Synchronicity. Celebrating our 50th Earth Day with Gardening. Of course!
Now during our Coronavirus “stay-at-home” across the USA, gardening has become more meaningful. So many people around the world are getting back to the basics with more home cooking, more home gardening, more self-care, and more time to reflect.
As many of you are aware, my passion is creating with beautiful locally grown Arizona farmers produce, herbs, and edible flowers, all grown with organic practices. I’m honored to share my gardening experiences, as a few friends have been requesting my thoughts.
It has now been 13 months since I first set up and planted my little elevated garden in my backyard in Phoenix, Arizona, and I’m looking forward to another season. Thanks to my farmer friend, Billy Anthony of The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain for the encouragement and the plant-starts for the last few growing seasons. – Melanie Albert
This week, I’m honored to share with you my 3 Different Views of Gardening.
- Slow Down with Home Gardening.
- Worms. Oh, My! Oh, Yes!
- 10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden. (“Next” Blog)
Slow Down with Home Gardening
This week, while prepping and planting my little elevated edible garden, I also took extra time to reflect. My gardening experience was a personal day of incredible self-care, quietly outside in beautiful Phoenix with connection to our Earth.
As many of us are aware, planting and gardening have been a metaphor for life and growth.
We get rid of the old (plants).
We plant seeds (or transplants).
Nurture and care for them.
Practice patience.
Mindfully enjoy the growing process, days by days, weeks by weeks, and months by months.
And, we enjoy the fruits of our labor when we experience the amazing freshness and life of our own home-grown food in our meals. I am already happily enjoying my recently planted fresh herbs and edible flowers!
Importantly, I look forward to seeing the new growth in my life, alongside the growth of the garden.
Take time this season to really enjoy your own home-gardening. Enjoy the beautiful, slow, mindful process.
Pause and take time to reflect on how your gardening experience reflects your life.
Worms! Oh My! Oh Yes!
My early memories of worms were getting the “best” worms for fishing (we lived in Baltimore with a river to the Chesapeake Bay in our backyard) from my grandmother’s rose garden. Humm…worms for fishing and gardening?
Thank you farmer, Billy Anthony
This season while getting set to plant my Arizona Summer garden, I reached out to my knowledgeable, passionate farmer friend, Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain. Since my little edible garden already had “good organic soil” and mulch from the Arizona Worm Farm from the prior growing season, Billy recommended fertilizing it this season.
Arizona Worm Farm
For fertilizing, I visited the incredible Arizona Worm Farm, only 7 miles from my home, currently operating as a Farmers Market on Saturday’s, where we can purchase produce, as well as compost and worm products for our gardens. “The Arizona Worm Farm is a unique little urban farm centered around sustainability, soil improvement, and turning garbage into food.”
Take a look at the Arizona Worm Farm Worm Casting and Garden…
For the extra fertilizer, my first thought was worms. Oh My, Oh My.
And, second, Oh My, buying the Worm Tea and Worm Castings, I had a feeling I knew what they were. And, oh yes. Worm castings and worm tea were what I suspected. (I totally trusted the process.)
Worm Castings
Worm castings are basically worm poop. There’s the “Oh My.” According to the Arizona Worm Farm, worm castings or vermi-compost are a nutrient-dense amendment, high in microbial activity. The richest natural fertilizer. Castings rapidly stimulate plant growth because they contain nutrients in plant-available form and easily absorbed. I bought 3 gallons for my 6 x 2 feet elevated garden and to top off my 2 large galvanized steel garden pots.
Worm Tea
Worm Tea is compost tea made from Worm Castings. This tea must be used within 4 hours of purchase to be effective in our gardens. So definitely, be prepared to garden the day you purchase your Worm Tea. As far as I know, the Arizona Worm Farm only sells the Worm Tea on Saturday mornings during the farmers’ market. For perspective, I purchased 1 gallon of Worm Tea.
Be sure to come back for our “10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden,” with the Worm Castings and Worm Tea and local Arizona plant-starts from Vilardi Gardens and The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutritionaz on your edible gardening and plant-based culinary creations.
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
