Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Orchid and Garden show in Carmel Valley - this weekend!

The Carmel Valley Garden Show is coming up this weekend. It's shaping up to be the biggest and best show we've ever put on. It's going on all day Saturday and Sunday at Hidden Valley Music Seminar - for FREE. Plus, there will be an awesome Gala night on Saturday night with fabulous food and wine. Click on the image below for more details.

Orchid and plant vendors and exhibits, garden lectures, art, food and wine! What else could we possibly need, really?! The weather forecast is perfect for the show. Come join us!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Vegetable Gardening Guide for central coast

A local sustainability group, Monterey Green Action, asked me to prepare a vegetable growing guide.

They have created a community garden in downtown Monterey and several new gardeners are starting up in our area. If you would like to download it, it's in the sidebar. I also put a link to my vegetable harvest tally and growing notes for 2010 in the sidebar, if anyone is interested. This spreadsheet is continually (& somewhat obsessively) updated throughout the year. Wow, I've grown over $35 worth of lettuce and over $37 worth of snap peas so far this year! (Yes, it's true. I heart spreadsheets).

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Kids and food

Is anybody watching "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"? It has become one of the 3 shows I watch. We sold all of our TVs, but there's still Hulu online. It's great because I can watch my 3 shows when there's no more daylight (or gardening time) left. Anyway, the Food Revolution has some "TV drama" bits in it, which must be ignored. But it's still interesting and very much vegetable/garden related. Check out this clip:



I believe that we need more basic "food education" in schools. And school gardens are a great way to do that. Maybe Jamie will help these kids start a garden at their school.

Another, unrelated, subject that I believe is missing? Financial education...like how to save, understanding credit cards, etc. People shouldn't have to go to business school to understand these basics. And from the looks of it, on average, we're not making the best financial decisions...

Monday, April 19, 2010

Harvest Monday - April 19, 2010

Red Express Cabbage - 2lbs

Snow peas - 4 oz.

Lettuce mix - 4 oz.

Lettuce mix - 2 oz.

Strawberries...these are the ones that escaped immediate munching - 5 oz.

Trovita orange - 2 count

Harvest Mondays are hosted by Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions. Check out what's being harvested!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Patents on genetics...this is scary

I've been thinking about how companies, such as Monsanto, are able to patent their evil concoctions. The movie, Food Inc., shows the details of how Monsanto's genetically modified canola and corn affected farmers who don't even use Monsanto's products. The thing about canola and corn is that their pollen is airborne, like many other plants and vegetables.

One farmer in Canada was subjected to contamination when a neighboring farm planted in Monsanto's GM canola. And, of course, the pollen spread around the area and landed on the non-GM canola plants. Subsequently, the non-GMO farmer was sued by Monsanto for having "their genetic material" growing in his fields. This cost the farmer about $200,000 in legal fees and lost wages. And if this isn't bad enough, his fields and his own personal seed supply is contaminated with genes he doesn't even want. His work of over 40 years is ruined. How can we allow this to happen?

I'm against allowing patents on genes or genetic material. This article details a human example that provides more evidence on the need for overturning this part of US patent law.