A perfectly ripe, juicy tomato, still warm from the sun. Sweet carrots, pulled from the garden minutes (or even seconds!) before they’re eaten. Growing your own vegetables is one of those activities that balances practicality and indulgence. In addition to the convenience of having the fixings for a salad or light supper right outside your door (or on your windowsill), when you grow your own vegetables, you’re getting the most nutritional bang for your buck as well. Vegetables start losing nutrients as soon as they’re harvested, and quality diminishes as sugars are turned into starches. For the tastiest veggies with the best nutrition, try growing a few of these nutrient-dense foods in your own garden. And don’t let the lack of a yard stop you – all of them can be grown in containers as well.

Grow These Good-for-You Veggies

Photo Credits (left to right): Wanko, Qfamily, George Scholz, via Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.

1. Broccoli

Broccoli is high in calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as Vitamin A, B6, and C. In fact, one cup of raw broccoli florets provides 130% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.

• How to Grow Broccoli
• Grow Broccoli in Containers: One broccoli plant per pot, pots should be 12 to 16 inches deep.
• What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worm. If you start seeing pretty white butterflies fluttering around your broccoli, you’re guaranteed to start seeing little green worms all over your broccoli plants. To avoid this, cover your broccoli plants with floating row cover or lightweight bed sheets. If you start seeing cabbage worms, simply pick them off by hand.

2. Peas

There is nothing like peas grown right in your own garden – the tender sweetness of a snap pea just plucked from the vine is unlike anything you can buy in at a store. Aside from being absolutely delicious, peas are high in fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C.

• How to Grow Peas
• Grow Peas in Containers: Sow peas approximately 2 inches apart in a pot that is at least 10 inches deep. Provide support for peas to climb up.
• What to Watch Out For: Hot weather. Once the weather turns hot, pea production will pretty much shut down. Grow peas in early spring and late summer/autumn, or any time of year when temperatures are consistently between 40 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Beans (especially navy beans, great northern beans, kidney beans)

While snap beans (green beans/wax beans) are a great addition to any garden, it’s the beans we grow as dried beans that are real nutritional powerhouses. Dry beans, in general, are high in iron, fiber, manganese, and phosphorous.

• How to Grow Beans
• Grow Beans in Containers: Bush beans are your best option for growing in containers. Plant beans four inches apart in a container that is at least 12 inches deep.
• What to Watch Out For: Harvest at the right time. Harvest dry beans when the pods have completely dried on the vine. The pods should be light brown, and you should be able to feel the hard beans inside. Shell the beans, and let them sit out a few days to ensure that they’re completely dry before storing them in jars in a cool, dark, dry place.

Photo Credits (left to right): norwichnuts, photon, S. Diddy, via Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.

4. Brussels Sprouts

The bane of many a childhood, Brussels sprouts get a bad wrap mostly due to overcooking. When prepared right, Brussels sprouts are sweet, tender, and delicious. They also provide tons of fiber, magnesium, potassium, and riboflavin, as well as high levels of Vitamins A, B6, and C.

• How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
• Grow Brussels Sprouts in Containers: Grow one plant per 16-inch deep container.
• What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worms (see “Broccoli, above.)

5. Tomatoes

Fresh, homegrown tomatoes are the reason many gardeners get into vegetable gardening in the first place. There’s just nothing that compares to eating a perfectly ripe tomato, still warm from the sun. Tomatoes are also incredibly good for us, packing plenty of fiber, iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C. They’re also a great source of the antioxidant lycopene.

• How to Grow Tomatoes
• Grow Tomatoes in Containers: Container sizes will vary depending on the variety you’re growing. If you’re growing an indeterminate variety, your container will need to be at least 18 inches deep. For determinate varieties, 12 inches is a good depth, and for dwarf or “patio” type tomatoes, 8 inches is perfect. One tomato plant per pot.
• What to Watch Out For: Tomato horn worm can be a problem in many areas – these large caterpillars should be removed by hand whenever you see them. Also watch out for signs of blight, which is a real problem in many parts of the U.S.

6. Red Bell Peppers

Red bell peppers are high in potassium, riboflavin, and Vitamins A, B6, and C – in fact, one cup of red bell pepper packs an amazing 317% of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C and 93% of the recommended Vitamin A.

• How to Grow Peppers
• Grow Peppers in Containers: Plant one pepper plant per each 8 to 12 inch deep pot.
• What to Watch Out For: Aphids and flea beetles are the two most common insect pests when growing peppers. While both can be controlled with insecticidal soap, which is a common organic option, you can also make all-natural, homemade sprays to deter these pests. A tomato leaf spray will get rid of aphids, and garlic/hot pepper spray works very well on a flea beetle infestation.

Photo Credits (left to right): La Grande Farmer’s Market, SummerTomato, color line, via Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.

7. Beets

Beets are a great “two-fer” crop – you can harvest the beet roots, of course, but you can also harvest and eat the greens. Young beet greens are delicious when added raw to a salad, and larger beet greens can be sauteed as a quick side dish or used the way you’d use other greens such as spinach. Beet roots are very high in iron, potassium, and vitamin C. Beet greens are even better, as they are high in iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.

• How to Grow Beets
• Grow Beets in Containers: Plant beet seeds three inches apart in a container that is twelve inches deep. Because each beet seed is actually a cluster of seeds, be sure to thin the seedlings to one per cluster. Thinnings can be added to salads or sandwiches.
• What to Watch Out For: Knowing when to harvest. Beet roots are at their best when they are harvested small – between one and two inches across. At this size, they are sweet and tender. Larger beets tend to be kind of woody and less flavorful.

8. Leaf Amaranth

Leaf amaranth is a less-common vegetable that is well worth a try in your own garden. The leaves have a sweet and slightly tangy flavor that works well in a variety of dishes, from stir-fries and soups to simply steaming it all by itself. As a bonus, leaf amaranth is one of the few heat-tolerant greens. It won’t bolt in the heat of summer the way spinach and kale are prone to. Nutritionally, leaf amaranth is very high in calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Everyone should be growing this!

• How to Grow Leaf Amaranth
• Growing Leaf Amaranth in Containers: Scatter the tiny seeds over the soil’s surface in a pot that is at least 8 inches deep. Harvest the leaves when they are two to four inches tall. You will be able to get at least two or three harvest before you’ll have to sow more seeds.
• What to Watch Out For: Leaf amaranth is fairly easy to grow, and relatively problem-free. Rarely, leaf miners can become a problem.

9. Carrots

Carrots are at their sweetest, crunchiest best when freshly harvested from the garden. These icons of healthy eating deserve their “good-for-you” rep – they’re very high in fiber, manganese, niacin, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Their only drawback is that they do tend to be high in sugar, so if you’re watching your carb intake, you’ll want to limit the amount of carrots you eat.

• How to Grow Carrots
• Grow Carrots in Containers: Sow carrot seeds two to three inches apart in a pot that is at least twelve inches deep. Look for shorter varieties, such as ‘Thumbelina,’ or ‘Danver’s Half Long.’
• What to Watch Out For: Harvesting at the perfect size. Carrots are at their tastiest when harvested small. Leaving them in the ground too long can result in overly large, woody carrots. You’ll also want to make sure to keep your carrots evenly moist, as letting the soil dry out too often can also result in somewhat bitter, fibrous carrots.

Photo Credits (left to right): Oakley Originals, djprybyl, djprybyl, via Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.

10. Leafy Greens

OK, I cheated here. I can’t recommend just ONE leafy green, because they are all incredibly good for us, as well as delicious — kale, collards, spinach, turnip or dandelion greens — how can you possibly choose just one? In general, the “green leafies” contain high amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.

• How to Grow Kale and Other Leafy Greens
• Grow Greens in Containers: Grow one kale or collard plant per ten inch deep pot. Other greens can be grown a few plants to a pot — they should be planted at least 4 inches apart and harvested small.
• What to Watch Out For: Heat and cabbage worms. Most leafy greens are cool-weather crops, so they’re best grown in spring and fall in most areas – hot weather will cause them to bolt. In addition, many of these greens are members of the Brassicas family, which means they are prone to cabbage worm infestations. Control them with the same methods outlined in the “Broccoli” section, above.

Try growing one or two (or all!) of these nutrient-dense, delicious vegetables in your own garden, and you’ll get double the health benefits: healthy food and time spent outdoors, nurturing your plants.

More About Growing Your Own Food:Beyond Salads: Grow a Garden to Feed a FamilyComplete Guide to Summer Vegetable Gardening66 Things You Can Grow, At Home, Without a Garden

Related articles

• Top Ten Most Nutritious Vegetables and How to Grow Them in Your Garden (angelbabe432.wordpress.com)
• How to Grow Brussel Sprouts: Growing Brussel Sprouts Organically (growinganything.com)
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Image via Wikipedia

Double-digging is one of gardening’s most time-honored techniques, the need for which, like so many other practices, is being questioned. Researchers at the University of Missouri Extension have given double-digging a thumbs-up, writing in one of their publications: “Double-digging involves removing the topsoil the depth of a spade, setting the soil aside and then loosening the subsoil another spade’s depth. Finally, the topsoil is returned with added amendments, such as compost, manure or fertilizers. This labor-intensive soilpreparation method provides an excellent rooting zone for plants.” Organic Gardening, too, has recommended the method. Furthermore, double-digging is a key component of the biodynamic method of cultivation.

Double-digging is not the same as mechanical subsoiling, which sends a tractor-pulled implement below the topsoil to break up the subsoil. What subsoiling and double-digging have in common, though, is that unless done properly, they can result in bringing subsoil to the surface, or mixing topsoil and subsoil. Both are to be avoided.

Manual double-digging depends on removal of the topsoil to the subsoil level; the topsoil is usually placed to the side on a tarp or in a wheelbarrow. The subsoil is then broken up to a spade’s depth, a layer of well-rotted manure or compost is laid on top, and the topsoil from the next row, or “spit,” to be dug is turned onto the compost. Thus, subsoil and topsoil are not “churned” together and earthworms and weather action help the compost to be incorporated.

Why do it? Double-digging improves the aeration of the soil, facilitates root penetration, and is especially recommended for crops such as carrots that root deeply, helping to prevent forking. It’s beneficial for new garden beds with long-term plantings, such as vegetables, perennials, cane fruits, and shrubs. If the soil needs amending, these plants will benefit from double-digging before planting.

Double-digging also improves soil drainage by breaking up compaction and removing hardpan on soil that has been subjected to repeated rototilling. However, it is claimed that deep digging disrupts the soil life, breaking delicate strands of mycorrhizal fungi on many plant roots and disrupting earthworm and beetle habitats. Also, so few research studies have been done that the benefits and deficits of the process are largely anecdotal: “I don’t like double-digging,” says Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., an urban horticulturist for the Washington State University Extension. “It’s one of the practices that sound good, but for which I can’t find any reliable scientific evidence. We do know, however, that working the soil unnecessarily brings weed seeds to the surface, destroys soil structure, disturbs the roots of nearby woody plants, and harms or kills soil organisms. As a cheap and lazy gardener, I prefer to let nature do most of the work for me using thick layers of coarse, organic mulch.”

The key word in her remark is unnecessarily, for if the soil is already friable, drains well, and is rich in organic matter, it doesn’t require such intensive therapy. Eileen Weinsteiger, horticulturist at the Rodale Institute, agrees; she advises that gardeners who don’t have the time or strength to double-dig try growing yellow blossom sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), a biennial legume that helps build organic matter while its long taproots penetrate heavy and compacted soil, opening pore spaces that improve drainage. (M. officinalis is considered invasive in certain areas; check with your local Cooperative Extension office.)

There is no denying that double-digging can be hard, time-consuming work, and if the soil is full of boulders or heavy clay, it would probably be best to choose one of the following alternatives:

• Build raised beds.
• “Single-dig” amendments into the topsoil just one spade deep. This is especially true if the only crops to be grown will be shallow-rooting leaf crops, beans, and so on.
• Mulch repeatedly with decomposable materials. This will eventually generate a deep tilth, which, if not walked upon, will remain open and free draining.

Douglas Welsh, Ph.D., a Texas A&M University Extension horticulturist, comments, “With the terrible soil I have gardened in over the past 40 years, none were conducive to double-digging: black, sticky, gumbo soil; clay concrete; and 4 inches of soil and 60 feet of rock. So my strategy has been to build up, not dig down.” This is particularly good advice when the loamy soils are only a few inches deep over heavy clay subsoil. With such shallow topsoil, the action of double-digging might incorporate the clay subsoil. Better to actively incorporate organic matter on the surface and so build up the soil. Says Welsh, “You can create 12 inches of garden soil by incorporating 6 inches of organic matter into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil.” This is the approach used by Mark Smallwood, executive director of the Rodale Institute: “Instead of digging, I simply topdress my garden with good balanced compost to create and maintain biological diversity in my soil,” he says.

So the jury remains divided, but one thing they can all agree upon is that double-digging has no noticeable benefits for crop production of shallow-rooting, leafy vegetables, which would seem to indicate that gardeners should make up their minds according their needs—and the strength of their backs. Digging, like all garden activities, is healthy work—but only if done correctly.

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The Soil Food Web…

What is it?

The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. This food web diagram shows a series of conversions (represented by arrows) of energy and nutrients as one organism eats another.

Soil organisms support plant health as they decompose organic matter, cycle nutrients, enhance soil structure, and control the populations of soil organisms including crop pests.

Where is it?

Most of these organisms live in the top 3 inches of soil!

WOW, IT’S CROWDED IN THERE!

PER TEASPOON of healthy soil plus organic matter, the following organisms – most of whose names are not known to scientists – are found:

- 1 million (in arid soils) to 1 billion bacteria

(in forest soils). Bacteria break down easy to-use organic material (sugars, proteins, carbohydrates), retain nutrients, like N, P, and K in the soil and combat disease causing organisms.

Productive garden soil should contain more bacteria than any other kind of organism, although care must be taken to make sure beneficial bacteria, instead of disease-causing bacteria, are most prevalent. How

do you do that? By feeding the foods the suppressive bacteria like. That also means, no nitrate fertilizers (which selects for the disease-causing bacteria and fungi) and no compaction (that means poorly

structured soils, and reduced oxygen levels which help the root-rot fungi more than anything else).

- 150 to 500 micrograms of fungal hyphae

Fungi break down the more  difficult-to-decompose, organic matter (like newspaper, cardboard, bark, sawdust, corn stalks) and retain those nutrients in the soil as fungal biomass. Just like bacteria, fungal

waste products become soil organic matter, which are used by other organisms. Gardens require some fungal biomass for greatest productivity, but in order for best CROP growth, there should be an

equal biomass of bacteria as compared to fungi. As with bacteria, we need to feed the “good-guy” fungi, not the “bad-guys.” Feed the soil complex mixtures of humic acids and algae, and avoid nitrate fertilizers

and prevent soil compaction.

- 10,000 to 100,000 protozoa

These organisms are one-celled, highly mobile organisms that feed on bacteria and on each other. Because protozoa require 5 to 10-fold less nitrogen than bacteria, N is released when a protozoan eats a bacterium. That released N is then

available for plants to take up. Between 40 and 80% of the N in plants can come from the predator-prey interaction of protozoa with bacteria.

- 15 to 500 beneficial nematodes

Beneficial nematodes eat bacteria, fungi, and other nematodes. Nematodes need even less nitrogen than protozoa, between 10 and 100 times less than a bacterium contains, or between 5 and 50 times less than fungal hyphae contains. Thus when

bacterial- or fungal-feeding nematodes eat bacteria or fungi, nitrogen is released, making that N available for plant growth. However, plant-feeding nematode are pests because they eat plant roots. These ”bad” nematodes can be controlled biologically, as they are in natural systems, by fungi that trap nematodes, by having fungi that colonize root systems and prevent nematode attack of roots, or by predation of nematodes by arthropods. In cases of extreme outbreaks, however, the only answer may be the use chemicals to control these plant-feeding nematodes. However, once a chemical is used which kills the beneficial nematodes as well as the plant-feeding ones, the beneficial nematodes need to be replaced through inoculation. What inoculants are there for these beneficial fungi? Compost, and compost tea are the only commercially available sources of the whole community of these beneficial nematodes, or protozoa, for that matter.

- A few to several hundred thousand microarthropods

These organisms chew the plant leaf material, roots, stems and boles of trees into smaller pieces, making it easier for bacteria and fungi to find the food they like on the newly revealed surfaces. The “comminuting”arthropods can increase decomposition rates by 2 – 100 times, although

if the bacteria or fungi are lacking, increased decomposition will not occur because it takes ALL the organisms working together to make nutrient cycling work. In many cases, however, the arthropods carry around an inoculum of bacteria and fungi, making certain the food they want (bacteria and fungi) are inoculated onto the newly exposed surfaces! Because the C:N ratio of arthropods is 100 times greater than the bacteria and fungi, they release nitrogen which then is available for plant growth. Some arthropods eat pest insects, while others eat roots. Again, it’s important to encourage the beneficial ones and discourage the ones that eat plants!

(source: http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory81.html)

HOW DO WE CARE TAKE OF IT?

Cornell University Cooperative Extension “Fertilizing Garden Soil”

1) Add organic compost regularly (no need to dig in…can be just as effective used as a mulch)

2) No pesticides (even the organic ones can be harmful to these critters so use only when absolutely necessary)

3) NO SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS. If you’re adding compost regularly, you may need to do very little fertilizing (our goal), but if you do…only organic please . Synthetic fertilizers break the relationship between plants and soil organisms and excess amounts of the most mobile of nutrients (N) can be a source of pollution in run-off causing ‘dead zones’ in bodies of water and has been connected to stomach cancer.

4) Do not compact soil and do not over-work (till) the soil.

NOTE:

Using a COVER CROP is a wonderful way to bring an organic source of nitrogen back into your soil and re-invigorate your soil food web. Check out the links listed next to the edible legumes below and research the cover crops in the links below to determine what will work in your zone.

There are 2 ways to increase the natural occurring nitrogen in your soil:

1) planting a cover crop (http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1824/eb1824.html , http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/orgmatter/index.html#green)       -OR-

2) planting rotating crops of legumes

In the edible garden the (Fabaceae) Legumes Family include:

Peas (http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene9697.html)

Beans (http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scenef57c.html and http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene8f63.html)

- Green Bean, Split Pea, Yellow Pea, Green Pea, Snow Pea, Black-eyed Pea, Chickpea, Broad Bean, Lima Bean, Fava Bean, Navy Bean, Red Kidney Bean, Great Northern Bean, Pinto Bean, Adzuki Beans, Mung Beans, Soy Bean, Brown Lentil, Green Lentil, Red Lentil, Black Lentil.

BUT, remember without a healthy soil food web (which includes the bacteria that make the nitrogen-fixing possible for these plants) none of this is possible.

Soil Bacteria:

• Brady-rhizobium fixes nitrogen via root nodules, releasing N to the host plant.

Root Nodules

• Azobactoriaceae: Nitrogen fixation w/out nodules on non-legume plants.

Soil Microorganism:

Fungi

• Fungi are responsible for most of soil fertility.
• Decompose just about anything and release the nutrients contained within the materials, back to the plant.
• Work horse: bind soil particles, soil tilth

Mycorrhizae

• Live in and around the root zone of plants, extending far out from the plant’s roots with their own network of thread- like filaments known as hyphae.
• Evolved in association with plants.
• Increase the ability of plants to take up water and certain nutrients.
• Protecting associated plants from pests and diseases.
• Cannot survive long in bare-soil.
• Cannot survive long in bare-soil conditions.
• Cannot thrive in conditions where soluble fertilizers have been used continually for many years.

Strategies for Improving Mycorrhizae Activity on Your Site:

1) Use green manures and mulch.

2) Refrain from using chemical fertilizers, w/high levels of phosphorous.

3) If the soils are degraded, consider adding quality compost.

4) For degraded sites, inoculate with commercially-available mycorrhizae.

Manage your soil organically by using organic compost (your own is best)….use organic mulch…do not overwork soil…

Some interesting links for you dirt nerds out there:

Life in the Soil – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: http://www.fao.org/Ag/Magazine/0011sp1.htm

http://www.groedibles.com/resources/fallwinter-gardening/#SOIL_PREPARATION

http://www.groedibles.com/resources/springsummer-gardening/

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/orgmatter/index.html

Some interesting videos on Mycorrhizae and Rhizobium Symbiosis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R_pO_uMBDw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq1bTduTzC0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENP2dLd9JqI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UusQ4i4FNu0&feature=related

http://www.ecoversity.org/tv/tv-melendrez.html

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• Organic Vegetable Gardening (angelbabe432.wordpress.com)
• The soil environment alive with activity (earthbalanceorganics.wordpress.com)
• Secrets Revealed By DNA Barcodes: Quack Medicines, Insect Immigrants, What Eats What And Much More (medicalnewstoday.com)
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It’s great that commercial cleaning products have jumped onto the eco-conscious bandwagon, but there’s an even better way to clean your house without making a huge impact on the environment or your wallet. Plus, you probably already have all the necessary ingredients in your pantry!

Baking soda is a natural deodorant and mild abrasive that helps scrub and whiten in the kitchen and bathroom. We make a paste with baking soda and a little bit of water and vinegar or lemon juice.  Let it sit for 10 minutes, then scrub away!

Vinegar is effective in controlling mold, bacteria, and germs. Make your own homemade all-purpose spray- just add equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle, then use it on surfaces around the house and in the bathroom. Don’t worry- the smell will dissipate as it dries. Or you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to give it a nicer fragrance.

Add 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol to equal parts water and vinegar to get a quick, streak-free window and glass cleaner! And instead of using paper towels, we’ve found newspaper cleans glass efficiently, without leaving any lint behind.

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Photo Credit: Beth Py-Lieberman.

Colleen Vanderlinden
Living / Green Food
June 21, 2011

I don’t know how many rickety old wooden ladders I’ve seen on the curb over the years. Too wobbly to safely stand on, traded in for some slick aluminum model, these wooden stepladders seem destined for the dump.

They may not be sturdy enough for us to stand on, but they’re perfect for supporting vining crops in your garden!My friend Beth (who blogs over at Garden Putter) shared this photo of her ladder trellis on Facebook, and I fell in love instantly. She took an old wooden step ladder, gave it a coat of vibrant purple paint, and placed it in her garden, where it now supports cucumbers. It also provides a fantastic focal point.

You could use a ladder like this in a variety of ways. You can allow cucumbers and other squashes to climb its rungs. You can use some twine to create additional places for plants to cling to. You can widen each step by nailing a 2 by 4 board to each step, and use them to place small pots of herbs or flowers.

What can you grow up a ladder trellis like this?

• Beans
• Cucumbers
• Gourds
• Melons
• Peas
• Pumpkins
• Winter Squash

If you’re using the ladder to trellis something that will form heavy fruit, such as pumpkins or certain winter squashes, you’ll want to make slings out of netting or old panty hose (another great garden reuse!) which you can tie on to the ladder to support the fruit.

Next time I see one of these old ladders on the curb, I will definitely grab it to use in my garden!

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/garden-reuse-old-wooden-ladder-as-a-trellis.html

More Garden Reuse Ideas:Turn an Old Clawfoot Bathtub into a Potato PlanterMake a Garden Planter Wall from Discarded Cinder BlocksWire Hangers as Garden Staples

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Calendula’s cheerful blossoms repel garden pests and have incredible healing properties.

Calendula is one of my very favorite herbs. The cheerful orange and yellow blossoms look gorgeous in the garden and have incredible healing properties.   My first experience with Calendula was during college when a friend developed an uncomfortable and embarrassing rash on her face. She diligently applied a cream prescribed by her doctor, but after several frustrating and miserable weeks, the rash had only become worse and was spreading. Wanting to help somehow, I consulted my herbal books and prepared a bottle of Calendula infused Olive oil for her. Neither of us had much faith in it, but she was willing to try anything. I was beyond awestruck when she excitedly called a few days later to let me know that the rash had not only improved, but was almost completely gone!  This was the first, but certainly not the last, time that I have witnessed the awesome curative properties of Calendula.

Calendula officinalis, also known as pot marigold or garden marigold, has been used for centuries to heal wounds and skin irritations. Calendula has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, astringent, antifungal, antiviral, and immunostimulant properties making it useful for disinfecting and treating minor wounds, conjunctivitis, cuts, scrapes, chapped or chafed  skin, bruises, burns, athlete’s foot, acne, yeast infections, bee stings, diaper rashes, and other minor irritations and infections of the skin. Plus, it stimulates the production of collagen at wound sites to help minimize scarring and assist with stretch marks. This versatile botanical can be incorporated into baths, creams, compresses, washes, salves, ointments, massage oils, baths, facial steams, tinctures, and teas. It is also gentle enough to use for babies, children, or animals. Internally, gargling with Calendula infused water may ease a sore throat, sores in the mouth, and inflammations in the mouth and throat.

Not only is Calendula a wonderful healing and medicinal herb, but it is also a lovely and useful plant in the garden!  Calendula repels many common garden pests including aphids, eelworms, asparagus beetles, and tomato hornworms, and is a companion plant for potatoes, beans, and lettuce. Plus, it grows quickly and is easy to cultivate from seed.  The fresh vibrant petals can be used to color butter, cheese, custards, sauces, or sprinkled atop salads, cakes, and sandwiches.

Calendula infused oil is simple to prepare and has many medicinal and cosmetic uses.

Calendula Herbal Oil

This medicinal oil is simple to prepare and has so many uses. The gentle, soothing, and healing oil is perfect for cradle cap, diaper rash, chapped or chafed skin, bruises, and sore or inflamed muscles. The oil can be used alone, or incorporated into salves, massage oils, lip balms, ointments, creams, and lotions.

Organic Olive oil
Organic Calendula flowers

1. Place Calendula flowers in a clean, dry glass jar. If using fresh Calendula, wilt for 12 hours to remove most of the moisture (too much moisture will cause the oil to go rancid) before adding to the jar. Pour olive oil into the jar, making sure to cover the flowers by at least 1” of oil so they will have space to expand. Stir well and cap the jar tightly.
2. Place the jar in a warm, sunny windowsill and shake once or more per day.
3. After 4-6 weeks, strain the herbs out using cheesecloth. Pour the infused oil into glass bottles and store in a cool dark place.

Heat Method: I prefer to infuse oils utilizing the solar or folk method described above, but heat can be applied if you need the oil quickly. To prepare, follow step 1 from above, but place the Olive oil and Calendula flowers in an uncovered container. Warm over low heat at approximately 100 degrees F for at least 3-5 hours, the longer the better. A yogurt maker, double boiler, or inside the oven with a pilot light on are all effective ways to heat the oil, just make sure to check the temperature occasionally to ensure that the oil isn’t getting too warm. Once the oil has infused, strain out the herbs using cheesecloth and package the infused oil into glass bottles.

Calendula Salve

A soothing and healing salve. Rub into sore or inflamed muscles, apply to minor cuts, scrapes, insect bites, rashes, diaper rashes, stretch marks, chapped lips, chafed skin, bruises, and other skin irritations.

4 oz Calendula flower infused herbal oil (from above recipe)
½ oz Beeswax
20 drops organic Lavender essential oil (optional)

Coarsely chop the beeswax or use beeswax pastilles. Melt beeswax and Calendula oil over a double boiler.  Once melted, remove from burner and stir in the Lavender essential oil. Pour into tins or glass jars. Allow to cool thoroughly before using or placing caps on the jars.

Calendula & Shea Butter Lip Balm

This nourishing lip balm is made from healing ingredients which soothe dry and chapped lips.

1 Tablespoon Shea Butter
3 Tablespoons Calendula Herbal Oil (from above recipe)
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Beeswax
10-15 drops essential oil of choice
A few drops of Vitamin E Oil

Coarsely chop the beeswax or use beeswax pastilles. Place beeswax, butter, and oil in a small pot or glass Pyrex measuring cup and gently heat in the top of a double boiler until the beeswax and butters have melted. Once melted, remove from the stovetop and stir in the essential oil and Vitamin E Oil. Immediately pour the mixture into lip balm tubes or small containers. This recipe will make approximately 1.5 oz of lip balm, enough to fill 10 lip balm tubes, 6 of your 1/4 oz plastic jars, or 3 1/2 oz tins or plastic jars.

Calendula officinalis has been used for centuries to heal wounds and skin irritations.

Healing Calendula Spray

A healing spray that can be misted on burns, insect bites, rashes, minor cuts and scrapes, bee stings, inflammations, bug bites, or used as a medicinal and soothing facial toner for acne or other skin irritations.

4 oz organic Calendula Flower Water (Hydrosol)
15 drops organic Lavender essential oil
10 drops Calendula Herbal Extract/Tincture (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 4 oz bottle with a mister top. Use as often as desired!

Calendula Compress

A soothing and medicinal treatment that’s effective and simple to prepare. Calendula compresses can be applied to burns, cuts and scrapes, bee stings, bug bites, inflammations, and other skin irritations. They can even be used on animals with minor skin conditions or injured paws.

Pour 1 cup boiling water over fresh or dried Calendula flowers, cover, and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, strain out flowers and reserve the remaining liquid.  Create a compress by soaking a clean cloth in the herbal infusion and placing it on the skin.  This process is gentle and may be repeated several times a day.

This entry was posted on 04 August 2011 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Recipes and DIY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://mountainroseblog.com/healing-calendula/

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Common household cleaners often contain harsh chemicals. We make our own grout scrub that not only works but smells clean and delicious. Can cleaning bathroom showers be more enjoyable? Really?
Bathroom Grout Scrub

Ingredients
15 drops Sweet Orange essential oil (Citrus sinensis)
15 drops Tea Tree essential oil (Melaleuca alternifolia)
10 drops Peppermint essential oil (Mentha x piperita)

Directions
In a 16 oz. wide mouth container mix the essential oils listed with 1 cup of baking soda, 3 tablespoons Castile soap, 1/4 T Cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Easy! Add more vinegar or Castile soap as needed to make a smooth consistency.

Use about a teaspoon of this mixture on a scrubby sponge to clean the shower. I also use this on the kitchen and bathroom sinks. The bathroom smells great and I feel good after cleaning!

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Image via Wikipedia

While surfing around I found a few sites that offer classes and such ,as I’m really into going all natual have healed myself from herbs and herb tea already this year and garlic between garlic and lemon balm I was well within less than a day.Which also had me separating and replanting my lemon balm also I cut them down and dried it for tea now I have more than one plant and I saved the seeds…Next year I’m, going to cut more often so they don’t go to seed as much I’m still learning as I go along this year.

Here are the links to the herb sites :

http://www.learningherbs.com/

http://www.growingherbsforbeginners.com/

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Folklore and legend are full of references to the practice of growing two or more plants together for the benefit of at least one of them. But the actual study and practice of companion planting is relatively new, partially sparked by present-day interest in organic gardening.

Scientists have not spent much time looking at these relationships among plants and their community, according to an ecogardening fact sheet written by Robert Beyfuss and Marvin Pitts for Cornell University published in 1994 and revised last year.

That means that dedicated home gardeners and farmers are just as likely to discover new combinations and benefits of companion planting as are scientists and horticulturists.

“A key to success,” says Sarasota County Extension Agent Robert Kluson, “is experimentation and observation of plant-to-plant interactions in your garden.”

Talking with others about your findings is equally important because it is through those shared observations that results are validated. In fact, the aforementioned sources cite experimentation, historical observation and even folklore.

The Iroquois legend of the “Three Sisters” illustrates one of the earliest examples of companion planting. Believing that corn, beans and squash were special gifts to their people from the Great Spirit, Native American Indians planted them together. The corn provided support for the beans to grow toward the sun. The nitrogen-fixing beans enriched the soil for the corn and squash. The shade-tolerant squash spread its big leaves under the corn, keeping the soil moist and preventing weeds from growing.

Following are more some principles and practices of companion planting that can be used by home gardeners. And there is a list of compatible and incompatible plants in Kluson’s organic gardening presentation at http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/AG/Org_Veg_Gard_%20Companion_Planting.pdf.

Guided by these principles and lists, be open to the likelihood that you will discover new plant companions and practices that work for your own plant community.

Improving a growing environment

All plants, as they decompose, return nutrients to the soil. Some, like alfalfa, clover and legumes, take unusable nitrogen from the air, convert it to a form that can be absorbed by other plants and store it in root nodules. When these decompose, they release sufficient nitrogen that little or no fertilization is required. So even though they aren’t growing at the same time, nitrogen-fixing cover crops are beneficial companions for other plants.

If you have ever been frustrated that some plants simply do not thrive in a particular location despite perfect growing conditions, take a look at the plants nearby. Some plants produce substances that are toxic to other plants. This phenomenon can be put to advantageous use. Preplanted sunflowers, cucumbers, oats, alfalfa, rye and tobacco have been found to inhibit weed growth. The relatively new study of this phenomenon is allelopathy.

Plants that protect others from strong sunlight, wind and possibly cold are known as nurse crops. Corn provides protection for its own cover crop, clover, which in turn provides nitrogen for the corn as it decomposes. Tall vegetable plants protect tender leaf lettuce.

Grasses planted between rows of perennial crops keep the soil cooler, prevent erosion, improve water penetration, discourage weeds and provide habitat for beneficial insects.

Trees provide not only shade, but nutrients and moisture for plants that grow in their shadows. Acid-loving azaleas thrive under oak and pine trees, which provide shade and moisture retention. Fallen oak leaves and pine needles also retain moisture and add acid to the soil as they decompose.

Controlling insects

According to the Cornell fact sheet, only about 1 percent of insects are garden pests. That means that indiscriminate use of pesticides, while eliminating pests, does more harm than good on several levels.

Companion planting can minimize insect damage.

Most plants produce chemicals that help them repel insects. Because insects use scent to help them locate food, strong-scented plants and herbs may be intermingled with others to confuse and repel pests.

“We use a general strategy of high crop diversity in our field plantings to reduce insect pests and plant diseases,” says Eva Worden of Worden Farms. “Crops in the onion family and many of the herbs tend to repel a variety of insect pests, so we like to plant those crops preventively near other crops that are more prone to insect pests.”

Other plants with strong scents that have been used by home gardeners include chives, catnip, horehound, basil, tansy and mint. You can build on these suggestions. Try planting your own favorite herb among vegetable plants and then observe which insects it repels.

With the renewed interest in organic and natural pest control, some practices recorded in folklore have been revived. Your grandmother or her mother may have planted chives at the base of roses to repel aphids. Other tried-and-true combinations include basil planted among tomatoes to repel hornworms, nasturtiums grown near squash to ward off squash bugs and tomatoes planted among asparagus to drive away asparagus beetles. Marigolds, mint, thyme and chamomile have been observed to repel cabbage moths.

Radish plants distract cucumber beetles and low-growing thyme or lavender may repel slugs. Tansy and pennyroyal repel ants and fleas.

French and African marigolds produce a substance that is toxic to some nematodes.

Trap cropping

Trap cropping is the practice of diverting insects away from your food crop by planting another more pest-attractive plant in close proximity. For example, a border of collard greens planted around cabbage will intercept the diamond back cabbage moth before it gets to the cabbage. Once an infestation has settled on a trap crop, it can be isolated and the pests can be eliminated with an organic insecticide without treating the crop you are trying to protect.

The Cornell fact sheet suggests using nasturtiums to trap aphids and flea beetles and using eggplant to trap potato bugs. If you have ever ruffled the leaves of marigold plants, you may have disturbed a cloud of whiteflies. That means they are staying away from other plants like tomatoes. As it turns out, marigolds are good trap plants for a number of pests, including nematodes.

Other pests and the plants that repel them:

–Ants: onions, tansy, mint family

–Aphids: chives, garlic, marigolds, mint family, dried and crushed chrysanthemum flowers, coriander, onions, oregano

–Cabbage moth: rosemary, sage, thyme

–Cabbage worm: tomato, celery

–Carrot flies: leeks, sage, rosemary

–Colorado potato beetle: marigolds, nasturtium, flax

–Cucumber beetle: nasturtium, radish, tansy

–Flea beetle: catnip, garlic

–Flies: basil, tansy

–Leafhoppers: dried and crushed chrysanthemum leaves

–Mosquitoes: basil, garlic, geranium (citrosa)

–Onion flies: garlic

nTicks: garlic

–Tomato worms: borage

Kluson points out that trap crops don’t have to be replanted as often as other crops. Marigolds, for example, may continue to distract harmful insects and provide nematode control for several seasons.

You might also try creating a pool of beneficial insects by starting their favorite plants before planting your food crop. That way, the predatory and parasitic beneficial insects will be ready to attack when the pests do show up on the food crop.

Because the ratio of beneficial to harmful insects is so great, it makes sense to use the parasitic and predatory instincts of “friendlies” to control the others. Beneficial wasps and flies are attracted to the large flat-topped clusters of small flowers on dill, parsley, carrot, coriander and parsnip. Other plants and the beneficial insects they attract include:

Alfalfa: assassin bugs, big-eyed bugs, damsel bugs, lady beetles, parasitic wasps

Carrot: assassin bugs, big-eyed bugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps, yellow jacket wasps

Goldenrod: assassin bugs, big-eyed bugs, lady beetles, parasitic wasps

Morning glory: lady beetles, syrphid flies

“Good bugs” perform another crucial function: pollination.

At Worden Farms, sunflowers are planted within crops that require pollination to bring in bees and other pollinators. “The sunflowers also attract predatory beneficial insects that assist in biological pest control,” says Worden. Butterfly gardens, suggests Kluson, besides providing visual pleasure, are excellent sources of pollinators.

Spatial arrangements

The way plants are arranged in a growing space can have an effect on insect populations and soil enhancement.

Monoculture, or the planting of a single plant in a large area or long row, provides an easy target for harmful insects and increases the possibility of spreading disease. Intercropping is one solution that is particularly well-suited to the home garden. Two or more crops may be intermingled in rows or partial rows or with no distinctive row arrangement.

Realm of possibilities

There is much to learn from the secret lives of plants that can be integrated into companion planting.

Do not discount the value of native plants and weeds as companion plants. Kluson points out that these seem to fare very well with no interference from outsiders. They have likely evolved their own kind of companionship. Careful observation may reveal which weeds attract harmful insects and which ones attract predators as well as those that seem to prevent other weeds from growing in their space.

All of which can may be of use in home gardens.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111028/ARTICLE/111029591/2055/NEWS?Title=Plants-helping-plants

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http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/sixtysixthings-growhome-containers-withoutgarden.html

Growing your own food is exciting, not only because you get to see things grow from nothing into ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, but you also don’t have to worry about the pesticides they might contain, and you definitely cut down on the miles they—and you—have to travel.

As it turns out, with pretty minimal effort, anyone can be a gardener. My boyfriend and I are essentially first-timers this season and so far have the beginnings of strawberries peeking out, tomatoes are on their way, the basil’s about ready for a big batch of pesto, and once the last frost hits, the peppers, kale, spinach, chard, and mesclun will be on their way, too. All on a tiiiny little terrace (with the help of a little DIY carpentry).

WATCH VIDEO: World’s Greenest Homes: Rooftop Garden

If you’re up to the challenge—and it really isn’t much of one—growing your own food can be so rewarding. And so much cheaper! Just be sure to choose the right planter or container, learn how to maintain it properly, and go find yourself some seeds! (Or starter plants.) Like this idea? Be sure to check out these 6 Crazy Concepts for Micro Gardens That Actually Work to get inspiration for designing your own garden in a small space. While you’re at it, check in with our Organic Gardening feature for tons more info on making your garden grow.

Here’s a starter list of all the crazy things even urban gardeners, without space for a garden, can grow at home.

Photo credit: Gardener’s Supply

Tree fruits – including apples

1. Apples can be grown in a container; you can also grow them on the balcony or other small space using a technique called espaliering.
2. Kumquats
3. Avocados (plenty of extra tips online if you search)
4. Blackberries
5. Blueberries (sometimes helpful videos are available online)
6. Pomegranate
7. Cherries
8. Figs
9. Pears

Photo credit: Photodisc/Thinkstock

Citrus fruits

Citrus trees in particular are said to be good for beginning gardeners and are easy to grow indoors, so don’t let inexperience or lack of outdoor space stop you from enjoying fresh-picked, hyper-local fruit.
10. Dwarf oranges
11. Grapefruit
12. Tangerines
13. Meyer lemons
14. Limes

Tropical fruits

Tropical fruits can also be surprisingly easy to grow indoors, even in non-tropical climates. Such as…

15. Bananas (look for container gardening tips online)
16. Pineapple
17. Papaya
18. Guavas (several varieties)

WATCH VIDEO: Living with Ed: Grow It On Site

Photo credit: © iStockphoto.com/Thinkstock

The real surprises

19. Hops—yes, as in the “spice” ingredient in beer. Turns out they’re easy to grow!
20. Aloe Vera
21. Strawberries
22. Tea (well, herbal tea)
23. Quinoa!

Photo credit: © iStockphoto.com/Thinkstock

The non-surprises

24. Tomatoes
25. Summer squash
26. Other squashes, like acorn and pumpkin
27. Hot Peppers
28. Sweet peppers
29. Cucumbers

Melons

30. Small cantaloupe
31. Jenny Lind melon (an heirloom cantaloupe)
32. Golden Midget Watermelon

Photo credit: Jupiterimages/Thinkstock

Herbs

Just about any herb grows well indoors—just be sure that if you’re going to do any container-sharing, you do your research first about which herbs co-habitate well together. (Some will hog water, for example, and leave the others dried out.)

33. Basil
34. Oregano
35. Parsley
36. Rosemary
37. Chives
38. Catnip
39. Thyme
40. Sage
41. Parsley

Photo credit: Comstock Images/Thinkstock

Leafy Greens

42. Kale
43. Mesclun greens
44. Spinach
45. Swiss chard
46. Lettuces (plenty of options there, from micro-greens to head or loose-leaf)
47. Mustard greens
48. Collard greens
49. Arugula

Root Vegetables

50. Carrots
51. Beets
52. Potatoes

Photo credit: Pixland/Thinkstock

Other healthy-sounding stuff

53. Sprouts
54. More sprouts: mung bean and lentil sprouts
55. Wheatgrass
56. Kohlrabi
57. Turnips
58. Rutabagas
59. Celeriac
60. Parsnips
61. Jerusalem Artichoke
62. Sugar snap peas
63. Rhubarb (not ideal in a container, but it can work)
64. Mushrooms (again, more tips online if you look)
65. Pole Beans
66. Aaaand… asparagus, although some disagree that it does well in a container. Try it if you’re ok with a risk!

Bonus 67: You can grow your own loofah, too, but you’d need a garden rather than a container for that

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