Growing your own

A place to discuss health and fitness, healthy diets. A fit body makes for a fit mind.
User avatar
Kim OHara
Posts: 5584
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:47 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Growing your own

Post by Kim OHara »

Good thread, Ben!
Just a few random comments:
We don't put much effort into growing food (too lazy :tongue: ) but do compost our garden and kitchen waste. Compost won't attract rodents if you don't put meat scraps into it (no problem there if you're a veggo household, of course). We get tomatoes popping up in the garden from our compost, and look after them when and where they grow; pumpkin and melons occasionally, but they take up so much space we often have to pull them out.
We do grow herbs. Lemongrass is low-maintenance and makes my favourite herbal tea.
We also grow bananas. It's very easy here but not practical unless you have the right climate.
Poto: congratulations on a great gardening effort! Yes, narrower beds are easier on your back. No, you don't need to turn your compost, but it does take longer to 'work' if you don't turn it. There are books on different ways of making compost; could be worth investigating.
Ben: Basil grows well with tomatoes and discourages pests. It goes well with tomatoes in food, too, so you get a double bonus. You might like to look up 'companion planting' if you haven't come across the idea already.
:namaste:
Kim
User avatar
poto
Posts: 369
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 3:21 am

Re: Growing your own

Post by poto »

Thanks Kim. If I leave my compost sit too long it gets some kinda funky gray/white powdery mold stuff in the middle. I think it's from heat or dryness or both. Anyway, as long as I keep turning it and add some water it doesn't get the moldy stuff. This was not really much of an issue when I only had 1 pile, but the more piles I get the more work it is.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis
lojong1
Posts: 607
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: Growing your own

Post by lojong1 »

Kim O'Hara wrote:Compost won't attract rodents if you don't put meat scraps into it.
Wouldn't they love all the extra worms and snakes and insects and such?
User avatar
Kim OHara
Posts: 5584
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:47 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Growing your own

Post by Kim OHara »

lojong1 wrote:
Kim O'Hara wrote:Compost won't attract rodents if you don't put meat scraps into it.
Wouldn't they love all the extra worms and snakes and insects and such?
Apparently not.
We let some of our compost break down aerobically (just pile it up and leave it alone) and some anaerobically (in lidded bottomless plastic bins, with added water). We get few insects the first way and lots of cockroaches but not much else the second way. Never any snakes, never any rats. Maybe our neighbours have better places for them to set up house?
:shrug:
Kim
User avatar
Rui Sousa
Posts: 366
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Growing your own

Post by Rui Sousa »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Apparently not.
We let some of our compost break down aerobically (just pile it up and leave it alone) and some anaerobically (in lidded bottomless plastic bins, with added water). We get few insects the first way and lots of cockroaches but not much else the second way. Never any snakes, never any rats. Maybe our neighbours have better places for them to set up house?
:shrug:
Kim
I pile my compost on the garden soil, in a corner, and move twice a year. I have a few worms and other little insects. No rats or snakes, but my two dogs and my neighbour's 1o.ooo cats probably demote such animals from approaching the compost pile.

I had a hedgehog in the garden last year, but it was after my tulip bulbs :D
With Metta
User avatar
greenthumb
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:10 pm
Location: Oregon, West Coast USA

Re: Growing your own

Post by greenthumb »

Most of my food I can, except for the winter garden which consists of collards, chard, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onions, diakon radish, beets, turnips, kale, carrots, oregano, and parsley. Instead of going to the store, I go out to the garden daily and pick what I want to eat. I love this freedom! Summer garden, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peppers, beans, peas, green melons, squash, pumpkins, raspberries, apples, and all of the above winter crop which continues to grow through the seasons. I save the seeds when they go to seed and grow my next years garden. Growing my own food and preserving it is a full time job the constant work have gotten me back into shape and also healed some chronic health problems. I love our chickens, we have two roosters! I eat my hen's eggs, hatch their babies in incubators in the spring, and also kill and eat my chickens. My husband is a meat eater and I refuse to buy meat from the industrial grid for ethical and health reasons. I buy the rest of our meat from a local butcher who only buys meat from local small organic ranches. I know most Buddhist frown on killing, but I'm not a monk or nun and I figure the killing part of sila has to do with murder/rituals done by the Brahmins for profit rather than killing animals for food (very hot topic which I don't want to debate, I came to this view after years of struggle) Where I live I would have a very rough time growing enough protein rich foods to live totally off the grid, which is my goal. If our industrial food grid fails for what ever reason, I will need to eat what grows in my area. Plus buying food in my area supports local farmers and cuts down on energy expenditure. This year we raised and sold 60 pullets and I butchered and canned 40 roosters. Our established flock consists of 2 roosters, Buff Brahmas, and 11 hens, 2 older hens and the remaining hens are this years pullets. All our left over food waste and garden produce go to feed the chickens and this cuts back on the feed costs. This year I am trying to grow enough food to feed my chickens and my husband plus a family of four...I donate some of my food to our local food bank. Cool thing with chickens, all their poop goes into our garden which produces pumper crops! It's a beautiful cycle, nothing goes to waste and an age old relationship between domesticated animals and humans is respected.
Last edited by greenthumb on Thu Nov 07, 2013 3:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Form is like a glob of foam; feeling, a bubble; perception, a mirage; fabrications, a banana tree; consciousness, a magic trick this has been taught by the Kinsman of the Sun. Phena Sutta: Foam
SarathW
Posts: 21184
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: Growing your own

Post by SarathW »

Ben wrote:Hi Rui Sousa

I never had much luck with tomatoes either. However, I hope to have some luck this year. I purchased six seedlings from a hardware store and some of those I've kept indoors for about a month while the weather warms a little. I've also got about 100 seeds in a germination tray, but I'm concerned that it might be a bit late for them. The main issue I've had with tomatoes have been insects which have had a feast of the leaves or the crop. I'm not inclined to use pesticide.
Some years ago when i was living in Melboune, I had a vegetable garden in my backyard. I grew some 'heirloom' varieties of carrots which were great. Lots of unusual shapes and different coloured carrots from white to purple. Lots of flavour. Some were more woody then others - though that could have been the poor soil and trying to grow vegetables during a drought!
Yesterday I planted approx 32 potato seeds (kipfler and desiree), 3 golden nugget pumpkin seedlings, capsicum, chilli, eggplant and bok choi.
kind regards

Ben
Hi Ben
Three years since you post above reply. Do you have any luck with tomato?
Plant a marigold flower to repel insects.
Last year I had a good tomato crop. I froze them and still plenty left until next harvest.
Looks like I am going to have another good crop this year too!
:)
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Growing your own

Post by Ben »

I'm glad to hear it Sarath.
I'm not sure what happened to last year's crop. My work contract finished before harvest so I don't know what was successful.
I haven't planted anything in my own yard because of its aspect. However, I might put n some melon seeds and see of they come up. I might also plant some pumpkins.
Kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
Kim OHara
Posts: 5584
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:47 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Growing your own

Post by Kim OHara »

Ben wrote:I'm glad to hear it Sarath.
I'm not sure what happened to last year's crop. My work contract finished before harvest so I don't know what was successful.
I haven't planted anything in my own yard because of its aspect. However, I might put n some melon seeds and see of they come up. I might also plant some pumpkins.
Kind regards,
Ben
Ben,
I'm sure you can do that. In fact, I'm sure you can do far more than that.
My Greek neighbours in inner-city Melbourne - tiny concrete back yard with high walls all round except where their two storey house blocked the light - grew so much stuff they used to give away the surplus. Melons and zucchinis were trained all the way up the back of the house, while tomatoes, pumpkins, corn, spinach, lemons and heaps of other stuff grew in tubs and big pots. All it takes is time, energy and a willingness to learn.
Pro tip: find a middle-aged Greek or Italian immigrant and make friends!
Disclaimer: I don't actually do that much myself in spite of having far better conditions. I'm (very slowly) working on it, though.

:namaste:
Kim
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Growing your own

Post by Ben »

Thanks, Kim.
Yeah, I used to have an elderly Greek gentleman as a friend and mentor when I lived in Yarraville. He turned his entire front and backyard into growing zones and he used to give me his surplus plums from some heritage variety that he planted in the 1950s. I should get back Into it and tame our block.
Kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
greenthumb
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:10 pm
Location: Oregon, West Coast USA

Re: Growing your own

Post by greenthumb »

This years harvest wasn't as good as last year. I think my problem was I didn't water enough. However we grew enough food to avoid shopping for most of the winter. I have a pretty good winter gardening going, so no need to go to the store for fresh greens. We live up on the foothills of the Cascade range here in Oregon. It freezes, but not very hard. I don't use any pesticide except for Diatomaceous earth and tobacco tea I grow and brew myself. So I know who touched my food and what went into it, everything is organic and I feel so much healthier.

I found tending to my garden very much like meditating at home. I really don't want to weed or water most days, I feel the same way about sitting, but I do it because I like the independence growing my own food gives me. Meditation also gives me independence, I am not so pulled this way and that way by my feelings, it's not so easy to manipulate me and I can stand back and watch my thoughts, and emotions without falling into them all the time. Being middle aged also helps, getting older you just don't care so much about the little stuff that used to bother you. Plus gardening is a great workout too, no need to go to the gym.
Attachments
Cannedgoods.jpg
Cannedgoods.jpg (32.56 KiB) Viewed 3866 times
Form is like a glob of foam; feeling, a bubble; perception, a mirage; fabrications, a banana tree; consciousness, a magic trick this has been taught by the Kinsman of the Sun. Phena Sutta: Foam
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Growing your own

Post by Ben »

Sounds great, Greenthumb!
I like the photo, too.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
greenthumb
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:10 pm
Location: Oregon, West Coast USA

Re: Growing your own

Post by greenthumb »

@Ben thank you kindly. After 3 years of working a garden and eating totally organic, mostly veggies, very little meat, sugar or grains, my husband is the meat eater in the family. I can walk without pain. Prior to this I was in constant pain and refused to take medication after years of trying to find medicine that would help my pain/fatigue and heal the body. Nothing seemed to help except make me feel even worse. I wanted to see how much food I could grow, I am telling you, chicken poop is an amazing fertilizer! This has been one of the hardest, tedious, patience testing and also most joyful things I've experienced for a long time.
Attachments
harvest.jpg
harvest.jpg (34.5 KiB) Viewed 3842 times
Form is like a glob of foam; feeling, a bubble; perception, a mirage; fabrications, a banana tree; consciousness, a magic trick this has been taught by the Kinsman of the Sun. Phena Sutta: Foam
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Growing your own

Post by Ben »

Thank Greenthumb.
I actually went on a whole foods plant based diet a few months ago. The scientific evidence of the health benefits of whole food plant based diet is becoming incontrovertible. It is also consistent with Buddhist ethics. As for growing your own, with me you are speaking to the converted.
Kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
greenthumb
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:10 pm
Location: Oregon, West Coast USA

Re: Growing your own

Post by greenthumb »

Thank you @Ben. I'm not preaching just sharing my recovery. My husband also has recovered his health and lost 20lbs on his organic whole food diet. I've had to struggle finding a compromise that both of us can enjoy. That's also been a growing experience. Since I was starting a dublicate thread I was directed to post on yours. I'm glad you also have found a way to health! This way of living close to the land and very simply has been a wonderful compliment to our Dhamma practice. Some beans I dried for next years garden. I did an edit and posted from my computer. Can't post pictures from my iphone, blasted thing is broken anyway ....sigh.
Attachments
Beans.jpg
Beans.jpg (49.1 KiB) Viewed 3788 times
Last edited by greenthumb on Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
Form is like a glob of foam; feeling, a bubble; perception, a mirage; fabrications, a banana tree; consciousness, a magic trick this has been taught by the Kinsman of the Sun. Phena Sutta: Foam
Post Reply