Seeds: The Most Precious Currency

Announcing the soon to open JOSIE GLADYS HEIRLOOM GARDEN GOODS
www.JosieG.ecwid.com. 

I've long had a love affair with seeds, especially vegetable seeds.  They are fascinating in many respects - for beauty, variety, usefulness, the mechanisms by which they are disseminated.  Mostly, they amaze me because they are of primary importance in the life cycle of plants.  So much so that when stresses threaten the very existence of a plant, its response is to flower and produce seeds.  There may be no leaves at all, but the plant will flower in an effort to perpetuate the species.  Amazing!

One of the reasons that I enjoy saving seeds is that it frees up my budget to obtain seeds of varieties that I haven't grown yet.  Every year, my seed wish list is two pages long per seed catalog. It's outright torture trying to cut back to a reasonably sized order.  Often, the deciding factor of whether to include a particular seed is how many years it's been on the wish list without ever having been ordered.  Kind of a seed seniority list.  I also love and am always fascinated by how many seeds are in a fruit. Once, I counted over 100 seeds in an okra pod!  That's enough for a few years of okra.  Of course,  the seeds for a garden should come from multiple plants and not just one pod so that genetic diversity is protected.

And I love sharing seeds with people who love gardening as well as people who are just learning that

they love gardening.  It's exciting to know that someone to whom I gave a few seeds will have a hundredfold that, or more, at the end of the season.  It's often been said that when economic times are hard, seeds are more important to have than gold.  It's true, too; when money is tight, deciding whether money in hand will go to pay for groceries or housing is an all too familiar struggle.  For those who grow their own food and save seeds, hunger is never a worry.  Just knowing you have on hand the food to make a mess of butterbeans with skillet cornbread can bring a feeling of security to a home.

These days, though the types of seeds available seem infinite when we pore over beautiful gardening catalogs, in reality we have lost many varieties of both fruits and vegetables.  Regional adaptations, sturdy heirloom genetics, and varieties selected for flavor and nutrition need to be preserved.  What I have noticed is that we seem to need more help in the area of seed saving and distribution.  Where we need it is on a regional basis.  It's not quite right if all of the seeds that you plant in your garden are always produced halfway across the country.  In the buggy, hot, humid Southeast, I need plants that can stand up to botrytis and mildew and bean beetles and 98 degree days.  I don't mean we shouldn't ever buy seeds from elsewhere, just that any region will have its own particular adaptations, so every region should have a network of seed producers and savers to ensure that there will be crops well-adapted to growing there.

And so, I've stepped out of the middle of the crowd to try to help.  To develop a network of Southeastern producers of heirloom vegetable seeds - grown in the organic style, of course, to produce and offer seeds from my own crops, to seek handed down stores of seeds for evaluation and introduction to gardeners.  These seeds, along with seeds from some fine organic sources already in operation, will be offered through ecommerce at Josie Gladys Heirloom Garden Goods.  The store is almost ready to open and you can get a sneak preview at www.JosieG.ecwid.com. 

JosieGladysGardens: Dirt from the Ground Up

JosieGladysGardens: Dirt from the Ground Up

Dirt from the Ground Up

A couple of decades ago, I started composting.  It was a very casual endeavor.  I threw a little dirt on top of some kitchen scraps and eventually created a big enough heap to bury scraps in the middle of the compost.  A beautiful pumpkin vine grew out of it one year and made two beautiful and delicious pumpkins.  A situation presented itself where a considerable amount of soil was needed to create a raised bed.  The compost heap provided the perfect quantity.  A mix of flowers and vegetables was planted in this bed and grew with abundant thrift.  They were extremely healthy, vigorous and productive.  The experience was a tattooed lesson for me.

A few years ago, I had weeds and spent plants to deal with.  We had a full compost bin and the labor of toting compost from the point of decomposition to the point of use was literally a pain and seemed so wasteful in time and energy.  Inefficient.  We had extra concrete blocks and need of a raised bed, so we began to collect composting materials within the confines of a block border.  A perfectly scientific process was not necessary to follow.  We didn't turn it or go buy one of those aerating sticks.  All we did was try to make sure that about equal parts of green and brown material went into the pile. We also had enough leftover lumber to fashion a 7'x9' raised bed and started composting there.  Awhile later, we realized rain runoff had eroded about three inches from one side of the garden next to the fence.   Another set of concrete blocks and one more raised bed was born, using the compost from the bottom of my husband's stick pile as a base. 



1.3 Pounds of Deliciousness!

After a couple of seasons of adding kitchen scraps, old vegetable plants, corn stalks, coffee grounds, weeds, and tender trimmings from shrubbery, there was enough soil to start using the beds.  They weren't full yet, but had enough compost to support root growth.  Sometime during all this raised bed building, I decided to compost in place.  Any low spot in the garden would get its own compost pile started and the finished compost could be raked out in the end.  To be honest, with all the raised beds this hasn't been done much and I found it a little bit of a challenge to work around and to get to for adding scraps.  I still think it's a good idea, but probably without using kitchen scraps.  Maybe hubby's stick pile can find a new home wherever we need to compost in place.  Now that I think on it, the one spot where I really concentrated on making a pile wound up growing a spontaneous, lush garden of tomatoes and greens.  That four square foot spot yielded like crazy!  The big raised bed has also produced an impressive share of volunteer plants (free food) as well as some whopper Mr. Stripey tomatoes from the one plant that I set in it.

 

The point of telling you all of this is that the most primo growing medium doesn't come from a bag.  All of the nutrients that are needed for plants to produce new growth, flowers, fruit, and seeds is contained in all of the things that go into a compost pile.  It's Yahweh's plan for the old plants to feed the new plants.   And for all of the organisms that participate in decomposition to make those nutrients available.  The process from start to finish is amazing and begins even before the first tomato is picked.  The same enzymes that help it to ripen also play a role in moving that tomato towards decomposition - if it doesn't grace mayo on white bread first, that is.  The creepy crawlies and worms and salamanders found in the compost pile are really employees of a rich dirt manufacturing plant. 

Compost has perfect structure for the movement of air and water, is loose so tender roots easily push forth, and has a perfect balance of nutrients.   What is amazing is that it grows healthier plants than commercial fertilizers can produce, though by analysis the commercial product has far more nutrients!  What is it that makes the difference?  What gives compost the edge?  It's life.  The thing that doesn't come pelletized, osmotically layered, or in a crystallized soluble form.  Compost is made from living plants, by living creatures, and contains living mycelia that assist in plant growth. 

The best part is that this perfect growing medium is given to us as a free gift.  We don't have to buy it in bags, have it trucked in, or go collect it from a giant steaming pile miles away.  All you have to do is put about half green and half brown plant materials where you want a garden and wait a little while for life to work a wondrous miracle.

 

(Note:  May I recommend viewing the film "Back to Eden", which is about gardening in compost.  Use it as inspiration and feel free to get creative with building your own fantastic dirt from the ground up.  http://vimeo.com/28055108)

We Need a Food Revelation!

 

     It's obvious from my posts that I'm a thrifty gal (scream, pennies, scream!) and I've groused about how food in the stores is tooooo expensive - it's ridiculous.  Today, I want to expound, because really I believe sometimes just speaking up can start a ball rolling.  And we definitely need something to move in our economy!  
     For too long, our culture has had a pricing attitude that is not right, fair, or just.  It's a "whatever-the-market-will-bear" attitude.   Get as much as you can while you can.  How fleshly can you get!?  It reminds me of a song that Tennessee Ernie Ford sang, "St. Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go; I owe my soul to the company store."  There is something morally wrong when food (the fuel for our greatest resource) is so expensive that shoppers have to put back fresh produce and choose lower quality processed food (if it can rightly be called that).
    Truthfully, this "whatever-the-market-will-bear" mentality produces a "bear market" - a turn-down in sales, basically.  I think of it as people saying, "I'm turning down the sale."  And they do this because they don't have enough and/or the product is too much.  In other words, America has been pricing itself out of work and getting poorer all the while.  This is a weak foundation for business, including food and farming.  (Were you wondering when I was getting back to gardening?)
     We need more reasonable pricing for fresh foods, especially organic-type foods.  It's the right thing to do and it will have a positive, significant impact on health and wealth (personal and community).  We need more locally-grown foods, as in you drive right past the fields where you can see the food growing that will be on your table.  We need more home gardens where running to the store means slipping on your flip-flops to pick tomatoes out back and leaving your car keys and pocketbook in the house.

     Families (including households of one) can increase personal wealth by hundreds of dollars, if not thousands - yes, that much - by growing and preserving food at home.  Even those who don't grow their own food can preserve and reduce the waste of what they buy.  For example, I buy oranges and other citrus fruits because they don't grow in my climate.  Not only can I squeeze the juice or eat the fruit, I can use the rinds to make a natural vinegar cleaner,  dehydrate and powder them for home-made vitamin C powder to put in smoothies, kefir, and yogurt, or grind to mix with pepper for seasoning.  As another example, the liquid from straining tomatoes can be used for tomato juice, reserved to use in recipes, or to make that vintage favorite, tomato aspic.

     Realistically, I wouldn't expect that very many people will grow even half of what they eat.  Still, a conscious and conscientious effort to move food production closer to one's kitchen will make a significant difference in both the quality of food and the wallet of someone local.  If it's not your wallet that benefits, why not make it a neighbor's wallet?

Can I get an Amen, brother and sister?

Well, hello, stranger!  AGAIN!

Welcome.....
New technology has come into my hands - thank you, Mr. Okra.  Once again, I can wax pepper poetic (or just mess up the English language) doing longer blogs.  Better still, I should be able to post pictures again! There is big-time catching up to do on the image front.  In fact, instead of blabbing on this time, how about if I show you some of what's been growing on? (In no particular order.)

Well, hello, stranger!  It's been a really long time since I posted a blog here.  Thank you, Blogger, for saving my seat.  I've been doing all my posts on FaceBook, which is very friendly to my smartphone. I can snap a garden picture on the way out the door and dash off a post while waiting in line at the store.

And, honestly, I haven't had time to write anything longer - or even think anything longer than a FaceBook post.  My mom used to say that sometimes life gets a little too real.  Whew!  She was right!  The good news about what's been happening in the past few years is that I've learned to sit down and just sit.   The TV in the den went on the blink and instead of replacing it, I use the room to sit.  In a nice chair by the window, I rest, doze, pet whichever cat has joined me, rub my dog Huckabee's back with my feet,  and read.  This is where I keep my study Bible and try to review the scriptures from Sunday or Wednesday night.  Usually, I get lost in the surrounding chapters, but that's okay.  I still learn something.  Like that Jacob spent a lot of his life running away from people because he thought they were going to kill him.  (Of course, they did want to kill him.) He lived in fear for a long time, but when he finally came home he was welcomed by his brother.  He was able to let go of his fear.

It's occurred to me that fear is common, though not usually of being mortally wounded.  I have certainly spent too much of my life being fearful.  One thing I was fearful of was lack of food - lack of a surety that the people in my house would have enough to eat.  And I'll admit right here, right now, that we have had a ridiculous number of times when we really did not have enough in our pantry for a balanced diet.  We did not starve.  Sometimes I surely thought we would, though!

My need for food security led to starting a real garden.  After a couple of years of small raised beds, my husband agreed to let me have a third of the back yard.  I dug the rows in the 1800 square foot space by hand that first year, planting a hundred tomatoes in the dark after work.  We've planted corn, Southern peas, green beans, butterbeans, greens, peppers, leeks, melons, cukes, carrots, kohlrabi, and I don't know what all!  I have literally fallen asleep snapping beans and gone to work bleary-eyed from canning until the wee hours.  We have been so very blessed with food security.  I figured up one year that our garden produces $2,000 - $3,000 in food each year.  I have even sold some of the produce on occasion.

The importance of our garden has been driven home in the last couple of years.  We had a beautiful and especially bountiful garden in 2012.  Then I was rear-ended the day before Thanksgiving, which made gardening and putting up food almost impossible to do.  I just could not do the work I was used to doing, because of the pain.  I put out a few pepper plants and we had volunteer vegetable plants that fed us well.  There were enough jars of food put up to get us through last year and we still have plenty of pickles and jams.  That's the wonderful thing about home-canning.  The preserved food is good for a long time.  I usually try to keep it no more than 2 years, but it is still good even much longer.

My husband has also had some health issues.  We have been able to plant a little this year, mostly eating it fresh.  So we will be buying more at the grocery store this winter.  Maybe next season we can have more plants in the ground and maybe I can get a deep freezer to help me space out my canning work.  But I don't feel that same insecurity and fear of lack that I did a few years ago.  The sitting down made me be still and made me really put all my trust in the Good Lord, in Yahweh.  I've always felt peace in the garden.  Now I feel the peace of being in His Garden no matter where I am.

Well! What a Surprise! Dehydrated Veggies in My Recipes

This year, I started doing a lot more dehydrating because, well, I kept running out of canning jars and didn't have the budget to go get more. At first, I would run get freezer bags, but the freezer filled up quickly. I even gave away a cooler full of frozen green beans to a church and refilled that space in the freezer before I could blink. We had run out of room for jars anyway, too. It's been an exceptionally good year in the garden. Dehydrating saves a lot of storage space and the food lasts longer than any other method of preserving. So, I have dried everything I could: green beans, tomatoes, tomato purée, carrots, eggplants, okra, sweet peppers, bell peppers, Malabar spinach, onion, mustard greens, winter squash.

And then I got the idea to sneak some leafy greens into my picky-eater husband's food by using them in place of parsley. He didn't notice, so I went a little further and eventually let him in on the secret. That opened the door to use even more veggies as flakes and finely ground powder. I've been using a lot of ground mustard greens, green beans, and eggplant. I especially like using the eggplant; its flavor smooths out sharp flavors and gives brothy soups a nice semi-creamy look. Tonight, I made up a meatloaf and some tasty turkey Swedish meatballs adding the Malabar Spinach and eggplant.

In late summer, the green beans got ahead of me and would bean out so that I'd wind up with a lot of shellies and not many snaps. I'd throw out a lot of pods that were somewhat tender, but not enough to keep the pods to serve. It made me really frustrated and I got to wondering about using those pods for a powder. And so I dried a big batch and it works just fine. They dry quicker than the snapped beans, too. It was the best of both worlds: I got the shell outs and the protein from the still tender pods, as well.

The only things I've decided not to repeat is drying puréed tomatoes and winter squash. The puréed tomolatoes didn't rehydrate to a smooth consistency. Tomato powder is versatile and if I need a purée or sauce, I'll just preserve it that way. And I disliked the flavor of dehydrated winter squash. I'll stick with canning winter squash.

Overall, I'm happy with dehydrating and surprised at how the veggies are getting used.
This all kind of makes me want to say, "Well, la dee da!"