Any enthusiastic gardener will tell you that gardening is food for the soul. Gardening stirs your imagination to be creative. It provides some fun along with physical exercise, fresh air, and sunlight. In addition, there is the delight of seeing the seedlings sprout, flowers bloom, picking fresh fruit, harvesting vegetables and having fresh herbs at your disposal.
An added bonus is seeing a variety of butterflies, birds, and frogs you attract to your garden. These are just some of the joys of gardening and creating a well-balanced ecosystem around you. So today we will discuss the importance of keeping your garden pest free and how to attract butterflies as well as providing a well-balanced eco-system for them.
“Every garden is an individual expression of creativity. So! You think you‘re not creative. Well, plant a garden and you may find out that you are far more creative than you thought.”
RE-GROWING YOUR OWN HERBS AND VEGETABLES:
Did you know that there are many herbs and vegetables that you can easily regrow repeatedly from your kitchen scraps? So in future don’t be in too much of a hurry to discard those veggies and herbs you are cleaning.
1. Basil
Put a few basil clippings with 10 cm stems in a glass of water, in direct sunlight. When the roots are about 5 cm long, plant them in pots.
2. Bok Choy
Just like romaine lettuce, bok choy can be regrown by placing the root end in water in a welllit area. In a week or two, transplant it into a pot with soil and grow a full new head.
3. Carrot Greens
The ends of carrots you usually chop off and throw away will grow carrot greens if you put them in a dish with a little water. Place the dish on a well-lit windowsill and you’ll have carrot tops to use as a garnish or in salads. I actually planted mine outside and after the first year they regrew some carrots.
4. Celery
Did you know that you can grow another complete celery stalk from the bottom piece that you cut off and throw away? Rinse it off and place it in a small saucer or bowl of warm water, on or near a sunny windowsill with the cut stalks upright. Change the water every second day. After 5 – 7 days you will see the celery start to regrow from the center. Now it can be planted in good soil, in a sunny spot and watered well.
5. Cilantro
Like basil, cilantro will grow roots if the stems are placed in a glass of water. Once the roots are long enough, (several cm) plant them in a pot. In a few weeks, new shoots will start, and in a few months, you’ll have a full plant.
6. Fennel
Place the white root end in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny place i.e. a kitchen windowsill. The green leafy part of the plant will continue to form shoots. When you want to use some, just snip off what you need from the green growth and leave the white root end in water to keep growing. Freshen up the water each week or so, and you won‘t have to buy fennel again.
7. Garlic
Rather than throwing away sprouted cloves, you can put them in a glass with a little water and grow garlic sprouts. The sprouts have a much milder flavour than garlic cloves and are great in salads, pasta, or as a garnish.
What can you grow?
If you don’t try you will never know!