The first day of spring has come and gone, but it still feels like winter here in New England. I wanted to start turning the garden beds, but they are still a bit too frozen. I did see some sluggish worms around, so that is a good sign. The science project is just booming though. The lettuce has sprouted and the mortgage lifter heirloom tomatoes are starting to come up as well.
www.gardengirltv.comI spent last week in Georgia shooting with the Farmers Almanac TV folks. What a great season we have in store for you. We shot so much stuff, check out the pictures and the article from the shoot. I am so proud to represent this show. While I was there, the head of the company allowed me to help design and plant his garden too.
Speaking of new gardens, I have highlighted a couple of blogs in this newsletter including Lylah Ledner's blog as she has been tracking her husband progress on building their garden. I also saw what is developing into a nice new blog, Needles and Chard. Check out the article below.
More videos for you are up and about and the network has now crossed over 100,000 views in just 3 months, thanks to you!
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb
"The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something for the good of the world." -- Vita Sackville-West
Farmers' Almanac Posts my Rabbit Recipe
Check out www.farmersalmanac.com, where my new Rabbit Recipe video is available. People often over look rabbit as a food. I first got into it when I went to a fancy french restaurant and tried it and was hooked. It is good for you, has practically no fat or cholesterol, and is easy to cook like poultry. Try it out, I'm sure you will be hooked too!
Also check out these two great blogs, Sinofian's and Judy's square foot Gardening blogs, at www.ft2garden.com. I like them both because they post often, and Richie(sinofian) is a new gardener so I like to check out how he approaches the art and pastime of gardening. He is doing great and Judy is helping him along. Check them both out, I have been reading them religiously.
The Garden Girl Network Continues to Grow
The Garden Girl TV Network has crossed over 100,000 views! Wow, I need to say that again, we have over 100,000 views. How cool is that? This is the number when you add up all the views at the dozens of sites that I post at. My channel at 5min.com has exploded and the youtube channel has been the spot for comments. Help me out by posting comments and giving my videos ratings.
Ripe TomatoClick and share on the videos below:
Nightshades: Tomato and Potato:
Organic Fly Trap:
All Natural Products It's Great Stuff, Try it!
Use discount code GGTV for 10% off of your 1st on-line purchase. Check out the website at: gardengirlskincare.com
Please continue to share my videos and website with everyone. Thank you all again, from the sustainable home front. And don't forget it all started in a garden...
Besos(kisses),
Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl
This years Garden has begun!
I am so excited, I have started my seeds for my Roxbury Garden '08. This year
I planted a crazy amount of lettuce. Lettuce is something my family eats daily
and my neighbors really dig it at my farmstand. Since my other name is tomato
lady, this year I planted yellow pear, bloody butcher and of course Mortgage Lifter.
But the cool thing is, I have started them in my little or no maintenance, superduper
science project part two. Check out the article and pictures below. This thing
is super cool.
The garden girl network has been growing very quickly. 84,000 views and growing by an average of 1000 views a day. Also got some nice coverage on some new websites and blogs, and two new videos are available, Cucumbers and Milk Paint. You tube recently featured my video, Simple Easy compost on their How-to page. Please check out the You tube channel(www.youtube.com/gardengirltv) and rate my videos there and leave comments. This helps the you tube editors promote the videos. Thank you.
Check out www.farmersalmanac.com, they are starting a new redesign, and they have featured my recipe for "Rabbit in Wine Sauce". Check out the video, it is a great tasting recipe. Last but not least, I am bringing back "blogs, websites and stuff I like". Learn more about them below.
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb
The Science Project Grows
Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red Carpet
Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red CarpetI have been so happy with my original aquaponic science project I have grown it again. It is clear that to use a system like this, past a cool novelty, I had to grow it into something truly useful. For me that was turning it into a no maintenance seed starting system.
Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red CarpetIt is the coolest thing ever. After weeks of trial and lots of error and leaks I finally have the system up and running. The cool part about this is that there is little or no maintenance at all. Last years system required daily watering which sometimes I'd forget. I probably lost ten percent of my plants to forgetting to water. Well, those days are over. Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red Carpet
This system is running the equivalent of 14 seed starting trays which is over 700 seedlings every four weeks or 2100 seedlings for my growing season. From a market garden perspective that is six thousand dollars worth of plants. So far I have started tomatoes, cilantro, cotton, Chinese Chives and over 100 marigolds. Some how I don't feel like I have enough.
The Network Grows!
Garden Girl TV, continues to grow super fast. We have over 84,000 views which is amazing. Comments have been positive and lots of people have written me about the projects. People have built raised beds, chicken tractors, started their own square foot gardens with info used from the network. It is a very gratifying feeling.
I have released two new videos, so click on them below and share!
Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red Carpet
Cucumbers: They are my families number one favorite. I love to grow heirloom varieties. The flavors are unique and make gardening truly special. Why plant what you can buy in the store? Check out the videos and the Heirloom plants I grew this year.
Patti, Rob and Beecher on the Red CarpetMilk Paint: I always wondered how paints were made before latex and oil bases. It turns it out it was milk paint. How cool is that? Check out my video
and www.milkpaint.com.
My new science seed starting project is working better then I thought. The way I can tell a garden system works, is by seeing if stuff is still living when I come back from a trip. There are zones of hardiness, and in my world, when my husband and daughter are left maintain something and it survives, then it is super hardy. I would almost describe it as fool proof(not that my husband and daughter are fools, but you know what I'm trying to say.)
This year I trimmed down what I am planting. Because I am testing the limits to the tiny urban market garden. I am only planting the stuff that my family enjoys and will be a quick seller. So I have planted: Three varieties of lettuce, Four Season, Radiccio, a Caesar Blend, and some head lettuce as well.
For tomatoes I have planted heirloom varieties of Bloody Butcher, Yellow Pear and the biggest seller of all time Mortgage Lifter. The story of how the Mortgage Lifter tomato got it's name is from a farmer who made so much money selling the tomatoes during the depression of the 1930's he was able to pay off his mortgage! In today's economy, who doesn't want to grow and eat something to lift their mortgage?
I still haven't added fish to the system yet, because I want the plants to get established a bit more so they can purify the water before I add any new fish. Originally I was planning to add Goldfish, or a food fish like bass or tilapia, but now I'm considering raising Koi. Large Koi can be worth lots of money, and since this year I am working on my "Profits from your Backyard Urban Garden" video (working title) , what better profit fish could there be then ornamentals like Koi. A single fish can be worth well over a thousand dollars. It isn't sustainable, per se, but Permaculture principles do state that you should make profits from your endeavors. I can almost imagine next year's farm stand.
Great Times Shooting with Farmers Almanac TV
I have finished shooting my first national TV show! Wow. I was very nervous at first, because it is a great responsibility to being the host of television show based on a brand that iswww.gardengirltv.com 190 years old! But it went great. I would like to thank the great staff at Farmers Almanac TV, Billy, Michael, Mickey, Paul, and Renee as well as Greg and Tom for putting up with me and helping me grow so to speak as a television presenter and the amazing opportunity. I would also like to thank Sandi Duncan and Peter Geiger from Farmers Almanac Publications for including my article in the 2009 edition of the Almanac due out this August. This is starting to sound like my Emmy speech so I will stop and move on to talk about some of the great stories we will be bringing to you next season ;).
We feature stories on Green Roofs in Chicago. Just watching that story makes me want to start building my own roof gardens. It will have to wait until next year, but it could triple the size of my garden and be great stuff for my video series. It is a great must see green story. We also do a story on a farmer and author who is dear to my heart Joel Salatin. I first became aware of Joel when I read a forward he wrote to Patricia Foreman and Andy Lee's book Chicken Tractor. We also have stories on Greening the Desert, which could end hunger through out the planet.
While I was there in Georgia shooting I was on morning television, photographed for the South Magazine and did a little cooking in a gorgeous restaurant pictured here. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back and shoot the next season!
Blogs I Have Been Reading
One of the things I get the greatest pleasure out of is helping inspire people to build their own gardens and live sustainably. Check out this blog: Lylah Ledner. This blog tracks Lylah Ledner and her Garden Guy's progress building their garden, and I have to say they are doing a great job. He has the whole family involved, from Grand Kids to inlaws. It has a really nice style to it, and he is working on a irrigation system that hopefully they will post pics of soon as that is one of my projects for this season and I am dying to see how he does it. Check it out leave them a comment.
Another great new(new to me) blog is Needles and Chard, she is raising chickens for the first time, and man they are super cute. Her brooder system even has a roost in it. I hope she puts up pics of the great brooder system.
And last but not least for this week Cooking Up A Story. This is a great site and this week they have a interview with the author Michael Pollan, author of the Omnivore's Dilemma. What a great eyeopening video, you should check it out too.
Speaking of new gardens, I have highlighted a couple of blogs in this newsletter including Lylah Ledner's blog as she has been tracking her husband progress on building their garden. I also saw what is developing into a nice new blog, Needles and Chard. Check out the article below.
