Organic containers - good or bad idea?

So when I went to the local nurseries at Lowe's and Home Depot I noticed a new trend in the garden department. Some companies have decided to help with the Go Green campaign by getting rid of the plastic pots/containers that you purchase your plants in and opting to contain them in a peat moss type of container with just a thin plastic wrapping over it. When you get the plants home and are ready to plant them, you only are supposed to take off that plastic wrapping and plant the biodegradable container into the ground. Great idea huh? Eventually the container decomposes and you get the beautiful plants/crops that you want and every thing is grand, right? Well, not so fast :)  I noticed that the zucchini plant that I purchased in one of the biodegradable containers was much smaller than the zucchini plants that I grew from seeds! I purchased the fully developed plant weeks before planting the seeds, yet I have been able to pick a few zucchini from the plants that started from seeds and I'm still waiting for the zucchini on the other on to finish developing. Take a look at the plants and you can see the difference in their sizes.

Plant w/ peat moss container. 

Large zucchini ready to be picked.

Plant started from seeds.

I have a couple of eggplants that came in the biodegradable containers and they are not really thriving so I decided to dig one of them up, remove the biodegradable container and then replant it. What I found out was that the container appeared to be restricting the growth and spread of the roots. And it did not appear to be decomposing very quickly at all. What I decided I would do next time is to remove the peat moss container, tear it into small pieces, place into the soil where the hole is for the new plant and then add the plant.

This is the peat moss container.

Last thing, I saw two blooms on the strawberry plant! Woohoo! My family loves strawberries! There's hardly ever a day that goes by that one of us is not blending up a nice refreshing, healthy smoothie which usually will have some strawberries along with other fruits in it.

Yum yum! Fried Green Tomatoes

Left: Fried Green Tomatoes   |  Right: Grilled zucchini and onions

So I figured that after spending a few days admiring my beautiful two zucchinis, it was now time to cook them. Also, I have quite a few green tomatoes on the vines so I decided to cook some fried green tomatoes and grilled zucchini this evening. I love both of these dishes and they were especially scrumptious knowing that I grew them. I know, I know .... fried green tomatoes may be a little on the fattening side, but to my credit I did coat them with whole wheat flour and cooked them in olive oil. :)

Harvest Time!

This is an exciting morning for me because it has been an interesting journey starting my garden, making adjustments along the way in terms of wheter or not to use organic or store bought pesticides, making the decision to take some of my plants out of the ground and place them into pots and even having to move them around for optimal sun exposure during the May gray and June gloom days. Well, after all of the trials, I was so excited to pick my first two zucchinis and a couple more tomatoes. I know that I posted pictures of some of my tomatoes about a month or two ago, those tomatoes were already on the plant when I purchased it. These are more special to me because I watched them from the first yellow blooms until this point of perfection. :) Also, these zucchinis come from the plants that I grew from seeds. I have another zucchini plant that I purchased and the veggies on it are actually a lot smaller than these. I think that I'm going to slice these zucchinis and tomatoes, toss them with some olive oil and season with some herbs and grill them on my indoor grill for dinner this evening.

A tour of my garden space

Today I am taking you on a short tour of my backyard so that you can better understand some of the challenges I am having with growing my garden. I thought that it was something good to share with you in case you have become inspired and are thinking about starting your own urban garden. Although it is true you don't need a lot of space, the space that you have must provide ample direct sunlight if your plants are going to really thrive and produce a bountiful crop.

In the video I mentioned that I moved some of the plants for more shade, which I did not mean to say. I moved them for more sunlight. Also I forgot to video a close up of my zucchini so here is a picture of my first zucchini. So, soon I'll be grilling my own zucchini and making zucchini bread. yum yum!

A visitor to my garden

For the past 4-5 days I've been seeing a pair of beautiful brown butterflies in my garden. I was able to get a close up of one today. He enjoyed posing for the camera.

The Power of the Sun

About 3 months ago I went to a local nursery and purchased this awesome peach tree. Why is it so awesome you ask? It will produce 3 to 4 different varieties of peaches on one tree! I was floored when the guy told me that and ran home to tell Keith about this amazing tree. Well, naturally because he's always looking at history channels, how is this made channels and discovery channels this was not news to him at all. :(  Oh well, I was pretty excited. Anyway, when I purchased it, here in SoCali we were in the May Gray weather pattern, which turns into the June Gloom pattern. This is when (if you live somewhat close to the ocean) the sun most days does not come out until early afternoon. I mentioned that because I followed the nursery guys instructions when he delivered the tree, keep it in the planter the first year until after all of the fruit is gone. After that time put it in the ground. Okay, so my problem was that no fruit was growing and I wanted fruit! I went back to visit, he told me to give it fertilizer and wait for the sun. I did that and a few weeks later I stopped by to visit to tell him that the leaves looked a little brown and still no fruit blossoms. His response was, more water and wait for the sun! Well, for the last couple of weeks the sun has been breaking through earlier in the morning and I must say those leaves are looking perkier.

Today when I was in the garden I noticed that one of my eggplants has two blooms! Naturally I am very excited but also very concerned because it is in an area where it gets limited sun. I also noticed that the tomatoes, the zucchini plants and the strawberry plant that sits on the edge of the patio just don't seem to be really thriving. Either that's the case or I'm just impatient. :)

Even with moving to open area of yard, you can see the shadow  from the house starting to cover the  plants at  4:30 p.m.

I went online this afternoon and looked at a few videos on growing vegetables and time and time again they kept mentioning the need for these plants to received 8 - 12 hours of direct sun in order for their fruit to fully develop. My thought was that too much intense direct sun and heat would not be good for the plants, but boy was I wrong. So, I have adjusted my garden's configuration once again because most of my plants are shaded by our house and patio starting from the early afternoon. It's a good thing that they are in pots. We will see what happens now that the sun is out more and they are in a sunnier location.

Fresh Lemonade with Mint

Lemonade with fresh mint

So, it's another sizzling day in SoCal and I've decided to refresh myself with a nice cold glass of fresh lemonade. I remembered when I was in Texas a month ago, my niece Kelli told me how good mint is in lemonade so I think I'll go pick some from my garden.  I also know that there are some really good health benefits from eating mint. Some of those benefits of concern to me are: 1) it's good for the digestion, 2) helps burn fat, 3) refreshes the breath and
4) helps with headaches. 

Spearmint Leaves

I've also picked some fresh green onions to go in the egg salad I am making for lunch. 
After reading about the health benefits of mint, I decided to research the health benefits of green onion and was quite frankly amazed with all of its benefits. Did you know that green onions can help with the common cold? How about help normalize your blood pressure? Well along with these benefits they also help expel phlegm, inhibits cancer growth especially colon cancer, it helps reduce stress and tiredness, absorbs vitamin B1 and speeds up blood circulation. It contains vitamins A & C; the white portion also contains calcium.
For me the most I ever really used green onions for was to garnish baked potatoes and top a good ole tray of chicken enchiladas! Now that I have them growing in my garden and understand what they can do for my health and the health of my family, green onions will be used on a regular basis.