Many Hands Make Good The Eating...and The Life

Fort Collins is big into growing food. Bike around and you see tons of backyard gardens, raised beds...it's everywhere.

There are lots of fruit trees around too. Check out this one in my complex.

My experience of living in this is that people get and share awesome produce like mad!

If you're a part of this community, you probably got bag of onions or a cucumber from somebody this week.

Behold the goings on of my fridge...

I bumped into a friend who's an Agriculture student on the street last week, and she had a giant bag of beets for me! And a cool woman in our community garden gave me a few too.

Plus, I got hooked up with these beauties from The Growing Project, where I volunteered yesterday.

(Speaking of The Growing Project, look at their pretty farm and check out their website. Their vision for feeding the poor is incredible.)

So my takeaway is this: when lots of us farm a little, We The People are empowered with quality, super low-cost fruits and veggies.

You don't even have to grow everything you want. Just get out and say hello to people! Eventually, eggplant magically arrives on your table.

Growing food is the human community's birthright.

It may not be your preference to do it, and that is fine! Write your book, cure cancer, sell stuff on eBay. Do you.

But we should all make it easy for anyone to cultivate the food they need to live on this Earth.

Off to roast beets...

Look What Happened!

 Hello!

As you can see, LGG got sidetracked for a minute (ok, a month).

I've been sad not to share all the happenings of the plot. But life is overwhelming at times. I'm sure you can relate.

However...here we are, so here we go!

Check out what happened!


The zucchini went to town. Almost every seed I planted sprouted and grew. Just look at this beautiful jungle.

Lots of goodies hiding in there, day after pretty, sunny, Colorado day. 

I got so many zuchinni off these plants.

 
The swiss chard and basil is producing nicely as well. I'm getting a few chard leaves every couple of days, and a handful of basil.

So, what do I do with all this?

A great way for all you kids at heart who still resist eating vegetables to get the job done is to make smoothies.

I throw zucchinni, chard, basil, plain yogurt, fruit and water in my blender, et voila!

I take a smoothie with me wherever I'm going and drink it all day long. You get plenty of raw veggies in each day, and never taste a thing. Try it!

Plus...

Look out winter, here we come!

I boiled zucchini slices for 3 minutes, drained it, and put it in quart-sized freezer bags. Not hard.

So, that's it! Here's to a fantastic, successful season.

I'd like to conclude this post and my zucchini bonanza with a great big thanks to Mama Nature, for this steady stream of nutritious blessings. I'm loving it. You rock.

The weather is changing, so I pulled the plants yesterday and sowed the plot for Fall. More on that coming your way soon!

And We're Off!

So, snake-apalooza cleared out this week and I was able to sow my new plot.  
(Is sow the right word? I'm not really up on official farm lingo but I'm trying to keep it classy here...)

If you take a look around, you might pick up on the fact that everyone else's plots are greener than mine at this point in the season. Perhaps I'm a little late to the party?

I have to admit, I was feeling a little insecure about my brown mud pile amidst all the green when I went out to water tonight.

I have never gardened in Colorado, and I'm committed to not reading one single thing about it. My inner nerd needs to take a vacation and not turn this into "LGG Colorado: the PhD Dissertation." I don't want this to overwhelm me. 

So, I got a few seeds and plants that, according to the back of the packages might work out under current weather circumstances. Beyond that, plant, water and pray is the plan.

So! Here's what we're working with, mid-June along the Front Range.

A nice cilantro plant. I love cilantro and I've always wanted to grow it.

A peppermint plant...also a love of mine. Can't wait to make sauces and drinks!

And scattered about the plot:

• basil seeds
• 2 corn seed varieties
• rainbow swiss chard seeds
• 2 squash seed varieties
• honeydew melon seeds

I decided to splurge on organic plants and seeds this time. I don't judge anyone for not doing this. I gardened several seasons with conventional seeds and plants and I definitely enjoyed the prices more. So if that's what you're doing, carry on and enjoy a nice ad-free Pandora subscription for me this month with the cheese you saved. 

Anyway, can you imagine all this growing into hot bounty for my kitchen?!  I KNOW!

Ooh...check out what I found upon closer inspection.

A promising beginning week! Let's see what happens.

LGG is Back!

Hello again friends! I'm so excited to announce the official resurrection of Lisa's Green Garden. We're back!

I never knew what would happen to this blog when I left it. I was always sad that, like my gardening, it had come to an end, for...who knew how long.

But as all farmers know everything that lives and breathes (and has a URL) experiences winter.

And then before you know it, new life springeth forward...

and you have a new garden!

It, like me, is now located in Ft. Collins, Colorado. I'm very happy here. Ft. Collins is an amazing city. And finding an apartment complex with a garden onsite felt like divine intervention.

Beautiful Downtown Ft. Collins!

If you know me you know I don't like to rush much so you can guess which plot in the garden is mine.

I'm excited to share its plastic tarp beginnings with you because I'm so excited of all that's to come.

There is a quiet magic in this space. Yes, the magic of the fresh Rocky Mountain air and the pretty pond that's next to it is part of it.

LGG is lucky to operate next to this amazing pond.
I come here and quietly marvel at the world almost every evening.

But also it's the magic of the unknown. Of all that is now, and all that is to come.

Colorado is the 3rd state I've farmed in. I'm intrigued by the soil, and the high altitude factors. Like intense sunlight, and different temperatures. New critters to meet (and beat).

I'm thinking greens, tomatoes, and herbs. Stay tuned...