Gardening

May

Drizzly May Morning Garden Update

While the rain might not make everyone happy, it sure does wonders for my garden! I have lots of stuff growing at the moment, and thought I’d share some photos from this morning’s “garden check.”

I officially have healthy, growing pea plants around my entire trellis! I may plant a few more here over the next couple weeks to get a nice yield for this summer.

I love helping these little tendrils take hold – it’s amazing how quickly they grow.

The first of my cukes sprouted yesterday! I’m trying an heirloom lemon variety this year.

These sage and oregano plants came as starts from my friend Susan’s garden. (We like to swap seeds and share dirt deliveries – it’s nice being neighbors!) They were looking sort of sad there for awhile, but I think they’ve perked up! The sage is starting to bolt, but I might bury the seed head and grow a new plant or two. I’m thinking of growing one in the front of my yard too, it smells so good.

Raspberry plants are looking good! I’ve seen lots of bees buzzing around these plants last week, though none this morning. I think the rain scared them off…

The rain did not, however, scare this guy away. EEK!!!!!! Thankfully this was on my deck and not my garden. But still, something to think about.

My copra onions are doing fantastic too – it’s amazing how quickly they’ve grown. They will take some months to mature, so I’m thinking about planting quick-growing items in the spaces in between such as lettuces.

I have a row of this Bright Lights Swiss Chard coming up, and I planted a few more last week, too.

My arugula is doing fantastic and I’ve been enjoying eating it. It’s a cut-and-come again crop, and I’ll likely snip some leaves for a dinner salad tonight. That’s red leaf lettuce growing in the background. Not quite ready yet, but getting there!

A number of things going on in this photo – lacinato (dinosaur) kale in the front, chives (with the blossoms), along with romaine lettuce and spinach.

Strawberries are coming! Some have shed their blossoms and are turning into fruit. I hope to have some here in the next month.

Would you believe this is my first year growing radishes? My son is growing these in his container and you can see the red bulbs starting to emerge. Not much longer on these!

This year I’m experimenting more with container gardening, too – moving some of the edibles up onto our deck space. Here are a couple healthy mustard green plants chilling in a planter.

At this point, I’m looking forward to Memorial Day weekend when I’ll transplant my tomato and pepper plants into my garden.

What’s growing in your garden right now? What are you planning on growing?

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May

Saving on a Vitamix

I’ve enjoyed our Vitamix for over a couple months now and I can say we use it virtually every day. It’s been one of the best purchases we’ve made, and I wanted to share my thoughts on why we made this splurge along with ideas for saving on one.

Why We Chose Vitamix

First things first. You should know that a Vitamix is not an inexpensive piece of equipment (on Amazon: for $378 as of today)! It is not your average blender, either. I struggled using a $30 blender to make green smoothies and it was no mean feat. We also had purchased a juicer over on Craigslist but it didn’t get used simply because it was inconvenient to clean and expensive to buy enough produce to make even a single glass of juice.

Here’s ultimately why we decided on a Vitamix:

To incorporate more whole plant foods into our diet.
To blend produce that a normal blender can’t handle.
To make better use of the produce we buy and create less waste.
To make soups, sauces, salsas, and other food (occasionally).
Because it is very quick to use, and quick to clean.

If you just want to make a smoothie with some bananas and strawberries? You probably don’t need a Vitamix. But if you want to experiment particularly with greens (such as kale, spinach, collards, dandelion, etc.), a high-speed blender will more easily and thoroughly do the job. While there are certainly other brands you could choose out there, we ultimately decided on Vitamix given their longstanding reputation and long warranty. My parents have had a Vitamix in their house since before I was born, so their positive experience also weighed into our decision.

Ways to Save

Some of you may have sticker shock when you first consider a Vitamix. It is a serious investment! So today, I wanted to provide some ideas for how you might save on one:

Swagbucks. You can earn “swag bucks” that you redeem for prizes including Amazon gift cards. This would take quite some time to save up enough, but in a year’s time, you may have enough to make a decent dent on a purchase. (You can head to Amazon to see the many Vitamix models for sale.)
Costco. I’ve heard that Costco offers the Vitamix from time to time at a reasonable price.
Buy used. If you don’t mind buying used, keep an eye on sites like Craigslist. I have had family members find used ones for around $100 this way, and that’s a killer deal on Vitamix. Garage sales may be another option, too.
Demonstration Models. Now I’ve never tried this, but I was listening to my Dave Ramsey CDs recently and he suggests in his negotiating lesson to “hang out” at the demonstration areas particularly at the end of an event. Ask what they plan on doing with the demonstration unit(s) – who knows? You might find yourself a deal! We see the Vitamix folks at the Puyallup Fair every year.
Start an ING account. When you sign up for a FREE ING Checking account, you’ll get $50 bonus money! We have an account there, and I love it. I set up an automatic withdrawal from our primary checking to our ING account. This money comes out first thing every month and I’m amazed how this simple practice has grown our savings. (For more information on this promotion, check out my post from a couple weeks ago – the bonus is still good.)

If you’ve snagged a deal on a Vitamix or comparable brand before, I’d love to know your stories, too.

More Thoughts on the Vitamix…

I know that spending a few hundred dollars for a high-speed blender may sound frivolous. But consider how much money some will spend on diet programs, products, shakes, and supplements! Call me crazy, but I think what you really need for healthful living and weight loss is whole plant foods. Case in point, I’ve lost 20 pounds since the start of this year. I didn’t do any 30 or 60 or 90 day challenge, sign up for fancy personal training, or buy overpriced shakes or prepackaged, processed diet food or sign onto any pyramid marketing scheme. All I’ve done is work to make better food choices! And for the past couple months most days I’ve enjoyed a tall smoothie full of nutritious goodness.

I question how sustainable some of the fad diets are – you put all this money in, but do you get the lasting results you want? After watching my parents use their Vitamix for decades (this last one they bought is on its 10th year!), I’m convinced that this is something you could do long-term. Stepping off my soapbox…

To end this post, I thought I’d leave you with a few imagines of creations I’ve made over the past couple months….

Strawberry - Basil

Almond Butter - Banana - Raw Cocoa - Coconut Oil

Bok Choy - Lamb's Lettuce (made from ingredients pictured above)

Dandelion & Collard Greens - Pear

Beet - Beet Greens - Strawberry

Arugula-Basil Pesto

I’d love to hear how you use your Vitamix or other thoughts you might have for saving on one, too.

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May

Mid-May Garden Update: what’s growing, and what’s on my mind

I was up far earlier than any member of my family, so I decided to take a quick early morning check on my garden. Things are coming along nicely, so I thought I’d share a mid-May report with you.

This is the largest of my pea plants – I’ve been working on training the tendrils upward now for the past week or so. Incidentally, did you know you can eat these vines? They are delicious! There’s no way I’m pulling these up, but if you’re interested to try them, you can look for them at the Farmer’s Market. I’ve had them in my green smoothies and also stir fried.

These two friends were born at the same time yesterday morning! Aren’t they sweet? I’ve read you don’t need to thin peas, because they grow well in thick vines, so I’m leaving them be.

Now I’m planting basil by seed, but it’s definitely taking it’s sweet time, so I had no problem buying this healthy basil plant at a plant sale I attended last weekend. I bought this plant stand to help keep the leaves up off the ground and provide some support. My son and I already nibbled a couple of the leaves….oh my, I can’t wait for pesto.

My pal Susan gave me a couple oregano and sage starts last week. Unfortunately, some of them didn’t take so well to the transplant, but I was encouraged to see these healthy top leaves on some of the sage plants this morning!

If I was to suggest something to a new gardener it would be this: grow herbs! I didn’t grow any my first year, and I look back and realize how silly that was. Herbs add so much flavor to your dishes and are easy to grow (well, most of them anyways). This year I’m growing two kinds of basil, sage, oregano, mint, parsley, chives, thyme, and tons of cilantro…

My strawberries are starting to flower, too.

I read over the weekend that strawberries are named “straw” berries because they are often grown with a mulch of straw underneath, to keep them clean. My daughter and I picked up some straw from the local feed store last Friday. What an experience! As soon as we walked in, we heard the chorus of dozens of baby chickens “cheep, cheep, cheep….”

I now have more straw than I know what to do with. I picked up a clean bin and will store it in there to keep it dry. If anyone knows how long I can keep it, let me know.

I’m trying something new à la Pinterest: growing celery from the ends of stalks. Here is one of my stalks, about 10 days after planting:

It is definitely doing something! The top is all new growth and if you look carefully, you can see the beginning of new stalks. I’ll be curious to see if this works.

Susan also gave me this beautiful chive plant. The flowers are edible – wouldn’t they look lovely on a salad?

I have lots of greens coming up, some of which I’ve already started to enjoy.

I seemed to have gotten the pest problem under control with my lettuce! They are growing wonderfully, and I have some seedlings coming up for subsequent lettuce patches to enjoy in a few weeks.

I have about a half dozen healthy rainbow chard plants just starting to take off.

I’m also growing romaine lettuce…

Lacinato (dinosaur) kale…

Red leaf lettuce…

And arugula (because you can never have enough greens!).

My raspberries are looking really fantastic too, and I can see the buds where there will soon be berries. If I was a fly, this would not be a bad place to live…

My onion starts have taken well and are starting to grow. While you might argue that onions are cheap to buy, I have to ask: have you ever tried a garden-grown onion? If you haven’t, your argument is invalid.

My son is growing radishes. I gave my kids a container to share this year with two caveats: you must care for what you grow and you must eat it!

My daughter and I did an initial planting of rainbow carrots on her side yesterday, too. I’ll be curious to see how this variety works…

This year I’ve decided to grow some tomatoes in containers on my deck, to free up real estate in my garden planters.

Can you believe I paid just $3.50 each for these healthy tomato plants? Oh yes I did! There was an edible plant sale in Tacoma last weekend. Had I known the prices would be that awesome, I would’ve shared it! These are two chocolate cherry tomato plants, and an early girl will be going in the garden Memorial Day weekend, along with a couple miniature bell peppers. I also picked up a Thai pepper, but that may also end up in a container.

I’m growing – you guessed it – more greens on the deck too.

I have a couple volunteer plants I’m letting grow, too…

Pretty sure what I have there is a parsnip. I’m going to let it bolt in hopes of collecting the seeds and planting for a winter crop.

And pretty sure what I have here is a dandelion. Heck no I’m throwing it out! Dandelion greens are some of the most nutritious things you can eat! I’m going to let it get nice and big then it’s going in a green smoothie. (For more on weeds you can eat, check out the foraging class I attended recently).

I also wanted to share that I successfully dried mint!

I’ve been doing a lot of contemplating and reading as of late. My garden up until this point has largely been a hobby. I want to slowly transform it into a sustainable source of food. To me, this means determining how to grow and store food we use, how to save seeds and plants, extend the season, and maximize our growing space. As we work to complete the landscaping of our backyard, I’ve got my mind wondering about where we could fit more edibles! My husband had a fabulous idea of building a long running planter alongside the bottom part of our deck, and I’m still trying to determine where we could add in some fruit trees (a big dream of mine!).

If you’re growing anything, I’d love to hear about it – and if you’ve blogged about it somewhere, please leave a link!

For more gardening, check out my last garden update along with Erica’s Urban Gardening post.

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May

Urban Gardening with Erica: Getting Started

Erica recently told me she was going to be starting a container garden at her apartment. Of course, I wanted her to share her journeys here with you. I thought this might be of particular encouragement to some of my city dwelling readers as well as those who lack a large yard and wonder if gardening is for them.

Here’s her first post in what I hope to be a summer-long series.

My husband and I recently moved into a new top floor apartment. I quickly realized that most of my back deck got full sun and would be a great place to start a container garden! As I was making plans for what to grow, I stumbled upon some very useful information. Did you know that you can use food stamps (EBT/Basic Food) to buy food producing seeds and plants?! It is listed right here on the DSHS website under the “What Can I Buy with Basic Food Benefits?” category! You should be able to buy any kind of food producing plants and seeds with your EBT card as long as the store accepts EBT (I’m think mostly grocery stores, but you could always ask at Home Depot or Lowes).

So, off to Fred Meyers I went to put it to the test! Here’s a picture of what I got:

A 6 pack of strawberry plants, a 6 pack of tomatoes, and 9 seed packets (zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, bunching onions, bush cucumbers, baby carrots, radishes, kale, romaine lettuce, and butterhead lettuce). I had no problem using my EBT card to buy them either!

I also went on a mission to find containers. I was inspired by One Hundred Dollars a Month’s Post about finding free containers for your garden! I read a suggestion on a forum to check with local bakeries for 5 gallon buckets. So I headed down to my local Panera Bread and asked the manager if they had any empty buckets I could have. He happily handed over 9 buckets!

My husband helped me drill holes in the bottom of the buckets and then put an inch or two of gravel in the bottom to help with drainage. We went to work putting in potting soil and fertilizer, being careful to follow the seed packet instructions (can you tell I’m a newbie?). My dad walked me through planting the tomato plants (because he is the tomato expert in my family) and my husband called his Master-Gardener-grandma for her advice on the strawberries. We planted on Monday afternoon in the beautiful sunshine!

I took a couple pictures of the containers this morning. These are the two buckets of lettuce I have by my front door in the partial sun.

No signs of life yet of course (the packets say sprouting takes 5-10 days), but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

And here is the view of my back deck, which gets a large area of full sun throughout the day.

The large blue Rubbermaid tub (which I just had sitting around the house) has the strawberry plants in it. The two buckets with plants are the Sweet 100′s tomato plants. The other four buckets are bush crookneck squash, bush zucchini, baby carrots, and bush cucumbers. I tried to find things that said they would grow well in containers or small spaces. Many of these say sprouting should occur within 5-10 days, so I’m hoping to start seeing some life soon!

Stay tuned for more of Erica’s garden adventures!

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May

Canning Supplies on Sale now at Zulily!

There are some very stylish and practical canning supply items on sale right now at Zulily, under the Market Fresh sale. If you’re unfamiliar with Zulily, it’s a sample site where you’ll find new items every day. You do need to become a member, but all you need to do is create an account with an email address and password you create.

Here are a few items that caught my eye this morning:

11 Qt Canner & Jar Rack for $20.99 (reg. $30)

Adorable red gingham apron for $17.99 (reg. $30). I WANT.

Salad Spinner for $14.99 (reg. $30).

Set of two radish towels for $7.99 (reg. $12). Not necessarily cheap per se, but I like buying just a couple inexpensive touches like this to simply change the feel of my kitchen.

There are also designer canning jars, canning tools, produce bags, grocery sacks, and dishes on sale. Head to Zulily to check out the entire Market Fresh Canning Sale. Shipping starts around $7.

But wait! If you want to sweeten this deal, there are a few coupon codes you might want to know about:

RETAILZU497 to save $5 on your $50+ purchase

GAZU512 to save $5 on your $50+ purchase

BRADSZUDEAL577 to save 10% off your $50+ purchase (expires 5/31)

If you’re interested, you might want to read about my first time canning applesauce. It was so much fun and easier than I thought it would be. I can’t wait to do more canning this summer.

Thanks, Mama Cheaps!

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May

Create a Living Salad: Fred Meyer Gift Card Giveaway

Want an alternative to giving Mom a hanging floral arrangement this year? I have one for you: an edible arrangement!

Of course, you’ll want to start with a trip to your local Fred Meyer.

I found several long planters that were as low as $9.99. I opted for this shape over the smaller round ones. But there are truly so many options depending on your preferences and budget.

I found a pretty nice selection of vegetable and herb plants last week, being sold as a 6-pack for $3. That sale is over, but I’m seeing different garden items on sale every week now. You can always view Fred Meyer’s ad online (and sign up for their emails for special alerts) and follow Fred Meyer on Facebook to see what’s on sale. If you end up using shallow planters as I did, opt for plants with shallow root systems such as lettuces, strawberries, or herbs.

To give my planters a special touch, I picked up a couple of these sweet gnome planter stakes. They were $4 each, after 20% discount. Aren’t they adorable?

Start by filling your planter with good quality potting soil.

Space your plants out, making sure to leave some space – they will grow! For this planter, I mixed greens and purples for visual interest.

Add any stakes or decorative elements to tie it all together! You could also create your own stakes using spoons and mod podge. I left the plant care tabs in my box for future reference.

Here is my first planter: it contains roquette, purple mustard, and arugula. I had a few herb seeds handy, so I tucked in some cilantro and parsely in the bare spots. I bet in a month or so this planter will be bursting! All told, I spent about $25 for one planter. Consider too, that these plants may actually be incorporated into salads, smoothies, and sandwiches throughout the summer (and possibly, beyond!).

To keep it going, just snip the outside edges when you wish to eat them. This will encourage the plant to continue to grow. Because lettuces love shade, I’d probably move this out of the sun on hotter days. You could also possibly move it indoors and enjoy your own lettuces year-round!

Here’s another option:

Strawberries! I planted this in a zig-zag fashion in the same sized planter I used for the lettuce. Fred Meyer also carries strawberry pots which are basically taller containers with holes in the side that you can “pocket” the plants in.

Of course, you could also save some money by starting your plants from seed. I planted some red lettuce in this planter about three weeks ago now:

Here’s how our little deck garden looks right now:

We have the two planters from Fred Meyer, some boot planters I created for marigolds, and then I grabbed an assortment of containers I already had laying around, filled them with potting soil and seeds. One will be just flowers (for my daughter), the others have lettuce, herbs, spinach, and radishes just starting to sprout.

On these sunny days we’ve been getting, the kids and I will lay out a big picnic blanket on the deck and lunch by our little container garden.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for how you could create a living salad/edible arrangement for your mom….or maybe just yourself.

Enter the Giveaway

Fred Meyer is graciously offering up a $25 Gift Card for one lucky Coupon Project reader. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. For fun, I’d love to know how you use (or would consider using!) Fred Meyer for your gardening needs or to buy something special for your mom for Mother’s Day.

This contest will run through Monday, May 14th at 12 noon PM.

Limit one entry per person. Contest winner will be selected randomly and will be notified by email.

Disclosure: Fred Meyer supplied me with a gift card to conduct my review along with a gift card for the winner. No other compensation was provided. All opinions and concepts expressed are my own. For more information on how this site makes money, please visit the Disclosure Policy.

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Out in the Garden: Onion Planting, Raspberry Staking, Drying Mint

May 1, 2012

I’m so excited to be gearing up for my 2012 garden! I swear, I can have the most stressful day – but the moment I walk out in my garden, it just melts off. There’s nothing quite like getting your hands in the dirt. Yesterday I got my onion starts in the mail (I ordered [...]

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Free Cucumber Seeds and L’il Critters Gummy Vitamins

May 1, 2012

Head to L’il Critters on Facebook and enter their Crazy for Cucumbers Giveaway to receive a FREE pack of cucumber seeds as well as a $1 off coupon for their products. As this is available to the first 20,000 ONLY I would NOT wait. Thanks, Common Sense with Money!

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The Free Seed Exchange = trade and receive free seeds!

April 26, 2012

I just stumbled on a website I thought I’d share with my gardening pals out there – it’s called the Free Seed Exchange! It’s a place where you can trade your seeds, receive some for FREE, or even make some money by selling seeds you have. I found many varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. [...]

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Upcoming Plant Sales (Tacoma, Seattle) & Free Organic Seeds for your School!

April 25, 2012

Are you getting itchy to get some plants growing in your garden this spring? If so, I have a few upcoming sales I want to mention! First, Lincoln High School in Tacoma is having a plant sale May 3-5th. The proceeds go to support the Environmental Education Club & the FFA at Lincoln High School. All [...]

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