Starting Seeds!

Well, hello there!  I know it has been way too long since my last post, but last year just after the previous post, we moved to our new house!  You will no longer be seeing pictures of many pots sitting inside or outside because we finally have plenty of room for a real garden!  I finished up my culinary arts degree last semester and I have been working a new job since we moved.  Recently, however, things are getting pretty interesting around here..

Last week I started some seeds indoors!  My parents gave me this great little mini-greenhouse contraption that works great for seed starting.  

In order to keep the seeds warmer, I placed the little greenhouse over one of our heaters so it would get as much heat as possible right now since we don't keep the house too warm.

I put in one of our digital thermometers inside the greenhouse so I would know the temperature inside.  This will be more useful once I am keeping the greenhouse in extra room we have in front of the house that will be great for seedlings once it is consistently warmer outside.  It's not a heated room but it has lots of windows and gets all the sun.  I placed the sensor for this thermometer in that room so I can tell when it's safe to put the greenhouse out there.

These are the seeds I have started so far.  As you can see I've found some interesting ways to start my seeds without going out and buying any of those seed starting trays.  I've been saving all those plastic square boxes the organic lettuce mixes come in from the supermarket, toilet paper rolls, and egg cartons.  The cover on the salad containers comes off easily and is great for a drip tray.  Just poke holes in the bottom and you're good to go!  Some of them I put egg cartons in, which are basically the same thing as those seed starting trays you can buy with the individual compartments, and other I cut toilet paper rolls in half and placed inside the containers.  Another great way to use the toilet roll papers is to stand them all up together on a plate and tie them together.  The plate will act as the drip tray and it's easy to move around.  The salad containers are also great for growing what came in them the first place - lettuce!  These are great for growing any greens and you can cut them at any size.  They'll most likely keep growing back for a while too.  Then I had some extra pots on had that I am growing some more lettuce in, some peas for pea shoots (really great for salads, they are sweet little greens that taste just like peas!), and some basil.

 Only a couple days later after planting everything - I've got sprouts!!!  This first one is arugula, which is a nice green that likes the cold.

 This is the first sign of my pea shoots! Now all my shoots are starting to sprout and I should be able to harvest them soon.

 This is the broccoli sprouting, which these can be grown as sprouts too for sandwiches or salads - they pack a lot of flavor and nutrients!

These are the spring mix greens that I have growing in one of the salad containers.  

As soon as I empty another salad container I just fill it with seed starting soil and plant something else in it.  Right now I'm trying to plant more lettuces so then I won't have to buy that lettuce at the store anymore!  Since taking these pictures my spinach has sprouted along with my rainbow chard.  

I am so excited for the growing season to start because I have learned a lot of gardening from books and friends, but I haven't really been able to do it yet!  I'm looking forward to this being a learning experience and to be able to share what works and and what doesn't in a first-timer's organic garden.  We still have snow here, but it has been quite warm so once the snow is gone I think the ground will be soft enough to get started, with at least some cold tolerant greens and carrots.  Our new property has 2 apple trees on it that I pruned today.  We had apples just as we moved here last year, which was a great treat!  We also have raspberries and blackberries on the property.  I can't wait for things to start growing to see what I actually have here!  

Please feel free to post your first time experiences or some good-to-know tips!  Remember, the more you grow yourself at home, the less money you have to spend at the grocery store!!  This is my goal in this experience, to be able to live mostly from my own garden and only have to buy minimal things from the store.  

Look forward to the coming of spring!

More easy herbs

BASIL!  Basil is one of my favorite herbs and it is also another extremely easy herb to grow and to make more plants from.  Basil is an herb that will easily create more roots if left to sit in some water for a week or so.  There are also many different kinds of basil, just like mint, that will give you the same abundant result.  They range from different flavors, different colors, different sizes and different shapes of the leaves.  This basil in the picture is a regular, full-leaf basil, which is most common.  This particular basil I bought at the local farmer's market for  $2 for a bag full of it.  Usually in the grocery store you pay about $3 for a very small container of basil that might hold 5-8 leaves. 

Here is my windowsill full of my basil from the market.  This can be a little tricky sometimes depending on how your basil was cut.  The stems on these were not too long so I had to find a way to hold them in the jars so they will stay fresh.  I've read so many times to keep your basil fresh put it in water and put it in the fridge with either a plastic bag over it or a damp paper towel.  Not necessary!  Put it in some water and let them hang out on a windowsill.  Not only do you get a light fragrance of basil in that area, but they give some nice color and life to an area.  When you have basil growing in the ground or in a pot you do need to pinch off those long stems of flowers that grow out the top, but since mine are just sitting in water waiting to be used I've left them on because they look pretty. 

The only important this is to make sure the stems are in the water.  A small glass or jar is really best, I've used half-pint canning jars for mine.  If the water gets too low you'll know right away because the leaves will wilt slightly.  Just add more water and they'll be happy again!  The basil will keep for quite a long time like this and will start to develop roots after about a week and continue to grow some (I still have lemon balm from my mother sitting in water that has yet to be planted, but is going strong!).  If you don't end up using all your basil after it roots, then plant it!  The basil will be perfectly happy in a pot on a sunny windowsill or out on the steps.  In the meantime, just keep plucking the leaves off as you wish to use them!  I like basil torn up onto a pizza or with pasta.

One of my favorite summer meals is a fresh tomato salad.  Cut up tomatoes of any kind (I had various cherry tomatoes at the time), put in some chunks of mozzarella, roughly chop some basil, drizzle it with some extra virgin olive oil, and season it with salt and pepper.  Yum!  Chop up the tomatoes a little more and scoop it up with some toasted slices of baguette and you've got bruschetta!  Then if I have some leftover brushcetta, since I make a good amount, I make a pizza and use that as the tomato sauce - delicious.  I don't ever get tired of tomatoes and basil.  Basil is also an herb that is very easy to grow from seed if you so choose.  You'll have a monstrous plant by the time summer comes around.

PS:  I hope those that got hit with the recent hurricane didn't get too much damage to their gardens!  If a storm is coming, harvest, harvest, HARVEST!  It's better to harvest a lot than to loose some due to heavy rain and wind.  I brought in all my herbs from my steps outside so they wouldn't blow over..

Homegrown Tea

If you're like me, then you LOVE tea.  I usually drink somewhere between 2 and 5 cups everyday (my morning tea is actually 2 cups because I make it in a big tall mug :) ) and I never get tired of it.  I'm always looking for new and different flavors to try and brew, but why not just grow it yourself?!  No, you probably can't grow a regular tea plant because those are native to India mostly.  However, we can grow all the herbal tea we want!  These herbs that are best for tea are some of the EASIEST plants all around to grow and you may even be growing some in your backyard without even knowing it.  There are tons of herbs that you can use for tea, but I'll share the ones that I enjoy and have grown (or soon to grow) myself. 

This is the first step in having homegrown tea.  This particular plant is lemon balm, which I got from my mother.  Many herbs will easily root themselves in a glass of water.  Just snip of a little bunch of the herb and place it in a jar of water.  Lemon balm and mint are the easiest herbs to root.  Within just a couple days of sitting in water they will have established new roots already and will start to grow.  This plant was probably half the size when I took it home about a week ago and it is now ready to be planted. 

Step 2:  put your rooted plant in a pot with some moistened potting soil.  Always remember to use POTTING soil when making potted plants, because the soil in your yard is not the same and your plants may die.  Mint and lemon balm may be okay in regular soil in a pot, but they practically will themselves to grow - anything else will die.  So this was some spearmint (from my mother again, thanks!) that was rooted just like the lemon balm above and then was placed in this small pot since it was not a large bunch.  When you first plant your rooted herb into a pot place it somewhere not in direct sunlight.  I have a small table underneath a windowsill that works pretty well.  Wait a few days till it starts to grow and then place it in the windowsill.  If you put the plant outside too soon it will wilt, which I found out by experimentation.  Once the plant is well established and has been growing a while, it is safe to put outside.  Mint and lemon balm are happy in part shade/sunny areas.  Too much sun could burn them so give them a bit of shade.  This will easily grow into a large sprawling plant that begs to be picked for tea!

These are my two mints that I grew from bunches that bought from the farmer's market.  Each bunch was a good handful for $1 each, which is a great buy.  Within a couple days the mints had roots.  I have had these plants for about a month or so and they are doing very well.  The top, darker plant is chocolate mint, which smells like a peppermint patty and the bottom is peppermint.  The mints will stay a light green while they are inside, but once they are out the stems will darken a bit, especially the chocolate mint.  These will stay in pots until we move into a new house this fall.  Mint is best kept in a large pot either sitting outside or buried in the ground.  If left to its own devices, it will take over all your other plants.  Mint and lemon balm grow fast and easy and will crowd out other plants.  Also, if you have different mint varieties, keep them apart from each other and pinch off the flowers so they don't cross pollinate.  There are many different varieties of mint including orange, chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, pineapple, and many others.  If you every come across someone that has a different mint than you, offer to do a trade or ask for a cutting to grow your collection!  Remember to cut the tall, lanky stems when harvesting your mint to encourage it to grow into a large bushy plant. 

Mint and lemon balm are the only two tea herbs that I have experimented with so far, but mint is my absolute favorite herbal tea so I am definitely not bored.  Mint is great for relaxation and to help an unhappy tummy and it tastes great.  I add just a tiny bit of honey to my mint tea, which is all the sweetener it needs, if any at all.  When making tea with fresh herbs, let the boiled water cool a bit before pouring it over the herbs because boiling water is too hot for fresh herbs and will ruin the yummy oils.  This herbs are also very easy to dry.  Tie them into small bunches and hang in low traffic doorways or lay them out on a baking pan to dry somewhere out of the way.  Where we live right now I have a heating monitor that is great to dry herbs on. 

So cut a few stems of mint or lemon balm and you'll have a potted plant within a week and enjoying some lovely herbal tea.  These are by far the easiest plants to grow and to make more plants of yourself.  They need very little care and even if they do go un-cared for for a bit, they will come right back with a little extra water and attention. 

Finally found my way

I wanted to start today where I left off before talking about my journey through this jungle of organic and not organic food and products.

So after hearing about all the petroleum in my fancy, pretty, shiny lip balms and smelly, delicious lotions I first said, well, I'll just use up what I have because that would be a waste to throw it out.  I used the same products for a little while and then I just started throwing them all away.  I had bottles upon bottles of Avon lotions and tons of little tubes of lip balms all over the place and I chucked them ALL.  After doing more research about petroleum I decided it wasn't worth it, not matter how much product I was throwing out because I did not want to be supporting a company that uses these chemicals in their products.  Oddly enough, petroleum is actually banned from being used in any cosmetic products in the European Union, but you can still find the stuff on all the department store shelves of America!  Contaminants from petroleum have been found in the breast tissue of women who have breast cancer, which is interesting because don't some of those fancy lotion companies "support" breast cancer?

Here's the list of ingredients for the lotion from one of those companies:
WATER/EAU
ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE
CETEARYL ALCOHOL
PETROLATUM
PRUNUS ARMENIACA (APRICOT) KERNEL OIL
ISOPROPYL PALMITATE
ORYZA SATIVA (RICE) STARCH
PARFUM/FRAGRANCE
HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED EXTRACT
MELIA AZADIRACHTA SEED EXTRACT
VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) SEED EXTRACT
CUCUMIS SATIVUS (CUCUMBER) FRUIT EXTRACT
TOCOPHEROL
CUCUMIS MELO (MELON) FRUIT EXTRACT
GLYCERYL STEARATE
TRIETHANOLAMINE
PEG-40 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL
SODIUM CETEARYL SULFATE
CARBOMER
DISODIUM EDTA
DIMETHICONE
TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE
IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA
METHYLPARABEN
YELLOW 5
YELLOW 10
BLUE 1

Woah!  Did you see there at the top, the 4th ingredient?  Petrolatum.  As we all know by now, ingredients are listed in order of the amount in the product, from the most to the least.  So if this list looks like something you might own, you might want to think twice when you go to put it on your body again.  Your skin is the biggest organ and whatever you put on your skin goes deep down and can get into your bloodstream.  If you are going to start somewhere with using better products and ingredients on your body, this is definitely the best place to start.  Pretty much every lotion and/or lip balm you can buy at most regular stores like Walmart or places like Bath and Body Works or Avon products are going to have petroleum (listed as petrolatum) at the top of their ingredient list.  So start reading those labels!  My basic rule is, if I can't read it or know what it is, I don't what to use it on my body.  

Okay, all my yucky lotions are thrown away.  I used some Burt's Bees, which is okay, not great, but better than regular stuff and I also found another lotion called Yes to Carrots, which is another okay product.  Neither of these companies use petrolatum in their products, but they're still not perfect in any way.  The next thing I tried was a Dr. Bronner's lotion because I know their castile soap is a good product and my parents use that.  So I tried the lavender coconut lotion, the ingredients were all * as being organic and the lotion worked okay.  At the time I was also using a lavender bar of soap and after a while I started to break out in a rash.  So naturally, I thought I was allergic to lavender.  I stopped using both products and the rash went away.  Okay, I'm allergic to lavender.  I go about my ways using my Yes to Carrots lotion and I tried some lavender hand salve one day and that didn't give me any rash so that got me wondering.  I got the bottle of lotion out and started to really look at the ingredients.  One ingredients was an organic ethanol.  This threw me a little bit.  Why is there ethanol in my lotion?  Isn't that in gasoline now?? Ethanol is a by-product of corn, which is why it is being used in gas now because we can "grow" it, but that's a whole other story.  So I found through my online research than ethanol can cause skin irritations.  Aha!  So I am probably not allergic to lavender, which is lovely because lavender smells so nice!  Through my research I came upon a particular article that really perked my interest.  This is where I really got some insight to this whole deal.  Most commercial lotions have water as one of the first ingredients, which you can see with the list of ingredients of the product I posted.  So when there is water (it's cheap), you need something to preserve it so it doesn't go moldy, since water will promote bacterial growth, which is where things like ethanol come in.  Regular companies use fancy cheap preservatives like parabens and urea, but the "organic" companies use organic ethanol.  Since ethanol is an alcohol it dries out your skin.  These lotions will have other oils and essential oils in them to counteract the ethanol, but that doesn't always work, as was with my case.  The lotion just seemed to make my skin more dry.  So you've got some water and some ethanol, but you need something to thicken the lotion or emulsify it.  Most "organic" companies will use xanthan gum to emulsify their lotions and then throw in some other oils and scents and BAM, "organic" lotion.  Reading more from this particular company I realized that you don't need water in a lotion to make a moisturizing product.  Organic coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, and sunflower oil are all lovely moisturizers.  Throw in some essential oils and you have an awesome, organic, moisturizer that WORKS.  This company is Bubble and Bee Organics and they are my FAVORITE.  They truly care about what goes into their products and they are actually organic and safe to use.  You can read all the ingredients and they all work.  I tell pretty much everyone I know about Bubble and Bee because it is important to support these kinds of companies that are really doing it right.  It was a long road to get there, but I did finally get there.  Once you really start looking at your products you will be AMAZED at what they put in there.  A good reference site is EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.  They have just about every cosmetic product on there rated by toxicity of the ingredients in the product.  This is where I started to really see how the stuff I was using measured up. 

So now I'm asking you to take a good look at your cosmetics to see how safe they really are.  I hope doing some of this research yourself will inspire you to use safer products on not only yourself, but your family as well.  Think about what you use on your baby's delicate skin.. is that safe?  Are you putting harmful toxins on their skin that can be linked to cancer?   Yes, it seems like everything causes cancer, but there are things you can do to prevent harmful toxins from entering your body.  EVERYTHING makes a difference.  Even if you just start using an organic lip balm and trash your Chapstick - it makes a difference.  Bubble and Bee is not the only company that makes safe cosmetics, but it is my favorite.  Do your own research and find what you like.  Find what's best for you.  As always, feel free to share what you find in the comments and I am happy to answer any questions or to just start a conversation about something you found in your research.

Not all local farms are created equal

There is a local farm that I pass everyday going and coming home from work.  They have a nice little farm stand that I have bought from when I first moved here, but not recently.  I have said before it is important to support your local farmers and to buy your produce/dairy/meat from them, HOWEVER, you also need to make sure you are buying from a farmer you can trust.  This picture above is not a picture that I took (wish I had stopped and taken a picture at least from my phone), but this is the vehicle I saw driving out of that particular farm I drive by everyday.  This vehicle is for spraying pesticides/herbicides, which is the reason it is so important to buy organic produce.  These chemicals are sprayed directly on the food you buy from the grocery store and sometimes from the food you can buy at a local farm.  When going to a new farm stand or market, just simply ask if they are organic.  Not every organic farm will be certified organic either, which this is not actually important.  Many organic farmers are not certified because there are a lot of steps and hoops to jump through ($$$$$$$$) in order to become a certified organic farm, but many farmers practice organic farming and will gladly tell you that they're produce is safe from any harmful chemicals.  If you ask and someone says that no they are not organic, then say thank you and shop elsewhere.  Don't feel bad that you walked away because you're in search of an organic farmer that you can feel good about buying your food from. 

Now, some produce that is sprayed with chemicals is safer than other produce.  Fruits and vegetables that have a porous outside like berries, potatoes, leafy greens, and apples are things you should buy organic.  Other things like onions and corn have been tested to have less pesticides.  There is a handy-dandy list with the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 to use when you are at the grocery store or at the market.  Organic produce at the grocery store can be a little pricey so if you are looking to save some money this can help you decide what you need to buy organic and what you may not need to buy organic.  Of course, it is best to buy ALL organic, but that sometimes isn't possible with smaller budgets these days.  This is another reason why you might find yourself saving money if you were to start your own organic gardening and then you wouldn't have to worry about the produce you buy from the grocery store.  It's best to have your own garden, but if you're shopping at the farmer's market, make sure you are buying from a farmer you can trust and that you won't see one of those contraptions in the picture coming out of their farm.

Another tiny harvest

 The other night I had another little harvest from my little garden I have going on here.  This little 4 foot long bed was originally a small perennial garden.  I was given a few perennial flowers from my grandmother and I planted them here in front of the house.  They were nice, but I decided if I'm going to be growing something I should be growing something I can eat!  So, out came the shovel and out went the flowers and the rocks I had surrounding it.  I cleaned up the area a bit and then tossed in a whole bunch of different lettuce seeds.  I had a container that had random lettuce seeds in them that I had intended for this very use.  There's some regular lettuce mixes, swiss chard, some spinach, and who knows what else.  I just know I love salad and I love having different greens.  Greens only take a few weeks to come up to a point where you can cut them and many will continuously grow until it gets too hot.  Greens don't like hot weather.  I should have planted these quite a bit earlier, but I still got some nice baby greens out of it to add to our salads.  I kept the tall grass around the little lettuce patch to give them a little bit of shade because our little house faces south here and it can get quite hot, especially right now! 

From this harvest I got about a good handful of greens, which I should be able to get another couple of handfuls before the summer is over.  This is the only thing I have growing directly in the ground right now and I love it!  I can't wait to have many more gardens like this when we move into our own house.  Greens can easily be grown in containers too and are very happy in long window boxes.  You could probably keep them going through the winter if you have a grow light to aid in the little bit of sunlight we get in the winter, depending on where you are.  I also had some cuttings from carrots that I had thinned out as well, which I will share later. 


This just goes to show, that it DOES NOT matter how big or small your garden may be or where or what it is in.  It's not necessary to dig into the ground in order to grow your own food and take a step towards being more self-sufficient.  Like I said before, many plants are happy to grow in containers or in small spaces, or wherever you see that you have some room.  The amount of greens that I picked from my little garden, would probably cost about $2 for the same amount of baby, organic greens at the grocery store.  Let alone, the gas driving to get to the store and the gas it took for the greens to be delivered to the store.  My greens were probably eaten within 30 minutes of picking them and I walked about 10 feet from my front door to get them. 

Lettuce greens are one of the EASIEST things to grow and they grow fast.  You have a lot of options when you grow salad greens.  You could grow lettuces that form heads and keep them in the ground longer until they have grown to a fair size or you could cut them when they are only a few inches from the ground and have baby greens.  Many greens will continue to grow back after cutting them like this, sometimes they're called "cut and come again" greens, which is exactly what they will do.  They could be grown outside in your garden or you could have pots or window boxes with all different types of greens.  Another option with greens is to grow micro greens, which are huge in the culinary world.  Buying micro greens can be quite expensive, but growing them yourself is a cinch.  Almost anything can be used as a container, as long as it is at least 2-3" deep.  Those plastic containers that greens come in at the grocery store are perfect  and you can use the cover as a drip tray.  If you are using something like this, just poke holes in the bottom of whatever you plan to use and make sure you have something underneath it to catch the water.  Place soil in the container and throw in your seeds.  If you want micro or even baby greens, sow them very thick.  You don't have to evenly space them or anything just sprinkle them on top of the soil.  Throw a little more soil on top and water it.  The seeds will germinate within a few days and when they have a couple little leaves you can chop 'em off!  Micro greens pack a TON of flavor because all their flavor is in that tiny little leaf.  Micro greens also don't need to have sun to grow because seeds don't need the light to germinate, they just need the sun to continue to grow so you can keep them anywhere at first.

So, if you don't know where to start with your vegetables, start with lettuce.  It's easy and you'll have results within a few weeks. 

Favorite day of the week :)

Friday is my favorite day of the week! One reason is because it's my day off (!!!!!!) and it is also the day of the farmer's market near me.  I LOVE farmer's markets.  Especially the one I go to because I always find great produce there and since I don't yet have my own full garden to eat from, I am glad to buy from the local farmers that I know are organic and I want to support their business.  There is one farm I buy most of my produce from, and he is also the most popular vendor there because he's got the most amount of produce, it's fair priced, and it is all VERY good.  Today I came away with some red butterhead lettuce, beet greens, baby swiss chard, green beans, basil, sage, calendula flowers, onions, zucchini and squash, cucumber, radishes, and broccoli.  From other vendors, I got some yummy big tomatoes, green peppers, shallots, and some pretty multi-colored carrots. 

What a bounty!! Was it really cheap?  No, but this will feed us all week with nice big salads, grilled veggies, and herbs for some extra flavor.  Almost all of the veggies will be used in salads, which we eat pretty much everyday, if not twice a day!  If for some reason I don't end up using all my herbs, then I usually dry them and store them for the winter.  As for the calendula flowers, yah they are really pretty to keep on the table to look at, but my bundle from last week is steeping in olive oil to make an ointment and the bundle from this week I am drying to make a hand salve.  Calendula flowers actually help heal skin wounds and irritations, so it's sort of like a natural first aid cream, without the nasty petroleum base.  I'll be mixing some dried calendula and lavender flowers with cocoa butter, beeswax, vitamin E capsules, and olive oil to make a hand salve that will smell and work awesomely!  All of these ingredients can be found at natural health food stores and most everybody has olive oil in their pantry.  Beeswax I found was actually quite cheap, I found a good sized block for about $4 and you only need a little bit. 

If you don't have a lot of room, time, space, whatever for a garden to solely feed your family from, then the next best thing is the farmer's market.  If they are organic (you will want to make sure, though most at the market are) then they have the same ideals you have when it comes to feeding your family.  You want good quality produce that you know has no harmful chemicals applied to it.  For many farmers at the market, this is their full-time job and working the markets is how they feed and support their own families.  With gas prices going up, prices at the grocery store are going up to and you're really only paying for the travel of the food to get to the store.  Let alone having to travel there and back home yourself.  This is why it is so important to support our local organic farmers because if everything else goes down the tubes, at least you'll know where you can find good food.  Most of the things we really need in life, we can find in nature: gardening, hunting, fishing, sun, wind, and rain.


Let me remind you, this is all still a learning process for me, but I feel it's important to share.  While I may not be able to do all of the things I want to do right now with gardening and such, I can learn about it and share it and do more with the coming years.  If you are like me and have limited gardening space, a great book with a lot of info is Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces.  Also, if you have any questions about ingredients in beauty products or gardening feel free to leave a comment with your questions :)