"Go Fork Yourself! You were in bed all winter hiding from the Easter bunny. Get a tan!   "

I feel powerful to be able to harvest carots right into spring. Much better than beating myself up from being too lazy to get them out earlier. Cant plant until i do!!! Thats motivation!

Basically......dominant corn strains will take over. Different corn "silks"" at different times so this can be avoided. GMO corn is so dominant even half a mile away in a sheltered garden still gets this perminant gene. Read more at :

http://blog.seedsavers.org/preventing-gmo-contamination-in-your-open-pollinated-corn/

Kitchen Gardening

Yup. Thats right! Growin stuff IN the kitchen, not just for it. Live longer by strengthening your gut by making your own super foods. This top picture shows a couple types of seeds i sprout - usually ends up into between seven and nine trays or pots in various stages of growth. Also are the two types of kefir - water and dairy, and kombucha tea. Fermented foods also can be counter grow.  All these help create an alkaline body with variants of probiotics, live active enzymes, polyphenols (fights free radicals). The natural lactic, acetic, and gluconic acids (to name a few) all help digestion and accelerate detoxification. Many other nutritional compounds are produced that are associated with longer life. These are very expensive to buy at health food stores and with little more than 15 min a day for time commitment can all be grown at home.

Its all about Life Force and putting it back into our diets. Plus it still feels like gardening- especially in the winter!

Below is some happy SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast) tossing after the class. This hands-on course I created provides the oportunity for many to learn at once vs at the individual requests of friends.

I stole this from somewhere so i can remember to grow lots next year. The cheap asian ginger i suck back in my carrot juce should be home grown. Not something fertilized with some asians poop to be sold to us stupid lazy western devils.

Daniel

December 16, 2013 by Nima Shei

How To Grow Your Own Ginger

Growing Your Own Ginger
By Divya Shree
Edited by Stephanie Dawson

There are many health benefits to ginger. In our world of processed and GMO foods it’s hard to find foods in their purest form. The best way to obtain herbs and foods in their purest form is to grow them yourself. Ginger is easy to grow and does not require much effort. Here is some information on how to grow your own ginger:

Ginger is not much different from other herbs and requires the same things other herbs do. To get started the first thing you need is the ginger root, known as rhizomes. You can get it from someone who grows ginger or buy it from a local nursery, make sure you buy fresh roots. Usually plump and smooth skinned ginger root is best. Once you have bought the root, soak it in warm water for 12 hours.

Then take a 14-inch pot, big enough to accommodate three average-sized rhizomes. Make sure the pot has adequate drainage to drain away water and waste and fill with planting soil. You can use compost soil from your garden if you have it, if not have a garden you use compost warm manure that can be bought from any local nursery or plant shop. You can add potting soil to the manure to make a more nutritious mixture for the ginger root.After placing soil in the pot cut the soaked ginger root into small pieces. Place the ginger roots into the soil 2-5 inches deep. Cover the roots with soil and manure to hide roots. It’s important to create the right environment for the growth of your ginger, it requires a lot of moisture therefore it’s essential to ensure it’s getting a regular supply of water. Adding water daily or alternate days is good. Make sure the soil doesn’t get too saturated, that’s why proper draining is important to avoid rotting. A warm environment is also essential for growth of ginger. If you have sufficient access to sunlight that is sufficient. If you cannot get the pot into enough sunlight you can place it below a light bulb for proper warmth. Ginger requires constant 75 degrees (24 C).

Another important thing to consider is that the ginger plant cannot stand strong winds therefore keep the growing pot inside a room, not in an open garden. Direct exposure to the sun is not good for ginger plants.

When it’s time to harvest the grown ginger dig in the soil and cut the pieces of ginger off that you want to use. Whenever you cut the rhizome, make sure you plant another one to replace it. By doing so you can grow ginger for a long time and enjoy it fresh whenever you like.

Source - http://herbgardens.about.com/od/indoorgardening/a/How-Can-I-Grow-My-Own-Ginger-Root-Indoors.htm
Source- http://www.growingherbsforbeginners.com/growing-ginger/

Last winter was so mild. Frost tolerant veggies grew all winter as there were few lengths of days in a row below freezing. Not this November/December however.....weeks of sub zero temperatures with little to no snow caused the ground to freeze quite deep. My 100 ft row of exceptionally sweet chard had many very small leaves i harvested from the plant centres. The straw compost was doing its job for keeping the soil and roots warm, but the big leaves just couldn't handle the extended cold. Winter farming means being prepared for cold.......a low cold frame to protect this farm row project would have prolly worked. The straw made it weed free and it will be interesting to see how well it kept the plants warm come winters end.

Its amazing to eat a cuckumber half way through December! Maybe the magic in the amathyst custer kept it from going bad as it sat unrefrigerated on my counter for about 6 weeks. Anyways, i will definately save some seeds from this one and thus fulfill its purpose in life.

The sprout bowls are all part of the kitchen garden i am writing a mini book about. Keifer, kombucha, sprouts and fermenting. Ancient ways of having live food without refrigeration. Rebuilding gut flora and fauna that is so challenged by modern food processing and bad chemicals. 

Almost all done! Its mid November with barely a few frosts and micro snowfalls. My main garden has all been blanketed with leaves. The soils micro organisms and worms will still be partying it up all winter, totally unaffected by the cold. The warm moist super live soil will be ready to have root and seeds inserted cum end of winter. Meanwhile, i have the last of my tomatoes to eat with lots if still growing celery, chard, kale, orange cauliflower, dried beans on vine, sprouting garlic, carrots, beets, Potatos, and a few cold resistant herbs like origano, rosemarry and sage.

If the oil ran out i would still be eating all winter!

Rooftop gardening is fun! Fluid transport totes make really big planters. My red fingerling and black russian potatos will be easy to harvest from through the winter.

It's time to put the beds to sleep for the winter and feed the worms.

To prep the beds, pull the veggie plants up by the roots and remove the sticks.

Then spread leaves at no less than one bag per 9 square feet. Use no walnut or doggy pooped leaves. This is what 40 bags look like. I always save about this many for late summer as the rest of the 300 bags have generally turned into worm poop by then. Be aware leaves need a minimum of 6 months decomposing before roots can use the nutrients.

8 zones in 8 minutes...Simply make your irrigation valves removable! No need to blow out lines if all are polly. The valves are the only parts that will break when water expands 9% upon freezing. Also the most expensive!