening!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mail Call!
I'm so excited! This morning the hardy kiwis that I ordered from www.ediblelandscaping.com arived. The package was VERY securely packages as to not damage the plants. I am very impressed with them.
I received a female Anna hardy kiwi, a female Ken's Red hardy kiwi, and a male hardy kiwi. Kiwis need a male and a female plant in order to produce fruit. Now I'll be removing some of our other flower vines to make room for the kiwis. I'm trying to get as much food landscaping as possible in my tiny urban garden...
After I got the UPS package I went to my office to pick up my mail. Here's what I got today:
Michelle sent me some Moonflower seeds and some sugar pie pumpkin seeds. And she sent me a very nice note to go along with it. Thanks Michele!
Risquin sent me some "Love in a Mist" and some Wisteria seeds. She also included a package from her sister which was blue bell squash. I am very excited about the blue bell squash. Apparently it had been sent to me twice before but I never received it. Thanks Risquin!
Dream Johnson sent me some squash, catanach caerulea, columbine, and Japanese eggplant. They were loose in two envelopes so I hope that I don't mix them up! I'm looking forward to growing the Japanese eggplant. Thanks Dream Johnson!
Misha sent me some short neck cushaw squash. I cannot wait to plant my fall garden. Thanks Misha!
I also received a SASE from Barbara with a request for some of my seeds. Barbara, I'm sending your seeds out today.
Well, that's the Mail Call for today. Thanks for following the TinyUrbanGarden. I hope you tell your friends about me.
Happy Gardening!
I received a female Anna hardy kiwi, a female Ken's Red hardy kiwi, and a male hardy kiwi. Kiwis need a male and a female plant in order to produce fruit. Now I'll be removing some of our other flower vines to make room for the kiwis. I'm trying to get as much food landscaping as possible in my tiny urban garden...
After I got the UPS package I went to my office to pick up my mail. Here's what I got today:
Michelle sent me some Moonflower seeds and some sugar pie pumpkin seeds. And she sent me a very nice note to go along with it. Thanks Michele!
Risquin sent me some "Love in a Mist" and some Wisteria seeds. She also included a package from her sister which was blue bell squash. I am very excited about the blue bell squash. Apparently it had been sent to me twice before but I never received it. Thanks Risquin!
Dream Johnson sent me some squash, catanach caerulea, columbine, and Japanese eggplant. They were loose in two envelopes so I hope that I don't mix them up! I'm looking forward to growing the Japanese eggplant. Thanks Dream Johnson!
Misha sent me some short neck cushaw squash. I cannot wait to plant my fall garden. Thanks Misha!
I also received a SASE from Barbara with a request for some of my seeds. Barbara, I'm sending your seeds out today.
Well, that's the Mail Call for today. Thanks for following the TinyUrbanGarden. I hope you tell your friends about me.
Happy Gardening!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Shoot! I think I killed one of the cassabananas!
I'm very blue.
This morning My cassabanana seedling was full of roots and so I didn't want it to stick in the felt so I moved it into a red cup, and added some peat moss all around the little jiffy pellet, and then gave it some water.
I looked at it about an hour ago and the poor little thing was wilted. Her two little seed leaves were looking down like it was crying.
I feel so sad. I moved her into the greenhouse, perhaps she needs more humidity. But the last time this happened the little cassabanana died.
So now it looks like I'm down to two of those plants.
Sniff Sniff. I think I'll have a glass of wine to drown my sorrows.
This morning My cassabanana seedling was full of roots and so I didn't want it to stick in the felt so I moved it into a red cup, and added some peat moss all around the little jiffy pellet, and then gave it some water.
I looked at it about an hour ago and the poor little thing was wilted. Her two little seed leaves were looking down like it was crying.
I feel so sad. I moved her into the greenhouse, perhaps she needs more humidity. But the last time this happened the little cassabanana died.
So now it looks like I'm down to two of those plants.
Sniff Sniff. I think I'll have a glass of wine to drown my sorrows.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Seeds from Danny
I'm so excited! I got some new seeds in the mail for my fall garden!
I'm participating in a couple of different seed swaps and Danny sent me the following seeds:
Hyacinth Beans:
Purple or Maroon Hibiscus:
Pan Patty Squash:
and White Scalloped Squash:
I'm not really sure what the difference is between Patty Pan or Scalloped Squash, so I guess I'll find out when I plant them in my garden!
I love getting seeds in the mail, and I can't wait to plant them.
Happy Gardening!
I'm participating in a couple of different seed swaps and Danny sent me the following seeds:
Hyacinth Beans:
I love getting seeds in the mail, and I can't wait to plant them.
Happy Gardening!
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