Garden Fuss

It is very fitting that next week we kick off the holiday season with Thanksgiving, so tis the time for sage in everything. Sage is such a wonderful plant! This photo was taken in May of this year and this post has been sitting in my queue ever since, waiting to shine in all its savory glory!  Now that it's cooled off significantly and the last, of the last, of the last, vegetation has been harvested from the garden, I have had time to find some perspective on a couple few things. Number one, I've decided to not give this blog up. Yeah I considered it and it's been a very long time since I've posted anything due to so many factors. Including health and very painful personal losses that took me in a direction I for one least expected. That being said and in an effort to avoid elaborating anymore, I realize that this small blog is my love letter to myself, my family, my friends (current and future), and all things green. Having just finished a phone call with a new fri

This post is brought to you by the letters A. and O. After months of agonizing over a choice I made to start a new asparagus bed I can breath a big sigh of relief. I returned home to find two tiny spears poking through the soil and mulch today despite the juicy Orach that seems to have mistakenly found a temporary garden bed to volunteer in. My family and I are so excited for fresh garden salad so the Orach is very welcome. However, Asparagus is the vegetable that reigns supreme throughout the spring and well into the summer.We can't seem to get enough of it so it goes into strirfry, sauteed with onion and garlic, soups, and even fritattas.  I'm salivating a little bit while writing this while I find my self digressing a bit from the memory of our big do-over in the asparagus department. You can't jump into a good story without saying, "What had happened was..." Actually you can and you should but I felt like adding a little drama to the tale of the wither

Cold wind go away! Let the Spring sunshine come out today. Is anyone else getting the itch to sow something? I've winter sown, I've prepared and potted clay and ceramic pots with the help of my lovely and sprite mother. Yet nothing is ready to go into the ground. We have had such sporadic weather this year that it's not worth moving full speed ahead because there will be losses. With my energy waning day by day (a myositis thing) I just don't have it in me to go all plantaholic out there just yet.  Unfortunately I have spoken to a couple family members who have given into the itch by scratching up the soil and putting plants in. They've both lost plants and are starting from square one re-sowing EVERYTHING!  YIKES!!! Each year all gardeners/farmers worth their salt try to get a jump on the season. I am no different here... What I have learned to do to save myself valuable energy, sanity, and a few coins, is to watch, listen, and learn from nature.

The MDA Muscle Walk is just a few short days away and my team the Myositis Steppers is at the halfway point. In a last ditch effort to meet or exceed my fund-raising goal for this cause I would like to offer up a challenge.  If I get a t least 10 people to give $20 dollars between now and this coming Friday, the 7th of March by 10:00PM cst; I will snow dive in my brand new swim suit the evening after the walk and post it to my YouTube and fb page. That is how much I believe in this cause! It is predicted to be a high of 26° and a low of 0° that day. brrrrrrr!!!! The MDA hosts walks all over the country to raise money for research and awareness campaigns for people dealing with muscular diseases whether they are old, young, or in-between. For those who want to know, each donation is tax deductible.  The dive won't happen without your support so please help me achieve my goal today!  The link below will take you to our team page. No amount is too small.  http://www2.mda.org/site/

Happy New Year to you all!!! Shhhhhhh.... I know I'm a couple of months late with that but greetings to you and best wishes for your happiness and your health anyway. If you have missed me on blogger I assure you that I have been online enjoying the world of facebook, twitter, tumblr and what not. I haven't made the time to update you all Since October [*gasping*]  WOW, I have not updated this blog since October? Well, my whereabouts include lots of bed rest, school visits, shoveling, shoveling, classes on coding, and that other past time of most of the country this year shoveling.  When I wasn't WD40'ing the edge of my snow removing device, salting, and traction gritting everything down; I have spent many a day thinking about Gardenfuss 2014 and what plants to grow, what gardens to visit, what new restaurants to try, what classes to teach this year, fun activities for families, and all that good stuff.  Tomato-gate took a lot out of me last year and I so

Hubs Appreciation Event 10/17/2013 Food, future, family & fun! Door prizes too! It seems like just yesterday when the family and I with other hubs members came together to pack seeds for this past growing season [ in chilly January brrrr ].  Autumn has now kicked into gear and as you know we've been in the thick of the harvest. That means we've come full circle in this process and it's time to come together with our new found friends and community for the 3rd Annual Fall Gathering, and guess what? You are invited to attend too!  Come out, celebrate, & reflect on the 2013 growing season while providing vital input to Gardening Matters for the 2014 season.  Seriously, even though I'm still a little stir crazy from picking the last cherry tomatoes and long beans; I have a few ideas about plant varieties I'd like to try out next year. How about you all? Are there any new trellising ideas you have for your veggies that climb? What are your weed control i

It all started off so easy.... Our 1st Indigo Rose  I mean, look at the blush on that Indigo Rose for God's sake! I never expected to come across such a beautiful specimen in my garden. This is truly an unusual piece of fruit. Seriously, if it has access to full sun its skin is like a marble made of onyx. Can you tell that, I am totally procrastinating by getting into the nuances of the Indigo Rose? That's because basically I came to the realization that I may be a glutton for punishment. Just whispering the word easy around this place is just crazy talk, let alone trying to fool myself by writing it. What am I not remembering? Oh yeah, this spring was far from easy. It was a wet / cold / feverishly busy / sweat filled mess ! [ could have just been me ] Starting with my bright idea of downgrading to a one bin compost system from two and expanding out my garden. From that experience I ended up overworked and with my beautiful helpers [ sis-inlaw, son, and daughter ] a

I recently responded to a post on Facebook about how I felt about the first official day of Autumn. Here is a excerpt for you: ~    "Feeling stir crazy! So much to do... Help me understand, why do I love tomatoes so much? Do I really need to let the volunteer ground cherries continue on this way? Is this Swiss chard too large for a salad? Why is the basil acting so crazy? What's up with this asparagus bed? Will the Jerusalem melons make it through another cold spell? Okra? Why did I plant Okra again? Will I remember to shade the cilantro again next year like I did this year? ..... I could go on and on some more but I won't. Feel free to chime in and remind me to be thankful and/or schedule a time to save me from my self imposed garden madness."    ~ Whether you refer to this time of year as Fall or Autumn, for me it is a symbol of the hardest work I have to do all year. I have tons of ideas on food preservation and putting food by for the seemingly perpetual wint

The Southside Local Food Resource Hub will be joining the very warm and welcoming folks at Transition Longfellow for their monthly movie night. [ new movie every 3rd Friday of the month ] This month's movie will be The Power of Community . I have had the opportunity to watch this before and I must say that there are some great take-away points for all. I can't wait to experience this with a group such as this! If you are planning on joining us there will be a potluck which will include a tomato tasting!  So please bring a dish to share and get ready for some tomato talk. When:  Friday, September 20, 2013 What: Potluck at 6:30 PM, movie at 7:15 PM Where : Bethany Church, 3901 36th Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55406 For more information on Transition Longfellow click here or visit: https://sites.google.com/site/transitionlongfellow For more information on the Local Food Resource Hubs please visit the Gardening Matters website at  http://www.gardeningmatters.org/ Spe

Then it was September As a blogger there can be a little bit of guilt for not posting as regular as one would like... Speaking for myself that is. If there was a way to upload directly from my mind to this page you would experience all of the beautiful images and stories from past events I've attended starting with Community Garden day, to Open Streets Minneapolis, Food Truck Tuesdays & Movie in the Parks, the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, and then to the Minnesota State Fair. Besides these events children around the country have gone back to school including my own which has given me more or less " the time " to grab a few moments to recap and catch you all up on my urban Ag Adventures. So I'll give it a go and start where I left off with my Community Garden Day 2013 experience and in between my food preservation efforts you will get a glimpse into some of the ways Minneapolis grows together.... COMMUNITY GARDEN DAY 2013 John Ghizoni, Ajan

I have been talking about Community Garden day for a couple of months now. [ previous post here ]  Today I wanted to share with you all, that Minneapolis has passed a resolution declaring August 10th Community Garden Day .  How exciting?   That means you can check out a map of participating gardens for tours and activity information on the Gardening Matters website and plan which tour(s) to go on  this Saturday .   Each garden will be celebrating in their own unique way with activities that range from: Collard Green Cook-off, Tomato testing, kids activities, art projects, story telling, and African drumming .   I hope you can find one or more gardens to visit through out the day. Maybe I'll bump into you and your family there!   For more info please visit: http:// www.gardeningmatters.org/   Happy Planting, Harvesting, and Garden Touring,   Tina