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Hey everyone. This is JackieMarie Beyer. Your host here to help inspire you on your journey to create, grow, and enjoy a green, organic oasis. So let’s get growing. Welcome to the GREEN Organic Garden. It is Saturday, August 7th, 2021, and we’re doing Soil Sista Saturday again. So Aileen Catrone our Golden Listener from 2020 in New Jersey is here to share with us, how are you? 

Aileen  

00:00:42

Great, wonderful, excited. The garden is still going. Everything’s surviving. How are you? 

JackieMarie 

00:00:53

What’s your weather? Like we have clouds today. We might actually get rain and it’s been cooler the last two days. 

Aileen  

00:01:00

No, it’s been really nice and sunny all week. It has not rained, which it’s kind of good because we had so much rain. You know, you get a lot of that, that blight coming and stuff like that. So I’m trying to head that off a little bit, you know, taking all the, you know, the underneath the stems and stuff that are touching the soils and stuff, cleaning out the tomato plants a little bit underneath to still keep them going, which is nice. I have some squash coming up. I have pumpkin’s coming up. I’m so thankful. Zucchini coming up. Eggplants still going too, which is wonderful. 

Aileen  

00:01:42

I have some green beans, so I’m excited. It’s working out. It really is. I’m thankful. 

JackieMarie 

00:01:50

You do have green beans coming already? 

Aileen  

00:01:54

Yes. Yeah. These little and they’re purple. And then they turn green when you cook them kind of thing. So they’re pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. It’s not a lot. 

JackieMarie 

00:02:04

Mike has green beans coming on. I think I saw down, I think I ate one the other day, even. 

Aileen  

00:02:10

Mike has some green beans? 

JackieMarie 

00:02:15

Yeah! He has lots of green beans and we have those dragon-tongue striped purple ones that the kids always dragon tongue ones. That Patti Armbrister turned me on to. He just walked in with some cucumbers. He’s gonna make pickled beets and hopefully pickle pickles this week. 

Aileen  

00:02:37

Good. That’s one thing I did. I picked one cucumber. I only have one. The rest are growing, but one I picked, so pick them and you know, what’s funny about the cucumbers? They have this like prickly, like I guess it’s a defense mechanism for, if something comes to eat them. I never, huh? 

JackieMarie 

00:03:00

They do. 

Aileen  

00:03:02

Yeah! It’s like, it feels that like, the eggplant has it also on the stem area. It’s like these thorns. I never knew that because when you go to the store, they’re actually taken off. 

JackieMarie 

00:03:18

Yeah! And also the ones that the store are more of a slicing cucumber, I think different than a pickling cucumber. I don’t know if the slicing cucumbers have, and they always feel like they have that wax on them, the ones you buy at the store, you know? 

Aileen  

00:03:33

Oh yeah. Oh, completely different. Oh, everything is completely different. And everything tastes different. Definitely tastes better from your garden. There is no doubt in my mind. 

JackieMarie 

00:03:43

Yeah! Last year I tried to find pickling cucumbers because Mike, for some reason we didn’t have any and I could not find them anywhere at the stores. You know, you could only find the slicing cucumbers. The farmer’s market, I have a hard time getting to the farmer’s markets around here. Well, the one in Eureka, there’s one guy who’s been selling stuff this year, but generally our farmer’s market is more like an arts and crafts market. Like there’s just not a lot of farmers up here. 

Aileen  

00:04:12

Isn’t that amazing Jackie? Cause I went to the farmer’s market last week in Bricktown. It’s the next town over from me. And the last time I was there was probably four years ago and it was great. They had a lot of produce. Everybody was into it. Plant starts. Everything. I went last weekend and it was more like a craft, like craft beers, craft wines, craft foods, like there was a Perogies stand. There’s someone that was look like they were selling mushrooms and someone’s selling homemade hot sauces, but not a lot of fresh produce. 

Aileen  

00:05:01

Now might have been because I went late. I mean, it’s, it’s only between nine and two and I got there about 12:45. 

JackieMarie 

00:05:09

So you think the produce people were sold out? 

Aileen  

00:05:14

Correct. That’s what I was thinking. But there were only three stands of produce that I saw that were still there and they had corn, eggplant, tomatoes. So I don’t know. And you know, 

JackieMarie 

00:05:27

What’s corn like a New Jersey? Corn in Montana this year has been awful at the regular store and super expensive. 

Aileen  

00:05:36

And the reason why I know for sure we are having a great corn season because I’ve been through two, three different places to buy the corn. And it’s called the white corn. Silver Queen is the name. It is the most delicious corn you ever can imagine. I love corn. So you don’t even need butter or salt. 

JackieMarie 

00:06:00

What’s it cost in New Jersey? Here it’s like a buck an ear but I saw it for 68 cents the other day. 

Aileen  

00:06:07

For organic, a dollar a year for organic at these farm stands. 

JackieMarie 

00:06:12

Nice. 

Aileen  

00:06:12

At these farm stands and farmer markets which is really nice because that’s important. You want it to be, and you want to get rid of your product. You know what I mean? You don’t want to sit on corn, so sell at a price because people are buying it by 12, 13 pieces at a time, you know? So yeah. 

JackieMarie 

00:06:29

Even at a buck an ear? 

Aileen  

00:06:30

Yeah! A buck an ear. 

JackieMarie 

00:06:31

Nice. 

Aileen  

00:06:31

Yes. It’s nice. And it’s worth it. It’s so worth it. 

JackieMarie 

00:06:36

I mean, there’s nothing like corn on the cob. 

Aileen  

00:06:38

No and you don’t need butter or salt. It’s sweet. Delicious. Just out of this world. It’s called silver queen. A lot of places in this area grow that, which is really nice. What else did I see? There were no plans starts. That’s what I was disappointed at. You know how right now the fall seasons coming up and you should be getting ready. Like even if you had a plant start, you could pick up a tray like of plants that you could buy. And like, if there’s a really true gardener that wants to learn about something that you could actually start these now that would be the place to buy it from. But there were nothing, nothing like that. There was no no selling of plants. 

Aileen  

00:07:19

There was some, someone selling some shrubs, but nothing that I would want in my garden, you know, more ornamental stuff. 

JackieMarie 

00:07:26

There’s a side business for you there because you’re so good at growing starts. 

Aileen  

00:07:32

See, that’s what I was thinking. That’s interesting because that’s all that was going through my head. I was like, I was expecting, and then I asked this one, I bought a couple of eggplants from this one stand out of the three that were there. And I asked him what variety of it was. And he had no idea. So I was like, okay. So they probably send out people to just like manage the stand for that day. You know what I mean? Or you know, just somebody there as a body to collect the money. 

JackieMarie 

00:08:02

Or maybe he doesn’t remember, I’ll be honest with you. People have been asking me questions like that. And I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t remember what I bought. I’m lucky if I can tell you what seed company it came from. 

Aileen  

00:08:15

Yeah. But I don’t know, 

JackieMarie 

00:08:16

But I guess I’m not at a farm selling it either. 

Aileen  

00:08:20

Yeah, exactly. Like I think if, I think if you’re actually selling it and like, but we went to another stand for the corn and that woman was very knowledgeable of what her products were. So that’s what I mean, like, you know, so it was a hit or miss kind of thing with that, you know, I was a little disappointed in that. The actual plant, you know, the produce of only having three stands and someone not knowing what they’re growing or what they’re offering you. So, but you know what? It was all good. The eggplant tasted good. The big plants were going for $2 a piece. 

JackieMarie 

00:08:56

Did you buy eggplant? You’ve been growing so much eggplant. 

Aileen  

00:09:00

Yeah. I did buy some eggplant. I love it! I don’t, I don’t grow enough of it. I had it. How did I know I was going to love it so much? I mean, I actually love it in general and my husband loves to cook it. So, you know, I didn’t know. 

JackieMarie 

00:09:13

My mom grew an eggplant this year and she was so excited about it. She was like, it’s so pretty I don’t want to cut it. And it’s so funny cause she paints vegetables. Like when she does painting, she loves to paint in the summer. She paints the flowers in her garden and she paints vegetables. And she, I made these little note cards of hers, of her eggplants. 

Aileen  

00:09:31

You sent me one, it was gorgeous. That’s how you sent me one of those. And it said, Marie Ramos on the back. And it was a picture. I mean, or on the front it was a picture of a eggplant, like a couple of vegetables. Yes. It was gorgeous. I loved it. I still have it. 

JackieMarie 

00:09:44

She’s so cute. But this year she was so excited cause she actually grew an eggplant. 

Aileen  

00:09:50

They’re so beautiful. That purple, that purple flower that comes out. 

JackieMarie 

00:09:54

I love them, aren’t they? 

Aileen  

00:09:56

It’s just gorgeous. And then the green stem and the dark purple, black purple body, the skin. Oh my God. It’s just gorgeous. 

JackieMarie 

00:10:07

Those ones you grew were just the perfect size too. I thought those ones that you posted that picture of them on your hat. 

Aileen  

00:10:15

Yeah! They’re called Moonlight midnight. And they only, they only get to three to six inches and that’s when you should, you know, between three to six inches, you need to harvest them. 

JackieMarie 

00:10:30

Yeah. Cause I think bigger than that, they get kind of mushy in the middle and they’re harder to cook. 

Aileen  

00:10:37

Or the seeds are a little too big, you know what I mean? They’re not as tender. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. 

JackieMarie 

00:10:43

I did make some fried Parmesan, zucchini. They’re called to zucchini boats. But then, but it was mostly just like I cut the zucchini in half I sprinkled, they were so easy. Just put them in a roaster with olive oil, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. And they tasted almost like eggplant Parmesan. I reheated some cause I have more than I could eat one meal and I split cherry tomatoes on top and a little more of the Parmesan. Oh it was so good! I added some breadcrumb. 

Aileen  

00:11:21

To me, oh, that’s nice for the texture for the crunch. Oh yeah. 

JackieMarie 

00:11:25

It tasted just like eggplant Parmesan. And I was like, wow, this is so different. And so easy to make. I like that. 

Aileen  

00:11:33

And then did you, were you able to eat the skin and to right? Like everything just nice 

JackieMarie 

00:11:38

Things with skin on them? Like I that’s where most of the nutrients are? 

Aileen  

00:11:42

In college this friend of mine turned me on to this restaurant that sold mashed potatoes with the skins in them. And just like I eat everything with the skins on them. They were like notorious for like, she would just go there just for their mashed potatoes with the skins on them. Yeah. Your vegetables with skin on it. That fruits and vegetables that is the most nutritious is right underneath the skin. It’s the most nutritious Robbie made. So with all these tomatoes I had, he made a sauce, a nice red, you know, they call them gravy, they call it gravy, Italian, you know, sometimes called a gravy. It’s a red sauce. And this time he added some ground cloves, can I tell you it was outstanding? 

Aileen  

00:12:25

Cloves and tomato sauce. I’ve never heard of it. Never, ever, ever, ever. And it was delicious. And my mom had some on Wednesday when she came by, she said, I’ve never had this ever in my life. The flavor is unbelievable. It’s ground cloves in tomato sauce. 

JackieMarie 

00:12:45

Cloves like you would put like in an apple pie? Those cookies, I thought you meant garlic cloves. You’re talking about the little brown cloves. 

Aileen  

00:12:54

That you, yes. The little brown cloves that you decorate an orange with in the fall time or yeah, you decorate a ham with. Ground cloves. It was delicious. 

JackieMarie 

00:13:06

I wonder where he got that idea? 

Aileen  

00:13:08

I don’t know, but then I was talking to my aunt today. I went to visit her and I brought a whole bunch of tomatoes and I told her about the sauce. She goes, my mother used to make the sauce like that. And I was like, really? And she’s in her eighties. So I don’t, you know, it was a thing. And she said, it’s a taste and a smell that you, I love it. Now I even have clove oil that I dust, you know, the furniture in my house with, because I love the smell so much. So to eat it, yes, it was just try it! 

JackieMarie 

00:13:42

That sounds bettter than Pledg.e or something. Like I always buy Pudge cause I like the lemon scent, but that sounds better 

Aileen  

00:13:49

No, no I, and I don’t, I don’t use Pledge or any of that. I just use like on an old sock, I put a little water and I put a little bit of oil. It’s actually oils, you know, like essential oils and I dab and then I just start wiping down the furniture. I have lemon, peppermints. Oh, that’s how I clean. That’s how I dust the furniture, you know, as, as natural as possible. 

JackieMarie 

00:14:16

Oh, that’s so easy and such a great idea. 

Aileen  

00:14:21

Oh yeah. Oh, it’s much better than all these chemicals. You know, you have a dog, you have pets, you have, you know, kids around who wants them to be, you know, they gnaw on the furniture, putting their mouth on things. What do you want to put a chemical on your furniture for? You know, I’m just thinking that way. I don’t know. That’s how I always thought. 

JackieMarie 

00:14:39

I don’t know. Like I am not usually, that’s funny because I posted a thing about brands like that’s why. Like I have like two brands that I like Dawn dishwashing soap and Pledge. Like I don’t, I don’t like all the other stuff, I pretty much buy generic, but those are like two of the only brands that I actually buy. But I’m going to throw the Pledge out and, and try that clove oil. That sounds so good. 

Aileen  

00:15:05

Clove oil. I have peppermint, I have Lemon. So, and they’re expensive. So you open, you only need a little bit, a little bit goes a long way, you know? Cause really the rag is picking up. The duster is picking up most of the stuff, you know what I mean? This is just kind of nourishing the wood so it doesn’t dry out, you know? 

JackieMarie 

00:15:25

Well, that’s what I use it for too. My art desk is that is made of wood. And I like to, I like to do it on 

Aileen  

00:15:33

That. Yeah. That’s really a good idea. So anyway, that’s the two things. So you had a nice recipe with zucchini. My husband making that sauce with the clovs is just unbelievable. Unbelievable. 

JackieMarie 

00:15:49

I was just looking, Mike was giving me what he needed. I need, I want to say, what did he say? Whole all spice. He’s cause when I go to town, I’m going to go to the store. He needs cinnamon sticks for the pickled beets, whole all spice. I’m not sure what that is. 

Aileen  

00:16:05

Yeah. So that allspice but that might be kind of the same thing. It’s got all the spices in it. I’m assuming, I don’t know. We don’t usually buy, you know, a lot of things. So, you know, Robbie has all the staples in there. 

JackieMarie 

00:16:19

Is it different than like ground allspice like that you buy when you put in an apple pie? 

Aileen  

00:16:25

Yeah, I would think so. It might, it might be. I imagine maybe he wants to grind it up or leave it whole because it’s just going to dissolve better in the pickling juice. You know? 

JackieMarie 

00:16:38

I don’t know. I was going to look at the whole foods store and see what that is. Cause I always buy my spices at the health food store where they come in the bulk containers. I feel like they’re fresher. They’re way less expensive. When I look at the McCormick spices on like in the grocery store, I’m like, oh, who can afford this? 

Aileen  

00:16:55

It’s like $9, $8-9 for a little bottle. Oh yeah. Six, six ounces, four ounces. 

JackieMarie 

00:17:01

And it’s Fresher Like, yeah. I did buy my niece turned 21 this year and I bought her this book called Shake, which is all about like home bartending. But it’s really more of like a Martha Stewart type of, you know, like bringing guests to your home book. It’s more of like of 

Aileen  

00:17:22

What do you call it? Entertaining, entertaining, 

JackieMarie 

00:17:26

When your entertaining people in your home. And so I thought for 21st birthday, it was like, you know, kind of fun to, you know, because you’re not anyone like who doesn’t drink until they’re 21. I don’t know. 

Aileen  

00:17:36

But anyway, that’s nice. 

JackieMarie 

00:17:39

The recipes had like whole nutmegs like, you can actually buy like a nutmeg and you grind it yourself. So I bought her, I bought her three little ones. Like the woman at the register. She’s like, this isn’t even registering. 

Aileen  

00:17:59

Yeah. The nutmeg, I, we bought a whole one also and we leave it in a brown paper bag in the cupboard. And then every time Robbie wants to use it in something, he just takes the grader and grates a little bit at a time and then puts it back in the bag. So it lasts a long time. 

JackieMarie 

00:18:16

That’s what I thought, you never know because like the jar will say like, this is like $61 a pound. And you’re like, oh my goodness, how much is this going to be? So that was why I just put the three little ones in there. And then I got up to the register. She’s like, this is like 60 cents. Do you want more? 

Aileen  

00:18:33

Terrific. Terrific. You don’t use a lot of it. 

JackieMarie 

00:18:37

No. That’s why I’m wondering like, am I going to go find like an all spice nut or something there? That you know anyway. All right. So let’s see. Did we talk about, we talked about, so what, so you were looking for starts at the farmer’s market. 

Aileen  

00:18:54

Yes, because I was interested in seeing like, you know, maybe they have some, I could try some of them since I’m going to try. I just got my seed starter mix through Amazon. So for my broccoli. So it’s going in probably a little late, cause I’m going to start it in my sunroom. 

JackieMarie 

00:19:11

Do you have any kind of a cold frame or a way to keep it if it does go? 

Aileen  

00:19:20

What do you mean? 

JackieMarie 

00:19:21

Like it, like if you get freezes, like by the time it’s ready to become a, you know, a stalk of broccoli, like let’s say it’s going to be the end of October, November. Do you have somewhere to keep it from freezing or are you just going to be in your sunroom the whole time? 

Aileen  

00:19:40

No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m going to, I’m going to plant it. I’m going to transplant them out as soon as, as soon as I, it it’s a, I guess it’s within two, three weeks, you kinda like you’ll you let it get, become a seedling as I’m reading and listening, and then you kinda acclimate it, like you’re doing the springtime to your vegetables and fruits for the outside sun and all that. So I’ll acclimate it out there and then I’m going to put it in an area in a raised garden bed where I have a, I’m going to throw the plastic over it, like a row cover, but I have different millimeter ones. So I can, 

JackieMarie 

00:20:19

Broccoli’s pretty hardy. It’ll probably take a pretty good frost. 

Aileen  

00:20:23

Yes, exactly. So I won’t have to use, I won’t have to use a real heavy duty plastic on it. So that’s what I’m going to do. Yeah. I’m going to put in a raised bed. 

JackieMarie 

00:20:32

I think you will have good luck with that. 

Aileen  

00:20:35

I hope so. Because those cabbage moths decimated the spring planting on those. I mean, they just decimated it. There was no broccoli, no cabbage, no nothing. And the cabbage worms are all over the place. So I’m hoping doing this in the fall now, you know, the fall planting situation will work out better for me, you know? And I’m going to do broccoli rabe to like a smaller thing, not so much of the big heads of broccoli, but a broccoli rabe, you know, easier to maintain, you know, 

JackieMarie 

00:21:10

Cool. 

Aileen  

00:21:11

For the space. So we’ll see how that comes out. Oh yeah. Now you’ll see pictures online like I’ve been posting, I’m so excited. It’s such a big science project that is successful. Even the things that aren’t so successful. Like I had artichokes, I tried to grow from seeds they just whittled to nothing outside, but I didn’t plant them in a proper area either. It was more shade than sun and I’m going to try the opposite. And now I’m going to also try the artichoke seeds in the house, you know, do the indoor seeds, starting with the artichokes like I did in the winter and then transplant them out because they do like to be cold. 

Aileen  

00:21:59

They needed, they need a cold germination process. They like a hard, hard, cold or something. And then they bloom after that. So let’s see what happens. Let’s see. There’s a proper term for it, but I don’t really, I think it like scarf, vacation or stratification or something where they like extreme cold. So we’ll see, we’ll see how it goes. I wasn’t successful in the spring with them. So maybe I’ll be successful in the fall. And then next year they may come back. You know, there are perennial artichokes. I didn’t know that either that you could actually grow them outside. I never knew that. I thought there were only a California thing where they needed the perfect condition to grow. 

Aileen  

00:22:38

You know? 

JackieMarie 

00:22:39

I didn’t know they were perennial either. 

Aileen  

00:22:42

Yeah. They’re perennials. They last about five years from what I was reading. So yeah. All I was so excited by that book. You had Sharon Love, joy, all the ideas in that book, Trowel and Error. Just the simple thing of having a bar of soap so like, you know, how your nails get all gritty underneath, you know, with the dirt and everything. I hate using gloves. I love feeling things, you know, like really feeling that the earth, you know, so she says, oh, 

JackieMarie 

00:23:19

My hands are so beat up this year. I’ve never had my hand. I’ve done so much gardening this summer. My hands are so beat up. Like, I’m just like, how do people do this without gloves? That being said, I just posted a picture on Instagram because like one of my favorite things that I have in my garden is like, I have this mailbox that I painted that I keep like tools in. And like having my garden gloves down in there makes a huge difference for me having my pruners in there. So because if I get down to the garden and I forget, I’m not as likely to go back to the house to get them. So having them in that little toolbox in that mailbox just makes such a huge difference. But I don’t know how you do it without, I mean, it’s yeah, it’s nice to touch, but man my hands are just ripped to shreds this year. 

Aileen  

00:24:08

Well she said, and also since I’m a nurse, I can’t have these yucky hand fingernails for a couple of days. You know what I’m saying? It’s kind of, you see what I’m saying? So, because I wear gloves obviously for procedures in the office, but I need to keep my hands, you know? So she, Sharon Lovejoy had this one little thing where you take this bar soap, right? You leave it in the shed, wherever you are in the greenhouse, wherever you’re going. And you, before you go in the garden, you put it like kind of scratch your nails and your fingernails in and make it all soapy, you know, flaky and then you go out to the garden, that’s ingenious! 

Aileen  

00:24:48

So then it’s easier. And then you take it when you come back and you take a little old toothbrush or whatever, and you just wipe it out, wash it out, scratch it out. You know, it’s just amazing that that little trick is, is amazing. 

JackieMarie 

00:25:04

Yeah. We’ll look in called Trowel and Error Over 700 organic remedies, shortcuts and tips for the Gardener. And it’s got the cutest little illustrations in it and just, I love the one where it talks about the garden hose because my garden hose is always getting caught on rocks. And just like I curse my garden hose every night 

Aileen  

00:25:28

And what’s happened? I didn’t hear that. I didn’t read that part yet. 

JackieMarie 

00:25:34

A clay pot one is upside down and the other ones on top of it. And it just like, they’re kind of glued together or something. And it just keeps the hose from getting caught on your rocks. My problem with my hose that I’ve been cursing it is that like, I get it in the perfect spot. And then when I, it seems like when I lay down the hose, it like twists the thing and then it’s not spraying in the perfect spot anymore. And I’m just like grrr and then we have to like, because Mike has so many cute little beds and so many deep boxes in places, but also like, as far as like watering, I, cause we have such a water problem. 

JackieMarie 

00:26:14

I hate to get like water on the rocks. Like, I’m just like, oh my gosh, I’m wasting that water. You know? And so I try to get it just perfect in the bed so the water is only going on the vegetables. And then like, as soon as I lay down the back of the hose, somehow it like turns the thing and it will be like spring on its side or flips upside down. I just like, and then the other one is like, when I go to move it and it gets caught on a rock and it was just like, oh, wow. 

Aileen  

00:26:41

I don’t know. I gotta look for that one. I have to look for that in that book. 

JackieMarie 

00:26:46

I just saw it again. What pages? I don’t know what page it’s on, but yeah, that was one of my favorite tips in there. But yeah, I, I have that. I remember the soap thing too. 

Aileen  

00:26:58

You know what tell you about the farm stand I went to, there was this woman there who makes brittle, do you like brittle? 

JackieMarie 

00:27:05

You mean like peanut brittle? 

Aileen  

00:27:08

Yeah. Hers has made out of cashews and oh my goodness. Okay. Do you like Brittle? Okay, good to know. Oh my goodness. It was expensive in a way, but, but it’s homemade. So, and it’s a beautiful glass or she has a glass jar, nothing plastic, which is nice so you can reuse the jars and the taste and the flavor of this cashew is a chocolate chip cashew brittle. Oh my goodness. It was so good that today that’s the go, but I’m going next week. Cause I just spent $8 on a, you know, a little six ounce thing of it. So next week I’m going to go and get it though. 

Aileen  

00:27:47

Cause I, I just, it was so delicious and y’all you only need one or two little pieces and it satisfies you, you know? So it was delicious called, my brittle, my brittle.com or something. So whatever it was, it was good. I just want to tell you about that too, because some people are making some homemade stuff there, you know, which is really delicious. 

JackieMarie 

00:28:08

I was going to talk about this place called Milkmaid bakery that I saw in Missoula. And she had, she had these muffins that had strawberries on them that looked like little hearts. And then she had these other things that were like, I forgot what she called them. Some kind of pie blossom, but they were like a, it was like a dough filled with jelly. That was like an apricots jelly and like a flower shape. Oh my God. It was so good. I like, it was so hard for me to bring them because I bought them for Mike and like to bring it home and then he shared it. But oh my goodness. I just, I think that’s like some of the best part of the farmer’s market are the baked goods and things. 

JackieMarie 

00:28:52

And the flowers. Like I wish I could grow enough flowers to have at our farmer’s market because our farmer’s market never has flowers. And I think, and I <inaudible>, But I just don’t have the zinnias like, they’re just like they’re growing. 

Aileen  

00:29:07

And what about the sunflowers? What about sunflowers? I mean, awesome. Whole who’s there. There’s the woman. I forgot her name. Oh God. She’s on, we follow her on Facebook. What’s her name? Lisa Ziegler. Yes. She’s been, you know, since she has a market of farm flowers, she does the sunflowers every two weeks be continuing every two weeks to start them. I swear. 

JackieMarie 

00:29:46

I start mine April 22nd and they stole like, they’re just about to bloom the second week in August. Like, and that’s, that’s where they’re coming on and it’s just, it’s just like, I just think all my stuff, it just started in the house next week. No. Did you start them in the greenhouse? 

Aileen  

00:30:07

No. Okay. So maybe you need to do flats of them, the flats of them. Boom. You know, and then every two weeks do another flat. 

JackieMarie 

00:30:18

So speaking of gardening flat. So I planted basil cause I was like, I’m going to give you, I’m going to play at basil in flats. So I started those so that I could sell those this fall or maybe even just give way like, so people would have a basil plant for their windowsill to keep indoors this winter because I just think there’s nothing like having fresh basil and I had them in my little greenhouse and they were coming up and they were like, you know, just anybody, little babies and they got you hot. And they all, like, I went out there one night and they were all gone. Like they just like evaporated from the heat, got so hot. I was just like, oh my goodness, trying to get these basils to take off. 

JackieMarie 

00:31:01

And then I do have the place in this one spot that are like an inch high. So I’ll see. Maybe I can like do the opposite. Like I can transplant them into cups to give to people. 

Aileen  

00:31:15

Yes, yes. Definitely. Definitely. 

JackieMarie 

00:31:16

I was so excited they were coming up in the flats. And then Mike’s like, well you can’t have them outside they’ll bake in your greenhouse. 

Aileen  

00:31:24

Yeah. If you, if you could say I have, I, you know, I tucked away. Bazell like everywhere and it does grow up because like the tomatoes, they kind of shade it. So it doesn’t get so hot, you know, and wilt. So I put them under the aid plan. I put them like, I put them everywhere and they are growing, you know, maybe the, the leaves get about, about an inch and a half, two inches long I’m. So I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it. That I’m growing food that I can eat. I can’t believe I gave to me, there’s a way to my neighbors. 

Aileen  

00:32:03

And they are like, they were so delicious and in return they bring me their compost, their coffee grounds and their bananas, just so nice trade off. So that’s really a nice job 

JackieMarie 

00:32:18

To get the Bazell. I grew up, I bought so many Bazell seeds to plant Bazell like, and so Mike could plant the pollinator boarder and I don’t know what happened. I’m just struggling to get them to Germany. And like his Polynesia 

Aileen  

00:32:34

Seven 

JackieMarie 

00:32:34

Feazell plants. Like I thought there were going to be thousands of basles. I was like, all right, you’re going to play it like this two foot section in between the miracles and the Xenia. Like you just did nothing came out. Like I thought it was going to like what I pictured in my head and what grew this year. He did bring down like, he’s like, all right, I have the scissors in the water for you to go cut the zinnias yesterday. And I’d never made it down there to go cut them. But we got hundreds of zinnias and I, I have like six, my marigolds are really good, but they, the stems aren’t long enough to really make big bouquets I could be making, 

Aileen  

00:33:16

But that’s something you could do as a plan too. And so, cause I mean, I can’t believe the gorgeous, the queen Sophia marigolds. Oh my goodness. They were gorgeous colors, you know, oranges. And I just loved them. And if you could grow that, I mean, that’s another, 

JackieMarie 

00:33:36

Which mirror Gold’s like, I have these giant monster marigolds. And then I have these other like tiny little yellow ones. And I wonder which ones are the giant ones. I hope it’s the giant ones are the ones that I bought. Like thousands of like I bought enough mirror gold probably lasts me the rest of my life. And just like so many of them. And I hope those are the giant ones, but they’re stem still. Aren’t quite long enough. They’re better than other years. But some of my, some of my Marigold plants, I have to say, like, I swear it probably has 50 blooms on it. They are just monster miracles. 

Aileen  

00:34:11

But I see and people like them, they smell delicious. I mean, it’s me. They’re just beautiful. They smelled good. You walk, if you brush your hand, you can smell like a tomato. You can brush your hand across the leaves. And it just throws off a scent that is just unbelievable to me. 

JackieMarie 

00:34:29

That’s garden therapy, I, and stuff like that smells like I have these two Rosemary plants that I put in pots so I can bring them in this winter. And when I go down at night to water and I’m sitting, I have them right next to my chair where I sit and I just lift them. And I just didn’t hail that. And it just calms you it’s like herbs on you. It’s so total bless. 

Aileen  

00:34:52

Oh yeah, I agree. I totally agree. I want to get it’s more herbs. That’s the one thing next year I will do is more herbs for sure. I have some deal growing out there, which was okay. It’s nothing great. I got it. You know? Oh, my 

JackieMarie 

00:35:05

Dell is doing really good. And the thing I did this year that was really smart, was like, before it went to seed, I picked all the weed leaves off, you know, the dill weed and put it in the fridge. And so I’ve been putting that like will just sprinkles on my potato salad and just like, I have like this bag of dill weed that I bought adding to food, to flavor things or to my salads and just, it kind of, I love the thing I love about fresh herbs is like, everything will be different, like on a different day. Like just a little bit here. You can just have like a little more dill flavor one day or a little more flavor another day or a little more Rosemary on a different day. Like just cutting different bits and having or different little bit of beasel here. 

JackieMarie 

00:35:45

I feel like basil leaves on everything. Like on salads, on sandwiches, on pizza, on omelets. Like I put Alicia, everything fresh breeze on 

Aileen  

00:35:56

That’s delicious. And there was cilantro is extremely challenging for me because it gets very hot, quick. It starts to bowl go to seed. But there was a guest that you had on who was a chef and his website that I can’t think of his name. He was saying about forger. Yes. That’s it? The poor. Yes. And he does something with cilantro that when the coriander, when they’re green, he’s saying to put them in the recipes. So who would have thought that for me, I’m not at, see, I’m not a cook, you know? And my husband is being exposed to it more now with, with all these different varieties, that things and ideas like with the clove, I guess, I don’t know where he found that, but he put it in and you know, it worked, but the green making something out of the green coriander just before they turn brown and get hard, you know, the cilantro, which was, I find interesting that it’s so makes everything taste and it’s a different flavor. 

Aileen  

00:36:59

And a lot of people don’t like cilantro, but maybe they liked the little green bud, you know, before it becomes a flower and stuff like that, you know? Oh, 

JackieMarie 

00:37:09

I love that idea. Somebody told me, they’re like, your problem with cilantro is you’re trying to get it to grow for too long. He’s like, it grows, it comes up, you pick it and you start a new one or cheap grow them in succession. He’s like, it doesn’t last. He’s like, you’re trying to get it to last, like your Bazell plant one batch of cilantro and then you need another one. You need to do this. So that kind of made me feel better about it. Cause I’m frustrated with my salon show too. And then I can’t wait. Cause Mike did plant, like, I don’t know how many sunflowers I bought these edible sunflowers from Eden brothers down there in his mini farm. And he did plant a bunch and Alan Bergo like, one of the recipes is for cooking. 

JackieMarie 

00:37:53

The sunflower had before it blooms and mikes are out to that point. So I’m excited to try that. 

Aileen  

00:38:02

Wow. Ooh. That’s something I love to hear about too. Definitely. Definitely. It sounds 

JackieMarie 

00:38:08

Like between the two of us, we’ve got lots of great things going 

Aileen  

00:38:12

Well, we do. And I hope every, I hope somebody comes on and like wants to share their knowledge too. And their wisdom, oh, these backyard gardeners off. We need them still bad. 

JackieMarie 

00:38:23

Especially listeners. I only have three episodes in the bank. I need some people to do interviews with me so I can get some things posted. Yeah. He actually, he calls him sunflower artichokes. I his book. Right. Cause I’ve been wanting 

Aileen  

00:38:38

To finish it for you. Small 

JackieMarie 

00:38:43

Sunflower chokes and the, and it’s like, you make it out of the sunflower head. It’s on page 1 30, 3 of his fuck. I just I’ve been dying to try that. And Mike has so many down there. There’s like the cutest little sunflowers. They’re only like two feet tall, but they’re all just about to bloom. And I’m going to be in some flour. I am going to have a bunch, excuse me of those of this year. But you know what? I was just looking, my bird seed ones are just about to bloom to them. What I like about the bird seed sunflowers is like, they’ll they have like three or four blooms on each stem as compared to like, wow, I’m pretty sure there’s only like one on each stem. 

JackieMarie 

00:39:25

So I’m excited about that’s one thing I like about the sunflower ones. I did not have good success with my sunflower seed this year, but I didn’t try. I was, when I made a mistake was I didn’t plant my sunflowers seeds that I grew from last year. I should’ve, I planted like grabbed a handful of bird Bernstein. 

Aileen  

00:39:48

Okay. Yeah. I don’t know that trick yet. I didn’t do any of that yet, but I just, whatever sent flowers I did grow, I was a couple of successes, so, and it’s okay. Cause I’m not really a flower person I’m trying, you know, because you need the flowers to pollinate, bring the beneficial insects into your garden, which I D I never knew about before listening to you and, and reading up on things, you know? So I learned a lot 

JackieMarie 

00:40:18

Went that big pollinator border and I’m so disappointed because it just doesn’t like what I had the vision I had in my head and what grew just is still like two completely different things. But part of me also thinks like, maybe I’m just being impatient. Like maybe it just takes longer in Montana. Like now you’ve got me thinking. 

Aileen  

00:40:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right. I got to get to town. Thank you for sharing with us today and spreading your knowledge. I know you’ve inspired people and you’re giving people lots of good ideas and you’re sharing. Like, I think your lessons are so important. So, 

Aileen  

00:40:55

Oh my goodness. Jackie, I’m so happy. I met you. My green organic Oasis and Mike is awesome too. He likes what I post. So they’ll have a comment. I love him too.

Is Robbie on Facebook? Like when I was in New Jersey I didn’t get to meet him.

No, no, no. My husband is not on social media at all. No way. We’ll tell Robbie. 

JackieMarie 

00:41:20

We like to hear about what he’s cooking. 

Aileen  

00:41:23

Yes, I will. I will. Thank 

JackieMarie 

00:41:25

You. Definitely keeping you healthy and all that you do 

Aileen  

00:41:30

For everybody and sharing your name with you. All right. Good luck. You okay. I’ll talk to you soon. Okay. Bye. 

JackieMarie 

00:41:38

Get your copy of the organic Oasis guide book available today from Amazon, it’s got 12 lessons designed to help you create your own organic Oasis. It starts with healthy soil. It talks about building an earth funneling landscape. It helps you understand the difference between annuals and perennials and how to bring in beneficial insects. It talks about fruit trees and just all the lessons that I’ve learned on my podcast mixed with what Mike and I have done here. Okay. Well, Mike has done here at Mike screen garden and just, I hope that it will help you on your garden journey to create, like I said, your own organic Oasis, where you can have healthy food and enjoy, you know, a very special place and most of all, it’s good for mother earth. Do you know someone who would benefit from the organic gardener podcast? If you like, what you hear? We’d love it. If you share the organic gardener podcast with a friend. Thanks again for listening. 

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