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!