We Won!

Well, somehow we won the war of the leaf-cutting ants.  I have to say, it's bitter sweet.  They were such fascinating, happy, industrious little creatures.  Now the garden seems so still.  Still, I'm thrilled to be harvesting all the beautiful produce.  

Beautiful beets!  This one was juiced with carrots and some wheat grass I also grew.  It made a very sweet juice.

I harvested most of the lettuce that was left.  Some of it was going to seed, since it's starting to get warmer.  This should be enough for our lunch salads for the rest of the week.  We've enjoyed lots of salad from this little patch this winter (along with the ants).  I was a little sad to pull it up, but that's how the cycle works.  I've planted bush beans in their place.

Lots of veggies for broths, stir fries, and salad fixn's

This is cabbage and swiss chard.  The six small squares of swiss chard are doing so well, that I have enough for green smoothies for the whole family about every other day.

The radishes are doing great.

Lena loves eating them right out of the garden.

We planted this smaller variety of carrots.  The ground can be pretty hard, so these little guys don't have to battle the hard ground to grow.

This is the first time I have even planted broccoli.  They have done really well.  We also have leeks, turnips, collard greens, parsley, cilantro, and kale.  

So, there's my winter garden!  I just started some tomato, eggplant, pepper, and lemon grass seeds for the spring summer garden.  The little pods with seeds and all their potential are sitting on my dresser in my bedroom, just days away from sticking their little green sprouts out of the top of the soil.  I'll be able to put tomato plants out in March!  And just think our friends up in Greenland are celebrating because they finally saw the sun for 10 minutes last week!  Happy to be serving God in Mexico.  Happy Gardening ya'll! 

If You Can't Grow Where You Live, Then Sprout!

I love to garden! Actually, that is a huge understatement! I have managed to have some sort of garden no matter where we live. We lived in an apartment so I grew tomatoes in pots on the balcony and even talked the landlord into giving me a small section of the landscaping in the back of the building for a few tomatoes and pepper. My passion is vegetable gardening and I am not happy unless I have spouted the plants from heirloom seeds, some of which I saved from the successful season before. Once we had the upstairs floor of a house and I was able to talk my downstairs neighbor into letting me use some of the yard. Last year, the garden was small. I only had one 4x12 raised bed because I knew we would be moving and our renters would be the ones enjoying my tomatoes, but I planted anyway.

I have to say, I really do have a green thumb. That has come with lots of reading and probably from a rich history of gardeners. Once you have sat on your daddy's shoulders while he hads you cherry tomatoes from plants you helped him plant, there is no hope for you. I like reading about gardening almost as much as I like gardening. I am a real nut when it comes to the "dirt", constantly coming up with scemes for adding more organic matter to my soil. We had a worm composter going really well in Oklahoma. It was so cool. It has now been giving to our good friends, so they can enjoy it.

The gardening I have found to work the best is square foot gardening in raised beds. I have big plans for when we finally get settled in Mexico. At the Children's Home I have a way to channel all the water from the clothes washer, so I can have a garden in our mountainous desert. Plus feeding all those kiddos produces a good amount of compostable matter.

But this is a transitional year for us and we have no place or time for even containers. My father-in-law offered me some garden space at his house, but alas we are just traveling too much. We will be in Mexico the first two weeks of August and I am sure it would never do to plant a garden only to have it neglected at the peak of the season.

So my solution to my gardening diliema is sprouting. They are quick, compact, and packed with nutrients. Did I mention cost effective. So far this week I have mung beans, alfalfa, and wheat grass. The kids will just gobble down the alfalfa before it has a chance to see a salad and the mung beans are great raw or stir fried. The wheat grass I juice. So, if you can't grow where you are, then sprout in four days or less.