I have a long way to go before I have a fully running edible landscape. However, I am thankful for what I have so far. I am not an expert at gardening, but I am learning as I go. A great book that is helping me is called Desert Gardening since I live off the coast and closer towards Palm Springs. It seems that July & August just scorches my entire garden and Jan gets frost. So, it seems in Southern California I have a few short seasons to work with although I can grow year round. I have so much to learn.
I need to be diligent with watering since missing one day can wipe out all my hard work (which has happened a few times). I did get straw to mulch and that seems to be helping. However, it blows all over the place (as seen in the video). I still have more beds to mulch now that the plants are larger.
Here is a list of what I have so far:
Trees fig (Black Mission), plum (Santa Rosa)
Bushes 2 blueberry varieties (O’neil & Misty)
Vine grape (red flame) and kiwi (about dead by the sun)
Berries blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, strawberries (again near scorched)
Herbs oregano, basil, chamomile, aloe
All raised beds have wire to keep underground gophers from getting into the goods. My dog, Hailee has been keeping all the birds from landing and mice, possums and gophers from having a party in my yard. The compost seems to draw in the critters. Which is why it is in a trash can with holes so I can put potting soil over the clippings and put a lid on it.
Annuals corn- sweet, white, & bi color Anaheimchili’s tomato (a few varieties) watermelon cantaloupe pumpkin spaghetti squash zucchini patty pan cucumber- 2 varieties tomatillo
To do finish nylon netting for vertical growing front yard flowerbed along the wall needs to be re planted (most everything there is a volunteer and I didn’t have the heart to rip them out.) install an irrigation system finish the side area of the front yard next to the small raised beds. BTW, I double dug under all those and amended soil about 1 foot down. I don’t have wire to block gophers though. I hope it isn’t a problem in the future, but from what everyone tells me it will be an issue.
After it cools a bit I hope to plant trees in September like citrus and stone fruit. As well as putting all the plants that are still on pots in the ground. I need to be careful since the soil I have is clay and very tough to work with. I know it will be a while before I have awesome soil.
I just placed an order for more seeds. Yes, in the middle of summer. Most people order before spring, but a new gardener like me hasn’t established a system yet. I am sooo excited because I bought things that I have never even seen before like a red and orange carrot, black tomaotes, cinnamon basil, I mean the list goes on. I love the fact that I will grow things that are not only organic and biodynamic, but they are rare and uncommon. Who wants to grow the same exact thing that you can pick up at the market? I find the uniques varieties far more alluring.
I have also finished building four more 4×4 raised beds. I will use them for my kids gardening experiments for school science.
My ultimate gardening goal is to have a beautiful organic edible landscape that provides food sustainability that is super nutrient dense. It just makes sense to grow food rather than work on a lawn that serves no major purpose, especially since I am in Southern California which is experiencing a water crisis. It makes no sense to see miles of lawns in a place where we are in need of water. If you are going to be watering something you might as well be growing food.
I have really been enjoying learning as much as I can about gardening this year. I have been exposed to gardening with sea agriculture, rock dust, ormus, compost tea, worms, bees, bio dynamic, bio intensive, square foot method, and so on. I can’t say that my garden is flourishing out of control like many gardeners are experiencing right now. I learned I was missing nitrogen from my soil and that stunts the growth of the plant. So, while researching online I found many sites talking about urine in their garden as a great source of nitrogen. WHAT?!?! Ok, this immediately repulsed me….NO WAY am I going to PEE in my garden. Well, then it started making a bit of sense. I mean, I would go to the garden shop and put chicken and bat poop in the garden. So that’s just as gross, right? I started thinking about my diet and the fact that I eat raw foods. I eat sprouts, seaweeds, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, superfoods, and so forth. All of which would go into a compost bin safely. I don’t consume any animal products. Anyhow, I started to apply it to my garden…go figure… I am seeing peppers that are finally producing rather than the flowers just falling off. My teeny tiny canteloupe has tripled in size. I know it sounds disgusting, but proof is in the ….PEE…LOL.
Something feels sooooooo good about starting a new blog. It reminds me of the first day of school with brand new rings of paper and pencils ready to fill the sheets. I suppose an introduction would be appropriate ; ).As you know, my name is Lori. I am 32. I currently live in Southern California and will be relocating to Hawaii in April 2009. I am a single mommy of 2 kids. My son is 12, my daughter is 10. I am very close with the children’s father. We are committed parents. At my kids events the other parents think we are still married since they usually don’t see ex relationships getting along.
Together, we alternate homeschooling. WOW, what a shift. Transforming and I am amazed I took on that challenge. I am so glad that I did. It was what felt right for us. It is only my second year doing it. I hope to continue.
I am a self employed Health and Wellness Practitioner. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I feel a deep connection to my purpose and that is my work. I suppose it is the most stable “job” one can have. You can’t exactly get fired from your purpose. It is born into you. Talk about job security…LOL. 🙂 . My purpose is to move from inspiration to action. Hence my screen name: Inspire2Act. Pretty simple. Sometimes it stays in the head…but, what’s the point if no action is taken? My passion is to inspire others to act in ways that are worthy of them. I have a background in massage, personal training, nutrition, purification, rehab and physical therapy, day spa, beauty, and green living (check out: http://gliving.tv/).
Self reliance and empowerment are deeply rooted into me. It is something I wish to maintain and deepen and inspire in others. I wonder of being born 1 hour from Independence day has anything to do with it? ; )
I LOVE being a woman. I love the femininity, the beauty, the curves, the softness, the smell, the WORKS. I am thankful I have been given this body and I am honoring this body temple that houses my spirit. I love being alive!
Here are some projects that I am into:
1. Turning my cookie cutter track home yard into an edible landscape. I feel a strong sense to empower myself through making my property have a purpose. This includes every plant I own :). Productive and purposeful and efficient. I don’t exactly have the rep for being an amazing gardener, but I am passionate and thirsty to learn. I love http://pathtofreedom.com/ . They inspire me. I attend their events and film screenings and potlucks. Once I am up and running I am going to help others establish their own edible landscape and homestead. This is a great site to connect and have support: http://freedomgardens.org/.
2. Learning how to make yummy raw food. A few years ago I was going to attend CIA in Napa (Culinary Institute of America) until I realized there was no correlation with nutrition and gourmet food at this facility. Hence, my hunger to learn gourmet raw food :). The journey has begun! Raw food culinary geniuses: Wish me luck ; ). For everyday raw stuff I check out: http://www.welikeitraw.com/ .
3. Physical fitness! I am deepening my yoga practice. I have been doing yoga since I was 15. It was never consistent and regular, but I loved it still. I have decided to commit to it. I feel it is the most neutralizing, balancing, and healing form of exercise on the planet, but that’s just me. It truly enhances all the fun activities I enjoy like dancing, snowboarding, and surfing, and gymnastics. I really love being creative with the body and having fun. A workout is only secondary to the fun factor!
4. I’d love to learn to play the guitar and the piano. I have a piano in my front room and don’t know how to play…so sad. 🙂 Chopsticks anyone? My kids and I just started guitar lessons. What a hand workout!
5. To realize a book NEVER feels finished. I just need to publish it already! I suppose an artist may always want to tweak his final painting. I have written in the fields of self development and empowerment through conscious living, health, wellness, beauty, purification, diet, green sustainable living practices, etc.
6. I love retreats I would spend my life traveling the world just to see them all, so why not start this way? Like minded people, please respond ; ). I am working on holding retreats that are informative and inspirational as well as FUN!!!! I would like to set them up by seasons. Perhaps a snowboarding raw yoga retreat in winter. A surfing raw yoga retreat in summer. Spring and Fall perform purification retreats. A place to decondition old paradigms and get back to the version of our authentic self.
7. I love fine nude art. Those black and whites of sculpted physiques are mesmerizing. Our lives and bodies are our own work of art. I find this beautiful expression: http://www.fineartnude.com/webring/
8. Complete a 92 day juice feast. I have only done 2 week liquid cleanses. Check out: http://www.globaljuicefeast.com/ . Wow, what a commitment.
9. I am very interested in living debt free and below my means. I have lived a life of debt and found it to be very low calibrating in consciousness. It is a burden that weighs the spirit down. As Wayne Dyer says” Debt is nonspiritual“.
If you are running through life feeling overwhelmed and not really making the impact you know you want, or wishing you felt alive and filled with passion then you are going to LOVE me!
