Let's Talk Greens

In the milder climates, winter gardening is usually filled with greens ... collards, pak choy, bok choy and more. And, Spring is a wonderful time for these greens, too!

I just got to thinking, many of us have not tried some of the many greens whether it's growing them or eating them. And, you may just receive some of these greens including lettuces when you register for the Victory Garden Transition Challenge. So here are a few descriptions about some of the greens and quick cooking tips:

Chard comes in many varieties like gold, red, neon, Italian green, giant green and there are probably more. Generally, the all look similar except for the color of the stem. The taste is usually mild and the stems crunchy. Harvest the the outside leaves leaving the remainder of the plant intact. Do you take too many from the outside. In mild climates, your chard may produce year round. The are delicious braised, steamed, or sauteed  leaves and stems. And the small leaves are great in a salad.

Collards are in the cabbage family and choke full of vitamins. It's similar to kale and in many climates it will grow year round. Where there are cold winters, protect them to grow again when the temperature warms a bit. Collards are known to taste best - sweet - during the colder seasons and get a little bit in the heat. Sometimes the larger leaves have a bite to them also. Harvest the leaves from the outside of the plant. You may cook the stems and the leaves. Cook into small bite-size pieces and add to your soup.

Tree Collards are the latest craze. They are perennial and can grow to 6 feet or more tall. Harvest the leaves the same as a bush collard; from the bottom, outside up. Tree collards can have green or reddish purple leaves. 

Pak Choy is a crispy, sweet, vase-shaped 6 by 8 inch mini-heads with pale lime green crunchy stalks and dark green leaves. Compact, fast growing and delicious braised, steamed, or stir fried. Be sure to wash well. Sometimes there's soil between the leaf bottom. Harvest the entire head and not just the leaves. And, there's bok choy and baby bok choy. All of these are members of the brassica family. There are a lot of varieties - steam, stir fry, make pot stickers, you name it - they are all good and nutritious. They are easy to grow from seed and fast growers. Try them!

What greens do you like? Share with us your likes and recipes.

Be sure to Like us at www.Facebook.com/VictoryGardenFoundation.org and Follow us at www.Twitter.con/VictoryGarden2U.

3 More Reasons to Register Your Action

Freebies, prizes, and more!

The Victory Garden Transition Challenge is well underway! We kicked off the 2012 campaign on the Spring Equinox and we’re already receiving an abundance of registered actions. As you may know, the Challenge this year will last the entire month of May. This is GREAT news as our goal is to transform and re-energize thousands of landscapes into bountiful Victory Gardens.

Growing food, building community, and saving energy are three important and valuable reasons why to register your action. But there are also some other great reasons to register your action today!

1. You could win a $100 gift card! That’s right, a hundred bucks to spend on anything you want on Amazon.com For your chance to win you simply need to answer a few simple questions about your action and why you love to garden and you will automatically be entered. Gotta play to win! Click here to be entered. (You must register by April 30, 2012 to be eligible.)
2. Receive FREE vegetable and herb seeds delivered right to your door. While supplies last, those registrants who wish to accept will receive awesome, Non-GMO seeds donated by BBB Seed, Cornucopia, and Renee’s Garden to get your garden growing. (We're sending seeds through the month of May 2012.)
3. Participate in FREE gardening events hosted by the Victory Garden Foundation. Learn how to start seeds, discover different methods of gardening, and be a part of community building and enhancement activities in your own neighborhood! Go to www.Facebook.com/VictoryGardenFoundation or follow at www.Twitter.com/VictoryGarden2U to view a listing of all of the upcoming Victory Garden Foundation and People’s Victory Garden events near you! 

Victory Garden Foundation teams up for another year with Transition US to to encourage you to grow food, save water, conserve energy all while building resilient and sustainable communities.

Planting a seed: If I can do it, YOU can do it!

Easy does it!

I know that the idea of starting seeds and actually having them successfully germinate, grow, and mature into food might appear daunting. It’s hard to imagine that the little microscopic seed that you can barely see with the naked eye will one day be an 8-foot tall tomato plant! Nothing short of miraculous if you ask me! But I’m here to share with you today, that if I can do it, YOU can do it! 

Growing up in California I did NOT have a green thumb. In fact, I think my gardening thumb was black!  And if I couldn’t sow seeds successfully in the paradise weather of California what made me think that I could grow from seed at 8300 feet in the non-hospitable gardening climate of the Rocky Mountains?! One answer: I was ready.

Here are a few tips that I found to be the KEY to my success!

Start where you are! You do NOT need to be a master gardener or have any gardening experience for that matter to successfully start seeds. Start where you are! All of us at one point in our gardening journey knew nothing about growing food. By being where you are, you then have an opportunity to ask for help and receive some support from those who do have experience! Click here for words about seed starting from the Alameda County Master Gardeners. Once on the page, look in the Sprouting Section for the document titled "Growing your Vegetables from Seeds." You're just a sprout away!

Find a teacher: This was one of the main keys to my success. Here in Westcliffe, Colorado we have a wonderful gardener offers free seed starting classes every year. I made sure I jumped on that opportunity and received hands-on teaching on how to start seeds. I highly recommend finding a class in your community!

Participate in a community garden: Don’t have time to sit in on a class? No problem! Participate in a community garden and ask the other experienced gardeners to show you how they do it.

Search YouTube! It goes without saying, the internet is an incredible resource for…EVERYTHING! Search “seed starting” videos and you will be amazed at how much you can learn about gardening right through your own computer!

Ask a friend—ask the Victory Garden Foundation! Throughout the next few months the Victory Garden Foundation will be out and about all over East Bay California participating in all sorts of gardening events. We’d love to have you join us. We’d be thrilled to teach you! Click here to discover events near you!

Don’t give up: unless you really want to! In fact, utilize all of your ‘failures’ as opportunities to learn, grow, and expand your gardening talents. If you listen, the plants have a lot to teach you!

Thanks to our

Guest Blogger: Kristie Nackord is the 'herbalicious herb girl' behind Spirit Horse Herbals. She is passionate about growing her own food and medicinal herbs in the mountains of Colorado. For more information on Kristie please visit: www.spirithorseherbals.com

Let’s Fill our Baskets with Food, not Candy!

4 Unique Ideas to Fill Your Basket with Health

With Easter Sunday right around the corner it has me thinking about all of the candy that is sold and consumed and put in baskets during the week leading up to Easter. Did you know that in 2009 120 million pounds of candy was sold to fill Easter baskets? Tally that up and that is $500 million dollars. Gasp! And don’t get me wrong, I do love a good piece of chocolate, but I began imagining the possibility of planting and gifting baskets that were planted with 120 million pounds of food instead of filled with candy. Imagine baskets filled with 120 million pounds of tomato plants or 120 million pounds of basil. The possibilities are endless. For a planet that is in a food crisis this would be one powerful action that we each could embark upon.

Basket giving goes way beyond Easter. For many of us Easter isn’t our Holiday but there are many other occasions to celebrate and gift a basket such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, solstice, equinox, harvest celebrations and more. In lieu of processed candy or other items, I challenge you to fill your basket with homegrown, organic, delicious, healthy food!

Lavender, Lemon Balm and Sage

To help get you started here are some creative and hopefully inspiring ideas to fill your basket with health.

Basket of herbs: This is probably my most favorite thing to plant in baskets. Consider a basket full of basil, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, or mint. These herbs are not only beautiful they are edible and medicinal, too!

Basket of salad: Want to impress your guests at the next dinner party? Gift a basket full of mixed baby greens to the host or hostess or place your basket of salad as the centerpiece on the table. Now that is different! 

Basket of tomatoes: It is far and few between that I meet a person who DOESN’T like a homegrown tomato. Gift a basket with a sweet little cherry tomato plant and you will make the recipient swoon with love! You can even plant a few basil plants around the border.

Salsa basket: Themed baskets are fun! One of my favorites is the salsa basket. One small jalapeno pepper plant, one small tomato plant and a cilantro plant and wah la! Salsa 

Watercress

Remember, it’s easy! Planting food in a basket takes very little time but reaps big rewards. I’ve just offered you a few ideas but the opportunities are limitless. The Victory Garden Transition Challenge is right around the corner starting May 1^st. Perhaps the action you take that day is to plant a basket or two. Keep one for yourself and give one away!

What are some ideas you have for filling your basket? Please comment and let’s share our ideas and inspire one another!

And, remember, tell us how you’ll celebrate the Victory Garden Transition Challenge this year. Just register your action at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VGTC2012. And, learn more about the challenge at http://www.victorygardenfoundation.org/victorygardenchallenge2012.htm

There are rewards for giving and sharing … Are you ready?

Let’s Stay Connected …

www.Facebook.com/VictoryGardenFoundation

www.Twitter.com/VictoryGarden2U

Guest Blogger: Kristie Nackord is the 'herbalicious herb girl' behind Spirit Horse Herbals. She is passionate about growing her own food and medicinal herbs in the mountains of Colorado. For more information on Kristie please visit: www.spirithorseherbals.com