Shopping for Coco Coir

On Wednesday, March 13, 2019, I went to Adams Fairacre Farms in Newburgh, NY to buy Coco Coir, a natural fiber extracted from the husk of coconuts. Coir is a great substitute for peat moss and peat because it is a renewable resource widely available and environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, gardeners choose to use such products as: perlite (ref 1, ref 2) and vermiculite (ref 1, ref 2) on a regular basis in order to aerate and keep their soil moist. I am determined to use only organic products from renewable resources and I refuse to use either perlite or vermiculite. When I read that you need to be cautious when handling perlite because breathing its dust can hurt you, and also that up to 1990 in Libby, Montana, they mined perlite that was contaminated with asbestos, I stay away from these products.

Soon, I will be receiving several fig cuttings and I am preparing myself for their arrival. There will be several separate posts on this project.

Here is the Coco "brick" I bought at Adams. It is compressed and it will expand almost tripling its volume when moistened.

As I was looking around the gardening products, guess what I saw!!!!!! They had Chicago fig trees. This fig tree may is a very hardy tree that will do very well in our zone 5b.

I had to act fast and immediately grabbed one package, after all, you never know how many customers can swarm this area even though they had about 20 trees. There is the tree, in my shopping cart, looking proud and happy it just got adopted by a loving family.

Happy plantings!

The Brussels Sprouts are Sprouting!

YES! Less than a week ago I set up a small station indoors and planted a few seeds and today, BAM, several Brussels Sprouts seeds have sprouted!! How 'bout them sprouts! I feel giddy with delight and I find it very hard to contain myself.

Here is an extreme close up of one of the cells.

The general location is in the upper right corner of the tray.

In the upper right corner there are three, that's right, count them, three cells that have sprouted.

Happy sprouting!

Greek Prasorizo - Leek and Rice

This was my dad's most favorite dish and my mom would make it very often for him. The recipe is very simple and easy to follow. Because leeks are grown in sandy soil, the most difficult part is washing the leeks.

The ingredients are few and can scale easily.

• One cup of rice.
• Two leeks, cut lengthwise and then cut roughly.
• One large diced onion.
• Two cups of vegetable broth.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

In this recipe I make a quick vegetable stock and use it instead of using water to make the rice. The vegetable stock adds a new dimension to this dish. Please stay away from store-bought stocks.

I made a nice YouTube video of the whole process and I think you'll enjoy it. 

This is such a wonderful dish that can be eaten as a meal or as a nice side dish.

Enjoy!