local food
This group supports locally grown, fresh, sustainable food that promotes local economies, living wage jobs, and more benign environmental practices. In the era of "peak oil", global warming, rising food prices worldwide, and domestic food security—it may be time to think local, and buy local, too.
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cookingupastory
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Groups > Lifestyle lifestyle, Faith & Lifestyle > Lifestyle
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Hello, Hello!
I'm Winterfield and I live in Chicago. I'm an urban gardener and my wife is a cook. I feel sort of... weird being the only one here for now but I expect that will change soon. Thank you for the invitation. I have two large raised areas in my yard. One is for flowers and the other is the Kitchen Garden. This year I'm practicing square foot gardening (without chemicals) and have been pleased with the results so far. My wife and I are Polish and have a running joke about my "collective." My wife is the cook and she makes good use of the fruits of our collective. Again, for the tenth year in a row I was allowed to stay on the farm another year. (whew!) I hope everyone's summer garden and kitchen is productive and delicious. So, has anyone tried something new lately?
Reply to this TopicHello, Hello winterfield! I have heard about square foot gardening...Glad to hear you are getting some good results! I have 4 raised beds growing this year, but I'm still waiting for the results. We had unusually cool weather, and summer didn't really kick in until a few weeks ago! Do you have any fruit trees? We planted 2 figs this past winter and I'm looking forward to the little figs ripening. What's ready to pick/eat in your garden? ~Rebecca
Hi Rebecca, I'm still finding my sea legs at Veoh and I'm not sure if this is the right place to reply. No I don't have fruit trees- not enough space. I have a rather small garden space-wise, but I found that small spaces doesn't mean a small harvest. My Kitchen Garden has supplied us with plenty of Mesclun lettuce. I mixed it up with a spicy blend and a sweet blend that's been cut down three times now. That section is next to the Cilantro. We use a lot of Cilantro so I have two crops growing, the second was stated almost four weeks after the first so besides greens I have an abundance of seed or coriander. I also had my first harvest of Detroit Beets. My wife made a delicious Borscht and she's making a horse radish with the balance of the first crop. The second is about 3 weeks off. In addition our herbs have been productive and tasty. I'm growing Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Sweet Basil and Mint- all potted- and am thinking about looking into making incense.
Wow, winterfield! That's awesome. Sounds like you're getting lots from your space, and you are both being very creative with the results. The incense idea sounds fascinating. I don't remember seeing herb scented ones before. Is it common?
Yes. We used to order incense from Airs. They have sticks and solids made from cedar, sage, lemon grass, and vetiver (a scented grass-like plant, our favorite.) By the way, what part of the country are you living? I'm a Chicago transplanted native, originally from California. Our growing season (at least mine) varies. My yard is enclosed with privacy fences which creates a micro-climate about 5-10 degrees warmer than the official temperature, so some do well and others find it too hot.
I"m in the Portland, OR, area. Great climate, pretty much mild year-round. It freezes in the Winter, but for not too long. Yes, it rains, but it brings out the green in everything! The summers are gorgeous! It's a dry heat, similar to CA (I lived in the Bay Area for 20 years), not at all humid in the Midwest (where I grew up). Never thought about how fencing might make a garden hotter. Makes sense. I think my raised bed are 'hotter' due to being enclosed.