Cascadian Farm Organic Goodness

My garden is covered in three feet of cold white fluff. There is a pretty good chance I won't see dirt until sometime in May. My stores of canned goods and frozen produce are being knocked down daily. Still, I'm thinking about getting my hands dirty. In the middle of January when the temperature outside is frightful.

So, while your compost pile is working on the grass clippings, fallen leaves, food scraps and other lawn waste you threw in there to get ready for planting season, you should be sitting inside nice and cozy planning out your garden. Here are a few things to get you started.

1. Determine your space. Figure out how large your garden areas are and decide if you'll be adding more this year. This will help you when determining the number of plants. Think about hours of sun each garden space gets to help figure out which varieties will grow best in which areas.
2. Decide seed versus starter. If you are going to grow from seeds, you'll need to start your seedlings 4-6 weeks before your last frost date for your area when you'll be moving them to the garden area.
3. Order your seeds and other supplies. If you are looking for specialty seeds like heirlooms or specific varietals, check out different companies and get your order ready. Also start collecting necessary seedling trays and soil so that you have it on hand when it's time to plant.

Then, when you've got your garden planned and you know when your seeds can grow in the ground, get ready to plant. Your location will determine when you should start seeds, and if you're going the seedling route, you can still figure out how many plants you'll need to get and start finding the best local growers and sources for those plants.

Have you started thinking about gardening yet?

Photos by Shaina Olmanson

I love thyme. And rosemary. Oh and sage. The bright scent of fresh cut herbs is heavenly. Any meal cooked with fresh herbs is bound to be flavorful - especially cold-weather comfort foods. With winter weather already showing up across the country, growing organic herbs indoors is a great way to get your gardening fix. It can also be a great place to start if you’ve never grown anything before. An indoor herb garden can be as simple as a few small pots on a sunny window sill. The important thing is to select the herbs that you will use most often. My three favorite herbs to have on hand in the winter are rosemary, thyme, and chives. They’re versatile and hardy and all you need to create amazing dishes. Here are some gardening tips and recipes for each herb.

Rosemary grows best in an area with a lot of sun and good air circulation. As with all plants in containers, it is important to have proper drainage to keep the soil moist but not oversaturated. Rosemary is a wonderful compliment to grilled meats, roasted vegetables and is delicious baked in breads. These Garlic Rosemary Dinner Rolls sound perfect for the holidays.

Chives are so easy to grow and you only need trim them back to keep them from toppling over. Chives can be used in every meal – think chives and cheese added to scrambled eggs, a baked potato or pasta. These Mascarpone Chive Mashed Potatoes are definitely worthy of a special occasion!

Thyme has a number of varieties (French thyme, lemon thyme) and you can’t go wrong with any of them. It grows fast and should be pruned often. I use thyme in many savory dishes, stews and sauces. This roast turkey recipe with Pear Chestnut Stuffing uses both fresh thyme and sage.

I live in a mild climate that allows me to have an outdoor herb garden year round, but no matter where you live you can grow fresh herbs. This year I am going to make a tiered herb container garden like this one I saw in Sunset. How do you grow your herbs?

Photos by ccharmon (Rosemary and Thyme)

I am sure everyone would love to pick fresh, organic produce right from their yard, but not everyone has a green thumb or the time (or desire) to learn to tend a garden. That’s where businesses like Urban Plantations come in. They not only design and plant edible, “urban landscapes”, they also help maintain the garden for you as needed. I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak with the owner of Urban Plantations, Karen Contreras, in one of their creations here in San Diego.

The home is located in a lovely pocket of North Park, where each home is more charming than the next and Karen was hard at work as I approached. She and her staffers were preparing for their winter plantings: Brussels sprouts, lettuces and “Purple Peacock” broccoli, among others. What struck me most about this front yard garden was how little it looked like a vegetable garden. The many fruits and veggies (tomatoes, heirloom “Moon and Stars” watermelon, and persimmon to name a few) are seamlessly integrated with beautiful ornamentals – including a cutting flower garden. It’s inspiring how gorgeous a fruitful garden (which, as Urban Plantations states in their mission, “provides nourishment for body and soul”) can truly be! Watch the short video interview below with Karen as she discusses the transformation of this home’s typical front yard into the unique environment it is today. You can also click here to see the before and after, I hope it inspires you to consider a well designed garden in your front yard.

During my latest trip to the San Diego Zoo with my 10 month old, I visited the “Children’s Zoo” area for the first time. As expected there is a Petting Zoo and a great playground, however there was also a cool exhibit that I didn’t expect, all about composting. I was so excited – I know, excited about trash, really? But I was! Composting is an important part of a sustainable lifestyle. Reusing waste and reducing the amount of trash that goes to the landfill helps keep our planet clean. Plus your garden will thrive when you “feed” the soil nutrient rich compost. I love the idea of teaching children about composting early on. It’s just another form of recycling, and if you grow up doing it becomes second nature.

The neat exhibit has colorful, kid-friendly displays that define the various types of composting and talk about “Compost Critters”, like worms. I’m sure little boys think the idea of a worm bin is very cool. It also describes (for children and adults, alike) how easy it is to make compost pile by providing a basic recipe. Start with your “ingredients”: “Browns” (twigs, wood chips, etc), “Greens” (fruit/vegetable scraps, garden trimmings), Water and Air. Layer the “browns” and “greens” as you add them to the pile; add water to keep moist. Add air by mixing the pile, then let it cook. Mix every week until it becomes black and crumbly – ready to add to your garden! It really is that simple.

Do you have a compost pile or worm bin? Do you involve your children in recycling and/or composting?

Photo by Kari Burks

As the weather cools, it's important not to forget about your garden. Now is the time to finish the harvest, put food up for the colder months and get ready for the growing season to come. So often people just abandon their growing efforts late in the season, figuring they are done, but a little preparation now will go a long way in the spring.

Here are a few things you can do for your garden in the fall:

Perennials

Divide and split plants that have outgrown their space about 4 weeks before the frost date in your area to give the plant time to send roots down before it gets too cold for them to do so. Cut back dead foliage, leaving the basal crown on plants like Shasta daisies and down to the ground for herbaceous plants like hostas and daylilies where all the above-ground foliage dies during the winter. I like to leave my hydrangea flowers up after they've browned and dried to catch the snow. It adds some visual appeal to that part of my garden even after the snowfall.

Composting

Cut foliage and leaves can be added to your compost pile before the frost to break down to use as fertilizer come spring. You can also spread compost on your strawberry plants in the fall after the harvest is over.

Turn the Soil

After you've harvested all your plants, pulled up dead ones to compost and have an empty garden bed, fall is the perfect time to turn the soil. Turning the soil will mix the nutrients and get the ground ready for spring planting.

Plant Seeds

You can plant some reseeding perennials in the fall so that they come up in the early spring. There are fantastic online resources to help you decide which seeds can or should be planted now so that you are enjoying them as soon as possible. You could also try your hand at having a winter garden as well, planting seeds now and growing them in the winter. Your ability to do this will depend on your geographical area and climate, but it can be very rewarding to have winter carrots and leeks to cook with.

What do you do with your garden in the fall?

Photos by Shaina Olmanson

Since I don’t have a garden of my own this year (you can read about why in my previous post, here) I decided to visit with fellow green thumbs and have them show me what they’re growing this year. So it was only natural that I start with the gardener who inspired me to grow vegetables, my dear friend Candice. Candice started gardening four years ago when her stepmother gave her two tomato plants. At the time she wasn’t too invested, but loved having fresh tomatoes come harvest time. With every season her enthusiasm grew and so did her garden. She loves to grow vegetables that yield a long or big harvest, like lettuces, tomatoes and zucchini. She found the broccoli she grew this winter to be anti-climactic. J This summer Candice’s garden includes tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, a grapevine and Swiss chard still going strong. All started from seed (except for the bell peppers which never seem to take) and all organic. That was the only option for her. Her favorite thing about organic gardening is that her six year old daughter loves eating the fresh vegetables that they grow. The other day Ava picked a tomato off the vine and ate it like an apple. “She never would have done that with a tomato from the grocery store”, Candice told me. And although Ava is a notoriously picky eater, she always willing to try veggies from the garden and loves Swiss chard!

When I asked Candice her best trick or favorite gardening tool, she immediately said the drip irrigation system she and her husband Chuck installed last year. La Mesa is a town in the east part of San Diego County and it gets hot there, regularly reaching triple digits in the summer. Watering the gardening quickly became a chore. When her gardening “guru” (a friend’s mom whose been gardening for years) suggested she install drip irrigation she thought it sounded “hard core” - like a complicated and expensive thing. She was delighted to find out that $20, a trip to Home Depot and about an hour’s worth of work was all it took to change her garden forever! Everything began to thrive because it was watered more thoroughly and efficiently.

I’m excited to see how Candice’s garden does each year. The great (and sometimes frustrating) thing about gardening is that every year is different. It’s a lot like life, as Candice said “you get better every year, but still some things don’t do well and then there are surprises that do. You just never know.”

Photos by Kari Burks

I grew up with a modest vegetable garden along the side of our house. My mom would have me pick vegetables for nightly meals or for a rhubarb dessert. In the summer we'd visit the local farms, and there were many, picking fresh berries or buying from their stands.

What I took away from those experiences was a respect for where the food at the dinner table every night was coming from. I could identify with it, and I felt connected to it, especially when I had been to the source that it had come from.

One thing I hated about the apartment living I did for so many years was the lack of space to grow anything. I quickly learned how to grow herbs in a container successfully, even when there was limited sunlight on the covered deck, and I soon moved on to bigger things once I had a yard. But why? What is it that motivates me to get my hands dirty in my backyard?

1. Fresh always tastes better. A tomato that is still warm from the afternoon sun tastes exponentially better than one that was picked green ripened with ethylene to increase its shelf life.

2. Gardening is good exercise. Bending to weed and harvest, walking with buckets of water, it all takes energy. Gardening is exercise in my own backyard that I am not paying a monthly membership fee for and keeps me in shape, gets me outside and away from the computer.

3. I'm teaching my children. One of the most important reasons for me is sharing the knowledge of growing our own food with my children. I believe it's important for them to know that food starts as seeds that are cared for until they become edible. We even go as far as harvesting seeds from the fruits and vegetables to plant next season.

4. I know exactly where my food has been. In addition to shopping at the farmer's market and getting to know where the food I'm buying comes from, growing my own means I know exactly what is in the soil and on the vegetables.

5. Having fresh produce available leads to healthier eating. When all that's in your cupboard are prepackaged cookies, you're more likely to eat prepackaged cookies. When you have fresh produce growing in your backyard just waiting for you to pick it, you're more likely to make a meal from it.

6. Gardening is fun! My kids love to dig in the dirt. They are constantly putting holes in places I'd rather there be no holes. Embrace your inner child and start digging. Plus, when you're gardening, there's a reward at the end!

Why do you garden?

Photos by Shaina Olmanson

You could have told me, but I wouldn’t have believed you… No summer garden, just because I had a baby, in November?! Crazy. But true nonetheless.

This time last year I was five months pregnant picturing how life would be with an infant. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but somehow I’d manage to take care of the house, the husband, and the dog, prepare delicious fresh meals, tend the garden, blog and socialize all with baby attached to me, snuggled up in the Moby. Ha! The past 7 months with my son have not been quite as idyllic as I dreamed. Is it for anyone?! Even though “they” told me having a baby would change everything, I couldn’t fully comprehend how. I do now. Many of the things I enjoy doing most, like gardening and blogging, have taken a back seat to caring for the baby, the house (we’re moving next month) and adjusting to my new role as a mom.

So here we are in the midst of a beautiful summer, but am I picking beautiful fresh strawberries or anticipating the harvest of sweet corn right from my backyard? Noooo. Am I bitter? Honestly, no, I’m not. I can’t say I’m not disappointed. Mainly that I’m not one of those Super Mom types that seems to effortlessly find time to get everything done and look beautiful doing it. But this first year with my baby, however difficult, is so precious and brief, I really don’t mind.

Besides, not having a garden this year has given me the opportunity to garden vicariously through other local gardeners. I’ll get to do something else that I love to do - be nosey! I’m going to see what’s going in local gardens and farms and share that with you! I can find out their best tips, as well as their struggles - and maybe even score some heirloom seeds for next year, if I’m lucky ;)

If you are lucky (and live in San Diego County) I may feature your garden! If you have a vegetable garden and would like to be interviewed for a future post, join my Flickr group, Show What You Grow, and upload photos of your garden. We’ll select someone to be featured at the end of the summer.

Photo by Kari Burks

Hi Cascadian Farm fans! You overwhelmed us with such great questions last week! Jim is very busy this time of year, but he's going to take some time to answer a few of your questions each week for the next month.

Q: The first question came from Susan - who asked: "Does organic mean it's not GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)?"

A: Yes! Certified organic means that GMO crops have not been used. The USDA organic standards board does not allow for any GMO crops to be used in organic agriculture. A farmer using GMO seeds would not be able to use the USDA certified organic seal.

Q: Alice said: "I need some suggestions on feeding your plants organically!!!"

A: Alice, we have a saying in organic farming "Feed the soil, so it can feed the plants." Conventional farming uses water soluble fertilizers which are quickly absorbed by the plants (almost like an IV drip of fertilizers).  Organic farming focuses on adding rich organic matter to the soil, so that the various microbes and chemical processes in the soil food web can convert them to available plant nutrients over time. Here are a few ways to add nutrients in the soil:

• Crop rotation: Don't plant the same plants in the same places every year. Different plants pull different nutrients from the soil - so changing up your plants will make sure you're not depleting the same nutrients over and over again.
• Cover crops and green manures can be grown in the soil as part of the rotation and/or in the winter to reduce erosion, and then tilled or dug into the soil about a week or two prior to planting.
• Compost: try saving your grass clippings, leaves, and organic waste in a compost pile. You can mix this in with your garden soil each spring to feed the soil food web.  Many municipalities are developing green waste composting programs that take lawn clippings and tree trimmings and turn them into garden compost.  Check out what is available in your area.
• Mulch: you could add a layer of mulch (at the farm, we cover our blueberry plants with sawdust!) to your garden each year. This will not only help prevent weeds, but last year's mulch, can decompose and feed the soil for this year's plants!  This works best with perennial plants.
• There are several organic blended fertilizers, both granular and liquid that can be used.  These are generally based on one or a variety of organic “waste” products like scraps from fish and poultry processing.  Check the internet and local resources to find what is available in your area.

Q: Michelle asked how she can keep weeds at bay in her organic garden, without using synthetic chemicals or herbicides. We got Jim on camera to answer this question:

Thanks for all of your questions! There are a lot of them, but Jim will do his best to share his insights with all of you as he has time.