#172: Mike talks with Carol Niec and Kerrie Rosenthal About the Seed Keeper Project

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In this week's episode, Mike talks with Carol Niec and Kerrie Rosenthal about the Seed Keeper Project.

The Seed Keeper Project, now in its 4th year, is a way to recognize the outstanding work schools are doing in getting kids from Kindergarten through 12th grade, involved in vegetable gardening.

People are noticing the fabulous work these two ladies are doing as their efforts have been recognized on a national level that is discussed in the podcast. You won't want to miss this episode!

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is the Seed Keeper Project
• Getting your school nominated
• What your school will win if chosen in the Seed Keeper Project
• A special prize each school will win - JUST ANNOUNCED IN THIS PODCAST!
• Which schools are eligible
• Where do you send your nomination
• How you will be notified if chosen

Items mentioned in this episode include:

• The Seed Keeper Project
• Seed Keeper Project Facebook Page
• The Seed Keeper Home Farmer
• The Dunbar Garden Project
• The Peterson Garden Project
• P. Allen Smith
• Seed Keeper Chronicles
• Chicago Flower & Garden Show

About this week's Guests, Carol Niec and Kerrie Rosenthal of the Seed Keeper Company:

The Seed Keeper Project is our opportunity to recognize school gardens across the country. Each year we award a Seed Keeper Home Farmer and a Certificate to a school in every state and the District of Columbia highlighting their dedication to gardening.

Beginning February 3, we will post 10 States each week for 5 weeks in alphabetical order on our FaceBook Page The Seed Keeper Company.

During the week we ask you to nominate a K-12 school, any type of school, and post it on our FB Page.

We will draw a winner using random.org at the end of that week and announce them on our FB page.

When we send the Seed Keeper and Certificate to the winner, your name will be mentioned in the Certificate as the person who nominated the school.

We believe it our responsibility to take part in educating coming generations about the benefits of gardening and particularly growing your own food.

In the meantime, we hope you'll peruse this page where we share some of the responses and accolades our project has received ( including The U.S. Department of Education) along with the 2010 and 2011 winners lists. 2013 list coming soon!!

#171: Mike talks Gardening with Shawna Coronado

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In this week's episode Mike talks with gardening expert Shawna Coronado. A finalist for the Better Homes & Gardens top 5 gardening bloggers and key note speaker at the Chicago Home & Garden Show, Shawna will share all kinds of great tips, tricks and techniques on gardening.

Shawna will cover the various beneficial plants that can attract pollinators and how to arrange them in such a way to not not only make the garden productive but attractive. Shawna refers to this type as an ornamental edible garden.

Shawna will also talk about front yard gardens and the proper steps to take to make sure they are done right and not intrusive to your neighbors. Finally, Shawna and Mike will finish off the podcast talking about how you can take your many extra vegetables that you are growing and help those in need right in your area.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• Plants that attract pollinators
• Front Yard Gardens
• Ornamental Edibles
• Benefits of Beneficials
• Vegetables that are a top nutrition source
• Getting your community involved in gardening
• Donating a portion of your harvest
• Shawna's fence struggle

Items mentioned in this episode include:

• Shawna Coronado`s website
• How To Grow A Vegetable Garden In Shade – The Story Of a French Potager Kitchen Garden Gone Shade
• AmpleHarvest.org
• FoodPantries.org
• Front Lawn Vegetable Garden Design – Sun Ray Garden
• The Graffiti Experiment: Please Help Save My Fence
• Vote For ShawnaCoronado.com To Win the BHG Blogger Awards
• Chicago Flower & Garden Show
• Cocktail Gardening by Amy Stewart

About this week's Guest, Shawna Coronado:

Shawna Coronado is an author and professional photographer. She is also an on-camera spokesperson, newspaper columnist, internationally recognized keynote speaker, environmental and health correspondent with over eighteen years of experience with sales, marketing and public relations.

Shawna speaks internationally on building community, simple living, and green lifestyle tips for the everyday person as well as social media development. Most recently, she has lectured at TEDx and Google, discussing the benefits of green living for community. Shawna Coronado educates the online community on eco-travel, green-living tips, sustainable gardening, inexpensive cooking, home vegetable production, and techniques for every day homeowners to save money by being green and feed the hungry during a down-economy – all this right from her very own home and ornamental front lawn vegetable garden. Her goal with the blogs and online presence is to better the world through community involvement and simple green living.

Currently, Shawna has over 15,000+ followers on Twitter, over 50,000 followers on Google+, and over 5,000+ followers and subscribers on Facebook. She has more than 170 videos on YouTube and her videos have had more than a half million uploaded views on YouTube and continue to grow daily. Shawna is a CitySearch Guide and has written for dozens of online magazines including Better Homes and Gardens and ChicagoNow. She has been ghost blogging, tweeting, and writing for over five years for corporations and individuals across the internet.

Shawna appears regularly on national American TV. She has been featured on many news channels, including ABC News, WGN 9 News (Chicago), PBS TV – Growing A Greener World Episode 126, PBS TV – P. Allen Smith’s Garden To Table, WCIU TV, NBC News Dallas/Fort Worth, FOX News Albuquerque New Mexico, KOB TV New Mexico, Lawrence Media TV- LJWorld.com, Oklahoma Gardening TV, Local Access 10 TV, WGN Radio, The Mike Nowak Radio Show, The Chicken Whisperer Radio Show, Garden Life Radio, and More Hip Than Hippie. Ireland radio show features include Marty Whelan/RTE Lyric FM Radio Show, and Tom Dunne Morning Show on Newstalk 106 and is a regular guest on The Sodcast with Peter Donegan out of Dublin, Ireland. Special written features on Shawna can be found on CNN Health, Chicago Tribune Local, The Daily Herald, and other media spots all over the internet.

Turn a 2 liter plastic bottle into a Terrarium

Yesterday I posted on our vegetable gardening Facebook page 6 broccoli plants that I had started from seed inside a two liter plastic bottle (show above).  I received a number of emails, Facebook posts and so on as to how I did this.  Therefore I wanted to share it in this blog post.  It's pretty simple, and when done it creates a nice terrarium for starting your seeds and growing your plants.

You need a few basic items to make this work.  For starters, a plastic bottle.  I use two liter bottles, but three liter bottles would be better.  We just do not have many of them around here anymore.  If you are not someone that drinks anything from two liter bottles, do what I did.  Start visiting some of your neighbors recycle bins on recycle day (if you have that).  It's a great resource for getting these bottles.

Next you will need a pot to put your soil, seeds, plants etc. into.  I like to use Cowpots, so that when it is time to move your plants to the outdoors, I just plant the entire pot.

Some soil, and of course seeds.  You are ready to begin.

Start by cutting the bottle in half.  You might have to puncture a hole in the bottle first to get it going.  Once you do, cutting the bottle in half should be a breeze. 

Your bottle should look like the one pictured above.  Mine has been used already so that is why you see some dirt in there.

Fill your pot with your soil and seed, then place the pot inside the bottom half of your plastic bottle as shown above. 

Finally, take the top of the bottle and while slightly squeezing in the sides of the bottom of the bottle, place the top over the sides of the bottom as shown above.  Notice the cap is on top of the bottle.  You must leave this on otherwise all of the warm air in the bottle will escape.

And there you have it!  A nice little terrarium for your seeds made out of nothing more than a two liter plastic bottle.

#170: Mike talks with Heidi Kennedy of CrockPotLadies.com

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW In this week's episode Mike talks with crockpot cooking expert Heidi Kennedy. Heidi will share her many recipes that can be used by cooking with a slow cooker. The best part, many of the ingredients from these recipes can be grown right at home in your own vegetable garden. As a busy mom she is always looking for new ways to save time and money. Crock-pot cooking fits the bill and lets Heidi prepare warm and satisfying meals without slaving over a hot stove. In her spare time Heidi enjoys cooking (of course), reading, learning new things everyday, shopping, saving money, gardening and spending quality time with her family, friends and pets. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: Who are the crockpotladies and how they got their start Which slow cooker you should own Various recipes for slow cookers Growing herbs for your recipes, any time of the year Slow cooking safety Easy slow cooking cleanup tips Items mentioned in this episode include: CrockPotLadies.com Crockpotladies.com Pinterest Page SPECIAL PAGE for Listeners of this Podcast! Crockpotladies on Facebook Reynolds crockpot liners Crockpot Recipes Crockpotladies Blog Crock-Pot Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches Crockpot Veggie Loaded Spaghetti Sauce Cowboy Casserole Manly Meatloaf About this week's Guest, Heidi Kennedy: Hey everyone, we are the Crock-Pot Ladies, here to save the day with easy, fix it and forget it slow cooker recipes and inspiration. We are all busy moms with precious little time and rely heavily on our crock-pots to help us prepare yummy and healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) meals for our families and guests. Heidi Kennedy is a work at home mother of 5 children (ages 22, 16, 10 and 9 year old twins) and resides in Wyoming with her high-school sweetheart. As a busy mom she is always looking for new ways to save time and money. Crock-pot cooking fits the bill and lets Heidi prepare warm and satisfying meals without slaving over a hot stove. In her spare time Heidi enjoys cooking (of course), reading, learning new things everyday, shopping, saving money, gardening and spending quality time with her family, friends and pets.

How to Grow Arugula

I love an arugula salad sprinkled with some walnut pieces and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  The only thing that makes that salad any better is growing the arugula at home.  If you are not growing arugula, but like fresh leafy greens, what have you been waiting for?  Arugula is super simple to grow, and one pack of arugula seeds will grow you a boatload of this peppery flavored leafy green vegetable.

Arugula does grow best in cooler climates, so the best time to plant arugula in your area is when temps do not exceed 65 degrees for any lengthy period of time.  As a side note, arugula grows great indoors in a pot on a window sill.  

Because arugula grows well indoors, you can start it early while the weather outside may be too cold or snowy and then transplant your arugula outdoors.  Try not to sow your arugula seeds deeper than a quarter of an inch (six millimeters).  Arugula seeds are fairly small and may not be able to generate enough energy to push through the topsoil if it is buried too deep.

As soon as you can work your soil, and fear of frost has passed, you can transplant your arugula to its final growing spot.  The soil’s pH level should be 6.0 to 7.0, and the area should receive no less than 4 hours of sunlight daily.  

Space out your arugula plants at least six inches (fifteen centimeters).  You really do not need any more space than that.  Your arugula will fill it in nicely.  

Another great selling point of growing arugula is the fact that it requires very little nutrients to grow.  So simply give your arugula a watering with some manure or compost tea every couple of weeks or so.  Your arugula will get everything it needs from the soil, given you have been maintaining your soil properly with good composting methods.

If you want to know where arugula fits in with a crop rotation plan, I have read that arugula should avoid following plants of the cabbage family, although I have not verified that information with any other sources, so take it with a grain of salt.

When your arugula leaves are two to three inches, they are ready to harvest.  Simply snip off the arugula leaves and allow your plants to continue to grow.  Arugula tastes best when consumed fresh within an hour of harvesting (that is my opinion, not a scientific fact).

When it gets too hot, your arugula plants will bolt, producing flowers.  At that point the arugula leaves will be too bitter to eat (again, my opinion), but I have read that arugula flowers are edible, although I have not tried arugula flowers myself.

Some great arugula varieties to try are Astro, Rocket and Italian Wild.