May is gardening season here in Northeast Ohio. I always start out very enthusiastic, but get a bit less enthralled on hot August days when I need to water my plants so they don't dry up (then they would know what it feels like to have Sjogren's Syndrome :~) I have two raised garden areas, about 3' X 18' each. One is perennial flowering plants, the other is veggies and herbs. I decided that this year I wanted to reorganize the veggie/herb garden, and let the flower garden fend for itself (for the most part).
Yesterday I went to my favorite garden center, and browsed, and explored, and came home with 10 plants, twice the number I had planned to buy, but not unexpected. I have written in the past about how I like to drink water with herbs and/or fruit in it, so I was looking for plants that would give me tasty things to put in my water. My all-time favorite, which I buy every year, is lemon verbena. When you crush the leaves, they give off an aroma of lemon peel.(Now does my use of the word 'scents' in the title of this post make 'sense'?)
I planned to buy sweet basil, because I use it a lot in cooking, and I love its almost licorice-y scent. I did buy some, but I also bought cinnamon basil. How could I pass that up, when I love cinnamon so much?
There were so many varieties of mint, it was hard for me to choose: orange mint, chocolate mint, lime candy mint, spearmint, ginger mint (which I already have) and mojito mint, which is the one I ultimately bought. I chose it because I wanted a minty flavor, but mild, the leaves are a pretty crinkly bright green and because I like mojitos. Imagine taking a leaf or two from each of these plants and crushing them in your fingers. Mmmm... That would smell heavenly.
I bought some bee balm on a whim. I like the name, and the picture of the flowers on the label caught my eye. I'm not so sure I will like its tea-like flavor, but we will see. The other plants I bought were two tomato and three strawberry. To round out the garden, I already planted radish and beet seeds, which have sprouted mightily, and asparagus, horseradish, thyme and lavender, all survivors from last year. The horseradish is related to mustard, and is in bloom right now, with one-inch wide bouquets of tiny white sweet smelling flowers. Not what one would expect from such a pungent root. Two opposite scents form one plant.
My garden has lots of things going on in it, like my art. I don't have a lot of any one thing, because I don't need very much of each thing. This way, I get lots of entertainment for my eyes, nose and mouth. My ears will be entertained by hearing the bees sip on the nectar of the bee balm, and of my cat as she sits on her window perch (inside) and purrs as she watches them. My hands are already getting entertained by the feel of the soil, and the tender leaves of spring.
If you don't have time/room/energy/physical ability to have a garden, have a mini one indoors. You can get hanging pots, or pots that sit on your counter. You can get flowering plants, herbs, I've even seen strawberries and tomatoes in small containers. Many plants only need watering once a week or so. Cacti and other succulents may get by with only occasional watering There is a plant out there to match every lifestyle. Having plants really livens up a room, and a soul. Have you had your green today?
BUTTERFLY BANNER
Papercut and colored pencil art by Sheryl Aronson X 5
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Friday, May 10, 2013
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Refreshing Herb Water to Drink
I have written about my garden off and on. I want to share here one of the simplest ways I use my garden every day during the warmer months. I love the smell and taste of fresh herbs. Many of them are easy to grow. I have a huge 'bush' of lemon mint that I started last year. I also have lemon thyme also from last year, and lemon verbena, which did not survive the winter so this one was planted about 5 weeks ago. You may notice a theme in the plants that I picked. I also have cinnamon basil and lavender, newly planted this year.
Every morning I go out to my garden and pick 2 bunches of mint and 3 sprigs of thyme. Later in the season, I will vary which herbs I use, but right now I am giving the newer plants time to grow before I start using them. I take my fresh picked herbs into the kitchen, and crush them a little to release their essence, then put them in a 64 oz. container of fresh water. I add 2 teaspoons of xylitol, which is a natural sugar which is actually good for you.
I put the lid on the container and shake it. I let it sit awhile to let the xylitol melt and the herbs to infuse into the water. I leave the bottle on the counter, because I don't like cold (refrigerated) water. After about 15 minutes, it is ready to drink. I fill up my water bottle, trying not to let too many pieces of herb into the bottle (if some gets in, that is okay, I will munch on the bits of herb when they enter my mouth while drinking). The herbs give the water a light herby taste, varying with the chosen herbs. It is very refreshing, and encourages me to drink more water throughout the day. When my water bottle is getting empty, I fill it up again with herb water from the 64 oz container. At the end of the day, I throw the herbs into the sink disposal and grind them up to make my kitchen smell good. The next morning, I make a fresh batch of herb water.
I have never been much of a pop drinker, and I never acquired the coffee habit that so much of the civilized world has. I mostly drink herbal tea or water, so this herb water is just my 'cup of tea'. It is very healthy to drink. It likely has some vitamin/mineral/etc. content, though I can't tell you what or how much. I can tell you that there is nothing in it that is unhealthy. The xylitol adds the only calories, and very few, at that (10 per teaspoon, I believe, so a total of 20 in the whole bottle). Some people do have gastrointestinal issues with large quantities of xylitol, but this is not a large quantity. No caffeine, no alcohol, no artificial sugars or additives. Mint is very easy to grow, in fact, if you are not careful, it likes to take over garden areas. You can use it alone, or with other herbs. If you don't want to or can't grow your own herbs for some reason, you can still enjoy this herb water by buying herbs at your local store or farmer's market. Happy sipping!
Every morning I go out to my garden and pick 2 bunches of mint and 3 sprigs of thyme. Later in the season, I will vary which herbs I use, but right now I am giving the newer plants time to grow before I start using them. I take my fresh picked herbs into the kitchen, and crush them a little to release their essence, then put them in a 64 oz. container of fresh water. I add 2 teaspoons of xylitol, which is a natural sugar which is actually good for you.
I put the lid on the container and shake it. I let it sit awhile to let the xylitol melt and the herbs to infuse into the water. I leave the bottle on the counter, because I don't like cold (refrigerated) water. After about 15 minutes, it is ready to drink. I fill up my water bottle, trying not to let too many pieces of herb into the bottle (if some gets in, that is okay, I will munch on the bits of herb when they enter my mouth while drinking). The herbs give the water a light herby taste, varying with the chosen herbs. It is very refreshing, and encourages me to drink more water throughout the day. When my water bottle is getting empty, I fill it up again with herb water from the 64 oz container. At the end of the day, I throw the herbs into the sink disposal and grind them up to make my kitchen smell good. The next morning, I make a fresh batch of herb water.
I have never been much of a pop drinker, and I never acquired the coffee habit that so much of the civilized world has. I mostly drink herbal tea or water, so this herb water is just my 'cup of tea'. It is very healthy to drink. It likely has some vitamin/mineral/etc. content, though I can't tell you what or how much. I can tell you that there is nothing in it that is unhealthy. The xylitol adds the only calories, and very few, at that (10 per teaspoon, I believe, so a total of 20 in the whole bottle). Some people do have gastrointestinal issues with large quantities of xylitol, but this is not a large quantity. No caffeine, no alcohol, no artificial sugars or additives. Mint is very easy to grow, in fact, if you are not careful, it likes to take over garden areas. You can use it alone, or with other herbs. If you don't want to or can't grow your own herbs for some reason, you can still enjoy this herb water by buying herbs at your local store or farmer's market. Happy sipping!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Ergonomic Gardening
Last year I wrote several posts on gardening, and how I really enjoy my two garden boxes. They are each about 10 feet by 3 feet, and raised up about a foot off the ground. Today was the first time this year that I spent much time on them, about 2 hours. I weeded both gardens, used a claw tool to loosen the soil and mix in some fertilizer, and planted seeds for radishes, beets, lavender, snapdragons and zinnias. Sounds like I did alot, and though I am not sore, I did have to take a nap afterwards.
While I was gardening, I was thinking. There are a few things that I might do differently if I were to build new garden boxes. The way the gardens are set up, they are as little awkward to work in. I can sit on the brick edging. This puts my back to the garden, and I have to twist around to work. Another option is to kneel on the ground. This puts me facing the garden, but I need to wear knee pads or use some kind of cushion to kneel on. I could also sit on a low stool, and lean forward. Its a long reach to the back of the bed. I did a combination of sitting on the edge and kneeling today. Keeping myself moving and switching positions often helped decrease any strains on my body.
An ideal arrangement for gardening is to build a raised box garden. There needs to be about 26-27 inches of clearance under the table so a person can sit in a chair, legs under the table. This allows the person to get close enough to work in the garden without straining to reach. The box should be 8-12 inches deep, allowing enough depth of soil for many kinds (but not all kinds) of plants, but not so deep that the sides are too high. If there is access to the garden from just one side, it should be no more than 2 1/2 feet wide, if there is access from all around, it can be as much as 5 feet wide. Here is one site I found with instructions for building such a bed. There were other sites like this as well, I searched for 'raised garden on legs'.
For easy on the hands garden tools, I like Goodgrips, though there are other brands available. This site has info on gardening with arthritis, and a variety of ergonomic gardening tools. They even have a gardening caddy that you can sit on, and it has wheels to move around easily.
While I was gardening, I was thinking. There are a few things that I might do differently if I were to build new garden boxes. The way the gardens are set up, they are as little awkward to work in. I can sit on the brick edging. This puts my back to the garden, and I have to twist around to work. Another option is to kneel on the ground. This puts me facing the garden, but I need to wear knee pads or use some kind of cushion to kneel on. I could also sit on a low stool, and lean forward. Its a long reach to the back of the bed. I did a combination of sitting on the edge and kneeling today. Keeping myself moving and switching positions often helped decrease any strains on my body.
An ideal arrangement for gardening is to build a raised box garden. There needs to be about 26-27 inches of clearance under the table so a person can sit in a chair, legs under the table. This allows the person to get close enough to work in the garden without straining to reach. The box should be 8-12 inches deep, allowing enough depth of soil for many kinds (but not all kinds) of plants, but not so deep that the sides are too high. If there is access to the garden from just one side, it should be no more than 2 1/2 feet wide, if there is access from all around, it can be as much as 5 feet wide. Here is one site I found with instructions for building such a bed. There were other sites like this as well, I searched for 'raised garden on legs'.
For easy on the hands garden tools, I like Goodgrips, though there are other brands available. This site has info on gardening with arthritis, and a variety of ergonomic gardening tools. They even have a gardening caddy that you can sit on, and it has wheels to move around easily.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I Love My Gardens
Gardening is very refreshing. I love going to my garden boxes and picking fresh tomatoes to eat. When we lived in our house there were several large garden areas, all with lots of weeds to pull. I spent many hours pulling weeds and fighting with plants, trying to get something to grow that would look decent. I even transplanted buttercup plants that were growing wild in the yard into the garden areas, so at least something would be growing there. I never really enjoyed this type of gardening because I never seemed to get control of things enough to grow anything I really wanted.
Now that we live in our apartment, I have two garden boxes, each around 10 feet long and 3 feet wide, and raised up from the ground about 1 foot. (I am guessing at the measurements, I don't remember what they really are). Since we just had them put in in May, and they are separate from other land masses, they are not overrun with weeds. I was able to actually plant and tend plants, not fight weeds.
One box is flowers, I don't remember what all of them are called. I do have a couple of varieties of Indian blanket, and a huge mass of zinnias. When we were putting in the garden boxes our new next door neighbor came over and gave us bottles of cold water, and she also gave me a couple of packets of seeds. The packets were for marigolds and zinnias, both of them dated 2009. (I didn't point this out to her.) I scattered them in my garden box, and watered them faithfully. The marigolds never came up, but the zinnias are the hardiest, healthiest plants in the garden, covered with profuse flowers.
The other garden box is veggies and herbs. I had two cucumber plants. One grew one cucumber, then died. The other grew so huge, it looked like it wanted to take over the garden. I got lots of cucumbers from this plant, but for some reason, they were bitter. I cut off the stem end and peeled them, which got rid of most of the bitterness, and marinated them in a balsamic vinegar/brown sugar concoction, and they tasted fine. I have two pepper plants, one gave me one nice, big red pepper, and several puny ones, the other gave me about 10 small light yellow peppers (the tag said they were supposed to be red, which was what I wanted).
The tomatoes are the pride of the garden, giving me profuse red and orange cherry tomatoes, fun to pop in the mouth and squish. Yum!!! I also have a couple of kinds of basil and sage, and a prolific mint plant (mint always seems to be prolific). My favorite of the herbs is lemon verbena. I carry a water bottle around with me wherever I go. This summer, every morning, I pick a sprig of mint and three lemon verbena leaves, crush them a bit, and put them in my water. It makes a very refreshing drink. I just keep adding more water as needed.
I am really enjoying having a manageable garden to tend. It gets me outside for a little while most days, to water, remove dead flowers and leaves, and to pick my produce. The tomatoes taste better than store bought (too bad the other veggies didn't). But that is okay. I grew them, and that gave them a specialness. I feel pride from my gardens. Nurturing a garden nurtures me. The time I spend in my gardens is productive time, I can see the fruit of my labors, literally. It gives me a little physical activity. Gardening is a great way to get rid of stress and anxiety. A garden is so tranquil it can't help but rub off on the gardener. This site on backyard gardening gives a long list of benefits of gardening.
Now that we live in our apartment, I have two garden boxes, each around 10 feet long and 3 feet wide, and raised up from the ground about 1 foot. (I am guessing at the measurements, I don't remember what they really are). Since we just had them put in in May, and they are separate from other land masses, they are not overrun with weeds. I was able to actually plant and tend plants, not fight weeds.
One box is flowers, I don't remember what all of them are called. I do have a couple of varieties of Indian blanket, and a huge mass of zinnias. When we were putting in the garden boxes our new next door neighbor came over and gave us bottles of cold water, and she also gave me a couple of packets of seeds. The packets were for marigolds and zinnias, both of them dated 2009. (I didn't point this out to her.) I scattered them in my garden box, and watered them faithfully. The marigolds never came up, but the zinnias are the hardiest, healthiest plants in the garden, covered with profuse flowers.
The other garden box is veggies and herbs. I had two cucumber plants. One grew one cucumber, then died. The other grew so huge, it looked like it wanted to take over the garden. I got lots of cucumbers from this plant, but for some reason, they were bitter. I cut off the stem end and peeled them, which got rid of most of the bitterness, and marinated them in a balsamic vinegar/brown sugar concoction, and they tasted fine. I have two pepper plants, one gave me one nice, big red pepper, and several puny ones, the other gave me about 10 small light yellow peppers (the tag said they were supposed to be red, which was what I wanted).
The tomatoes are the pride of the garden, giving me profuse red and orange cherry tomatoes, fun to pop in the mouth and squish. Yum!!! I also have a couple of kinds of basil and sage, and a prolific mint plant (mint always seems to be prolific). My favorite of the herbs is lemon verbena. I carry a water bottle around with me wherever I go. This summer, every morning, I pick a sprig of mint and three lemon verbena leaves, crush them a bit, and put them in my water. It makes a very refreshing drink. I just keep adding more water as needed.
I am really enjoying having a manageable garden to tend. It gets me outside for a little while most days, to water, remove dead flowers and leaves, and to pick my produce. The tomatoes taste better than store bought (too bad the other veggies didn't). But that is okay. I grew them, and that gave them a specialness. I feel pride from my gardens. Nurturing a garden nurtures me. The time I spend in my gardens is productive time, I can see the fruit of my labors, literally. It gives me a little physical activity. Gardening is a great way to get rid of stress and anxiety. A garden is so tranquil it can't help but rub off on the gardener. This site on backyard gardening gives a long list of benefits of gardening.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Gardening: Good Exercise, Fresh Air and Stress Relief
I like gardening. There is something about playing in the soil, and seeing beautiful plants arise from it that is very satisfying. The new growth and the bright colors energize me. I even like to weed. I find it relaxing, as long as it does not entail really big weeds or using a large tool of any sort. I like the kind where the ground is moist from recent rains, and the weeds are fairly small, and all I need is a pair of gloves and a bucket to throw the weeds into.
At the house we moved out of in January, there were seven garden areas, some quite large. I always started the spring gung-ho, weeding and getting the gardens spiffed up, and quickly lost steam as the size of the task loomed up before me.
Our new apartment has two garden areas, one is 19' x 3', the other 10' x 3'. I can manage this. One is full sun, the other partial sun. They are brick-enclosed planter boxes, raised up a little so they will be easier to work in. They were built last week, and on Saturday, we had 4 tons of limestone delivered. (Some we spread in the bottom of the two boxes to help with drainage, the rest is surrounding one of the boxes. My husband wanted stone so he wouldn't have to mow more grass.) I am right now waiting for the phone call telling me that the planting soil is on its way. It is supposed to be delivered this morning. As I told a friend, we got stoned last week, today we will get soiled.
According to About.com gardening can be considered moderate level exercise, depending on the tasks you do. I think the gardening I do would be lower level exercise, because I try to avoid lifting bags of mulch and anything else of that level of strenuousness. My body does not accept that kind of activity anymore. This past week I have been pushing the limits, and my body is pushing back. I don't mind the muscle achiness that comes from physical work, that feels healthy. It is the nagging tug in my elbow tendon, reminding me that I tend (no pun intended ) to get tendinitis at the drop of a hat that got me to stop. I recently got an injection in that elbow that healed tendinitis I had had for seven months, I don't want to go back there.
Besides providing exercise, gardening also provides many other benefits. Being out in the sun and fresh air feels good (I know there are people with Sjogren's Syndrome, Lupus, and other conditions who are super sun sensitive. I will address that in a minute.) In order to produce vitamin D, I have read that you should expose your skin to the sun for 15 minutes a day without sunscreen. Then put the sunscreen on. Gardening is also a great stress reliever, and just think of those nice, juicy, fresh picked tomatoes (or roses, if you prefer).
The Arthritis Foundation has 4 pages of articles on gardening with arthritis, with lots of tips for making things easier and safer for folks like us. Among the ideas are container gardening, the containers can be placed on a table for easier reach. If you are unsure how much you can do, start with one container, you can always add more. There are ergonomically designed tools which are easier to handle. Before you start gardening, or any other physical activity, warm up and stretch, and take frequent rest and stretch breaks as you work. For folk swho can't tolerate sun, there are some plants that thrive in the shade. My favorite are coleus. They have an incredible variety of leaf shapes and colors, they fascinate me.
Happy gardening!
At the house we moved out of in January, there were seven garden areas, some quite large. I always started the spring gung-ho, weeding and getting the gardens spiffed up, and quickly lost steam as the size of the task loomed up before me.
Our new apartment has two garden areas, one is 19' x 3', the other 10' x 3'. I can manage this. One is full sun, the other partial sun. They are brick-enclosed planter boxes, raised up a little so they will be easier to work in. They were built last week, and on Saturday, we had 4 tons of limestone delivered. (Some we spread in the bottom of the two boxes to help with drainage, the rest is surrounding one of the boxes. My husband wanted stone so he wouldn't have to mow more grass.) I am right now waiting for the phone call telling me that the planting soil is on its way. It is supposed to be delivered this morning. As I told a friend, we got stoned last week, today we will get soiled.
According to About.com gardening can be considered moderate level exercise, depending on the tasks you do. I think the gardening I do would be lower level exercise, because I try to avoid lifting bags of mulch and anything else of that level of strenuousness. My body does not accept that kind of activity anymore. This past week I have been pushing the limits, and my body is pushing back. I don't mind the muscle achiness that comes from physical work, that feels healthy. It is the nagging tug in my elbow tendon, reminding me that I tend (no pun intended ) to get tendinitis at the drop of a hat that got me to stop. I recently got an injection in that elbow that healed tendinitis I had had for seven months, I don't want to go back there.
Besides providing exercise, gardening also provides many other benefits. Being out in the sun and fresh air feels good (I know there are people with Sjogren's Syndrome, Lupus, and other conditions who are super sun sensitive. I will address that in a minute.) In order to produce vitamin D, I have read that you should expose your skin to the sun for 15 minutes a day without sunscreen. Then put the sunscreen on. Gardening is also a great stress reliever, and just think of those nice, juicy, fresh picked tomatoes (or roses, if you prefer).
The Arthritis Foundation has 4 pages of articles on gardening with arthritis, with lots of tips for making things easier and safer for folks like us. Among the ideas are container gardening, the containers can be placed on a table for easier reach. If you are unsure how much you can do, start with one container, you can always add more. There are ergonomically designed tools which are easier to handle. Before you start gardening, or any other physical activity, warm up and stretch, and take frequent rest and stretch breaks as you work. For folk swho can't tolerate sun, there are some plants that thrive in the shade. My favorite are coleus. They have an incredible variety of leaf shapes and colors, they fascinate me.
Happy gardening!
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