How To Feel Happy In Winter: Surviving Seasonal Affective Disorder When You Cannot Get Out In A Garden

Winter is long and cold here in the Northern states. It is at least 6 months of no gardening whatsoever. Surviving that is difficult for some and especially for me. I suffer from mild Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). In January and February I find myself depressed, frustrated, and well… sad. Without nature as my companion, I feel like everything I do is a tremendous chore. The good news is there are ways to feel happy and fight the S.A.D. symptoms.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, S.A.D. can be quite devastating for some. If it is severe, you should definitely seek help with a doctor and not brush it off as a case of the winter blues. Professional treatments for S.A.D. can involve light therapy, psychotherapy, and prescription medications.

Gardening, sunlight, physical exercise, and the outdoors are like emotional buoys for me – it keeps me feeling cheerful. To lift my mood up when I am feeling the S.A.D. symptoms, I follow a few simple rules ---

HOW TO FEEL HAPPIER IN WINTER

#1 – Exercise - Get as much exercise as possible. Even if it is cold. Even if it is in the dead of winter. This year I am learning how to run utilizing the Couch-To-5K program. Above you see me running at 6 AM at a local high school. They offer a free open indoor track every morning at that time.  I bring my android phone and it helps coach me through the runs. I love it!

#2 – Light - Make the area you spend the most time in every day sunnier and brighter. I have a Verilux daylight lamp for those particularly cloudy days and also place my office in the corner of my bedroom that has full on south facing windows. These windows have no curtains during the daytime and allow the south sun to hit me directly on the face. It helps. A LOT.

#3 – Nature - Go outside as often as you can so you get exposure to the sky and clouds. Take walks. Sit outside in the sunshine. Go to an arboretum and look at trees. I’m not kidding. Typically, I park my car at the back of the parking lot so I can walk, no matter how cold it is, a long distance with a view of the sky no matter if the day is sunny or gray.

Get out there in nature and help make yourself happy. You can feel better in the cold winter months whether you have the winter blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). Remember that you are the only one responsible for your own happiness and it can make a difference between living happily and just living during the off-garden season.

Mexican Pazole Soup Recipe; How To Cook Hominy, Onion, Tomato and Pork Soup

Chef Carlos Capistran and Shawna Coronado fix Pazole Soup in Akumal, Mexico.

Want the perfect recipe for a cold Winter’s day? Pazole soup made by my charming friend Chef Carlos Capistran from the Lol-Ha Restaurant. Above is a video we made showing how to make the soup. We were fortunate enough to prepare the soup on the beach in Akumal, Mexico.

Of all the dishes I prepared with Chef Capistran, this is one of my absolute favorites – it is filled with home cooked flavor and goodness and warms you from the tips of your toes to the top of your soul.

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HOW TO MAKE PAZOLE (Hominy and Pork) SOUP -

Ingredients:

• Pork tenderloin,
• White onion, one sliced thin
• Tomato, one, sliced thin
• Garlic, whole, 2 oz.
• White posole (hominy), one can – drained.
• Guajillo dried pepper, one or two (can be found in Mexican grocer)
• Cilantro, handful, torn
• Oregano, 1 Tablespoon
• Cloves, 3
• Water, one gallon
• Oil, 2 oz.
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Toppings - 

• Fried tortilla strips
• Chopped cabbage
• Chopped radishes
• Chopped cilantro
• Diced red onions
• Lime juice
• Tabasco sauce  

Preparation:             

1. Heat oil in a very hot sauté pan (or large pot), sear the pork.
2. Add onions, tomatoes, cilantro, oregano, cloves,and dried peppers, cooking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes.
4. Transfer everything into a large pot.
5. Add water and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes until the pork is cooked completely.
6. Remove the pork, set aside to rest.
7. Transfer everything else into a blender or food processor, except the cloves, and puree.
8. Place puree mixture back in pot and continue to heat.
9. Shred the pork and set aside.
10. Add the white pozole (hominy) to the liquid mixture, cook until heated through.
11. Salt and pepper to taste.       

To serve -

Place a portion of shredded pork in a bowl, pour the hot pureed soup over the top, then serve the toppings on the side so the guests can add the toppings themselves to the soup.

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Very delicious and the perfect solution to a cold Winter’s day!

www.shawnacoronado.com

*Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am noting that the Mayan Riviera Tourism, Hotel Akumal Caribe, Villa Akumal, and Akumal Guide Mexicarte  sponsored this experience. I was not told what to document or how to document the experience, we were simply asked to attend and film – anything expressed in posts related to the activities is my own opinion expressed from my own personal experience.

Winter Is Cold; You Are Not Alone My Gardening Friends

Some days in the frigid, darkness, when cold silence seems our only friend, we gardeners become a little melancholy. We feel lonely and tired and dream of the garden that is yet to erupt into beautiful life.

Remember that you are not alone. Around you, particularly online, are all your warm, soft, fuzzy friends who promise to lift your spirit and bring a smile to a precious face, much like the Lamb’s Ears that surround this lone Petunia.

Wishing you hugs this wintery January…. lots of hugs. Be patient - gardening is right around the corner.

www.shawnacoronado.com

Wordless Wednesday - - Flowering Hen and Chicks Are Beautiful

www.shawnacoronado.com

Recipe for Grouper Fish Tikin Xik - How To Cook Garlic, Pepper, Onion, and Tomato Into Perfection

Chef Carlos Capistran and Shawna Coronado on the beach in Akumal, Mexico cooking white fish and loving it!

This amazing Yucatan Peninsula culinary delight from the Lol-Ha Restaurant is SO GOOD and filled with garlic, pepper, onion, and tomato – delicious things most everyone here in the United States can grow in their gardens. While filming this video in Akumal, Mexico we had a bit of a language problem. Hilariously, you will see that Chef Carlos says “Tikin Xik” which sounds to me as if he is saying “Taking a $*&%” and almost sends me over the edge as I try to pronounce it the correct way. We also cannot remember the word “bouillon” - too funny.

Watch the video and cook this recipe – it is beyond yummy!

HOW TO MAKE GROUPER TIKIN XIK -

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Green bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 Onion, sliced thin
• Tomato, quartered
• Achiote Paste - 1 oz (you can find this at a Mexican grocery store)
• Garlic salt, 1 Tablespoon
• Oregano, 1 Tablespoon
• Ground black pepper, 1 Tablespoon
• Bay leaves, 6
• Garlic, crushed, 3 Tablespoons
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chicken bouillon, 3 Tablespoons
• Maggy Seasoning, 2 Tablespoons
• Worcestershire, 2 Tablespoons
• Water, 2 Tablespoons
• Extra virgin olive oil, 3 oz
• Butter, 1 oz.
• Cooked rice
• Banana leaf (optional and only for serving)

Preparation:

Sauce -

1. Julienne all the vegetables and mix together in a bowl.
2. In a medium pot add the water, achiote, oregano, bay leaves, garlic salt, bouillon, Worcestershire, and Maggy seasoning, bringing everything to a boil. When it is tender and cooked, drain the liquid reserve and set aside.
3. In a sauté pan, add olive oil and garlic and cook on medium. When the garlic is tender, turn off the heat and add the vegetable mixture.
4. Mix the vegetable mixture with the reserved sauce

Grouper (or white fish) -

1. Season the grouper with salt and pepper
2. Sauté fish with butter until lightly golden and slightly cooked through. Place in a baking pan.
3. Add the sauce and vegetables on top of the fish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
5. To serve – place banana leaf on the bottom of the plate (if you have a banana leaf), cooked rice on the top of the banana leaf, and then place the fish, juice, and vegetables on top.

www.shawnacoronado.com

*Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am noting that the Mayan Riviera Tourism, Hotel Akumal Caribe, Villa Akumal, and Akumal Guide Mexicarte  sponsored this experience. I was not told what to document or how to document the experience, we were simply asked to attend and film – anything expressed in posts related to the activities is my own opinion expressed from my own personal experience.

How To Recycle Your Christmas Tree: A Happy Ending

Yesterday was A DAY! If you recall, I wrote a post on proper Christmas Tree Recycling by my garbage and recycling service, Waste Management Company. By noon I had received 250 + emails, countless phone calls, and comments on my Facebook page from my Mayor and people from countries all over the world. By afternoon City Hall was phoning me and Treehugger.com picked up the story nationally. Treehugger.com asked the question, “Are your Christmas Trees REALLY being recycled?”

Wow.

First off, let us address Christmas tree recycling itself. Here are some handy-dandy ideas to get you started -

HOW TO RECYCLE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE

• Community Composting Programs – Contact your city to see if your trash company has a Christmas Tree recycling program. If your city does not have a program, speak with your city officials to see how you might make that program happen.
• Mulch - Chop your own tree into mulch using a wood chipper, let the chips set out and decompose over winter, then use it as mulch in the spring.
• Bird Sanctuary - Remove all the decorations from the tree and set it out in your back garden with orange slices, popcorn, and peanut butter wreaths attached. It will make a great bird feeder and sanctuary through winter. In the spring break apart as yard waste.
• Soil Erosion - Christmas trees make good soil erosion barriers. Check with your local park district or land management group to see if they will take the tree and use it for their river shoreline stabilization efforts.
• Insulation - Cut the limbs off of your Christmas tree and use them as added winter protection on your garden beds. In the spring, simply slip the limbs into a yard waste container for curbside pick up for your community composting program.
• Get a Live Tree In The Future - At the top of this story you see a photo of a Norfolk Pine tree which was kept indoors for many years. Every year my mother-in-law would weigh the limbs down a bit and decorate it as our family Christmas tree. It stayed indoors as a houseplant year round and was perfect as a holiday decoration. We called it our little Charlie Brown tree.

RESOLUTION OF CHRISTMAS TREE NON-RECYCLING IN WARRENVILLE, ILLINOIS – HOORAY!

It turns out that Tamika, the woman I spoke with at Waste Management Company (WM), inaccurately told me that Warrenville recycled its Christmas trees. You see, across the nation WM recycles trees for many cities, and I thought my city was one of them because Warrenville is very environmentally progressive compared to other small towns. It is a common practice among hundreds of cities, so Tamika also thought Warrenville recycled its Christmas trees.

Guess what? Warrenville did not have recycling of Christmas trees in the city contract with WM and the trash man was just doing his job. I was shocked.

Once we figured this out I began getting telephone calls with the question, “WHY is our city not recycling Christmas trees?” Good question. It is good for the environment, saves landfill space, and makes sense. Employees at Warrenville’s City Hall were also concerned. There was a lot of discussion. And phone calls. And strong words.

In the end, something miraculous and wonderful happened. Warrenville asked WM if they would collect our city’s Christmas trees over the next few weeks for recycling during WM’s normal Christmas tree pick-up season. Beginning today there will be a special truck sent for Christmas tree recycling and Warrenville has a full-on AWESOME Christmas tree recycling program for the rest of this season. It did not have this yesterday, but it does today.

In the future, Christmas tree recycling will be built into the City of Warrenville’s template contract for all future trash and recycling bidding.

That means that Christmas trees in our community will be recycled forever from now on.

HOORAY!

Thank you to all of hundreds of people that contacted me yesterday. It was more than I ever expected. Most of the emails, comments, and calls were supportive because this is a subject that touches so many people’s hearts. To those of you who want to learn more about recycling Christmas trees in your community, please start with the above list and feel free to contact me – I am happy to help you with Christmas tree recycling in your neighborhood.

After New Year’s Christmas Tree Disposal; the Travesty of Dishonest Garbage Disposal Companies

This morning I heard the garbage truck roll down our block. Our garbage man was picking up everyone’s trash. This is also the week that Christmas trees are supposed to be left out on the block to be collected. I saw the garbage man throw the Christmas trees in the same truck as the rest of the trash and rushed out with camera in hand. I managed to snap this single shot of the trash man throwing the Christmas trees in the back of his truck with all the rest of the garbage.

In my community residents are required to leave out the Christmas trees and they are taken for free if they are completely free of tinsel and other decorations. I called the Waste Management Company at 10 AM this morning to confirm this. I spoke with a lady named Tamika. She said that these trees are supposed to be recycled into compost and are usually picked up on a third run separate from the trash or standard recycling runs so that the trees will get delivered to their proper location for processing. This is what the company is TELLING the public. Confirmed by this telephone call.

However, do you see the problem here? Our trash man is not doing a third run. He is throwing it in with all the other trash. You cannot tell me that this is going to be separated later at the dumping location – how would you sort out all that clutter? My point is that the corporate Waste Management firm is lying to the public about where the trees are going.

This makes me angry. Why, you ask? Because millions of trees are dumped in landfills or are illegally dumped on public property annually according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While it seems like a small problem at first glance, in my opinion it is a huge problem for the environment.

#1 – the tree is being wasted when it could be reused for mulch or compost – and that would be a very smart use of a product from a Christmas tree farm which keeps it out of the landfill.

#2 – our landfills are filling up rapidly. As space gets more and more crowded, we humans begin to face a larger and larger problem – where is our garbage going to go when there is no more space?

Our environment is suffering because of corporate greed and we need corporations and communities to work together honestly, not dishonestly. Why is the Waste Management Company lying to us?

Communities can definitely reduce Christmas tree waste. For example, the simplest method is to grind the trees into mulch. This mulch can be reused on city and community property or given to residents. From a gardening perspective, mulching returns nutrients into the soil. It also helps conserve moisture and protect plants against winter freeze.

If you want to learn more about holiday tree source reduction, go to the EPA’s website - www.epa.gov or visit the National Christmas Tree Association’s site at www.christmastree.org.

There may be ways you can get YOUR city to help improve the Christmas Tree landfill issue. Please contact your local city administration and ask if the city would consider a “brush pick up” after the holidays? They can pick up all those discarded pine trees and turn them into mulch for the local residents. Christmas trees can be the gift that keeps on giving if the trees are turned into mulch or ground into compost.

www.shawnacoronado.com

Amazing Sope Recipe: Have a Happy New Year with This Yummy Meat, Vegetable, and Cheese Pocket How To

Chef Carlos Capistran makes sopes with Shawna Coronado in Akumal, Mexico.

In this culinary episode we make a fantastic Mexican appetizer from the Lol-Ha Restaurant in Akumal, Mexico to serve on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to welcome in the year. While a Sope is a very traditional Mexico dish which is served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, in this case we are making a recipe for a yummy appetizer.

Basically, a sope is similar to a very thick tortilla. It is made with “masa” and water and formed into a flat “tortilla” with the sides lifted up (see video). It is typically covered with mashed beans, then you can add whatever additional toppings you like such as meat, cheese, and fresh vegetables. You can add whatever you would like as a topping.

Below is a recipe for how you make the sopes base. You can see by the video that after you add beans to the top, you can put whatever meat, vegetable, sauce, or cheese you would like – it is totally up to you.

My favorite topping is beans, chicken, lettuce, avocado, and red sauce. What is yours? Fix it and let me know!!

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HOW TO MAKE THE SOPES “TORTILLA”

Ingredients:

• Dry masa (blue corn or standard)
• Water
• Canola oil or lard

Preparation:

1. Mix the dry masa harina with water until the masa is a smooth paste.
2. Roll the masa into walnut sized balls.
3. Flatten each ball by hand so it is about 1/4-inch thick.
4. Place the flat corn patty on an iron skillet or griddle on medium-high heat.
5. Cook both sides until the surface is lightly browned.
6. When it is warmed through and lightly browned, pull off the heat and grip the sides of the little tortilla, pulling the sides up and pinching them (as we demonstrate in the above video).
7. Heat the griddle again to medium-high. Add a light coating of canola oil (or lard). When the oil is hot, gently place the sopes into the oil, add the beans and warm fillings, cooking until everything is warm and the bottom is golden brown.
8. Remove the sopes and top (or allow your guests to top) with your favorite toppings like vegetables, avocado, cheese, salsas, and sauces.

~~~

Happy New Year and enjoy this fun sope appetizer. DELICIOUS!!

www.shawnacoronado.com

*Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am noting that the Mayan Riviera Tourism, Hotel Akumal Caribe, Villa Akumal, and Akumal Guide Mexicarte  sponsored this experience. I was not told what to document or how to document the experience, we were simply asked to attend and film – anything expressed in posts related to the activities is my own opinion expressed from my own personal experience.

Say Merry Christmas With A Visit To The Train Garden!!

Every year we go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for the amazing Wonderland Express exhibit. This year my family was invited to attend and it was as glorious as ever; it even snows inside the building where the trains are displayed. Above is a video that shows children enjoying the magnificent train displays mixed in with some downright beautiful holiday floral exhibits.

The Wonderland Express exhibit is inside the Regenstein Center and is a 10,000-square-foot exhibition of miniature trains winding through more than 80 miniature Chicago-area landmarks, including Navy Pier, Soldier Field, Chicago Stadium, the Chinatown Arch, the Art Institute, the South Shore Cultural Center, the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, and more. All the landmarks and miniature buildings are made from natural materials. It is quite astounding to see the buildings made from thing like leaves, bark, and moss nestled in gorgeous floral displays.

This exhibit is open through January 1, 2012. To learn more about how to get tickets to go to the event, please go to this link – WONDERLAND EXPRESS TICKETS.

Merry Christmas!

www.shawnacoronado.com

Christmas Design Idea: How To Make Poinsettia Balls

How To Make Hanging Poinsettia Balls -

1. Find or make a container that has holes in the bottom. Like the one at right (this is from the Bloom Master Planter Corp.).

2. Place poinsettias gently in the container holes.

3. Fill with container potting soil.

4. Top with more poinsettias.

5. Water well and hang.

These holiday balls were hanging at the Chicago Botanic Gardens greenhouses this season when we went to visit the Wonderland Express exhibit and I was fascinated with them. Thought you would enjoy some of that creative holiday love.

Happy Holidays to you! Enjoy the Christmas season!!

www.shawnacoronado.com

ZERO DOLLAR Experiment - - Christmas Debt You Can Kiss My Shiny White Tree

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to discuss something important – the holiday gluttony and resulting debt. This Christmas season many people are suffering because of the down economy. They can barely afford food, let alone afford to put themselves into deeper credit card debt over a gift giving holiday.

Every December my husband and I put ourselves into $1,000 credit card debt for the Christmas holidays. It takes us all year to pay off the money and we start all over the next year. Do our children REALLY need to have the newest, the best, and the latest? What if they could appreciate a few simple gifts that you give them that cost you absolutely nothing? What if the holidays became a thing of kindness and giving FOR EVERYONE instead of selfishness and gluttony (see Bill Maher’s Christmas message to Oprah below)?

These ideas birthed the ZERO DOLLAR Experiment. I have been running the ZERO DOLLAR Experiment on my other blog and thought that perhaps my readers on The Casual Gardener might like to learn how I have spent absolutely no money for Christmas, yet have still provided a nice holiday filled with gifts for my family.

THE ZERO DOLLAR EXPERIMENT RULES --

All the gifts I am giving have been discovered on Freecycle.org, Craigslist.or, or have been given to me over the course of the last year for free. 90% of the gifts have come from Freecycle.org. Below are links to the gift lists and rules post -

• I posted the original outline on the rules I am using for the experiment here - ZERO DOLLAR Experiment
• I posted my first gift post where I show what I have spent for the helpers in my community - HELPER POST.
• I posted my second gift post where I show what I have spent for the friends and business workers who have helped me to wonderful things with my business - FRIEND POST.
• I posted my third post where I show what I have used as gift wrap - GIFT WRAP POST.
• I posted my fourth post where I show how I got our mothers great gifts at no cost - MOM POST.

What are you doing to reduce the expenses during the holiday season? Have you found a way to stay out of debt during the Christmas holiday and still share a meaningful season filled with tradition?

www.shawnacoronado.com

How To Grow A Dragon Wing Begonia Plant;The Shade Queen of the Annual Flowers

Dragon Wing Begonia’s are a surprise. When you see them at the nursery or garden center they look ugly, unflowered, and rather dismal, but when you put them in your garden they quickly become the Queen of All Shady Annuals. Regal, beautiful, and gorgeous in every way. Above you see my Dragon Wing Pink Begonia’s with a little dragon winged friend in early July of this year.

This Begonia is basically maintenance-free and builds spectacular hanging baskets. It makes a simple container turn alive with it’s eye-cathing wing-shaped foliage and nice flowers. Dragon Wing is very heat tolerant and requires low water. Perfect for my sustainable approach to gardening.

HOW TO GROW A DRAGON WING BEGONIA PLANT -

1. Plant a Dragon Wing Begonia in a container or garden bed by digging a hole twice the size of the plant’s root ball, then gently covering the roots with soil once the root ball is in the ground. Soil which is well drained and well-amended with compost or rotted manure will increase the success of the flower display.
2. Mulching the plant is important if it is planted in the ground. While Dragon Wing Begonia is rather drought tolerant, it reacts well to CONSISTENT watering no matter where it is planted. Meaning – it likes water at regular intervals and does not like to remain parched like the Sahara Desert for long periods of time. Mulching helps maintain more even moisture for the plant.
3. Feeding with an organic fertilizer every two weeks or so will help it become a larger more florific plant. I added manure at the beginning of the season and did NOTHING related to fertilizing the rest of the season. Worked just fine.
4. I leave the plant over the winter as shelter for the little creatures in my garden and clean it up in the spring. However, if you want to propagate this plant yourself, it is easy to do so from cuttings.

Below you see an August view of the “begonia shelf” and my pallet wall garden. To learn how to grow a vertical  pallet wall garden, please go here - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com/2011/11/years-ago-i-built-shade-fairy-garden.html.

Think about Dragon Wing Begonia’s for your garden next season – I think they will be a hit!

www.shawnacoronado.com

Special Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am letting you know that Ball Horticultural supplied the Begonia Dragon Wing Pink annual plants grown in this garden. I  write many instructional stories and videos with their  flower and vegetable products and donate a large portion of the vegetables I grow to the local food pantry when harvested.

How To Grow The Best Dinosaur Kale - My Favorite Ornamental Vegetable ('Dinosaur lacinato')

Last year in early spring, while others were still shivering from 30 degree temps, I bundled up and headed out to my local nursery to find some plants for a local tv show appearance. The tv show appearance featured plants you can plant in a spring container. From the moment my eye first landed on the baby Flowering Kale, 'Dinosaur lacinato', I fell madly, passionately in love.

The plant itself, as an infant, is absolutely adorable. Perky little blue green leaves falling gracefully around a central stem. It called to me from the nursery table, "BUUYYYY MEEEE!!!"

First I planted the kale in a container for the tv show (see bottom video below), then I pulled the kale out and set it on my back deck bare-rooted and forgot about it. Many frosts and a few weeks later I remembered what I forgot and ran out to find the baby kale in perfect condition. After I added raised beds in the back garden I thought the Dinosaur Kale might make a unique ornamental centerpiece to each rectangular bed. A perfect solution, I planted them in spring and the plants soon grew to be large, arching, and absolutely ancient looking (see photo at top). What an amazing looking plant!

Next I began cooking it. It is easy to cook. My favorite way to prepare the kale is with sauteed onions or garlic. With the combination of kale, onions, and/or garlic I then mix that with other ingredients - eggs, rice, and italian noodles for instance (see video below). All delicious!

Shawna cooking kale and onions with eggs in her front lawn veggie garden.

How to Grow A Dinosaur Kale

1. Obtain a Dinosaur Kale plant - or seed - and plant in well drained soil in either a container or directly into your garden bed. Kale is remarkably indifferent to soil type and seems to prefer my heavy clay soil from what I can tell. Although instructions said to plant 18" apart, the plant seems to grow and spread - I would plant each kale 24 to 36" apart.
2. Dinosaur kale prefers full sun, but these plants were planted in heavy shade and did remarkably well. In fact, I think the season was extended very long because the kale was not affected by full sun heat in late summer. Hot weather turns kale rather bitter. Therefore the season lasted from early spring all the way until December in zone 5, near Chicago, IL with no bitterness - WOW!
3. Water regularly, but in my experience this particular Kale is nearly drought resistant. While I watered consistently, it was not overly demanding in its water requirements. Mulching well will help hold in moisture.
   If the plant starts to flower, snip the flowers off and cook them like you do broccoli. DELICIOUS!
4. Heavy fertilizing is NOT preferred by Dinosaur kale. I did not fertilize any of my kale plants this year and they did fantastic all season.
5. Do not uproot the plant in fall. Instead, keep it growing through winter - you can often harvest with snow dusting the leaves throughout winter. If you decide the plant is "done", then cut it off at the base. Many types of kale, if mulched well, will leaf out again in the spring if you do not uproot the entire plant. This can save you a ton of money in plant buying. However, you should dig up the kale and rotate your crop, trying to move it to different locations. Planting kale in the same spot will reduce its production and increase its risk for infection - it is best to relocate it every four years for the best results.

Dinosaur kale; easy to grow, tasty and delicious, and an absolutely showy ornamental vegetable that is perfect for your garden. I L-O-V-E it and so will you!!

Planting containers with vegetables

www.shawnacoronado.com

Dreaming of An Armadillo Succulent Topiary: I Think I Am In Love

While walking through the Chicago Botanic Garden’s greenhouses this season, I fell in love with a little armadillo. Not just any armadillo, mind you, he is a succulent covered testimony to Texas road kill that goes beyond the natural. He is prickly. He is flowery. He is adorable.

And in the spirit of the famous words of Dory the Fish there can only be one name for him, “I shall call him Squishy.”

Go about your lives people: I will continue to fantasize about plants and gardening and, of course, Squishy, while desperately shivering in the arctic cold of Chicagoland.

www.shawnacoronado.com