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Posts Tagged ‘sunflower’

Protein-Rich Plants for the Vegetable Garden

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Earlier this week, Julie from Kirkland, WA wrote in to ask:

Sunflowers Feed Bees, Birds and People

“What plants can we most readily grow in the Pacific Northwest that provide high amounts of protein? I’d love to be able to grow my own protein in my garden. Thanks!”

What a great question! Usually, I focus my growing efforts on my favorite veggies, and although their nutritional value is important to me, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to the issue of protein values. Or, I hadn’t until I got this question. So, I had to give this one some thought. Let’s be clear here, I’m not a nutritionist. But, I can think of a few easy-to-grow items that pack a lot of protein. Read on for ideas:

(more…)

Tags: amaranth, bean, chili, edamame, garbanzo, hazelnut, legume, love lies bleeding, peanut, protein, protein-rich plants, sunflower, sunflower kernel, vegetable garden, vegetables
Posted in Edible Gardens | 3 Comments »

April Gardening Check List

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Rare are the weekends that I have both days to myself in my garden. Usually, I’m meeting with clients all day Saturday. This weekend a last minute emergency cancellation meant a Saturday to myself and for myself to just “be” in the garden. That meant I was able to get caught up on numerous tasks that are best completed this time of year, April, in the garden. Perhaps it’s time to start focusing on some of these tasks in your garden as well?

Hardening off: If you’ve been buying veggie starts (or even ornamental starts), hopefully you’ve confirmed whether they’ve been hardened off yet or not.
Brassicas Hardening Off in the Cold Frame

This refers to acclimating them to cooler outdoor temps from the coddling environment of the heated greenhouse. You can accomplish this at home by keeping starts in a cold frame (learn how to build one here), greenhouse or even hoop house. Or taking them outdoors for longer and longer periods of time over the course of several days, bringing them indoors for shorter and shorter protective periods during the coldest days and chilliest times of night.
Weeding: Even if you’ve been weeding all winter long and have a thick layer of mulch on the ground, odds are some wily weeds are popping up. I dug up several dandelion, shotweed and even a few tenacious dockweeds. Keep on top of them now to make life easier later when they’re stronger, have seeded and the ground gets hard as rains begin to wane.
Cutting back: Haven’t gotten out in the garden yet and finished cleaning up from last winter? You might want to hurry up. Most perennials have already put on some hefty growth. Ferns are unfurling. As delicate growth takes off, it can be difficult to cut back dead or winter-beaten parts of the plant to show off the beauty of the new spring growth. What makes this difficult is the new, tender, succulent growth can get in the way. When I cut back the last of my sword ferns over the weekend, for instance, I accidentally snipped off at least one tender new frond as it was unfurling – bummer! (more…)

Tags: aphid, bee, brassica, broccoli, cabbage looper, cabbage pest, carrot, carrot fly, cauliflower, chard, cold frame, european cabbage worm, gardening with children, goldfish, grass, Greenhouse, hardening off, honeybee, hoop house, horticultural fleece, IPM, lawn, lettuce, mosquito, mowing, Mulch, perennials, Pruning, radish, row cover, scale, seeds, spring garden, sucking insects, sunflower, tomatoes, vegetable garden, water feature
Posted in Gardening | 1 Comment »

Another Reason to Love a Sunflower

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

This just in: Ethanol may soon be derived from sunflowers.

Sunny Sunflower

Okay, “soon” may be hopeful, but the idea is out there, and it’s pretty exciting for a number of reasons — not the least of which is envisioning a field of sunflowers replacing dirty oil pumping stations around the world.

So let’s see…instead of growing more and more corn, which depletes the soil (among other things), for fuel, farmers may be planting field-after-field with bright, sunshiny sunflowers to produce energy. The plants are pest and drought-resistant — aka less pesticide use and less water required. The big, fat flowers are favorites of bees, which need a much help as they can get these days. And, really, sunflowers grow just about anywhere there’s sun. So no war required?

Where today’s VW Beetle drivers are popping flowers in a tiny vase on the dashboard, tomorrow’s drivers may be popping flower (derivatives) into the tank! Once again, yay for flowers!

Tags: alternative fuel, ethanol, sunflower
Posted in Food for Thought | No Comments »