January 13, 2010 – Start Your Seeds!

Plant Profile: Collards

Collard greens are part of the cabbage family, Brassica oleracea. They’re in the company of cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kale. Cruciferous vegetables, as this family of vegetables is called, are some of the most nutritious foods you can eat. They are packed with vitamins and fiber, low in calories, and have been shown to reduce risk of cancer in many medical studies.

Winter is the time when fresh collards are most available, and least expensive. At the grocery, you can purchase a couple of bunches, enough to cook eight large servings, for a couple of dollars. Collards are also easy to grow. Plant in the early spring for mid-summer harvests, and late summer for fall and winter harvests. They need full sun, and moist, well-drained soil. Rotate their location from year to year as you would with other vegetables in this family. (They are prone to infection by soil borne diseases.)

Cooking collards: Here’s a fool-proof for tasty collards:

• 2 bunches collards
• 2 pieces of ham hock, or 1 ham steak, or 1/2 lb of bacon
• Cayenne pepper
• One chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of molasses
• 3 quarts of water

Simmer the onion, brown sugar, molasses, and ham hock on low heat for three hours. Remove the mid-rib from the collard leaves, and chop into approximately 1 inch square pieces. Rinse well. Add to the pot and cover. Simmer until collards are tender, about 1 hour. Check periodically to ensure that the greens are not burning. If necessary, add a little bit of water. Season with cayenne pepper. Serve hot or cold, with cider vinegar.

• Buy organic collard seeds at Amazon

On Your Mark, Get Set … Seed!

Crops that are best transplanted during cool, early springs (lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, cabbages, and kale) need to be started indoors between early February through late March. That means the time to select seeds and prepare for planting is now. Other cool weather crops like peas, radishes and turnips grow best when direct-seeded into the garden …

• Continue reading about seeding and indoor seed supplies

How to Master Organic Gardening

January and February are great months to curl up with a good gardening book, a pile of seed catalogues, and some dreams of the garden that will emerge from underneath the snow. Sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? This year, in particular, in comparison to last year, the entire North American Continent is shivering in unseasonable cold. From northern Canada (where they are used to cold), to southern Florida, where the cold snap is threatening citrus crops across thousands of acres, what gets all gardeners through is the promise of spring.

*Shameless Sales Pitch Alert* Uh hum, well, well, where we’re going with this is that now’s also the perfect time to nab yourself a copy of “How to Master Organic Gardening.” It details everything you need to know about caring for your plants in an earth-friendly, sustainable, and organic manner. Of course we think it it’s helpful – we wrote it! But, don’t take our word for it. Read this informative review by Julia at Blue Planet Green Living.

You don’t have to have a university degree to master organic gardening. You don’t have to be a certified Master Gardener to master organic gardening. Instantly download and print (on recycled paper, both sides) the ebook “How To Master Organic Gardening.” We’ll hold your hand as you take care of your lawn, learn how to compost, weed and get rid of pests without chemicals and grow in your gardening experience!

Brewing the Perfect Tea

Tea, the second most popular beverage, after water, has a horticultural connection. In fact, if you want, you can grow a tea plant on your patio. Black, green, white and oolong tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis. Tea leaves are just that: the young leaves from the tips of the branches of this plant. Each type of tea mentioned above is dried and prepared differently, resulting in a different nutrient profile, and different health benefits. Herbal tea is an infusion of herbs, fruits, nuts, or any plant that does not come from the Camellia sinensis plant…

• Continue reading about tea, best methods to brew, and it’s health benefits