Green, Green and More Green!

I came from a long line of Iowa farmers. My grand-parents were elderly by the time I came along, so I don't have too many memories of them; but one thing I do remember is my Grandpa's garden. Once they left the farm and "moved to town" (a rite of passage and reward for years of back-breaking work), many farmers maintained beautiful gardens in their backyards. I wish I had photographs of my Grandfather's... I see it in my mind as if I were walking thru it today. And the scent of marigolds take me right back. Grandpa always planted them around the perimeter of the garden to keep certain insects away.

So I guess it's not unusual that I enjoy growing things. At one point in my life while living in the foothills of Colorado, I had over 100 indoor plants (including alfalfa and bean sprouts and avocado pits sprouting green "trees" on the kitchen windowsill) and a small garden in front of my house. My guys were little then and really enjoyed helping me harvest (among other things) the green beans, peas and zucchinis; the big orange pumpkins in October were a real hit, too.

Then I moved to town and became limited to container gardening on my porch and deck. And this year - for the first time - my vegetable plants outnumber my flowers ~ by design. Lettuce (which is almost gone and we plan to buy additional plants), green onions, leeks, cucumbers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, pumpkins and tomatoes and hot chili peppers galore. Of course not all are ready to harvest, but as things are ripening, it's so much fun to step on the deck and gather a salad for dinner.

In the interest of keeping things green (literally and figuratively), I remembered a recipe for homemade all natural plant fertilizer my sister shared with me a few years back. Super easy and seems to do the job! So, here's Pat's Plant Fertilizer:

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Epsom salts
1/2 tsp. household ammonia
1 gallon luke-warm water

Mix and pour. :) Pat recommends using every 2 weeks.

And it seems to be in the genes. My younger son planted his own "balcony garden" this year for the first time. He went even more green by planting everything from seed!!

Here's to all kinds of green. :)