seed sowing | Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht

seed sowing | Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht - Part 2

Cauliflower and Nature’s Perfect Design

Books, Garden Design, Garden Reflections, Ornamental/edible plants, Plant information 2 Responses »

Feb 182014

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by Avis Licht

Fractals and the fibonacci sequence – two of natures amazing design schemes. Here they are demonstrated beautifully in the Romanesco cauliflower.

A fractal is a geometric pattern that is repeated at ever smaller scales to produce irregular shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical geometry.

To understand more about fractals and biomimicry read this article in Livescience. Biomimicry looks to nature and natural systems for inspiration. After millions of years of tinkering, Mother Nature has worked out some effective processes. In nature, there is no such thing as waste — anything left over from one animal or plant is food for another species. Inefficiency doesn’t last long in nature, and human engineers and designers often look there for solutions to modern problems.

For more on the Fibonacci Sequence in nature read this: Fibonacci in Nature.

I harvested this head of cauliflower today, February 16th. It’s been a cold and dry winter. But this beauty carried on and turned into a wonderful head. The brassica family is a sturdy and incredibly healthy food. I found this article on the Brassicas and their nutrient value to be eye opening. It will make you a believer.

If you live in a moderate climate, it’s time to start thinking about sowing your seeds for broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy and the other brassicas. I wrote about seed starting in this post: Starting Seeds in your Edible Landscape.

To find out which Hardiness Zone you live in click here. See if it’s time for you to start getting your Brassicas, otherwise known as the cabbage family, into the garden.

The Fibonacci Sequence manifested clearly in a simple(?) vegetabke

The Fibonacci Sequence manifested clearly in a simple(?) vegetable

When choosing plants for your edible landscape, it’s good to consider unusual varieties like this Romanesco Cauliflower. They look beautiful, are easy to grow and taste wonderful. And your friends will ask, “What in the hell is that?”

You will find my ebook, the Spring Garden Made Easy, a straight forward guide to getting your garden going and growing.

Another example of the Fibonacci sequence

Pete Seeger and Inch by Inch

Garden Reflections, Music No Responses »

Feb 042014

By Avis Licht

My two loves, outside of my family, of course, are gardening and music. I have always looked up to Pete Seeger and admired his integrity. His way of bringing people together through music is almost unrivaled. In honor of his life and passing I am sharing this video of him singing one of my favorite gardening songs, Inch by Inch: The Garden Song by David Mallett.

Everything we do in life, is inch by inch and one day at a time.

Teaching children to sow seed.

: Sowing seed and watching them grow.

Beauty in all our lives.

Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless the seeds I sow.
Someone warm them from below, ’til the rain comes tumbling down.

Pulling weeds and picking stones, man is made of dreams and bones.
Feel the need to grow my own ’cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain, find my way in nature’s chain,
to my body and my brain to the music from the land.

Plant your rows straight and long, thicker than with prayer and song.
Mother Earth will make you strong if you give her love and care.
Old crow watching hungrily, from his perch in yonder tree.
In my garden I’m as free as that feathered thief up there.

Container Planting – How to Grow Carrots

Container planting, Ornamental/edible plants, Plant information No Responses »

Nov 102012

by Avis Licht –

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Beautiful, delicious carrots from a container planting

People who live in urban areas or in apartments often think they can’t grow food. But using planters can be a fun and easy way to grow certain crops. Containers have their challenges, particularly because of limited soil and need for careful watering and fertilizing. On the up side, you can put them in small places, in the right light conditions and keep the bugs away. For more on container growing, read this post.

A confession – for two years I haven’t been able to grow any carrots, though I’ve sowed a whole lot of seeds. I prepare the bed carefully, rake and smooth it. Sow it. Water it. Watch and wait. Sure enough the seeds germinate, I give a victorious shout. The next day I come out and all the seedlings are gone. Some ravenous sow bugs, earwigs, slugs, snails or combination of any or all of the above have managed to decimate my crop. For gardening beginners, this could be very discouraging, especially if an experienced gardener can’t seem to have success.

See those carrots in the photo? Those are mine. I grew them. In a container! Here’s how:

1. Get a pot: clay, wood, plastic or cloth – doesn’t matter. For carrots, the pot should be 10 -12 inches deep.

A cloth container – use and put it away when you don’t need it. These cloth pots are easy to transport, easy to store: a real plus in urban areas. Find them at this site: Smart Pots.

2. Fill container with planting medium

A mix of seed starting medium and worm compost.

3. Keep seed moist to germinate, keep pot watered, but not soggy. Thin seedlings: 1/2 -1 inch apart.

2 months after sowing, carrots have filled in container and are ready for harvesting

When harvesting, gently separate the greens and look for the largest carrots . Pull them out carefully, making sure not to disturb the neighboring carrots. It wouldn’t hurt to give them a little water after harvesting to settle the roots.

In a 3 gallon size pot (like the one on the left) I will harvest more than 50 small carrots. They are were incredibly sweet and I had NO bug problems.

Be sure to read more about container planting in this post. Sign up for an email subscription to this blog so you won’t miss a post.

Even on tiny decks you can grow fun food. Not only herbs and flowers, but greens, salads and much more.

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