Archive for the ‘Healthy Livng’ Category

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Eat To Chase Away the Winter Blues

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

By this time every year, do you start to act a little more cranky than normal? Perhaps you’re feeling a tad bit lethargic, or you are inclined to pull the covers over your head and snooze for an extra hour every morning, while ignoring your alarm clock. This is a common result of the short days and lack of sunlight that we experience during the winter months. Doctors tend to call it Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), while we may simply call it the winter blues. Suggested therapies for winter moodiness include prescribed medication, or exposure to an expensive light therapy box every day. Or, you can use an equally effective route and eat to boost your mood. There are plenty of super nutritious foods out there that are good at giving SAD a swift kick in the pants.

Four Yummy Foods to Chase Away Winter Blues

(1) Fish and Shellfish

There is a reason that residents of Japan, where fish is a dietary staple, have much fewer cases of heart disease, stroke, and cancer than we do. Fish is dang healthy for you. It is an excellent source of vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, which helps control some of the symptoms related to SAD, such as anxiety and depression. Fish with the highest amounts of vitamin B12 include mackerel, herring, sardines, salmon, tuna, and trout. Shellfish such as clams and mussels are also high in B12. If you have an adventurous spirit, try octopus or caviar. Or if you are pregnant, make sure to first consult your doctor on what types of fish you should and should not consume. For general guidelines on how to avoid high levels of mercury in seafood, check out this blog at Organic Fertilizer Sources. Fish also contains Omega 3 fatty acids, which are beneficial in fighting off the symptoms of depression. We love this knockout Mustard Trout recipe from Whole Living, which is pictured at the left.

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Our New Year’s Green Resolutions

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

Flickr photo by JennRation Design

If you read our new year’s blog from last year, then you already know that we believe in making new year’s resolutions that we can keep. No unattainable ones like “lose 20 pounds” or “win the Nobel Peace Prize.” Just stuff that we know will help to enrich our lives, and make us feel great in the year to come.

This year, our focus is not only on healthy living, as it was for 2010, but also for a healthier Earth and an increasingly sustainable lifestyle. 2011 is going to be all about not just talking the talk of environmental stewardship, but walking the walk.

Our Green Resolutions for 2010

(1) Eat local

The Locavore WayIf you regularly read the AML blog, then you already know, we are totally on board with the locavore lifestyle. This year, we hosted a 100-mile Thanksgiving celebration and encouraged others to join a local CSA. We have made great efforts to eat local produce, and purchase locally made goods such as soap, spirits, and other household items. At first, it was a bit of an effort. But as any other locavore will tell you, after about a year, shopping for local goods becomes second nature. For us, 2011 marks the end of the “transitional” period to going local. We’re full blood locavores now! In the new year, we hope to continue to spread the word about the importance of supporting the local economy, and reducing the amount of energy that is expended to import food.

The Locavore Way by Amy Cotler $9.00

(2) Help a friend start a garden

If you don’t yet have a home garden, 2011 is the year to plant one! Start planning now, so that come spring, you know exactly what you would like to grow, and where you want to plant it. For us, our resolution is to help a friend plant a garden. This particular friend is the kind who spends 12 hours a day at work, and who has never turned on the oven in her kitchen before- you know the type. We want to show her that a small garden, even just a couple pots on her windowsill, is all it takes to acquire a green thumb. I think we’ll start with a basil plant and some heirloom tomatoes. These are both easy to grow, and when when they’re ready to harvest, all she needs is a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil to enjoy them. No cooking required!

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How to Host a 100 Mile Thanksgiving Dinner

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Modern Thanksgiving table design from ohdeedoh.com

Have you ever stopped to think about what kind of energy and environmental footprint your annual Thanksgiving dinner makes? Where did your frozen turkey come from, and how many miles was it trucked to reach your local grocery store?

Since Thanksgiving is such a cherished holiday, we may tend to overlook this consideration among others, and continue preparing our holiday feast using ingredients from our local Super Generic-Mart. But here at aHa! Modern Living, we think it’s time to start a new Thanksgiving tradition. This year, we are feeling greatly inspired by the goals and actions of the 100 mile Thanksgiving, a national movement to bring Thanksgiving back to its roots, and prepare only foods that have come from a 100 mile radius of our homes. Rather than preparing a frozen Butterball turkey that probably came from the world’s largest turkey processing plant in Mount Olive, North Carolina, and unmolding some jellied cranberries that were likely canned at the Ocean Spray factory in Nevada, we are going to be preparing Thanksgiving dinner with all local ingredients. We’ll be doing all of our grocery shopping in our own garden, and at our local Farmers’ Markets.

How to Host A 100 Mile Thanksgiving

Are you motivated to host your own 100 Mile Thanksgiving, but not sure where to start? Try using this cool and easy feature on the Local Harvest website. All you need to do is click on “Farmers’ Market,” then type in your city and state or zip code. The website will reveal a whole list of Farmers’ Markets in your area. You can also try searching for CSAs and Co-ops, which are terrific sources of local foods as well. Co-ops are also excellent places to shop for baking staples such as flour, corn meal, salt, olive oil, and butter. If these products are not produced in your area, purchasing them at a Co-op is still a great way to support your local economy.

Cool season produce such as kale, pumpkins, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are fresh and delicious in November. Many fresh herbs, such as rosemary, continue to grow in chilly weather as well. Don’t be bashful about asking the farmers for their favorite recipes and ways to prepare their wares. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to try new flavors, cooking methods, and dishes. Your guests will undoubtedly love an unexpected little twist on the norm.

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New Ways to Use Fresh Autumn Apples

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Colorful, smooth-skinned apples are an irresistible sign of fall, and a treat that we look forward to annually. These little beauties make a perfect quick snack, and of course a terrific present for teachers everywhere. We love eating apples plain, just as they are, and enjoying their crisp, crunchy bite and sweet juiciness.

Did you know that people have been munching on apples for millennia? The great-great grandfather of the modern apple, the Malus sieversii, still grows wild in Kazakhstan, where it originated. Today our favorite type of apple is the Rome apple, which originated in Rome, Ohio. We love eating these apples right off the tree- their thick skin and hint of tartness makes them delicious on their own. But this year, before we gobble up all our freshly-picked apples, we’re going to try out some new ways of using them, in both culinary and decorative applications. After all, apples are truly versatile and there are many ways to enjoy them. So while we love apples plain, just as they are, we are excited to try out some of these new ideas below:

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5 Ways to Make Back to School Fun

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Anticipation, fear, excitement, dread, relief, joy: There are few things in this world that can match the great mixture of feelings that are evoked with the time of year notoriously known as “back to school.” For parents, teachers, and students everywhere, the late summer season means shedding swim suits in favor of starched shirts, and sunglasses in favor of study time. But year after year, there is one aspect of back to school that makes it merry. That, of course, is back to school shopping! Here at aHa! Modern Living, we have a great selection of items to make back to school fun.

(1) The Popoutz Seed and Peanut Feeders

These eco-friendly and 100% recyclable bird feeders make a wonderful first day of school gift for any teacher. The Popoutz Seed Feeder holds small varieties of bird food such as sunflower seeds and dried mealworms, while the Popoutz Peanut Feeder holds larger types of feed such as suet pellets and peanuts. Both varieties come in an array of colors, so you can choose them to match your son or daughter’s school colors.  And at just $3.50 each, you can afford to select several! These fun little feeders are great for kids and adults alike, as well as a terrific way to keep hungry birds fed when food becomes more scarce in the fall and winter.

(2) The Plant Nanny and Petal Drops

If there is one thing we know for sure, it’s that back to school is a super busy time of year for every parent. It’s time for school open houses, PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and the transformation of your Chevy to a kiddie shuttle bus. And because of this, we know that every little thing you can do to help simplify your hectic schedule is a good thing. Plant Nanny and Petal Drops make it a snap to ensure that your indoor and outdoor plants are adequately watered every day. Just allow the Petal Drops to collect rain water in your yard into a recycled water or soda bottle, then turn the plastic bottle onto your Plant Nanny. Simple.

(3) Cacao and Spice Hand Wash

Back to school time also means sniffle and cough time. What is the best line of defense against these late summer sniffles? Plenty of hand-washing, of course. Keep a bottle of Daub and Bauble Cacao and Spice Hand Wash by each sink in your home. The delicious chocolatey cinnamon scent guarantees that they won’t forget to lather up before their after-school snack. Plus, Vitamin E and Aloe will leave their hands feeling soft and luxurious, not stripped of moisture. Daub and Bauble Hand Washes also come in 3 other yummy scents too, so you can select different ones for each sink in your house.

(4) Felt Wine Sleeve and Roost Menagerie Bottle Openers

If you are a first year college student, stop and take a moment to think about all the things you have to thank mom and dad for right now. They helped you pack up your bedroom at home, and haul all your boxes up 3 flights of stairs into your new dorm room. Dad helped you figure out how to screw together your bunk beds, while mom organized your sock drawer and stretched your new extra-long twin sized sheets onto your mattress. This is all on top of the hefty check they wrote for your first year of tuition. Wow, mom and dad are major champs, and it’s time to pick out a nice thank you gift for them.

Check our Gifts by Recipient section, where you can choose the perfect thank you gift based on mom and dad’s interests, whether they are bird lovers, entertainers, or gardeners. Two of our favorites are the Felt Wine Sleeve and the Roost Menagerie Bottle Openers. You can slip a pretty bottle of sparkling french lemonade into the felt sleeve, and let them pop it open with a fun wooden sculptured bottle opener. (The apple shaped bottle opener is definitely appropriate for back to school.) What a sweet and refreshing way to say “thanks.”

(5) Sprouts

As a parent, of course you care deeply about making sure that your child receives adequate nutrition during the school year. Plenty of studies have shown that when kids eat well and avoid junky processed foods, it enables them to be attentive in class and do their best in school. Sprouts are a bonafide super food that will help to keep your kid fueled throughout the school day, as well as help boost his or her immune system.

Try mixing a little bit of alfalfa sprout juice in with your child’s apple or orange juice at breakfast. The sprout juice is mild and practically tasteless, so it mixes easily. Or, toss a few sprouts onto a ham and cheese sandwich and pack it up for lunch. Their unique crunchy texture makes them fun for kids to eat. For little kids, get them interested by giving the stringy strands a goofy name, like baby spaghetti.

Alfalfa sprouts are one of the highest sources of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals in nature. Plus, they, along with other types of sprouts, can easily be grown on a counter top at any time of year. Check out our Sprouting section for a selection of sprouts, including mungbean sprouts and broccoli sprouts. All of our Botanical Interests seeds are now 25% OFF, so it is a great time to start sprouting!

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What is a CSA, and Why Does It Matter?

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Fresh, local produce

We have a dream here at aHa! Modern Living. Our dream is that all of the produce we consume will be fresh, organic, and locally grown. If we don’t grow it ourselves, we want to know exactly where it comes from. Ideally, we’d even like to have a relationship with the farmer, and the opportunity to visit his or her land. Sound like a far off and starry-eyed hope? Well, by participating in CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, it can be a reality rather than a distant dream.

Becoming a member of a CSA is an excellent way to ensure that you will have a steady supply of fresh produce, as well as to support a local farm. Therefore, it is a great way for you to maintain a healthy diet, try new foods, avoid giving your money to large farming corporations, and bolster your local economy all in one.

When you become a member of a CSA, you make a financial contribution to a local farm, therefore becoming a member or shareholder. In return, you are supplied with a season’s supply of fresh food from the farm, (with a season typically running from late spring through early fall.) Check out this video to learn more about how CSAs are formed, and why they matter:

To find out if you have a CSA in your area, you can visit the Local Harvest website and type in your zip code in the space on the right side of the screen. CSAs have gained popularity in recent years, so it is likely that you can find one near you. While in 1990 there existed only approximately 100 CSAs in the United States, today that number has grown to over 1,000.

7 Questions to Ask When Joining Community Supported Agriculture:

  1. What does the farm grow? Ask for a harvest schedule and a list of crops. Make sure to consider that you may also find farms that offer meat, eggs, dairy, herbs, and/or flowers.
  2. What is the farm’s season? Most farms do not harvest during the winter. But depending on where you live, you may find one that does.
  3. Is the farm organic? Some farms practice organic farming, yet do not undergo the costly process to receive legal organic certification. Decide ahead of time what your standards are in regards to organic farming, and find a farm that meets your standards.
  4. Does the farm offer delivery? Most farms deliver produce on a weekly basis to their shareholders. Find out if you will receive home delivery, or if you will need to pick up your food at a local headquarters, such as a Co-op. Make sure that delivery dates, places, and times fit your schedule.
  5. How big is a standard share? Will you be receiving one pound of produce per week, or five pounds, or ten?
  6. How are payments made?Most farms require the season to be paid for up front. However, some will accept weekly or monthly payments.
  7. What happens when you go on vacation? You don’t want your lovely fresh produce to be delivered to an empty house.

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10 Ways To Become a Locavore

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

What is a locavore, you ask? The term was first coined in 2005 by four women in San Francisco who proposed that people try to eat only food that has been raised, grown, or produced within a 100-mile radius of their hometown. So if it makes it easier to remember, you can think of “local-vore” instead. To be a locavore means to eat locally.

Over the past 5 years, the locavore movement has picked up steam. In 2007, the New Oxford American Dictionary made the term itself their word of the year, which helped to garner some support and attention to the movement. Many people are discovering that eating locally has numerous benefits: food is more nutritious and tastes better, the conservation of fuel is promoted by avoiding supermarket fare that has been trucked hundreds of miles to get there. The locavore way of life is both nutritionally and ecologically sound.

When preparing to become a locavore yourself, you may find yourself wondering, what is the most logical first step? The first step to the locavore way of life is to embrace the fact that no effort you make is too small. Any step you take to support farmers in your area, protect your family’s health, and save the environment is a worthy step.

Here are ten ways to become a locavore:

(1) Shop at a farmers’ market. Farmers’ markets are a wonderful way to support local businesses because you buy directly from the farmers; the middle man is eliminated. While many people assume that a market will contain only produce, we would encourage you to attend one in your area- we think you will find that much, much more is available. You can often find local meats, cheeses, and even handmade beauty products such as lotions and soaps. One of our aHa! contributors shops her local farmer’s market in North Carolina for everything from local honey to goat cheese. So bring your own canvas shopping bags and prepare to stock up. To find a farmers’ market in your area, you can search the USDA’s guide to farmers’ markets.
(2) Closely examine your supermarket. Some grocery stores have recently made a concerted effort to carry local products. If you are not able to clearly identify where your meat, dairy, and produce come from, ask your supermarket manager. Inquire as to where your favorite products come from. Grocery stores do have the ability to change their purchasing practices. So make sure you voice your opinion, and encourage others to do the same. You can affect a change if you lobby!
(3) Choose 3 foods per week that you can swap out for local products. It is not practical to throw away every item in your pantry and fridge all at once and replace it with all local products. Instead, make an effort to select 3 to 5 different local foods that you can stock your fridge and pantry with each week. Make a gradual, slow transition. Overall, this may take a few years. That’s okay.
(4) Find your local Community Supported Agriculture. A Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a program that allows you to be directly affiliated with a local farm. You invest in the farm in exchange for a weekly supply of its products. Being a member of a CSA is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to various types of fresh local produce that may not otherwise find their way into your cart. It also gives you the opportunity to eat ultra-fresh and nutritious produce, and develop a relationship with a local farmer. To find a CSA in your area, visit this website and type your zip code in the box on the right hand side.
(5) Learn to preserve local foods. Eating locally means that depending on where you live, you may have a lack of fresh fruits and veggies during the winter. So take the time now, when summer veggies are delicious and plentiful, to pickle, freeze, dry, and can them. Come winter, you’ll have a great supply of yummy, local fruits and veggies available to you. Chutneys, sauerkrauts, jams, jellies- you have many different options.
(6) Frequent restaurants in your area that support local farmers. Most restaurants have websites now, so do your homework! Look for the restaurants in your area that use local produce, meats, fish, and cheeses. Depending on where you live, you may be surprised by what you find. There are hundreds of seafood restarants in coastal areas, but many of these restaurants serve imported, rather than local, seafood. Don’t make assumptions based on location.
(7) Host a 100-Mile Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated with a feast of all locally caught, hunted, and harvested foods. So this year, host a Thanksgiving celebration in which you ask all of your friends and family members to bring a dish that was made only from foods that have come from a 100-mile radius of their homes. And while you’re at it, why wait til Thanksgiving? Try hosting a local dinner party or brunch.
(8) Buy from local vendors. While the local coffee house down the road from you may not have grown their own coffee beans, you are still helping to support your local economy by buying your beans from them. There is a difference between “locally grown” and “locally produced.” You can support your economy and the locavore way of life either way.
(9) Keep a journal of the instant and long-term health benefits of eating locally. A locavorian diet is not a weight-loss plan, but it does stand to improve your health in many ways. Be aware of how good and energized you feel; this will help you stay motivated to continue to make the effort to eat locally. One drastic change that you will notice right away is that you will eliminate nearly all (if not all) processed foods from your diet. And unless you live on the corn-belt or near a factory that produces corn-derived food additives, you’ll find that you will eliminate corn syrup from your diet.
(10) Prioritize your expenses. Local, organic milk may be more expensive than the cheap stuff at the grocery store. But if you cut out just one cup of espresso per week, it makes up for the added expense. When making a transition to the locavore way, accept that there will be a few start-up costs. Your first year of being a locavore will require the most time, effort, and monetary expenditure. You must research the best sources for local products, and be willing to spend time picking up and preserving certain foods that may be available for only a brief period of time each season. However, remember that when you buy a tomato locally, you are paying for just the tomato. You are not paying for the gas that was used to truck the tomato hundreds of miles across the country.

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Grilling Vegetables from Your Garden

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Right up there with apple pie and baseball, cookouts are definitely one of America’s favorite summer pastimes. We think it’s not just the scrumptious fare that makes cookouts so great; it’s the smell of lit charcoal and lighter fluid, the carefree attitude of cooking out in the open air, and the simple joy of washing your barbecue-sauce smeared hands in a hose rather than in a kitchen sink. All of these things make summer grilling, in a word, awesome.

Now despite all the many joys of outdoor grilling, of course we are not going to deny that devouring the food is the very best part. And grilling is a wonderful opportunity to use some of the fresh veggies and fruits from your garden. Fresh home-grown veggies are wonderful straight from the garden, but when you grill them over an open flame, their flavor is magnified, and suddenly some simple garden fresh produce becomes a true treat.

Basic guidelines for grilling vegetables from your garden

  • Onions- Cut them into 1/2 inch slices, and cook for 10-12 minutes.
  • Bell Peppers- Cut them into halves or quarters, and grill them for 6-8 minutes.
  • Eggplant- Cut them into 1/2 inch slices, and cook them for 8-10 minutes.
  • Asparagus- Leave them whole, and cook them for 6-8 minutes.
  • Corn-Peel back the husks to remove the corn silk, then replace the husks. Pre-soak them in water for one hour to prevent them from charring. Cook them for 20-25 minutes.
  • Summer Squash and Zucchini- Cut into 1/2 inch slices, and cook them for 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Cherry Tomatoes- Pierce the skins and cook them whole for 2-4 minutes.

We know what you’re thinking right now. Despite the fact that you have all of these wonderful grilled veggies straight from your home garden, you still have a friend/spouse/child who will insist on reaching for a brat or hamburger. You’ll need to entice this person a bit in order to get him or her to reach for something fresher and healthier instead. No problem! We’ve got a terrific marinade recipe that will pump up the flavor of your veggies and make anyone’s mouth water.

Lemon and Thyme Vegetable Grilling Sauce:

Whisk together 1/4 cup of melted margarine or butter, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 finely chopped shallots, 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of grated lemon peel,  and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme. You can add salt and pepper to taste. Brush both sides of your veggies with this marinade before grilling them. Keep any of the remaining sauce warm in order to serve it with your veggies.  If you’d like, you can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in a sealed container in your fridge.

Hints for Grilling Veggies:

  • If you would like to try grilling vegetables that are too small to sit on your grill, try using either a grill basket, or a foil packet. For a simple foil packet recipe, try cutting up Brussels sprouts, pearl onions, carrots, green beans, snap peas, and cherry tomatoes. Place them all on a large piece of foil and season them with salt and pepper. Lift the edges and add one tablespoon of water, or one large ice cube. Bring the sides of the foil up so that they meet, and fold them over twice. (The sealed packet will look kind of like an envelope.) Grill this on the hottest part of the grill for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  • Full-size tomatoes are great for grilling, too. Just cut them in half and cook them directly on your grill.
  • Any time you place a fruit or veggie directly on your grill rack, first brush them with a little bit of olive oil or spray them with cooking spray to keep them from sticking.

Image source: Fresh From Florida

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Get Creative When Gardening in Small Spaces

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Photo source: chron.com

For a moment, close your eyes and use your imagination. What do you see when we ask you to picture your ideal vegetable garden? Perhaps you see a vast, open space buzzing with bees and teaming with veggies, fruits, and blooms in countless varieties and colors. Or, maybe you are envisioning a beautiful wooden pergola, crawling with sweet peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Now when you open your eyes and see that your reality is actually a small 15′ by 15′ square of turf, or perhaps even just a tiny cement balcony, it’s easy to be disheartened. We’d like to remind you to make the most of what you have! For millions of people, urban dwelling makes a sprawling country garden an impossibility. It can be discouraging when this is all you see in gardening magazines and manuals. This doesn’t mean that you can’t plant a garden that you will love. And it definitely doesn’t mean that you can’t grow your own food!

The Benefits of Gardening in a Small Space

Yup, that’s right. You read that correctly. Gardening in a small space totally does have its benefits. And here are just a few of them:

  1. In a huge space, it takes an awful lot of plants to create a dramatic effect. In a small space, it is just the opposite. Your small garden can really pack a visual punch.
  2. In a mini garden, it is easier to detect and remove any plants that may be unhealthy or infested by bugs.
  3. Planting a small garden is friendly on both your budget and your time constraints.
  4. Designing a small garden is an easier task because you are able to take in “the big picture” and consider the whole space at once.
  5. A small garden is more likely to look lush and full, not spotty. Just make sure you leave about a 16 inch wide path to walk through and tend to your plants.

Container Gardening

Nearly any fruit or vegetable can be grown in a container. So if your garden space consists of a balcony or patio, this is an excellent option for you. The most important things to consider for your container garden are the plants’ water and sunlight needs. You’ll also want to select containers that drain well, and make sure you use a good quality organic potting soil to nourish your plants.

For everything you need to start your own container garden, check out the Modern Container Garden Kit. It’s totally perfect for starting your own fabulous garden on a porch or front door step. Once you receive your Modern Container Garden Kit, all you have left to do is choose your seeds. Some vegetables that are ideally suited for container growing are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, lettuce, squash, and parsley.

And don’t think you need to use ceramic flower pots for your container garden. You can garden in whatever you want! Try a plastic garbage can, a clay pot, a large bushel basket, or even an old boot! (Reused and recycled containers are awesome.) Just make sure you choose containers that will allow for a depth of one foot of soil for your plants. If you want to plant root crops, such as beets, carrots, or potatoes, you’ll need a soil depth of 2 feet.

Vertical Gardening

Photo source: Apartment Therapy

If you’ve ever been to the city of Tokyo, you’ve witnessed just exactly how humankind has mastered the art of utilizing vertical space. The city is so crowded that its architects all build upwards instead of outwards. If your garden space has a super small perimeter, you should definitely consider employing this tactic.

There are many vegetables that will climb, climb, climb if you let them. Here at aHa! we’ve given seeds for climbing veggies their own home in the Vertical Garden section. Check it out- you may be surprised by the variety!

Another good thing to keep in mind is that things that grow upwards vertically will also grow downwards. So, this means that your vertical garden may consist of hanging planters. Small varieties of tomatoes really flourish in hanging planters.

Succession Planting

Photo source: A Sonoma Garden

Succession planting is a great technique for any garden, large or small. But when it comes to mini gardens, this is an excellent way to maximize a small space because the space is really put to its most efficient use. With this method, there is never an unplanted area in the vegetable plot. As soon as one crop is harvested, the space is immediately replanted with a different crop.

One method of succession planting is to plant the same vegetable, but to space out the plantings to every 2 to 4 weeks. Bush beans, for example, can be planted every 2 weeks from mid-May to the beginning of August. So, rather than planting your entire row of beans all at once, you can plant part of the row at the beginning of the season, harvest, and then plant more in about 2-4 weeks. This is a great way to have a new crop of beans continually coming in.

Another method of succession planting is to plant different vegetables in succession. For example, some plants have a short growing season, and can be replaced with a different crop after they have been harvested.

Vegetable Recommendations for Succession Planting

  • Spinach in the spring, bush beans in the summer, kale in the fall.
  • Mesclun greens in the spring, cucumbers in the summer, lettuce in the fall.
  • Peas in the spring, sweet corn in the summer, collard greens in the fall.
  • Radishes in the spring, eggplant in the summer, Chinese cabbage in the fall.

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What is Integrated Pest Management?

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a responsible, effective, and environmentally friendly way to manage insects in your garden. To understand how IPM works compared to using chemical pesticides, think about the comparison of an antibiotic on the human body.

Antibiotics are commonly taken in order to kill a bacterial infection or illness within the human body. But did you know that there is no such thing as a “smart” antibiotic? They kill all of the good bacteria in your body along with the bad. This is why, when you take antibiotics, you may experience a secondary infection, or nasty side effects such as digestive ailments. A chemical pesticide is essentially an antibiotic in your garden. It will kill off the nasty pest that you want to get rid of, but it will kill all of the beneficial insects, too, therefore upsetting the natural balance of your garden.

Why do people use IPM?

Because antibiotics upset the natural balance of the body, many people instead opt to treat bacterial infections with homeopathic remedies and probiotics, which encourage the growth of positive bacteria. This is the equivalent to using IPM in your garden. It will take a bit more time and patience, but in the long run you will be creating an environmentally friendly way to manage bugs in your garden instead of wiping them all out with one nasty chemical. Broadcast spraying of a pesticide, whether it is natural or chemical, is an absolute last resort when using IPM. Therefore, IPM is successfully used by many organic farmers.

How do I practice IPM?

There is not just one quick step when it comes to beginning IPM. Practicing IPM is instead a process or a system that is made up of 4 main steps. You can think of these steps as an investment in your health, your garden’s health, and the health of the environment. In other words, the time it takes is totally worth it! The 4 steps of Integrated Pest Management are:

(1) Set an Action Threshold

Setting an action threshold means that you will have a predetermined point at which you will take action against the pests in your garden. Just because you spot one bug munching away at your tomato plants does not mean you need to control these pests. Your action threshold may be that if you see one or two aphids, you simply pluck it off with a gloved hand. If you see three to ten aphids, you will spray them with Safer 3-in-1 garden Spray, an organic insecticide that’s made from sulfur and plant oils. If you see eleven or more aphids, you will purchase and release ladybugs in your garden so that they will eat the aphids.

(2) Monitor and Identify Pests

Not all bugs are bad! Insects such as green lacewings, ladybugs, praying mantis, and spined soldier bugs are all beneficial for your garden because they eat harmful bugs. Other bugs may not necessarily be beneficial, but they may just be hanging out and not hurting anything. If you see a bug, don’t just assume that it’s bad.

If you do have a swarm of harmful insects, make sure to properly identify them so that you can determine the best course of action to get rid of them. Remember, you don’t want to use something that will wipe out everything in your garden- you specifically want to treat the problem. Spraying isolated areas is used only when truly necessary in IPM.

(3) Prevent

As we like to say, “prevention is better than an ounce of Roundup.” The very first line of pest control in IPM is prevention. It is important to work to prevent pests from becoming a problem in the first place. This may mean using agricultural methods such as crop rotation. For example, a recent infestation of rice pests in Thailand called brown plant hoppers was exacerbated because farmers planted continuously in the same fields.

Another integral part of prevention is maintaining healthy soil and watering practices. Check out Annie Haven’s Compost Tea, which is a totally natural way to nourish your soil, therefore increasing flower bloom and crop yield. Adding nutrients from manure tea is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your indoor and outdoor plants. The tea naturally breaks down the soil, which allows your plants root systems to more readily absorb needed nutrients and strengthen their own defense systems. (It’s kind of like the effect of green tea on the human body- super nutritious!)

(4) Control

Once your action threshold has indicated that action is required, you will need to determine what type of pest control you wish to employ. It is a very important part of IPM that you use the least risky and least invasive method of control possible. For example, trapping may be a good solution, or using pheromones to disrupt mating patterns.

If you have fruit flies buzzing around your indoor potted plants, veggies from your garden, or the produce you bought yesterday at the farmer’s market, try using a Glass Fruit Fly Trap in your home. The trap uses an environmentally safe bait to lure in the fruit flies, and you can hang it anywhere in your house because it just looks like a pretty, colorful glass lantern. For an awesome natural and biodegradable insecticide, fungicide, and insect anti-feedant, try Dyna-Gro Neem Oil. It can be applied to indoor or outdoor plants, and will not harm beneficial insects such as ladybugs, bees, and spiders.

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