Homegrown organic (very important!!!) tomato with mayonnaise: hold the bread!

I’ve been a card-carrying vegetarian since I was 18. Ok, there have been a few exceptions (meals at moms-would never argue about home cooking!) and there was that beef relapse while living in Minneapolis in the 90′s. Aside from that, I’ve been pretty green and leafy for the longer (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you view healthy eating) part of my life. I’ve also spent a similar amount of time honing my “garden skills” as a Golf Course Superintendent (27 years). Suffice to say, I like to grow plants, I believe it is the healthiest way to eat  and I have tons of experience at both.

Homegrown organic (very important!!!) tomatoes with Velveeta and lots of salt...

Interestingly enough I have found plenty of ways to counter act all this healthy eating from my very own organic garden! Not only do I layer the salt and the mayo, I’ve gone way back into my childhood and melted the Velveeta on my favorite fruits! Geeze how low can I go? Velveeta even defies food groups. So…thanks to cheese, salt and mayo I’m a few pounds heavier this September but very, very happy…By the way this years favorite heirloom variety?  Thanks to Goose Cove Gardens) is “Aunt Ginnys Purple” an heirloom beefsteak variety of German descent. One tomato (large, meaty, flavorful) is a meal in itself  – just add salt and mayo, naturally :~) And now you know how I got fat and happy eating my organically grown, heirloom tomatoes!

I love to grow things (flowers, vegatables, turfgrass) and will take every opportunity to be surrounded by green things. One of my favorite places (any season) to visit on Cape Ann is Goose Cove Gardens on Gee Ave. in Gloucester.  Barbara and Hilary Dombrowski the owners, operators, founders, ceo, cfo, brains, brawn, field hands…you name it (!) exude their passion for growing plants organically every time I visit.  We have had many a conversation over the fabulous qualities of our locally produced fish fertilizer, Neptunes Harvest to Barbaras own Goose Cove Gardens’ compost tea for plants. This very early spring I paid them a visit and Barbara gave me a tour of just some of what goes on at Goose Cove Gardens long before people like you and I show up to get our annual supply of flowers and vegetables.  When Goose Cove Gardens opens on Saturday, April 16, 2011 the efforts of all their planning and work will be on display for all.  How ever, if you would like a sneak preview…

Compost crock

Redoubling our recycling efforts on many fronts, we are depositing food scraps in this beautiful crock and adding them to our compost pile.  I’m always looking for ways to add nutrition  to our tomatoe garden soil and this is another source for the compost.  Did you know that the soil “critters” (microbes) like sugar as much as we do?   In fact, I feed our plants molasses (watered down) several times a summer to make sure the soil bacteria are very happy while they do their thing… I’ve also come to appreciate the fact I’m not running our expensive Gloucester water because we are using the  garbage disposal so much less frequently, as we recycle our food scraps.  Lisa Vincent of simplydaisy custom made (!) this crock.  So, this next level of recycling is like handling a work of art every day.  And no it doesn’t smell… we empty it every 1 or 2 days and bon appetit to the compost pile!

Well, I just read the book and now feel like every time I eat any “animal based protein” I’m poisoning myself. Colin Campbell’s The China Study is full of testing evidence: on rats, mice and people. And it’s all spread out over more than 30 years. His story is compelling and really seems to make sense.

Basically, Americans are being killed by what he calls “diseases of affluence”: cancers, heart disease, liver disease and diabetes. These diseases are all literally “fed” by what we eat. And our diets are heavily weighted to included animal based proteins in the form of meats, dairy and a lot of processed food. The folks in China and other less affluent countries are eating a lot more “plant based proteins” and they don’t have suffer from the diseases that’re killing us. Read the book, it’ll change your eating habits.

I planted my canna lily plants about a month ago.  Of course I’ve been looking only every (sometimes 2x a day) day (for 3 weeks at least) for evidence of their growth.  Then one morning I saw it!  However, I have never seen anything like this before.  Don’t even know if this happened overnight or more gradually then that.  I know the canna gets much larger then the salvia harmonium, it grew through.  I think the canna lily is going to win this one, but who knows what will happen next? Stay tuned, I know it will be hard to sleep, but I will keep you updated

The calendar says it is spring. Some days it is is the high forties. Sometimes, I even think all the snow is melted. The truth is I have to look really hard to see any evidence of spring. This weekend, I noticed the lilac buds greening up. Last week the crocuses were in full bloom and today the rain “smelled” a little warmer. However, my outdoor gardening or “yardening” activities are still pretty limited. I’ll tell you what activities are good to get out of the way now before the real fun begins! How are your privet hedges? Do they need to be shaped, cut back dramatically or pruned to thicken them up? Do it now, before leaf break so all the plants’ energy gets spent on the part of the plant that you really want. You could also fertilizes your privets, after a cutback with some organic fertilizer. Did a trench along the hedgerow as deep as you can, until the roots stop you. You can spread the fertilizer in your mini-trench, (about 2 inches wide. It is a great time to cut back ornamental grasses. I cut back until I reach the part of the plant where it is sprouting green. It is also a great time to seed bare patches of lawn. Do you see the ground cracking and splitting? sprinkle the seed heavily and the ground will actually “suck” the seeds into the frost heaves. I like to seed heavily, since I remember a turf professor at U Mass stating,”seed doesn’t grow on the shelf”. It makes sense to me. How ever if you use the same theory with fertilizer you will sadly regret it! So remember that the “seed heavily” advice applies to grass seed only! It is the right time of the year for soil tests in all your gardens and lawn area. The soil tests will tell you if you need any lime and how much fertilizer to spread according to the “crop” you are planning for a specific area. A soil test will cost you less then $15.00. There are not many bags of fertilizer that inexpensive! Rake out or use a blower to remove any debris from your beds where spring bulbs are planted.In summary: grass seed in the frost heaves, soil tests, cut back the privets and the ornamental grasses and clean out your spring bulb beds. See you out during the next sunny day! Patty