It's A Family Affair

Vegetable gardens are fashionable again. Seed sales soared this year. Communal gardens have come back. An abundance of articles on vegetable gardening is available this year. You can read about every aspect of this re-emergent trend from Oprah's beginner advice "From Seeds to Edible Greens: 4 Easy Vegetable Garden Rules" http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200906-omag-vegetable-garden/2 to the Wall Street Journal's grocery bill financial analysis "How much green can growing a vegetable garden save you?" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123983924976823051.html.


The growth of our own garden, beyond tomatoes and basil, began when my sister-in-law had the idea of planting a family vegetable garden 2 years ago. She got the idea from reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/. Since we have four family households in our small connecticut town, it was easy to pick a plot and all dive-in. Each family member, from age 8 to 74, does their part. We grow plenty of crops for all of us as well as some friends. In fact, we ended up begging people to take our Zucchini donations last year. One can only eat so much Zucchini.

We all have different skills and work preferences. Not surprisingly, the younger kids like to dig, water and pick (and eventually throw) rocks. One brother runs the rototiller and mulches. The other brother builds wooden structures such as gates and tomato trellises. My husband built the fence that keeps out the wild life (particularly our "bull-in-a-china-shop" dogs.) Most of the ladies like to weed and pick. I like it all.

At first, the benefits of a shared garden may seem obvious: cheap, fresh food. However, after just one season, other positive effects showed themselves clearly. Vegetable gardening is multi-generational project. These seem few and far between lately. One almost 80 year-old man we know and his 9 year-old granddaughter look forward to growing big beefsteak tomatoes and frying peppers together each year. Another positive point is that the “mother nature-driven” schedule of gardening provides unplanned family time in an over-planned world. And finally, the benefit most befitting of this web site, is outdoor exercise. Digging, hoeing and weeding build strong muscles. Expending more calories harvesting the Swiss chard for dinner than is actually in the greens keeps weight down.

Even if you don’t have an abundance of family in the area, you can still create the same feel. Try a communal garden with friends. You’ll grow more than just green beans.

Fork a Fabulous Figure

CT’s wet spring this year was gloomy. My husband believes someone made a deal to swap climates with England. Hopefully we’ll see tomatoes before Halloween.

The excess rain, however maddening, had its benefits. I didn’t have to water, my investment in a new perennial bed yielded a 100% return … and I didn’t have to water.

A benefit I didn’t anticipate was building more muscle from the muck. The soggy soil in my vege plot was too wet to ‘till. Dry days didn’t arrive by planting time. Grumbling, I left the rototiller in the garage and fetched a pitch fork. My brother and I turned each row by hand for the cold weather crops. Our garden feeds four households so it was no small task. I’ll admit I was irritated. However, it really jump-started my “body by the yard” workout after a long winter. Turning over a garden by hand works a multitude of muscles. My resident expert Jane Petrin (see her credentials in the post “Wheelbarrow Schmeelbarrow” under June) says pitch forking works all the main muscle groups.

Numerous arm, shoulder, neck, leg and butt muscles participate making this one garden activity equal to a long iron-pumping routine at a gym. Just standing and turning the soil strengthens muscles important for good posture including Rhomboids, Trapezius and Latissimus Dorsi (back muscles.)

Driving the fork into the ground with your foot works your Glutes (my favorite), Quads, Hamstrings and the calve muscles Gastroc and Soleus. Push the fork alternating your left and right leg. Otherwise you’ll create lop-sided butt cheeks. Finding perfect fitting jeans is already hard enough for most of us even with a relatively balanced butt.

The act of squatting, lunging and twisting when you flip the dirt over works additional butt muscles and adds abdominal action. Using a wide stance and straight back strengthens and stretches the IT band and ankle muscles. This will protect your legs from injuries in all activities.

Since I'm in my 40s I was sore after all this forking. But boy was I stronger. Amazing how such an old fashioned activity can work as many muscles as a circuit on expensive, modern weight machines. As always, fork at your own risk.

Perennial Annuals

Until recently, I was more interested in perennials than annuals. I loved the idea that perennials came back year after year. I was sad to say goodbye to the pretty annuals each fall.

However, my mum showed me the best of both worlds. Despite living in CT, I keep many of my annuals going year after year. I now copy my mum and add winter cheer indoors through numerous pots of annuals. Each year I bring them inside and place them in a sunny window from fall frost to spring thaw.

While there is still time to buy annuals, consider purchasing some that will work well as house plants this the winter. Not all annuals make good roommates. Here are some I found that work well.

Coleus – Colorful leaves of any coleus cheer up any household with winter blahs. See photo below.
Mandevia – ah! Mandevia. My friend Dina introduced me to them a few years ago and I am hooked. Particularly to the ubiquitous ‘Alice du Pont’ variety. Things don’t have to be rare to be beautiful. They cost at least $20 each for a good sized one, so saving the $80 feels good.
Fushia – this year, mine bloomed on Christmas day for me. What a present!
Geranium – Sun shines through the rounded, ruffled leaves to shape up an indoor garden. See top photo.

Just make sure housepets don't snack on any of them.

A Sassy Perfect Pair

When the sun shines, there is nothing subtle about this accidental pairing. I moved the blue/purple Delphinium Summer Nights to the front of my new bed after realizing the tag was wrong. This plant would not grow to 5 feet but only 12 inches tall. The only seat left on the bus was next to my bright fuchsia spreading Petunias. But look! How Festive! Many gardeners prefer soft and subtle shades together. But as I age, I found that I enjoy some sass.