Archive for May, 2006

The Hotter Side of Gardening

Sunday, May 14th, 2006


The Hotter Side of Gardening

Most people picture the average gardener as some sweet septuagenarian working in her garden while speaking nicely to herself – or possibly her cat. And while gardening is a great hobby for anyone – it’s low impact, uses a variety of muscle groups, and it’s generally low stress. However, there’s another side to gardening as well – and this side is going to spice things up. This garden isn’t your average flower bed. Today we are going to talk about making a hot and spicy salsa garden!

Salsa is a highly underrated and underappreciated condiment. Most people know they can put salsa on Tex-Mex dishes like enchiladas and tacos. But they don’t realize that salsa is a great way to spice up their bland morning eggs. Grill masters don’t realize that salsa adds another layer of flavor to an already-delicious burger. Or for a carb-conscious – yet delicious – meal, try putting salsa on a cooked chicken breast and taste the flavor come to life.

That being said, not all salsas are equal. There are hundreds of different brands, strengths, and flavors available at the grocery store. However, the best of these is not found in a store – it’s the homemade salsa. And the best homemade salsa is not only homemade – but it’s home grown. The taste of a crisp, fresh salsa made with ingredients grown in your own back yard is something that cannot be beat.

There are, of course, a plethora of recipes out there. Many of them are based on the same basic recipe. Here is a list of some of the vegetables you will need in your garden.

First, make sure to find tomatoes to use as the base. There is a great deal of different kinds out there. Find plump, ripe tomatoes to start the salsa. I recommend using the starters that most nurseries sell. Just transplant them according to the instructions and be prepared to stake them – that is, to tie them to a supporting stick. Otherwise the tomatoes are too heavy for the plant and they pull it over.

Second, plant your garlic and onion. These must be grown in loose soil, so if you live in an area with clay or a similar condition, make sure to buy some appropriate planting soil at the nursery.

Third, all good salsa needs some chili peppers. Peppers are generally easy to grow – especially when purchasing the starters from a nursery. If you plant several kinds, you can mix and match them when it comes time to make your fresh salsa. Also, don’t just limit yourself to hot peppers, even the mild ones can add a great taste and texture to your final salsa product.

Those are the basic ingredients of any salsa. If you mix those together, you will have a nice bland salsa. So if you are the great gardener everyone says you are – where is that herb garden. A compliment of dill, parsley, cilantro, cumin, and other spices can add another dimension to your salsa. In addition, if you pick these fresh, they make your salsa more fresh and more flavorful.

So, grab your shovel and trowel and set to work as the great gardener. When your neighbor comes by, let him know you are planting salsa. And when harvest comes, he can come and enjoy the fresh, robust salsa that you’ve been working on all summer!

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The Beetle Invasion

Saturday, May 13th, 2006


The Beetle Invasion: Aphids in Your Garden

Very few people truly like insects of any sort. In most cases, gardeners are amongst those who like them the least. Even the most pacifistic of gardeners could second guess his stance when he sees the destruction that some insects can do. A gardener could spend an entire summer pruning his flowers to look just the perfect way or helping his vegetables to grow big and strong. And when that gardener walks into his backyard to see his flowers or his vegetables destroyed by insects, he will seriously reconsider his life choices. Thus is the pattern of the Aphid invasion.

Aphids can be quite annoying to the gardener. They excrete a sweet substance that, like the soda pop left in the mini-van, quickly turns black on the leaves of the plants. And like the soda, ants love this sweet substance and will flock to it. Now your rose looks like a house after a teenager’s parents left him home alone for the first time. There’s the sweet substance from the aphid that makes the flower look dingy. There’s also an entire colony of ants marching across your hard work

Though it is tempting to squash each and every last one of these bugs, to do so would take an annoyingly (not to mention impossibly) long time. Instead, gardeners must cautiously attack the aphid invasion.

There are a number of methods available to the gardener to get rid of his aphid problem. Each one has positive effects and negative drawbacks. For instance, the suggestion to squash ever aphid is safe to the environment, but it may not be an efficient use of resources.

There are a great deal of pesticides out there as well. The key is trying to find one that is good to the environment, doesn’t harm the drinking water, and still takes care of the aphid invasion. The best way to find one of these is to go to a greenhouse and to see what they suggest.

The greenhouse workers will also know that you should not try to kill of all the aphids in your garden. It’s temping when you see them dragging their ant friends everywhere, but you have to remember that nature’s ecosystem is a balance. There are insects that eat those aphids. So if you kill them off, there will not be anything more for the predators to eat. This causes three problems. First, the predators find this arrangement extremely inconvenient. Second, their predators find it inconvenient as well. And thirdly when the next family of aphids comes in for a bit, they’ll most likely stay around. After all, you got rid of their predators.

So if you can put up with the aphid invasion, it’s best to do so. If you do need to do get rid of them, make sure to leave a few around to guard against the return of the predators.

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Composting

Saturday, May 13th, 2006


Composting

I grew up in a urban area, with a yard made up mostly of dirt. My mother always had gardens growing, though, and everything from green beans to strawberries to lilacs peppered the dull dirt yard with color. What always intrigued me about gardening as a child, however, was not to be found anywhere in the many garden retreats of my childhood home, but at the edge of the woods behind my grandmother’s house. Every summer, as we ate our grilled meals with watermelon and berries, things were selectively discarded separately from the other garbage. These rinds and peels made their way out to that pile in the edge of the woods soon after dinner, adding to the compost heap that would eventually become the top soil for my grandmother’s flowers.

As the world becomes increasingly more aware and concerned about environmental issues such as waste disposal and renewable resources, composting is not something that is just confined to suburban homes with woodsy backyards. In fact, some experts predict that within ten years, composting will become as common a source of recycling as recycling aluminum cans or glass bottles. One reason that this does not seem unfeasible is the sheer simplicity of composting as a part of daily household routine. Using kitchen and yard waste to create compost that can be used to create a healthier lawn or garden around your home is a practical way to reuse waste from your home and also save money at the same time.

Essentially, composting is a way of aiding the decomposition process of formerly living plants and organisms that will eventually become part of the soil and add nutrients to the other plants around them. There are some basic necessities for your compost pile or bin. Like any living organism, your compost pile needs ample space for air and it also thrives on water. Microbes that aid in the decomposition process also work quicker when the compost pile is hot, but any temperature above about fifty degrees Fahrenheit can sustain a compost pile.

There are two basic categories of compost. One is green, and the other brown. The best compost piles are a good balance of both green and brown. Green is things like grass clippings, fruit or vegetable leftovers, coffee grinds, and other kitchen waste. Brown compost is things like wood chips, sawdust, dry leaves, and things of that nature. Brown compost may need to be watered before being mixed in to the compost pile. Grass clippings, kitchen waste, not pernicious weeds, hay, wood chips, and other yard waste make great additions to any compost pile. There are things that you should not compost, like chemically treated wood products, weeds, or diseased plants, meat, bones, and human or pet waste. The best way to think of this process is as creating a healthy diet for the microbes that are creating this compost for you. If you meet their ideal conditions, you will get a great final product that will meet your gardening needs.

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