Here, take one!

My business card for my new Gardening Enterprise. 

I'm really happy to share my business card with you all!! Need gardening consultation? Want to plant a Fall Garden? Now is the time to get that kale, chard, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and those other Fall/Winter crops in! I can help! Want to eat better? I can show you how to cook these fresh homegrown veggies. Invest in your health, beautify your home, create a healthy habitat for your corner of the world, try something new or learn more about gardening. I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot of it, so let me help you see your way to something spectacular!!

Want to start small? Let's start with an herb box by your window sill. Live in an apartment and all you've got is a balcony? No problem. Want to tear out your whole lawn and start from scratch? Let's talk. Have a café or restaurant? Want to grow what you cook at your business? Let's talk. I can teach you, we can do it together so you learn from me and won't need me anymore in the future, or I can just do it for you if you don't have the time to learn now. Live in Southern California/the Los Angeles area? Email me at tiffaniema@gmail.com about your project and how I can be of service. I look forward to meeting you. If you live in another part of the world and have a gardening question, email me. I look forward to writing to you. My garden hands are yours.


Always Your
Garden Gallivanter,

Tiffanie




*photo by Tiffanie Ma

October 15

I felt somewhere between a witch, chef, and gardener today while working in my mom's garden. A sprinkle of coffee grounds with a dash of smoked paprika powder along the border of a newly amended and seeded bed of lettuce greens, should do the trick. From what I've read cats do not like strong smells such as these. It's another game gardening in the city versus in the country. The rules are different and so are the challenges, such as stray cats pooping and peeing in your garden (yuck!)!

Luckily for us, the problem is not so severe, in fact, no poop found yesterday morning on the burlap sack I used to cover the newly sewn lettuce seeds to keep them moist for germination, reported Mom. Though, it may have been just a lucky morning, so since I don't want to take chances, I played with the magic of coffee grounds and smoked paprika today. We'll see what unfolds.

Getting my Garden on with these clogs! Jorris would appreciate.

Playing with magic of chili and coffee to deter cats from garden. 

Strong scents like coffee grounds and smoked paprika are said to deter cats. 

I’ve been home from France for a month and a half now, since September. It’s been a lot of yoga, reading, resting, creating new projects (a blog post to come!), reconnecting with friends and family. It’s also been about reconnecting to old spaces, like mom’s garden, my first solo garden project I began many moons ago. Much has changed in her garden over the years. I’ve been traveling and my mom isn’t a gardener. My Grandma Lee, her mom, is the gardner. She grew all sorts of things with strange methods I would just crinkle my nose at when I saw her as I played outside, but she could grow anything. Perhaps that’s where my passion for gardening comes from. 

The Succulent Egg project I made for mom in Spring of 2015. 

Some of them now, Fall of 2016! Mom has done a great job watering!

But, Mom actually surprised me this time with her gardening commitment. Before I left for France last Spring, I had instructed her to water this basket of succulents, without much hope since she’s failed in the past to keep plants alive, in fact these succulents were part of that failure. They were cuttings from the succulents that lined my sidewalk when I lived in Silverlake and which I had propagated in egg shells, sharing them with my school, students, encouraging people to plant them and watch them grow. Before I had left for France the first time in the Summer of 2015, I had asked her to water them. Upon my return that Winter, they were sad, all alone, out in the back yard, as dry as the Sahara Desert but still alive and waiting for love. So, I tried to save some and transplanted them in this empty planter basket which I had planted herbs in for a lesson during my Master Gardener class the year prior. This time, returning to Mom’s garden, I see the basket brimming with beautiful and happy succulents, sitting like a trophy on the fountain!! She’s been modest about her success, since she never spoke about how well they were doing while I was in France. I suppose taking care of the succulent basket was like taking care of me, even though I was far away. It's fantastic to have a relic of my time living in Silverlake and to know that some of my gardening skills are rubbing off on my mom.

Gardening piece by piece, first repotting, Mom's favorite Gardenia. 

Repotting is so simple and really changes the atmosphere, here Lavender. 

Amending pieces of the garden, here had to scoop out poop first. 

Then, mix in organic compost but no tilling, just add on top of existent soil.

Water, cover, leave a few days and then sew lettuce seeds!

Cover again with burlap or other cover material to keep seeds protected. 

With the temperatures cooling off, since it has been torrid upon my return to LA, I’ve been more motivated to get back into the garden, and frankly, couldn't wait any longer. I’ve been itching to get back into the soil, and I was about to get back in, weather permitting or not. I’m starting piece by piece. Amending soil here and there. Repotting old pots with Gardenia and Lavender, two of Mom’s favorites. Sewing lettuce seeds. Scooping up poop. I have to admit that I can't put all the blame on the wild cats of Azusa for the poopy mess, our precious Malti-Poo (cross between a Maltese and Poodle), Jet, is also to blame. I've seen him in the past jump up into the beds and do his business in the green sorrel, though it's really not his fault either because Mom and I never laid the rules on him and since he was a puppy, he was trained to do his business on green and since the backyard is cemented floor, the garden is the closest thing to what Jet is familiar with. But, I've told him now not to poop there and have been keeping an eye on him. So far, he's been a pretty good listener.

The flower & herb garden of the farm house in Villetale Haute, France. 

You're all probably wondering why and how I could ever leave the beautiful French Alps and this picture above, but sometimes, a girl's just got to seek comfort in the familiar again, to find new perspective in an old place. It was a very successful season in Villetale Haute, and I promise I won't forget to share some photos in a later post. It was just time to say a bientôt to the place, though not adieu. There was mostly just harvesting in the vegetable garden and on the bee-side of business some markets and transhumances left. But I figured Jorris and Philippe could hold down the fort without me, and they are doing just fine. I suppose I'm slowly giving in to the fact that California will always be home and I will always miss it, wherever I go, no matter how old I get, so maybe I should just make it my physical home, too, deepen the roots I already have here. I've had the privilege of traveling afar and living abroad since my college days, and even before as a kid during family vacations. Each time I come home, I realize how much I miss it. And it's not just my family, though, they are the main reason; but it's also just the way the landscape feels, the vastness, the independent freedom, the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Madre and San Gabriel Mountains, the forests of central and northern California.

Of course, I also have another home, and that's where Jorris is. His mind is as vast and open as the California landscape, and he is willing to seek a new life here with me, for us. While we can plan our future, we can never anticipate everything that will come. Of course we should plan, hope, dream, though I’ve learned that not everything in life will go as planned. We can’t always rely on our hopes and dreams to come true. In fact, in doing so, we limit ourselves, closing the door to the possible magnificence our human minds could never have dreamed or imagined and only something greater, like the Universe, can create. Why not trust that this Universe could have something even greater than what we could ever have imagined, hoped for, or dreamed of? One thing, however, I’ve learned I can always trust is my gut. Our guts know the truth, but it’s whether or not we choose to listen. The mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of our bodies are inter-dependent, inter-twined, and together work in ways to communicate messages to us. Learning how to hear, decipher, and understand these messages can be a life long journey. It's complicated. It can get a little woo woo, as my beloved yoga teacher Alma says. But we can start by following our guts, our heart. 

The herb bed has seen better days.

I will plant wild flowers here! But first, poop scooping, amending & weeding.

Quick! Duck before the neighbor sees! Lining the wall with coffee & pepper.

For instance, I trusted my gut to save the coffee grounds left over from my, may I say, amazing pour-over coffees I make every morning. My Dad will attest to their amazingness, and I’d bet both my gardening thumbs on that! Even without a composting system, yet, it felt wrong to throw out all this great nitrogen. So I saved them, just in case. And then during the week, I made a uniquely delicious mac ’n cheese for my dad and I, which called for smoked paprika. I hesitated to buy the whole glass bottle of organic smoked paprika for just the teaspoon that I needed, but my gut said go for it. It’s good to experiment with new spices. A few days later, Mom informs me of the cat visitor, so I find myself researching ways to keep cats out of the garden and what do you know? You can sprinkle coffee grounds and chili powder along your garden’s edges to keep them out. And I had both those ingredients! Did I know they would go together like that? Never would I have imagined. 

I suppose you may be calling me a fancy/crazy gardener, and I am, so go ahead call me fancy, call me crazy. I am that gardener who sprinkles organic coffee grounds and organic smoked paprika powder along her garden borders and above the walls, ducking a little so the neighbors won’t see. And while I’m at it, I’ll sprinkle some coffee grounds into the soil itself to add some nitrogen; and since I’m also a chef, I can’t help but shake a few dashes of organic paprika powder into the soil too. A little chili powder in the soil doesn't hurt, right? At least that’s what my gut told me. 



*photos by Tiffanie Ma

The Hunt

Monarch Caterpillars were the treasures!

This week in Garden Classes, it was all about the hunt. Isn't it a primitive and instinctual behavior of humans after all? Aren't we always seeking more and hoping to discover something more? Whether it be food, shelter or inspiration, we are beings of wonder. Perhaps our evolved brains since our ancestors who had to worry more about seeking food and basic needs, allow us the luxury to seek more.

My second graders absolutely loved the Bug Hunt activity we did this week. This group of second graders is a little more challenging. Every student evolves at a different rate in terms of maturity level, and academic capacities. These students, with more strengths in creative faculties, struggle with behaving like students frequently. They have shorter attention spans, easily get into arguments over trivial instances with each other, and breakdown quickly when things get hard.

So, I had to restructure my lesson with the wisdom of my room mate and fellow teacher Jessie. She suggested that these students need a simple lesson to follow through on and discover success with. We have to keep garden enlightening and fun, along with learning, instead of just being a challenge all the time for this particular class. I thought of doing a Bug Hunt, where they would search for different bugs in the garden and draw their recordings on a worksheet I would draft up. Jessie suggested that sometimes, even looking at a worksheet can be too daunting to students. There are so many things you are expected to do when you get a worksheet: write your name in the upper-right hand corner, figure out the date and how to write that, read directions, etc. And some students who really struggle academically, will give up immediately upon seeing a worksheet. I have seen it happen.

Henry's Monarch Caterpillar!

On the Hunt!

 
Instead of a worksheet, Jessie suggested just a small white note card. Students can just draw one bug they see. And if that is too easy for some, they can turn the card around and draw another bug. The idea is to stratify the lesson, so that all levels of learners can gain something from the lesson.

It turned out to be a pressure-free, fun, and successful activity. I was happy for my students, watching them work together to hunt for bugs and especially for those students who felt a sense of success and accomplishment because they were able to manage the assignment. And, happily for me, keeping the mean and stressed garden teacher at home that day, was liberating.

Jessie also gave me another great tip. You can guess how long a student can sit attentively by how old the student is. So if a student is 7-years-old, he or she can probably sit for 7-minutes max. This means I had to tailor my lecture and explanation to a quick 7-minutes. Sometimes I forget that I am working with kids and they have not cultivated the ability to sit and attentively listen for too long yet. I am so thankful to Jessie for sharing her experience with me. These moments shape me into a better teacher.





*Photos by Tiffanie Ma

Our Humble Home

Where we cook, garden, laugh, write, read, plan & create.

*photo by Tiffanie Ma

Taking Root

A sprig of Rosemary ready to root. 

For a long time, I felt like this sprig of Rosemary: full of potential and ready to root. Well, I suppose it has technically only been 4 years since my undergraduate graduation in 2010, but it sure felt like an eternity since I felt like I found somewhere and something to take root into.

Upon graduation I had been exposed to so many complex concepts and had alluring visions of how I would change the world into a better place. I had earned a B.A. in Sociology and minor in Visual Arts, but like my fellow classmates, had little experience. And, I still did not know what to set my heart on, though it longed for so much.

Through all the post-graduate hardships, I had always found nature to be most soothing and inspiring. When I felt lost and lonely, bouncing from internship to internship, part-time job to part-time job, with no clear path of where I was headed, I sought refuge in the San Gabriel Mountains of my backyard.

The Mt.Wilson trail in Sierra Madre was particularly my most favorite trail. I could hike up that trail day after day and still feel challenged and reinvigorated each time. I saw in the trees, foliage, and river waters peace and serenity. When I felt the saddest, it was my trail of tears. When I felt the happiest, it was my clarity. It also led me to a most amazing person, whom I will explain more about later.

Mother Nature never ceases to impress and surprise me. This sprig of Rosemary pictured was an experiment I played with after one of my Master Gardener classes this past May. We were learning about the various ways to propagate plants: by seed, cuttings, etc. I broke off this sprig of Rosemary from our school bush, scraped off 2/3rds of the magical prickly greens, stuck it in an old juice glass with water and forgot about it for about a month. The results astonished me. After weeks of being too busy to pay attention to this sprig of Rosemary sitting on my windowsill, I noticed it one day and was blown away. This sprig of Rosemary didn't need anything but water to stimulate roots. This sprig of Rosemary was yearning to become it's own plant, as I was yearning to become my own person.

And, I feel like during this past year, I really have grown into my own person. Yes, there have been moments of pain and self-doubt, but they have not been without many more moments of pure joy and happiness. Like when I met my life goal I set a few years ago to move out of the house by the time I'm 25 with a steady job. Not only did I get to achieve that this past May, but I also got to move to the hippest part of Los Angeles and with the best roommate a gal could ever dream of having.

At our housewarming, my loves <333: Alli, Sara, and Jessie (from left to right).

Jessica, the blonde beauty next to me, has been a cherished treasure-of-a-friend to have found. She has one of the youngest souls and purest hearts I've thus encountered in life. She has been a great friend and shows gratitude, love, and kindness to all around her.

After college I never wanted to live with roommates again, but Jessica was the exception. Although we live very separate and busy lives, and have traveled a lot this Summer, we enjoy so many of the same things in life, such as cooking and gardening. We both love traveling, and we both are lucky enough to share the same amazing 2nd grade students, soon to be 3rd graders this coming Fall. Jessie is the Lead 2nd Grade Teacher at our school, and I get the privilege of having her awesome students walk through the garden each week. We also started the "Garden Stand" together, which I am so excited to start up again this coming school year. I can't wait to work with Jessie on this again; she breathes such excitement and possibility into new ideas and we jive really well together.

I am also so grateful for my new friendships with Alli and Sara (from left to right). I also worked with them at Larchmont and they have been such great company and friends to spend time with. Alli helped me with shopping for things for our new place when we just moved in, and she also helped us clean our home before we moved in. She and our other awesome friend Amanda, which isn't in this particular picture, but was at our housewarming party where we took the photo, both came over to a "cleaning party," of yellow rubber gloves, mops and sponges. Let's just say our home wasn't the cleanest of homes before we moved in. And Sara, I get the company of having on Thursday nights when we go to the Micheltorena Garden Potluck, and during our walks around the Silverlake Reservoir.

Our mini-potted garden oasis. 

I've lived on my own independently before moving out to Silverlake, but this place is different because I am financially responsible, and it feels fantastic to be able to take care of myself in this way.

Jessie and I started a little garden in our little backyard. Our home is far from an Urban Homestead, but it feels like a mini one to me every time I head into the backyard for a few sprigs of basil or chives from our potted garden. When we are home together, some Saturdays we make breakfast and sit outside to bask in the sun and read Gardening at the Dragon's Gate by Wendy Johnson. This "Breakfast Book Club," is still a tradition-in-progress which we have only just begun once this Summer and hope to continue.

It has been such a pleasure to cook simple foods while using basic herbs from our garden. We have tri-color sage, an old classic I discovered years ago when I helped my mom with her garden; apple mint, which I hope to steep teas from; Italian Basil, which sprung back to life after some neglect on my part; and a few geraniums, and potted flowers, donated by Muir Ranch's Plug Mob. I've enjoyed strolling down Sunset Blvd to the Farmer's Market on Tuesdays for some fresh produce and fruit, then trekking back home to play in the kitchen, with Lana Del Rey serenading from our Jambox and perhaps a glass of wine. When I'm cooking in the kitchen, no matter how simple the meal, the world around me just melts away and nothing else matters except for what I am creating for the plate in front of me. The layers of flavors, the chopping, the timing, the smells, the spices, the taste tests, my hands, nose, taste buds, and vision, all align for the dish at hand.

I'm hoping to add more to our garden oasis. More edibles equals more flavors and opportunities in the kitchen in my mind. Some miniature citrus trees and some vertical gardening would add more beauty and life to our backyard. In our rich city of Los Angeles, with its parking challenges, endless traffic and small backyards, we have to make do with what we have, keeping in mind that even the smallest spaces can spark the greatest ideas.

Jet is one of our most cultured house guests.

Jessie and I have transformed this unfamiliar place over the past 4 months into a warm home. We have brought together the best of things we have, being resourceful and creative, inviting good energy to fill our home. Jet is definitely a fur ball of good energy. Sometimes, I bring Jet home with me to hang out and show him around Silverlake. We've been to the dog park, and I've introduced Jet to the school garden. I've taken him to the garden pot luck. Jet has a good time, and I love having him over to visit from time to time. He is such a cultured pup!

We couldn't have made our house into a home without the love and support of our friends and family. We had our housewarming party in July, and it was so much fun. It was quaint and sweet, with amazing company and much laughter. Even my brother made it out from West Hollywood with a fancy bottle of champagne in hand, despite his busy schedule!

And, one more big Kudos to another important man in my life, my mon cheri, Raul. He is that amazing person whom I mentioned earlier in this post. We met on the Mt. Wilson trail hiking. We ran into each other 3 separate times! The first time was while I was coming down on a turn and he was coming up with his cousin and his westie Bruno. The second time was while I was walking Jet and he was walking Bruno; we ended up hiking together up to Orchard Camp, the farthest I had ever been up the Mt. Wilson trail.Then we hadn't seen each other for 3 months; until finally, one day he was running down and I was hiking up. On this 3rd time, just as he was about run past me, he turned around, said hello, and asked for my number. That encounter began a magnificent journey.

This party would not have been possible without the chef skills of this handsome man whom I am honored to be loved by. Raul came home for my cousin Tina's wedding, for our vacation to St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands and for my housewarming party. He made his mom's potato taco recipe, which was delish and a talk at the party. Together we mashed potatoes, folded them into tortillas, lightly fried them and topped them off with sour cream, Cotija cheese and lettuce. They were a hit at the party! We made guacamole and salsa with the fresh produce Jessie picked up from the Farmer's Market and made Caipirinhas and Cuba Libres for our guests. Raul made all those drinks and the tacos!! We also had french baguette sandwiches with various meat and cheese fixins which also all disappeared by the end of the party.

Iron Chef Raul.

Mexican Potato Tacos!

Raul kept me calm as party time was nearing, and we were driving around town like mad buying food and party supplies. In addition to all his help in the kitchen, he also helped us screw in some hooks with his bare hands into our kitchen wall frame to hang our pots and pans. This was a decorative and space-saving idea Jessie and I thought we could do, and Raul made it happen. Jessie and I would have been able to figure out how to hang the pots, eventually, but it was Raul's willingness to get it done for us that made my heart melt. How can you not love the man who makes your house nice and hangs pots and pans up on the kitchen ceiling for you?

El amor de mi vida, Raul. 

I am so grateful to be in the arms of this magnificent man. He is everything I could ever hope for in a person, a friend, a dreamer, a seeker, a protector, a do-er, a passionate force which inspires and re-inspires with his every gesture of love and kindness, of patience and self-sacrifice. We have grown so much together over the past 2 and 1/2 years of our relationship. He has supported me in every way a person can be supported and without his love and encouragement, I don't think I'd be taking root where I have happily done so in my life career-wise and soul-wise. Without him, I think I still would be that Rosemary sprig in that jar of water, with roots protruding everywhere, dreams to make real, and nowhere to grow into; with him, I have discovered the richest soil of life, free to grow deeply and together up high into our ripest dreams. Cheers to you baby! Thank you for all your love. 

*Photos by Tiffanie Ma and Jessica Jensen.

A Morning at the Huntington Ranch

The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA

Nothing makes a sunny Saturday morning in southern California more perfect than a stroll through The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA. Oh wait, I retract that first sentence; one thing is more perfect, and that is sharing the experience with a great friend.

My friend Laila and I at the Ranch.

I met my friend Laila while interning at the Garden School Foundation. She was one of my garden managers and from her I learned how charmingly decadent chocolate avocado mousse could be, or exist for that matter; how to savor lunch time in our school garden chomping on cheese and crackers while lounging on the grass under a precious piece of shade as if we were on a French farm in the French countryside; how to weed and wheel-barrel loads of green waste like a champion; how it is ok, no FANTASTIC, to sometimes be like what many of our peers and family would consider an "old-lady" and have "old-lady" tendencies like going to bed early, gardening and visiting the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens on a Saturday morning.

For my friends who do not know. The Huntington was founded by Henry E. Huntington in 1919 and serves as a private nonprofit collections-based research and educational institution. Over his lifetime, Mr. Huntington garnered a world renown research library, significant art collection, and the diverse creation of botanical gardens covering 120 acres of the 207-acre estate, representing plants and regions from across the globe. On this morning, Laila and I ventured off to The Huntington Ranch, a fairly new project of grounds.

The tool shed greets visitors at the main entrance of the Ranch.  

Opening in November 2010, The Huntington Ranch serves as an outdoor classroom, research lab, and demonstration garden, focusing on sustainable urban agriculture. The Ranch is open on 15 acres of land with an array of vegetable gardens; fruit trees rescued from L.A.'s former South Central Farm; orange groves from the beginning days of when The Huntington was a ranch; and a heritage grove of California avocados.

These orange trees will act as a hedge, growing up to between 6-8 feet. 

These leafy greens are part of research. 

Veggie varieties sprawl among the grounds.  

Dried chilies hang from the tool shed. 

An array of vegetables under close research. 

Pomelos line the entrance.

There is a wonderful road lined with trees to wander down.

Scott Kleinrock educates visitors about various green topics.

Scott Kleinrock is project manager for the Ranch and a master's student in landscape architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He hopes the Ranch will serve as a resource in strengthening L.A.'s food system into a more sustainable and equitable one. The Ranch will hold gardening workshops for both adults and students, teacher trainings, and be a forum for professionals of sustainable urban agriculture. The Ranch is not always open for visitors, so make sure to check the calendar of events on  your visit, and don't forget to bring a great friend.



*photos by Tiffanie Ma 

Big Sky Country

Horses grazing in Great Falls, Montana. 

During my visit to Great Falls, Montana in July of 2012, I began a fire escape garden project. The third largest city in Montana, Great Falls is a quiet town of parks, peace, and like all of Montana, of Big Sky. I did not understand why Montana is known as Big Sky Country until I saw it for myself, the beautiful and ever expanding sky.

Polycultural Vegetable Box Project

I found inspiration for this project from a great book called The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. I found this book to be filled with innovative ideas about how to utilize space as well as how to beautifully adapt a gardening lifestyle into an urban setting. 

Even if one does not live in an urban environment, I find these projects still noteworthy for someone with small living spaces in general, such as an apartment. If this is you, do not be discouraged, a little outdoor space can go a long way. 

The concept of a polycultural bed, whether it be a large-raised bed, or a simple vegetable/herb box, is simple. A polyculture simply describes a garden growing many different varieties of plants. In this fire escape garden, right outside the kitchen window, of our apartment, we grew basil, chives, rosemary, lavender, lettuce, and carrots in a wine crate. The lettuce and carrots we grew from seed, while the other herbs we purchased as young plants. We also grew lemon balm and thyme in another long rectangular planter, which was left from the previous apartment dwellers. 

Polycultural fire escape Veggie/Herb Box. 

The variety of plants mimics the biodiversity of life found in nature. Bigger plants, in this case the rosemary, lavender, basil, and chives, will protect the smaller lettuce and carrot sprouts from elements such as high winds, harsh sun and pounding rain. They also provide shade for the more fragile sprouts. Unlike a monoculture, where only one type of plant or crop is grown, such as corn in the U.S., polycultures have a more suitable habitat for success. 

One plant may attract beneficial insects which prey on insects that may be eating a neighboring plant. Perhaps one plant takes nitrogen out of the soil, while another one replenishes nitrogen in the soil. This interrelated and interdependent community of plants work together like a community of people, each with a different contribution to the whole.

Water garden regularly, but be careful not to over water.

Here are the Steps:

1. Get nutritious soil. Good soil is the foundation to any successful garden. Since this garden is in a container, potting soil is best. "Black Gold" soil contains feather meal, compost, bone meal, bat guano and many other fortifying plant foods.

Good soil is crucial for a healthy garden. 

2. Purchase a few varieties of your favorite herbs and vegetables, including some from a few seed packets. These seed packets will be sprinkled evenly into the dirt. Here we have carrots and a lettuce mix. 

A new family of herbs and seeds. 

3. Fill the container 3/4ths of the way with soil. Gently transplant the baby herbs into a wine crate. This wine crate we got for $2 at Sam's Club. Whatever container you use, make sure it has good drainage, so water may escape. Improper drainage could lead to soil rot. Spread the plants out, but remember that density and disorder are part of this particular method. 

Press firmly around crown. 

4. Evenly sprinkle seeds around the planted herbs covering all the spaces of soil. Then with a watering can, water thoroughly. Watering in a sink or outside is best to avoid floods! While what you grow is up to you, stick to plants that do not take up too much space such as: lettuce, root vegetables, beans, herbs or edible flowers. Perhaps plant a theme of favorites like Asian vegetables or heirloom varieties of some sort.

Sprinkle in seed packets evenly and water. 

5. Voila! As plants grow with different maturation rates, there will always be something to harvest and eat! When empty spaces emerge, plant new varieties. The density of growing greens will eliminate weeds and act as a mulch to keep soil temperature regulated. Enjoy a buffet of fresh veggies and herbs!

Located right outside the kitchen window is fresh produce!

*Photos By Tiffanie Ma