Cleaning with Intention

Call me crazy, but one of my favorite weekly activities is cleaning! There’s just nothing better than a fresh, clean house! One of the reasons I love it so much is because I don’t just scrub away dirt and grime, I rid every crook and cranny of negative, stale, or stagnant energy. Working with energy may seem eccentric or even crazy here in the United States, but it’s just another daily activity in many cultures around the world. It makes a huge difference! Most people that come to my home the first time comment on how relaxed they feel in my space. Regardless of your walk in life, giving your home a good energy scrubbing is great for your family and your health.

Fresh Air

This is one of the easiest ways to clean out stale energy. Open your windows and doors! Open up your home to all the wonder that’s right outside your door. With a window or door open, stand and close your eyes. Feel the room. Is there a breeze? Are there new smells? What do you notice? Eyes open or closed, imagine the fresh air coming into your home and flushing out the old air – the old energy. See it being replaced with energy. It’s helpful to give the new energy a color, perhaps a light blue or white. It’s up to you! There is no right or wrong way. Even on a hot Arizona day, I like to do this for a few minutes each week – or 24/7 during nice weather. 

The Lavender Treatment

What do you think of when you see or smell lavender? For me, it’s the ultimate calming scent. I associate lavender with calm, tranquility, and harmony. I have a little lavender vacuuming ritual that I like to do, but you can do it with any herb you connect with. First, I sprinkle lavender all over the carpeted surfaces in my home. (For an added bonus, you can mix your lavender with baking soda and lavender essential oil.) As I sprinkle the lavender, I smile, and imagine all the positive energy I’m spreading throughout my home. After letting all that good energy soak in for about 15-20 minutes, I vacuum it up –with intention! Intention is the key. As I push the vacuum along the floor, I imagine it pulling up all the negative, old energy from my carpet, leaving it clean and fresh. Lastly, I empty the vacuum outside! No room for that negative nonsense, dirt, and grime in my home!

Smudging with Sage

Using sage to cleanse space was first done by indigenous American Indians, who have performed the ritual for thousands of years. They believed that the smoke called upon the spirits of native plants to cast out negative energy and restore peace and positivity to a space.  The roots of the practice could go back to its ability to drive away pests. In fact, one of the popular life “hacks” I’ve been seeing around the internet is to throw sage in your campfire to keep your campsite free of bugs! To use this sacred ritual in your home, you’ll need a smudge stick (a tightly bound bundle of dried sage), a lighter, and a shell or other bowl-shaped object to catch the ash. After lighting the smudge stick, walk around your home and imagine the smoke purifying the air around you. I like to walk in every room and in every corner, saying a prayer to bring peace to my home and my family.

These are just a few of many methods that can be used to spiritually cleanse your home. Frankincense is another example that’s been used for thousands of years! Wishing you love, light, and positivity.  

5 Ways I Brought Happiness Into My Life

It’s sometimes hard for me to believe where I am today. I was once a very unhappy and cynical person. Today, I’m the complete opposite of the person I was five years ago. I’ve replaced judgment with compassion, negative thoughts with positive mantras, and a negative outlook on life with acceptance and optimism. I won’t lie, changing negative thought patterns can be a lot of work and a lot of conscious thinking, but it is possible. There is a happier way to live life. Here are five ways that I overcame negative thinking and brought positivity and happiness back into my life.

1. Gratitude

The first thing I do when I’m irritated, having a bad day, or just need a pick-me-up, is to pull out a piece of paper and a pen. Write down five things you are grateful for. It doesn’t matter how big or small they are. It can be anything from the coffee sitting on your desk to a family member you’re extra thankful for that day. What matters most is that you recognize what you have and you are thankful for it. Go through your list and reflect on each item. Imagine your life without it. How has it helped you? Why do you like it? What about it brings you happiness? After practice, gratitude will be second nature and gratitude is the foundation to happiness!

2. Meditate

Meditation has been shown to lower stress and induce calm. With time, mediation trains the mind to be less reactive to situations and thoughts, bringing a sense of calm into all areas of your life. Make time to meditate. It doesn’t matter if it’s for 5 minutes or an hour, what matters is that you begin. For tips on beginning a mediation practice, see my post here.

3. Nature

Another of my quick-fixes for a bad day is to spend time in nature. As creatures of the Earth, nature is our home! Just a few minutes in it can bring peacefulness back into your day. Try to eat lunch outside, go for a walk, or open up a window. When you’re outside, even if just walking to your car, notice the life around you. Another great exercise is to sit outside and immerse yourself into one natural thing. It could be a bee on a dandelion or the leaves dancing on a tree. Notice the bee. What shape are the leaves? Really notice, like you’re trying to memorize every aspect of that bit of Earth. Feel the calmness wash over you.

4. Adopt a Mantra

A mantra is a short word or phrase that is repeated to facilitate change. You want your mantra to empower you, move you, and encourage you to move forward with happiness in your life. Tape it to your computer, your bathroom mirror, or by a light switch. Say it every day, multiple times a day. Make it your reality! My favorite mantra is “I am actively becoming a better me!” I am, and so are you!

5. Find the Good in Everything and Everyone

Similar to naturally finding gratitude in your day, naturally finding the good in life can come from practice as well. When faced with a negative situation, find one good thing to accept and be happy for. When interacting with someone you may not particularly like, find one positive thing that’s wonderful and unique about them. These seemingly small thoughts pave the way to becoming a compassionate, non-judgmental person.

There are countless other ways to bring happiness into your life. These are just five ways I brought it into mine. Wishing you love and happiness.

Review: Eco-Cha Taiwan Tea Tour

The lovely people over at Eco-Cha were kind enough to send me their Taiwan Tea Tour collection for review a couple of weeks ago. This was my first experience with high-quality Taiwan oolong teas and I was not disappointed! 

Taiwan is known for producing high-quality tea. Many of their teas are grown in the high mountains or other prized areas. When drinking Taiwan oolong tea, it's not uncommon to know the exact mountain the tea was grown on, or a bit about the growers themselves. Talk about connection! 

For more detailed information on Taiwan's oolong teas, check out this blog post by TeaDB. 

Eco-Cha's Taiwan Tea Tour collection is great for beginners. It's a sampling of five teas, each with their own information card detailing flavors, elevation, brewing suggestions, and other interesting facts. 

Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea 

This tea was one of my favorites. It was grown by a husband and wife who turned their bamboo forest into a tea garden just ten years ago. This particular tea was hand-picked in May of 2014. It was grown at 1525 meters, qualifying it as a high mountain tea. 

Dry, this tea had notes of butter - it was mellow, Earthy, and very pleasing. While brewing, I also picked up grassy notes. Upon tasting for the first time, the word "forest" popped immediately into my mind. This tea is very fragrant and enjoyable. I prefer my tea hot, but I could see this one being a good summertime cold brew as well. It reminded me of a spring forest day, and it's one that I'll be ordering again! 

Jin Xuan Oolong Tea

This tea is grown by an award-winning artisan in Taiwan. He won first place twice in the past, and it's easy to see why when sipping his Jin Xuan tea. 

This tea was grown lower, at 400 meters. It was harvested in April of 2014. (I just love knowing that!) I wasn't sure what to think when I smelled it for the first time. It had a pleasant smell of roasted squash and butter, but I have never associated such smells with my tea. While brewing, I picked up more interesting smells, like forest, freshly-baked bread, and hay. I peeked down in my cup to see it was transforming the water into a pretty, pale yellow-green color. This was a light, pleasant-tasting tea. It was smooth and dry with a light butter finish. It reminded me of a summer day in hay fields and under the sunshine. 

Tsui Yu Jade Oolong Tea

Halfway through my experience, I kept thinking "No, THIS one is my favorite!" Such is the same with the Tsui Yu Jade. I believe this was grown by the same artisan that grew the Jin Xuan. If so, there's a reason two of his teas are in this collection. Amazing! 

This tea was grown without the use of chemical fertilizers or weed killers, which is something that I really appreciate when looking for a tea. It was harvested in Spring of 2014. 

Dry, this tea smelled green, herbal, and slightly flowery. It had the same refreshing smell while brewing. Drinking, though, was something else. It was light and refreshing with its Earthy tones of herbs and flowers. It tasted of a spring meadow.

Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Concubine Oolong Tea

I found the story behind this tea to be especially interesting. Concubine tea is also referred to as "bug bitten tea." Its unique flavors are a result of the natural farming methods used to grow the tea, allowing insects to bite the tea leaves and kick-start the fermentation process. This tea was the only one in the collection harvested in the summer. (2013) This is partially because summer teas are known to be less fragrant and more bitter. I can say that with the Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Concubine tea, this is not the case. Thank you insects! 

This tea did have a unique smell. It was hard for me to pinpoint a flavor. It had a strong roast scent that became more rich and Earthy while brewing. It tasted fantastic. It has a dry, robust taste compared to the other oolongs, and reminded me of pine. 

Dong Ding Oolong Tea

Last but not least, we have Dong Ding oolong tea! Yes, it's a silly name and it reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, so let's just mention that now. 

This tea was grown in Yong Long Village, which is above Dong Ding Mountain at 750 meters. One of the distinguishing characteristics of this area is it's rich red soil and concentration of artisans. It was harvested in Spring of 2014. Dry, this tea had a mellow smell of cherry and roasted squash. While brewing, I picked up more notes, like artichoke and nuts. Again, it tasted wonderful. It was very bold and I imagine it as a great winter tea. 

After completing my tea tour of Taiwan, I briefly wondered if I'd ever be able to drink my other teas again or if Eco-Cha had turned me into the tea snob of all tea snobs. Thankfully, I had an iced tea from a local tea shop yesterday and enjoyed it just the same. However, there will always be room in my tea cabinet for Taiwanese oolong tea. Happy sipping! 

Do you have a tea, or other eco-friendly product you'd like featured on Earth First? Contact Tiffany at earthfirst87@gmail.com

Urban Farming Externship - Week 11

I spent another fun Saturday morning with Suzanne yesterday - the owner of Vilardi Gardens. The first thing I wanted to ask her about was how all her plants were doing after our record-breaking rain on Monday. For those of you that didn't hear, it rained steadily all over Phoenix from about 2am to 10am, breaking records and causing flooding all over the valley. It was pretty intense; some commuters were stranded on their way to work and some workplaces shut down completely. Matt and I had just built a retractable shade for our garden the day before, and I had just planted my new babies from Suzanne! When I left for work Monday morning, some of them were under water:

Needless to say, I was pretty upset on Monday. I love the rain, but this was my first experience with flash flooding as a gardener. I was so sure that all my new plants were dead. 

One of the things Suzanne told me a couple of weeks ago that really stuck with me is that "plants want to live." Of course, I knew that, but I had never truly understood it. I thought of plants as delicate little beings that needed to be babied every day of their lives here in Arizona in order to survive. To some extent, in Phoenix at least, this is true; but what I'm realizing is that if you provide plants with what they need, they are pretty resilient. Here are some pictures of those plant starts today, a week later:

What I had done, was assume that since the rains wreaked havoc on our modern lives, that it was also going to wreak havoc on my plants. Not true. One day of record-breaking rain? Psh. Plants want to live. 

Back to this week's externship!

We planted lemongrass! It smelled so wonderful and I got so sucked into what I was doing that before I knew it, we had over 100 new plants done and it was time to go!

You can easily start lemongrass from one mother plant. One huge plant can be separated into countless smaller plants. Neat!

Here are some other pretty pictures from that day - I love all the zinnias!

This week completes my externship. I've learned so much! I will continue to post my outdoor projects on here and I'm also going to continue volunteering for Suzanne. I have to apologize for not posting instructions for the retractable shade. I have a feeling we'll make another in the future so I'll document it then - or maybe just post the instructions. It was super easy and less than $100! 

Thanks for joining me in my urban farming journey!

Happy planting! 

PS - My cover crop finally started to sprout after all that rain! ;) 

Review: Organic Fashionista Blend - Fashionista Tea

The folks over at Fashionista Tea were kind enough to send me a sample of their fabulous tea for me to review, and it was delicious! Fashionista Tea is the first tea company that blends fashion and tea. More importantly for me, all of their teas are organic and fair trade. I love companies that support local organic growers - a big plus for me!

On to the tea...

I sampled a cup of Fashionista Tea's Fashionista Blend. This organic tea is a blend of organic and fair trade black tea, organic rose petal, organic lavender, organic orange peel, and natural flavor. According to the packaging, this tea is a "reminder of Paris." I've never been to Paris, but if it's anything like this cup of tea, I wouldn't mind a trip!

This tea smelled amazing as it was steeping; I caught notes of rose and orange. It has a rich, almost fall-like scent. The tea tasted nutty and sweet, and left me with faint taste of rose. It had a creamy finish for a black tea. I would definitely recommend this as a breakfast tea, or perhaps to enjoy while you're curled up on a cool day! 

You can purchase Fashionista Tea's Fashionista Blend here, or check out their full collection here. 

Do you have a tea, or other eco-friendly product you'd like featured on Earth First? Contact Tiffany at earthfirst87@gmail.com

Urban Farming Externship - Week 10

What a busy week it's been! The vegetables I planted last weekend have been babied all week and they are doing great! One of the things I learned from Alex is that plants in Arizona really need their shade; so we put up umbrellas for the time being, but our next project is to get some shade cloth up. Here's a picture of those little guys: (kale, broccoli, Rainbow Chard, and Graffiti Cauliflower) 

This morning I woke up and headed out to Viliardi Gardens where I had the pleasure of working with the owner, Suzanne. I had a great time with her and learned a ton! I have to apologize for the lack of pictures, I got caught up in plant babies and forgot to take more. :) I labeled a few different plants, planted a couple of varieties of onion, started a few different varieties of nasturtium, and transplanted mint! 

I learned today that new mint plants can be started with just a couple of inches of root. This is why they say to always plant mint in it's own container - it can really take over your garden! I always wondered why they said that!

I also learned a bit more about Tulsi Basil. Tulsi is also referred to as Holy Basil, and it is one of the most sacred plants in Hinduism. Suzanne gave me two varieties of Tulsi - Krishna and Lakshmi - each named after an important Hindu god. It is said that they should be grown together near your home to bring prosperity to your family. I put my Krishna and Lakshmi Tulsi in the raised bed, but I'd like to get a special container for them in the future. 

Once I got home I finally got some plants in my wicking bed! I filled it with water, planted them, sprinkled a bit of organic fertilizer, then top watered them just because it was so dry. After I finished planting, I decided to top off the water in my bed. Judging by how much more water it took in, I'm guessing that the soil had already soaked up quite a bit! I'm hoping that means it's working! I'll post an update of their progress next week. 

Next Saturday I plan on working with Suzanne again. I'd also like to get some shade cloth up between now and then for the new babies. Until then, here's a picture of another happy, happy plant - my roses! All of my bushes have new growth and two of them are blooming again! I think that's the signal for the end of our summer and the beginning of fall. :)

Confessions of a Tea Snob + Tea Reviews!

I use the phrase "tea snob" in jest, but I do love my tea! In this soda and energy drink world, I often find my solace in a cup of hot tea. There's a simplicity found in enjoying a cup of tea. Perhaps it's the fact that you're ingesting an extension of the Earth - her tea leaves, herbs, or bits of fruit. Perhaps it's the preparation of a hot cup of tea that takes you back to another age and out of this hectic world. I believe this is one of the main reasons I prefer loose-leaf tea. It brings connection, pause, and appreciation. 

This post is the first of a new series I'll be doing over the lifetime of this blog - a collection of thoughts, information, and reviews on tea. In them I'll share my journey with tea (it's still a new journey for me!) and invite you to join in! 

First, I'd like to encourage you to replace one of your daily beverages with a cup of tea. Second, I'm going to suggest that you skip the added sweetener. I know, I know. Just remember, I grew up drinking Mississippi's finest sweet tea, so if I can do it, anyone can! Also, some of the teas I'm going to suggest already have a bit of sugar or stevia mixed in. I've noticed that sweetening and/or cooling your tea can take away from the rich flavor it has to offer. So it's simply my preference to skip the sweetener, but to each their own. :) Here are my first recommendations: 

Stash - Organic Lavender Tulsi Herbal Tea

Now is a good point to mention that herbal teas aren't actually tea. True tea only comes from the camellia sinensis plant. The proper name for an herbal tea is a tisane. I suspect that a true tea snob would not refer this as tea, but I'm really a newbie tea snob, so organic lavender tulsi herbal tea it is! 

The first thing that I love about this tea is that it only has two ingredients: organic tulsi and organic lavender. No surprises, no additives, no pesticides. It's simple nature in a tea bag! Since it doesn't contain tea leaves, it's also caffeine-free. I mentioned in my recent post that tulsi is actually in the basil family. It has a unique taste and blends well with the lavender. Lavender has soothing and calming effects, so this tea (or tisane!) is great before bed or to help wind down after a long day. 

It can be purchased here.

Yogi - Organic Calming 

Next, we have another tisane. (maybe I should call myself a tisane snob, but tea is coming, I promise!) It's advertised to "ease mild tension," and ease mild tension it does! I reach for this tea when I'm stressed, frustrated, or just in need of a chill pill, or chill cup. 

This tea is also organic, and though it has more than two ingredients, they all work together to make this my ultimate calming tea: (all organic) chamomile flower, licorice root, gotu kola leaf, hibiscus flower, fennel seed, lemongrass, cardamom seed, orange peel, rose hip, lavender flower, barley malt, and natural plum flavor. These mix together to create a sweet, relaxing tea. It also helps that each tea bag contains a little positive note - one of the things I love about Yogi teas! 

Yogi Organic Calming can be purchased here. 

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - Japanese Sencha Green 

This is my newest favorite. Matt's mom got it for me for my birthday and I haven't been able to put it down since! It was my first experience with straight green tea.

First, I can't mention green tea without mentioning some of its awesome health benefits. Most teas have health benefits in some form or another, but green tea really knocks the others out of the ball park. Due to naturally-occurring fluoride in green tea, it's great for your teeth! Green tea also helps reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and even clear your skin! It's also packed with antioxidants. Green tea naturally contains some caffeine, but it's just enough to clear the mind and prepare you for your day. This is the tea I reach for every morning, and sometimes in the evening, too! 

Purchase this tea here. 

David's Tea - Glitter & Gold

Last up is my guilty pleasure in the tea world. Glitter and Gold tea. I can't say that this one is chock full of healthy benefits, but like all black teas, it's a great source of antioxidants and has numerous health benefits. The ingredients aren't the best, in my opinion, but it tastes great and it's not a tea I drink daily: Chinese black tea, gold sugar balls, sugar crystals, lemon peel, cloves, vanilla, natural and artificial flavoring. That last item is my biggest issue with this tea - why should nature require anything artificial? But, like I said, this tea is my guilty pleasure. The real reason for my obsession:

IT. SPARKLES.

That's right. This loose-leaf tea shimmers and sparkles as it steeps. Must be those gold sugar balls. 

Glitter & Gold can be purchased here - as an added bonus, David's always slips in a few samples with every order. :) 

Until next time, happy sipping! 

DIY - Magical Bottle Cap Candles

These little candles are easy and fun to make! They burn anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, so they are perfect for when you need a small dose of positivity, magic, or just a pick-me-up! I put mine on my meditation altar to burn while I meditate, but they'd be great as emergency candles, outdoor candles, or even for a relaxing bath. 

To make, you'll need:

• Bottle Caps - Chose caps that aren't dented or damaged in any way. 
• Wicks - I took the wicks out of cheap dollar-store tea lights. It was way cheaper than buying them at the craft store and I wasn't going to use them; I try to only use soy or beeswax candles in my home. 
• Soy Wax - You can use any kind of wax, but I used soy for mine. 
• Essential Oils - I made two different scents: sweet orange, which is an uplifting, positive, joyful oil, and lavender, which is calming and peaceful - but you can pick any oil to suit your soul! 
• Spoon
• Double Boiler or Similar - I just put a small glass dish in a pot and called it a day! :)
• Glitter - You can't have magical candles without glitter! 
• Newspaper

Step 1

Pour water in your double boiler - enough that it'll heat the contents of your bowl, but not enough to fill the bowl. Bring up to medium heat, then turn on low. 

Step 2

Pour wax into the bowl. I added about 20 drops of essential oil - but this is dependent upon personal preference and the scent you choose. 

Step 3

Stir slowly until all the wax has melted.

Step 4

Add one drop of wax into each bottle cap. Press your wick into the wax to secure it while you fill the bottle cap. 

Step 5

Using your spoon, gently pour the melted wax into each bottle cap. 

Step 6

Before the wax hardens, sprinkle a pinch of glitter onto each candle. As you do this, visualize all the joy and positivity these candles are going to bring as they burn!

Step 7

After the wax hardens, trim your wick to about 1/4" before burning. 

Use caution when burning. Since these are so tiny, they will get hot! I have mine set up in a candle holder filled with Himalayan sea salt for a cleansing effect on the whole room!

Enjoy!

Urban Farming Externship - Week 9

This week I began volunteering for Vilardi Gardens! They specialize in growing organic, edible plant starts for gardens. Their plant starts are available for purchase at several farmer's markets in the Phoenix area. They also supply local nurseries and even the Desert Botanical Garden. A link to their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vilardi-Gardens/148632058518894

Today I met with Alex to help out at their booth in the Roadrunner Farmers' Market in Phoenix. I spent the first few minutes learning what types of plants they had for sale. You wouldn't think that there would be that much to grow in August in Arizona, but Alex proved me wrong! Vegetables ready to plant included cauliflower, kale, rainbow chard, cabbage, and broccoli. They also had a few handy planting guides ready to help convince us Arizonians that you really could grow vegetables in August! :) 

I also learned about all the different varieties of mint and basil! Orange mint turned out to be one of my favorites, but they also had lime and even pineapple. There was an entire table dedicated to basil. I didn't realize how many different varieties there were! One of my favorite teas is lavender tulsi; little did I know that tulsi is a form of basil. Neat! 

I had a lot of fun volunteering at the market. It was neat to connect to so many different people who care about growing and the food they eat. One young man even showed me pictures of the raised bed he just built; it was really great to interact with so many people with like interests, even if it was only briefly. This is something I'd definitely like to do more of in the future. 

Alex and his neighbor, who was there helping him out, were able to share a few great gardening tips for me. One thing I realized is that I need much more shade than I have right now. I think our next project should definitely be some type of retractable shade for our garden. I also learned about a neat type of spinach called Red Malabar Spinach. It's a type of vine spinach that grows great in Arizona. It grows most of the year, then dies back and re-seeds itself! It's also very pretty, with deep red veins - something I'll be getting for my garden! 

Of course, I couldn't leave without bringing new plant babies home with me. I picked up some Graffiti Cauliflower (it's purple!), broccoli, rainbow chard, kale, White Rain Lily, and some I'itol Onions. The onions have an interesting back story; they almost went extinct, but were brought back about 25 years ago and are now available in many places across Arizona and online. This is one of the reasons why conventional agriculture makes no sense to me. Why would you grow one field of one type of onion and leave your crop more susceptible to disease (which you prevent by dousing your field with pesticides and fungicides) when you could just grow tons of different varieties organically? Something is wrong with that system. It goes beyond pesticides, GMOs, and the loss of heirloom vegetables. It has to do with respect. What's going to happen to a society that lacks respect for its nurturer, Earth? 

Lets take care of her and not find out! :)

Anyway, I planted my new veggies in random openings in my flowerbed, since my wicking bed has the cover crop in it right now. (No sprouts yet!) So I'm interested to see how they do. I think I also finally learned my lesson about gloves - wear them. I have blisters again! Arg! Now grow, baby, grow! 

Urban Farming Externship - Week 8

This was the final week of work on my first wicking bed. I began by adding the compost and worm castings that we had, then I began sifting the native dirt I dug out for the reservoir to finish filling my bed. After filling it, I realized that I didn't have enough compost in it - the consistency was still very sandy - so I bought a bag of organic "Amend" soil to bring it to the consistency I wanted:

The final breakdown of the substrate looked somewhat like this:

• 5% Worm Castings (from our worm farm)
• 10% Organic Compost (a mix of our own and a store-bought bag)
• 10% Organic Plus Amend Soil
• 75% Native Arizona Soil (sifted)

After filling my bed, I sat and mixed the soil and compost with my bare hands. I did this for quite a while; connecting and feeling the dirt and watching the life all around it. It was a very zen-like experience, and a great way to relax after all the shoveling and sifting!

Next, I dug tiny little rows with my fingers and planted my cover crop seeds. I mentioned it in a previous post, but the cover crop I chose is a green manure mix from Johnny's Selected Seeds. It's a mix of winter rye, field pea, annual rye grass, hairy vetch, and crimson clover. The instructions say that it's great for mid to late summer seeding and that it'll germinate in 5-10 days. 

I filled the reservoir with water until it began to drain out and wished my little bed luck. 

I'm honestly a little nervous at this point. The worrier part of me keeps thinking "What if nothing happens?" or "What if I did something completely wrong and it doesn't work?" The optimistic part of me is super excited for all the organic vegetables I'm going to grow!

Thanks for following along with me during my little project! I'll post an update next week of how my bed is doing and what new projects or volunteer work I'm up to. 

Right now, my bath tub, lavender essential oil, and Epsom salts are calling my name. :) 

Urban Farming Externship - Week 7

Hi everyone! I was able to get a lot of work done outside this week. My mouth healed quickly and I was more than ready to go play in the sunshine! I began by adding the needed gravel to my bed. At the end of week 5, it still needed a couple more inches to get the gravel up to ground level. If you look to the bottom left of the picture below, I also added some little rocks outside my overflow pipe, just because it looked cute! (Maybe it's a fairy pool?!) 

Next, I cut a piece of weed barrier cloth to fit over the gravel, with a hole that fits around the watering pipe. This will help to separate the soil from the gravel. If the soil mixes with the water in the gravel, it could make the soil soggy and lead to root rot. 

After I put in the cloth, I began to add my substrate. I added a couple of inches of compost along with worm castings from our worm farm. My intention was to mix this with the soil dug out for the bed, however, I ran into a problem. 

We are in the middle of monsoon season in Arizona. The heavy rains made the pile of dirt I dug out hard and compact. I also saw that it was very rocky - something I didn't notice before. I reached out to my instructor, Torrie, for advice. Torrie recommended that I sift the dirt before putting it in our bed and mixing it with the compost we had. Though our native soils are sandy, rocky, and prone to compaction, they are rich in many nutrients needed for plant growth. Though it's a bit more work, I'd much rather use what the Earth has given me than go out and buy something else from another part of the country. 

To make the sifter, I used pieces of wood we had in our backyard along with screws and a staple gun that we had on hand. The only thing I had to buy was the hardware wire, which was relatively inexpensive:

I present: Arizona Soil Sifter!

Next week I will sift through the soil and remove any rocks and large debris. After that, I plan to plant a cover crop before finally planting some veggies! I did decide to hold off for a bit on the second bed. I want to make sure that the first wicking bed is functioning as it should before I put as much work into the second one. If there are improvements to be made, I'll update the necessary posts. 

Lastly, I'm finishing my project much quicker than I thought I would. My externship requires 25 hours of work, which gives me time to gain more hands-on experience in another area. I plan to do some volunteer work at a local urban farm - I'll keep you posted with updates! 

Thanks for reading!