Tag: fruit

Garden Goals

Since we’re so very indoorsy and don’t know how to do much yard stuff, and because I am a known even notorious crop-killer, I met with a woman who does landscape/yard stuff to talk about getting some gardens put in and some help/instruction around keeping food plants alive and hopefully getting them to produce, you know, FOOD. It was a fantastic meeting, outdoors in our yard, both of us masked and socially distant. I showed her all my spots of abject failure and semi-success and we talked about what it is we want to do and how to get that going. She was, of course, very positive and certain with the right help even I can garden successfully. I’m actually hopeful! We’re looking at having the existing ornamental beds cleaned out and possibly filling in empty spots with more productive plants as well as having actually food gardens put in and more berry bushes installed with some kind of actual plan. She took soil samples to be tested which is, apparently, step one.

Even though I’m sure it made me look like a total spaz I asked if all the mint I have so painstakingly tended, with mediocre results, could be carefully dug up and given a place in the new garden. She did try to warn me that mint is crazy but I pointed out that with YEARS of encouragement it has made minimal gains under my tender mercy so I’m guessing it will get it’s own little area which is fine by me. I have peppermint and spearmint growing and I love them. She says we can do an herb garden and a vegetable garden, a berry patch and so on, maybe fruit trees! It’ll have to happen in stages of course, she probably prefers to be paid and stuff. My art studio/hippy fort/shed is back-burnered for now because being able to produce some of our own food is just a bigger priority. Part of my childhood we had a nice garden and it was lovely to be able to run outside and just pick fresh veggies that immediately made their way onto our table.

I need to make a list of veggies, fruits, herbs and berries I want to grow and she’s going to help me make it happen. I warned her that I am going to go pretty mental and list a million things and she might have to help me pare it down to something reasonable and, especially, point out items that are hard to grow/easy to kill. I want:

  • at least one apple tree *
  • more raspberries and help keeping them “nice” *
  • lingonberries
  • mint
  • rosemary
  • dill
  • cilantro
  • onions
  • scallions*
  • garlic*
  • red peppers
  • broccoli
  • cauliflower
  • zucchini*
  • summer squash
  • lettuce
  • winter squash*
  • hot peppers
  • cantaloupe
  • tomatillos*
  • Pumpkins
  • at least one pepper tree
  • a nectarine tree
  • Potatoes
  • carrots
  • parsnips
  • beets
  • chickpeas
  • kidney beans
  • navy beans
  • green beans
  • long beans
  • maybe grapes!

I mean… obviously Not all at once… but I’d like to get at least some of this going and then build on it over time, build up to where we have a nice variety of veggies and fruit and such. I want to be able to say that we are not completely dependent on other people for our food. Ideally we will eventually have some sort of greenhouse, some chickens, maybe a nice little sheep or 2? We’re also looking at installing a hedge along the road. … … … man, that is a lot of stuff and it is the tip of the iceberg. I think this project in particular will be worth all the effort. I know it is a little crazy to pay someone to help with this, food gardens should save money and this one will take ages to break even, BUT I can’t do this without help, I’ve proven that over and over again, and this way I might actually succeed. Plus the goal isn’t precisely to save money, it’s more to have the ability to produce food. So, yeah, I think it will be a win if my blight druid tendencies can be conquered at last. I am so excited about this!

Ch Ch Ch Changes…..

My Doctor says I have a fatty liver and we’ll need to do an ultrasound after the pandemic is more under control. I don’t think this explains my joint pain but I know all the tests ruled out a whole bunch of things so there’s that. So, this diagnosis means lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. I’m to lose between 15-20 LBs. and eat whole grains, fruits, veg, all the stuff they always tell you to eat, and I need to limit dairy, meats, fats, salt, sugar and alcohol… all the stuff they always tell you to limit. No real surprises. Funny how the same diet is good for so many things isn’t it? Not really, I feel foolish because I had a fairly excellent diet years ago and my burgeoning food allergies caused me to more or less give up. It seems I should have stuck with it even though it was getting harder to maintain. Oh well, this is where I am, this is what I have, so I’ll go from here.

Under this new lifestyle I also need to drink more water which, happily, I enjoy. I had fruit and tea and iced mint tea for breakfast this morning so off to a good start there. We’ll see how I do the rest of the day. Olive oil is supposed to be good in moderation and I can have avocados which I like. I’m allergic to almost all nuts and I hate olives so those are out. A Mediterranean diet is recommended but I’m allergic to tomatoes, lemons, nuts… and a host of other things that make healthy eating difficult. Obviously I’ll have to work on this, figure things out, limiting dairy and fried foods is going to suck.

Maybe I need to make a list of foods I especially like that are “allowed” in my new diet so I can focus on that instead of all the things I’m losing and need to curtail. Good foods I love:

  • Avocados
  • Mushrooms
  • Raspberries
  • Homemade granola
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Kale
  • Chickpeas
  • Potatoes
  • Limes
  • Sesame seeds
  • Summer squash pasta sauce
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Kidney Beans
  • Blueberries
  • Mint tea
  • Rice
  • Okra
  • Butternut squash
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Nectarines
  • Red peppers
  • Beets
  • Broccoli
  • Zucchini
  • Scallions
  • Garlic scapes
  • Asparagus

So, pleny there to work with, and I am allowed some dairy, though I imagine my holiday indulgences will be way off book. I’m glad fast food is a no-no. I can be really bad about that at times. My weird indulgence in fast food seems sort of cyclical, I’ve gone through phases with it, I either have it frequently or not at all, so not at all it is. Not frying food at home will be weird, I’m pretty sure Sauteeing is frying and I do a lot of that especially my beloved onions & garlic. I suppose I’ll get it sorted out. I need some new recipes for certain and that’s going to be a bit tricky. Mediterranean cookbooks are out as they lean heavily towards many of my allergies. I think adapting to this new diet might be helped by growing some of the foods I can have and enjoy. I guess it’s time to invest in some raised beds and to learn how to vanquish my black thumb.