Life Long Gardening Learner
Granny Hazel’s Garden
We always learn the best from grandparents, don’t we? My Granny Hazel was a gardener when gardening wasn’t “cool”. She was a simple lady with a small kitchen and was into DIY remedies… they were not called that then, but looking back thats what they were. She had a bag hung on the kitchen back door that held veggie parts that were not used and veggies that were going bad. She also put egg shells and coffee grounds into the bag. I actually never knew what she did with the bag but she was adamant that we did not toss those items into the trash. She was composting, but we did not know what that was. Our family would have definatly thought it was weird, but not me!
My grandmother was a self taught Master Gardener. In her garden, strawberries were grown everywhere she could find good soil. She would have me go pick the strawberries and they were in the front bed, behind the garage and in pots. You could find strawberries tucked next to the flowers and here and there! This is where I learned to just plant all the things together. Flowers and vegetables work well together most of the time. (I do check for companion plants, but flowers and veggies have been fine!)
Aunt Barbara’s Gardening
So thankful my kids grew up gardening. When they were little, their great Aunt Barbara (my amazing aunt) would take them outside and let them pick carrots, wash them off and eat them up right there! So awesome! They’d pick cherry tomatoes and eat them like cherries! She gardens very organically so you can eat vegetables right out of the garden. This is how I learned, therefore this is how we do it in the school garden.
Food Waste – Compost It!
Another thing I have learned over the years from various people (including my granny) is that food waste is a big problem in our world. To make a change, we can start by using a compost bin or use a key hole garden system. Food waste creates methane gas in our landfills. That’s not good and is easily fixed. Collect empty egg shells, unused veggie parts, veggies that are going bad in your fridge, coffee grounds, etc and compost them. If you have even a small garden, you can set up a worm tube or key hole type solution. We use chicken wire and wrap it into a tube shape, push it down into the middle of our garden beds and throw any food waste in that. If seeing the food waste bothers you, use a wide PVC pipe, drill holes (or not) and stick that into the bed. You can even top it with a clay pot or clay pot base to keep any smell from getting out. With the PVC pipe option, I like to add worms to the tube to help with the breakdown. Another option is to start a worm bin. This “How to Get You Started On a Worm Bin” book, by a friend of mine, will help get you started.
The Soil will Save Us!
In our garden, when it’s time to close out a season and get ready for the next growing season, we always pick out all the dead plants and till the soil. I am reading a book called, The Soil Will Save Us, and it says that we should not till the soil. Tillng the soil releases the carbon into the atmosphere.
