Thankfully, t's not me wearing the panty hose, it's the squash. My 30' x 60' raised bed garden does not have the luxury of space for sprawling plants. So to have my squash and eat it too, I trellis them. Only these Buttercups got bigger than expected, forcing a little creative intervention to keep them from breaking off the vine before theyget ripe. Better they wear them than me!

I don't even have any ripe tomatoes yet but I've already salted them. A friend of mine, John Langlois of Foggy Bottom Farms (www.foggybottomfarms.com) turned me on to a new, all natural product that is derived from the sea. Actually, it's not salt as we think of it, but is a concentration of over 90 essential trace mineral that comes from naturally dehydrated sea water. At first, I was highly skeptical and concerned about damaging my soil and my plants. The word 'salt' just kept sticking in my mind. But John is a progressive organic farmer with a talent for findiing unusual yet outstanding products. Since this bright guy had ordered 500 lbs of it for his garden, I decided to try it, too. So far, I'm pleased to report that things are going quite well.

After the initial application was tilled into the soil, I kept waiting to see a big boost in growth. But that didn't happen. Instead, gradually over the past 5 weeks the tomato plants have gotten larger, more stout that normal and without a trace of disease. The same for the beans, eggplant, squash and cucumbers. The early harvest of squash and cucumbers even tasted better than usual, offering a slightly richer flavor. Diluted applications in the form of a foliar spray which I am applying every two weeks seem to really help keep the diseases under control - something that is quite an accomplishment here is the very humid South. It's even held back the notorious black spot on most of the roses. Of course, to keep the vegetables and flowers in top shape it has still necessary to keep up with regular applications of organic pest controls, too.

I'll keep you posted on this experiment as the season progresses. In the meantime, if you are curious you can check out www.SeaAgri.com. They aren't paying me to endorse their product. I just believe in passing on a good thing to other gardeners when I find it. Afterall, good goes around.

Gas Guzzling Food
Sustainable Business

by Thomas Starrs

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to reduce my family's
dependence on energy, particularly energy derived from fossil fuels. I
commute to work by bicycle or bus, install compact fluorescents when light
bulbs burn out, replace major appliances with the most efficient ones I can
afford, and cast jealous glances at my friends who drive hybrids or
alternative-fueled vehicles. But until recently, I didn't think of myself as
an energy glutton because of the food I eat.

Then I read an astonishing statistic: It takes about 10 fossil fuel calories
to produce each food calorie in the average American diet. So if your daily
food intake is 2,000 calories, then it took 20,000 calories to grow that
food and get it to you. In more familiar units, this means that growing,
processing and delivering the food consumed by a family of four each year
requires the equivalent of almost 34,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy, or
more than 930 gallons of gasoline (for comparison, the average U.S.
household annually consumes about 10,800 kWh of electricity, or about 1,070
gallons of gasoline). [Webnote: This last sentence should read... "for comparison, the average U.S. household annually consumes about 10,800 kWh of electricity, AND about 1,070 gallons of gasoline"] **Please see OCA webnote at foot of this article**

In other words, we use about as much energy to grow our food as to power our
homes or fuel our cars.

To view the entire article paste this link into your browser:
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/features/feature_template.cfm?ID=1275

From The Real Dirt Newsletter / Organicgardening.com

Trees Are Cool
According to the USDA, the cooling effect of a healthy tree is equal to 10 room-size air-conditioners operating 20 hours a day. Planting trees in our cities will absorb 33 million tons of CO2 every year and save $4 billion in energy costs, says the National Wildlife Federation.

Sowing a seed is a gesture of hope for things to come, and of faith that the natural order of life is at work, bringing to us nourishment for the body, mind and spirit.

copyright ammyers 2005

The good news and the bad news is that cherry tomatoes are prolific. Just like zucchini, you can end up with so many that you can't consume them fast enough. I've found this recipe to be a great way to preserve them for use during that long tomatoe-less stretch from frost until summer. Tomatoes are first dried, then frozen to prolong their shelf-life.

Dried Cherry Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Line two baking sheets with foil. (I prefer the non-stick kind, such as Reynolds Wrap Release foil.)
Cut cherry tomatoes in half and distribute evenly on baking sheets.
Place in oven for 6 to 8 hours until pulpy and chewy but not brittle.
Allow to cool on the baking sheets. If you have room, place the baking sheets in the freezer so that the tomatoes freeze separately. This makes them easier to use later.
Remove from baking sheets and place in a freezer bag. Store in freezer for future use in recipes, including salads.

I've used this recipe for several years and have been very pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Serve on salads, pizza or as antipasto - anything on which you want a concentrated taste of tomatoes.

40 ripe paste tomatoes
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus enough to cover tomatoes after they have been put in jars)
20 basil leaves, washed and dried

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Cut tomatoes in half from top to bottom. Use your fingers to scoop out the seeds and juice but leave the fleshy middle divers in place. Place the halves into a large bowl and season them with the salt and pepper, mixing thoroughly. Coat them with olive oil. (I use one of those handy kitchen pump misters to distribute the oil evenly.)
3. Place the halves cut side up onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 8 hours. Do not open the oven during this period. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow to cool.
4. Layer the tomatoes into clean half-pint glass canning jars, alternating each tomato slice with a basil leaf. Cover the layers with olive oil, leaving 1/4" extra oil on top. Tap the jars to dislodge any air bubbles. Tightly screw on clean lids. Place the jars into the refrigerator, where they will keep for up to 2 months. Or, you can freeze them if you are using can-freeze jars.
5. Bring to room temperature before eating. After eating the tomatoes and basil, you can use the olive oil for salad dressings.

Enjoy!

Miss Anne, my kindergarten teacher, patiently equipped each 5 year old classmate with all the ingredients to create this everyday miracle. I was fascinated watching the tender white root split its shell into perfect halves and make daily progress downward, seeking non-existent soil. Fragile pale green leaves revealed themselves a bit more each day, drawn irresistibly toward the sunlight that angled across the wooden bookcase. I was enchanted. That humble seed knew just what to do.

Buried deep in every soul is a seed that knows just what to do. Too often it lies stunted under thick, moldy layers of ‘shoulds’, ‘musts’, unrealistic expectations and undeserved rejections. Yet it patiently waits to be summoned.

As a gardener of the soul as well as the soil, I dig each day, seeking the mystical pod that holds such perfect instinct. Gardening is a fine tool for this discovery. I find peace in the garden and am grateful for the occasional flutter of insight that comes when I slip into nature’s warm, easy rhythm

I humbly offer these musings to you. They are a peek into my journey and observations. Welcome. Feel free to pick a flower or two as you stroll through. And, take all the zucchini you want.