#181: Mike interviews Niki Jabbour Author of Groundbreaking Food Gardens

In this week's episode, Mike interviews Niki Jabbour. Niki is the author of the new book Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden as well as the host of the radio The Weekend Gardener, which airs every Sunday on News 95.7 FM out of Nova Scotia. Niki is a prolific garden writer whose work appears in newspapers and magazines across North America, including Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Heirloom Gardener, Gardens East, Garden Making and Canadian Gardening. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: Get to know Niki Growing fresh food year round About Groundbreaking Food Gardens Great garden plans for kids Wildlife gardens Pizza gardens Cocktail gardens Small space gardening ideas Niki's garden radio show Items mentioned in this episode include: Niki Jabbour The Year Round Vegetable Gardener Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden Niki on Twitter Niki on Facebook The Year Round Vegetable Gardener Blog Mac's Field Guide About this week's Guest, Niki Jabbour, author of Groundbreaking Food Gardens: Niki's new book, Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans that Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden was published by Storey Publishing in March 2014. According to Niki, this book was "incredibly fun to write" and involved Niki chasing down some of her favourite garden writers, bloggers and experts who then created an edible garden plan for the book. The book includes a very wide assortment of garden plans - fruits, berries, veggies, herbs, edible flowers and much more. Contributors include Mark Cullen, Marjorie Harris, Liz Primeau, Jessica Walliser, Steven Biggs, Joe Lamp'l, Barbara Pleasant, Debra Prinzing, Amy Stewart and Susan Morrison, Amanda Thomson, Jeff Lowenfels, Jessi Bloom, Nan Sterman, Paul Zammit and many many more! Niki is also the host of The Weekend Gardener, a call-in radio show that has been on the air for over 8 years! You can join Niki every Sunday from 11 to 1 pm Atlantic time on News 95.7 FM, New 91.9 FM or News 88.9 FM or listen live online at www.news957.com. You can follow Niki's gardening adventures at http://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com or on facebook at The Weekend Gardener with Niki Jabbour page.
Previous Podcast Episodes #180: Mike interviews LaManda Joy the founder of the Peterson Garden Project #179: Mike interviews Helen Yoest the author of Plants with Benefits #178: Mike interviews P. Allen Smith Giving us His Best Garden Tips and Talks Heritage Chickens #177: Mike talks Fertilizers, Soil Amendments and School Gardens with Cindy Rajhel #176: Mike talks Small Space Gardening with author Stacey Hirvela

Veggie Gardening Roundup

Everyday I scour the internet, reading various articles on gardening.  I have decided to do a weekly round up of some of the best ones I find each week that I believe will be helpful to you.  Check these out.  A lot of great information here.

1. Have You Thinned Your Vegetables? In this article, written by author Marie Iannotti you are sure to find some great information on thinning your vegetables.  Thinning your vegetables is an important step in the gardening process to make sure your vegetables have the space necessary to grow to full maturity.  The article has a link to a list of which vegetables you should be thinning. 
2.  Time for garden container planting  Nestled among the pages of the Sharing Nature's Garden blog, are some wonderful container gardening photos that you are sure to find helpful, especially if you are limited on space, and container gardening is your thing.
3.  Strawberry Planting Ideas From An Irish Goat Farm - If you were thinking about adding strawberries to your gardening plans, be sure to check out Shawna Coronado's article these strawberry planting ideas she picked up from a trip she took back in 2010.  (She's always going to the coolest places)

 

It's Chicken Season Over At Mike's Place

On April 10th, 2014, I took the plunge into the world of raising chickens.  

My chicks - I now have 6

Ok actually, I made the decision many, many months before that, but it was the date mentioned above, when the baby chicks arrived at my house.

Let me clearly state in this article with the absolute, 100% verifiable and indisputable fact, I am new to raising chickens and have 0% experience.  So if I write something that I am doing wrong or something that can be done better, by all means let me know in the comments.  I need all of the help I can get.

The chicks getting a drink of water and others eating

Sure, I have read plenty of books, and watched loads of great chicken videos on YouTube, but until you jump into something and actually have to do it, it's simply not the same.  I am sure you can attest to that with something in your own life.

I am excited, but at the same time a bit nervous.  I grow vegetables, fruits and herbs and have been for more than 30 years.  It has become second nature to me to garden.  Raising chickens on the other hand is a whole new life experience.  But, I did get reminded in a recent podcast I conducted with author Cindy Rajhel, that sometimes you simply need to get out of your comfort zone.  

My son getting acquainted with our new chickens

Keeping chickens to me is a great, "out of the comfort zone" experience.  But I am not tackling that experience empty handed, or without some experienced people in my corner.

I follow a great page on Facebook called Fresh Eggs Daily.  The page is run by experienced chicken keeper, Lisa Steele, who authored the book Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy Healthy Chickens.  I also had the opportunity to interview her in episode #160 of the podcast, where I got to ask her all kinds of great questions on keeping chickens.

The chicks are staying warm under the EcoGlow20

I have found that every time I have had a question, I post it on the Fresh Eggs Daily page, and that question is answered fairly quickly.  There are a number of great pages, blogs and websites out there for learning about raising chickens, too many to put in a single blog post, so feel free to share your favorite in the comments below.  I definitely want to check them out.

The chicks making a mad dash for the EcoGlow

All of the pictures that you see are of my little chicks and how I currently have them residing in my house until they are big enough to move outside to their coop that I built for them.

I am pretty excited, because now, not only do I get to share with you great photos from the garden, I get to share the growing progress of my chickens.  Can't Wait!

P.S. A big shout out to Annie Haven, whose email I was filling up with pictures from Tractor Supply as I was walking down their aisles, making sure I was buying the right items (some items shown in the pictures).  It was like having chicken tech support in real time :)

They won't be this size forever, so I am enjoying it!

Lycopene, Home Grown Tomatoes and Your Health

 

Home Grown Tomatoes

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal researchers showed that men who consumed high levels of the antioxidant, Lycopene, reduced the chance of a stroke by 55%.  The study conducted in Finland, included 1,031 particpants, all male, ranging in ages of 42 to 61.

Lycopene is an antioxidant found primarily in tomatoes but can also be found in watermelon, grapefruit, papaya and mango.

According to the USDA, tomatoes are the number one plant grown in the home vegetable garden in the United States by more than 5 to 1 of it's next closest competitor, the pepper or cucumber, depending on which survey you read.  That translates into a lot of people "growing" their own lycopene right at home.

"Lycopene is a carotenoid compound that accounts for the red color in tomatoes. It is the most abundant form of carotenoids (of a total of 600) in the US diet," says Dr. Lori Shemek the health expert for ABC's Good Morning Texas.  "The bioavailability of lycopene is increased following cooking. And so cooked tomato products have higher levels of lycopene than raw. - This is because the cooking process breaks down the cell walls of the tomato which makes the lycopene more available"

According to Dr. Shemek, who also authored the book Fire up your Fat Burn, she says lycopene is so powerful because it has been shown to protect against degenerative diseases by neutralizing free radicals in a person's body.  "Lycopene may help prevent DNA damage in the cells and help the cells to function better," continues Dr. Shemek.  "High levels of lycopene, in the blood and fatty tissues, correlate with reduced risk of cancers, heart disease and macular degeneration. The human body cannot produce lycopene so it must be obtained from food sources."

While no studies currently exist showing if lycopene levels are higher or lower in home grown tomatoes compared to store bought ones, no one can disagree with how easy they are to grow at home, and taste much better.

When I asked Dr. Shemek how much lycopene one can expect to get from a tomato, she said that one fresh tomato accounts for about 4mg, where as a cooked tomato can be as high as 25mg.  Leading to a fact that such items as tomato soup and sauces will yield higher levels of this powerful antioxidant.

Because lycopene is a cartenoid and phytonutrient found in red fruits there are other options than tomatoes.  Along with the four mentioned earlier, you will find lycopene in various quantities in guavas, red cabbage, and chili peppers.  Just think red, think fresh and you are sure to get a good supply of this healthy fighter.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us. Be sure to join Mike`s vegetable seeds mailing list.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club: