Garden Fuss

Peas and Collards an #EarthDay Duo A photo posted by @mizqtinaj on Apr 22, 2015 at 7:35pm PDT For the last six months my family and I have been in a sort of stasis. A forced hiatus from everything in order to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually. Collectively we've endured loss of lives that felt like blows to our spiritual bodies, and then the largest battle yet of our lives to fight a feeling of helplessness when our eldest child almost succumbed to a stroke and aneurysm.  Recovery for our daughter and for us has come in many forms. This includes scaling down activities that we'd normally participate in to focus on more immediate things. For instance for me it's taking a break from the physical act of growing and documenting efforts to grow. Hence the large span between posts here, which in the broad scheme of things I am not at all sorry about. That being said, I am very thankful for the outcome of breaking from it all. Our child is on the mend and ve...

Beet #kvass and fermented #salsa on deck tonight. The garden does us good! A photo posted by @mizqtinaj on Aug 8, 2014 at 9:01pm PDT One of the simplest, easy peasy, no-brainer, ways of adding beneficial cultures, vitamins, and nutrients into your diet is to ferment your foods. One of my favorite ways to add these cultures is through beverages like Beet Kvaas which I wanted to share with you today. The recipe couldn't be simpler but the benefits to my gut health, my skin, hair, and nails is why I'm excited to share this today. Beets are not on the favorite foods list of most people I know, but I'm glad to now admit that today they are one of mine. To describe to you how difficult it is to get a full grown adult to sip or sample a food with beets is worse than taking a five year old for shots. These folks feel like their life will end if they imbibe on this sometimes crimson root vegetable. But I never give up and the smell and my incessant teasing usuall...

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://www...

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...