Attainable Sustainable

Considering Water in the Garden

Raise your hand if you turn on the hose to water your garden when it’s thirsty. I suspect that most of us do at least some of the time, but that may not be the best way to hydrate your plants. For years, municipalities have been adding chlorine to water supplies to make it safe for drinking. At a recent community event I learned that our municipal water provider has switched over to something called chloramine, and other municipalities are embracing chloramine as well. The difference is this: the chlorine in water will dissipate if you leave a container of water uncovered for a few hours. Chloramine cannot be removed from water by boiling, distilling, or by standing uncovered. Both of these treatments kill bacteria and microorganisms in our household water, making it safe for use. Here’s the rub: Good healthy soil is home to lots of living bacteria and microorganisms. It stands to reason that water that’s been treated to kill off bacteria in our drinking water might also kill off the good bacteria in our soil, making it harder and harder to maintain healthy soil. What to do? You’ll need to determine if you feel the chemicals in the water are...

Genetic Modification – A Concern for All of Us

Blah, blah, blah, GMO. Blah, GMO, blah, blah, blah. A friend recently told me that “GMO” has become a buzzword to her, something she tunes out when she sees it come across her computer screen. It was when she saw Robyn O’Brien’s TEDxAustin video that it kind of clicked for her. Banned in so many other countries? Potentially causing disease? Making us sick? If you live in the USA, these scientifically altered crops are in the food you eat and you might not even know it. Buzz word or not, it’s time we all started paying attention. So what exactly is a GM seed? GM seeds (also called ‘GMO’ – genetically modified organisms – and ‘transgenic’) are often confused with hybrid seeds. In fact, some people claim that hybridization is just another form of genetic modification. Not exactly. In a nutshell, here’s the difference: Non-hybrid seeds (think: heirloom or open pollinated varieties) can be saved and replanted from year to year and the resulting fruit remains “true to seed.” In other words, that funny little tomato you remember from grandma’s garden? If you planted seeds saved from that tomato, you’d get the same fruit today. Hybrid seeds are the product of cross-breeding two...

"Growing your own food is like printing your own money."

One of the quirky, fun things about Hawai‘i is its abundance of roadside produce stands. These stands offer a variety of fruits in season, like mango, liliko‘i (passion fruit), papaya, avocado, and more. Just about all of the island roadside stands have one thing in common: the honor system. Customers are invited to take the fruit they like, so long as they deposit the correct amount of cash in the receptacle left explicitly for that purpose. Sometimes the stands are nothing more than a box of avocados with a sign, but this one near Akaka Falls on Hawai‘i Island is a stunner. I just love it.

I have to admit I felt a little silly transplanting a purslane plant from my neighbors yard into my own. You see, until recently, I had no idea that this “weed” was edible. Here’s how it looked: In early spring I’d prepare my garden beds, plant seeds of lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and bok choy, wait for them to sprout, hope the snails didn’t get them, curse these thriving weeds with teardrop shaped leaves, and pull them out. The plant itself is very pretty – low growing and non-invasive – but it just didn’t belong there, in my garden. Sure, now it seems silly. My purslane is now thriving, mingling freely with beets and tomatillos. I’ve added the leaves to salads and smoothies and nobody around here has complained. The leaves are somewhat succulent with a mild flavor. (Not fuzzy and offensive on the tongue like uncooked dandelion greens.) And according to Mother Earth News, Purslane contains high amounts of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid generally found in vegetables, as well as small amounts of EPA and DHA, omega-3 fatty acids more commonly found in fish. It’s also high in vitamins A, C and E, and in dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium,...

Experimenting with wintertime gardening, I planted Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green onions, and beets a couple of months ago. You can see the brassicas (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower) in the upper left corner of the photo near the pile of compost. They’re pretty happy; I need to thin them out. In the foreground are the beets, green onions, and celery I planted along with – surprise! – some volunteers: tomatillo, a tomato, cilantro, and purslane. I have tons of volunteer cilantro. A closer look. It’s a small experimental bed, but it’s cram packed with stuff. I’m thinking of just letting nature take its course. An even closer look. I’ve never grown celery from seed, but you can see how happy it is. A “lipstick” pepper that I started from seed and transplanted out a month or so ago. You can also see some sort of squash seedlings that sprouted from compost. Trouble in paradise. I have a yellow pear tomato that’s about three feet high and lush except for this little issue. Leaves at the base of the plant are yellowing then dying off. These are leaves that I’ve trimmed from the plant. Can you identify this? In...

I’ve been avoiding famous mayonnaise brands because they’re typically made from canola or soy oil, both products made from crops that are commonly genetically modified. I spent a small fortune on a “certified non-gmo” canola mayonnaise a couple of months ago, only to find it was terrible a really good replication of Miracle Whip. NOT what I was looking for. So I started making my own, experimenting a bit with different ingredients until I found a combination that tasted like the spread we’re used to. Depending on your equipment, it takes about 5-15 minutes, start to finish, so it’s not too time consuming, though there is a certain margin of error with the need to emulsify the ingredients. Out of the dozen or so batches I’ve made, all but one have emulsified into a nice thick spread. The one that didn’t emulsify? Was turned into a splendid salad dressing. Make your own mayonnaise 1 egg at room temperature 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s) 1 teaspoon water 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard (you’re making your own, right??) pinch of salt 1 cup grapeseed oil or extra light olive oil With an immersion blender (easiest method): Pour the oil...

A Fun Family Game From Recycled Gift Wrap? You Betcha!

Even if you’re trying to reduce your use of gift wrap this holiday season, as I am, you can bet that a fair amount of wrapping paper will still cross your threshold. Instead of just recycling that paper this year, start making a gift wrap ball that you can enjoy during the next holiday season. It’s become a much-anticipated family tradition around here. Begin by wrapping a small prize (or if you have teens, cold, hard cash) in a section of used gift wrap. Layer on additional wrap to create a ball, securing it tightly. Throughout the year, on birthdays and other holidays, add more layers of salvaged gift wrap to the ball. By the time next December rolls around, you’ll have an impressively sized ball. Short of gift wrap? Raid the recycle pile and use newspaper or magazine pages. I use cardboard, Tyvex envelopes, and packing material. To secure the layers, I use whatever kind of tape I have on hand, along with yarn, string, and leftover ribbon bits. The bigger the ball, the better, especially if you have a large group. There are no points for beauty. Martha Stewart would not approve. Use different kinds of tape...

Compost Tumbler for Invasive Weeds – Does it Work?

While I’ve got a number of compost piles, a worm bin, and chickens to work through much of my waste, I have a problem with invasive weeds. Living in the tropics means lots of vines, and tossing those vines in a compost pile? Is just like planting them. They root easily and quickly. Beating back the jungle means we generate a lot of this aggressive yard waste, and we often fill a pickup truck and haul it 60 miles away to the green waste facility. Sure, we combine a trip like that with other errands, and we swap our green waste for finished compost, but it still seems silly to haul it off site. Way back in July, my husband brought home a compost tumbler** for my birthday. Over the course of a month or so, I stuffed it with the invasive yard waste that I won’t add to my regular compost bin. Because the materials are contained and up off the ground, they won’t try to send out roots. The materials kind of collapsed after a few days in the tumbler and as there was room, I added more. A couple of days ago – about five months...

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Considering Water in the Garden

Genetic Modification – A Concern for All of Us

Transforming a Community with Gardens

On my Honor

Perfectly Purslane

February in the (Hawaii) Garden

Recipe: Homemade Mayonnaise

A Fun Family Game From Recycled Gift Wrap? You Betcha!

Compost Tumbler for Invasive Weeds – Does it Work?

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