INCOMPARABLY FRESH & COLORFUL !

Last Updated on Sunday, 3 April 2011 12:58 Written by Phillip Sunday, 3 April 2011 12:58

The following is a reprint of an article I did for the local healthy living magazine, called Radish. It was a strange twisted road to the finished product, but I am happy with the way the article looked when published. It was edited to look like an interview with the writer, Candy Czernicki.

Add veggies to your diet – and your landscape

The first day of spring has come and gone, even though it’s still pretty hard to tell. But to get your mind off the mud and muck, you might want to start thinking about this year’s garden. And now’s as good a time as any to start thinking about veggies as well as flowers.

“If you’ve been trying to add more vegetables to your diet and find yourself lacking enthusiasm for the taste of grocery store veggies, maybe you need to discover the taste of fresh vegetables,” Phillip Nicklay, owner of Viola Nursery in Viola, Minn., said. “It doesn’t matter if you are getting your vegetables from the freezer, a can or even the fresh produce shelf – none of these is going to compare to the taste of a fresh vegetable. There is an easy remedy to this: grow your own. It really is easy, and more important, it’s fun.”

As with anything else in life, planning is key.

“Make a list of what you are actually going to eat, along with a few new vegetables that you would like to try,” Nicklay said. “The next part of your pre-planning will be figuring out where you’d like to grow them. An old-fashioned, tilled-up piece of earth on your property is the Cadillac of vegetable growing systems. You should know that this type of gardening (requires) the most maintenance, but can produce the largest quantity of food. If this option isn’t available or if you don’t care to put that much time into your vegetables, (there are) smaller options. If you have flower beds or an active landscape, one of your options is to grow your vegetables along with your existing plants.”

The different colors and textures vegetables can bring when integrated with flowers will help enhance your garden’s look, Nicklay said.

“I like to use vegetables in existing beds the same way I would other plants,” he said. “Vegetables can be blended into landscapes as single plants or in blocks or in waves. Shrubs or trees with edible fruit are a great way to add another value to your landscape. Try a hedge of high bush blueberries or Nanking cherries. You or the birds will enjoy whatever fruit is produced by these plants.”

If neither of the above options works for you, or if you live in an apartment or condo where no garden plots of your own are available, you’re still not out of luck, Nicklay said. And you still have no excuse not to eat your veggies.

“The third way to grow your vegetables is an above-ground container,” he said. “This would include anything from a raised bed to a flowerpot. All of these environments will work for growing vegetables, with each having their pros and cons.”

No matter how you grow your veggies, there are some things all of them require, such as at least 6 hours of full sun, good soil (loose, with lots of organic matter) and consistent of moisture.

If you’re a novice at growing or are an old hand at growing your own fresh vegetables , and want to take things to the next level, you can try organic gardening.

“The term ‘organic’ can mean different things to different people,” Nicklay said. “There are the stringent guidelines of the organic associations, which have the strongest parameters for items to be labeled organic, to the people who think that a plant being grown chemical-free is organic. You have to decide how far you want to take the organic concept.

“To do the most basic growing of chemical-free vegetables, you must start with quality soil, free of commercial fertilizers,” Nicklay added.

But organic soil is only the beginning. “You then need to purchase organically grown plants or seeds,” Nicklay said. “Luckily both of these are more readily available at certain garden centers. While the cost may be slightly higher, the confidence and satisfaction of growing healthier, organic vegetables is worth the extra pennies.”

And organic vegetables aren’t limited solely to tomatoes anymore. Lettuce, peas, peppers, zucchini, beets and carrots have become popular as well.

“With the increase in demand and awareness by growers, there is an ever-increasing variety of plants and seeds to choose from,” Nicklay said. “Knowledgeable garden centers know that the naturally grown vegetables are not just a fringe fad but a more desirable way of life for many people.”
Photo courtesy of my friend Christina Salwitz

Growing healthy food for you and your family

Last Updated on Saturday, 19 February 2011 12:58 Written by Phillip Friday, 18 February 2011 07:37

Growing your own food can mean many things to many people. To some it immediately sounds like that four letter word….WORK. To others it sounds like something fun, and to others it’s a lifestyle choice. I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that always had a garden. Though mostly out of necessity, it was also a way to keep my 9 brothers and sisters occupied when they seemed to have to much free time. Of course as a child, because the garden was always there I never gave any thought as to why. To me it was a only place to get vegetables for my 4-H project at the county fair. I never thought about the taste of those vegetables, because I didn’t have anything to compare them to. Of course when I left home, I knew that I would never have to garden again. It wasn’t until I had children of my own, that I had a garden again. To my surprise I had forgotten just how how good a fresh bean, pea or any other vegetable tasted. In the next few blogs I will help you get started or improve your vegetable growing.