M R Gardens

Time to request 2012 plant list

2012-02-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Pre-ordering encourages planning instead of impulse buying.

When shopping for your garden starts, how many times have you felt so enticed to buy a plant that you couldn't resist, but then once you got it home, you didn't have the space for it or the time to plant it? (I admit, that's happened to me more than once).

Or were you so overwhelmed by the hundreds of choices at the market or retail store that you couldn't decide which ones to take home?

Pre-ordering alleviates some of the stress and impulsiveness of buying and saves you money. It helps you in purchasing plants specific to your body's requirements as you have time to think about the nutrients you need and, correspondingly, the vitamins and minerals in the vegetables. You can also thoughtfully purchase the proper plant companions so that the vegetables are growing in the right garden community and are appropriate for your garden environment.

M R Gardens encourages gardeners to be thoughtful in their garden planning by offering customers the option of ordering them ahead of time. The list of plants that M R Gardens is offering for sale in 2012 is now available.

When you request a list — by emailing me at gardens@wncmretc.com — you'll see which varieties I have on-hand, read their descriptions and see who collected the seed. You'll then make a notation of the number of plants you want on the spreadsheet. Please return the completed order by February 17 for spring crops and by March 15 for summer crops. If I don't have a variety that you are hoping to grow, please let me know and I may be able to find it for you.

My spring crops (order due on February 17) include broccoli, cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, mustard, lettuce, celeriac and leeks. Summer crops (order due on March 15), include eggplant, sweet peppers, summer and winter squash, tomatoes and watermelon. I also have culinary herbs—five types of basil, catmint, dill, fennel, parsley— and beneficial flowers such as borage, calendula, cosmos, nasturtium, scarlet runner bean, and sunflowers. Please also order herbs and flowers by March 15.

I'm especially excited about trying heirloom varieties from Nancy Long, a seed collector from the Cherokee Indian Reservation. I have seed for Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Giant Curled mustard, Early Prolific Straightneck squash and Moon and Stars watermelon. Slow Food USA describes this variety of watermelon as a "magical" melon: "The dark green and yellow speckled skin of the Moon and Stars watermelon evokes a living galaxy while its happenstance return suggests a storybook ending."

I hope pre-ordering helps you have a magical 2012 in the garden. Contact me today!

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Email M R Gardens at gardens@wncmretc.com or call 828.333.4151 to request a plant list. All plants are grown in organic potting soil. M R Gardens sells on a sliding scale so that all people in the community can enjoy healthily grown plants.

The gift of books: For winter reading

2012-01-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

The gardening energy starts to sprout soon after the New Year. We've had some downtime after the holidays and have reflected on how we want our garden to improve. A few sunny days get us excited for spring, although we can't break into the soil for another three months. So what can we do with that energy? We curl up beside the fireplace with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other, and plan next year's garden.

When the gardening energy motivated me to enter the agriculture profession in 2003, I gave my family a list of titles I wanted to add to my library and asked them to get me nothing else but what was on the list for Christmas. They graciously obliged despite their raised eyebrows.

So, in part thanks to them, I now have quite the extensive library. The list of resources below is just the tip of the iceberg of my own library, let alone of all the good gardening manuals in existence.

I don't pretend to have memorized all of the information in these resources. I tend to keep in my brain the name of the author, the title or the website where I can find the answer, rather than the actual answer. Meanwhile, the knowledge that I need to make minute-by-minute decisions in the garden is in my muscle memory. (I tell you these secrets to give those intuitive, non-scientific people out there some confidence: You CAN produce a large quantity of beautiful, quality vegetables despite what can feel like poor rote memorization skills.)

It's also important to keep in mind that the best gardening resources are often your neighbors. I'm thrilled my neighbor Essie recently started the Blue Ridge Garden Form on Facebook so that area gardeners can better communicate. In this hilly, twisting, winding region of ours, there's so many different microclimates that the right move in one neighborhood may be entirely different in the next. The more we share our experiences, the better gardeners we can become.

And of course, it's important to remember that the best way to learn is by doing. Don't get too overwhelmed by the amount of information, opinions and gardening methods out there. Only when you have solved the problem yourself will the answer truly be imbedded in your mind. So once the soil has warmed (which may be as early as late February in parts of the Blue Ridge if you use season extension techniques), get out there and give it a go!

THE BIG PICTURE

It's important to balance your reading between the practical and the visionary. Read about the individual pieces of the garden and also the entire system. The following resources are geared toward overall theory, although most of them also get into the nuts-and-bolts.

Weedless Gardening. By Lee Reich. If you've never set up a garden or are interested in switching to a minimal-till method, I highly recommend this book. I particularly like the section on cover crops.

How to Grow More Vegetables (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine. By John Jeavons. For those of you who love to be uber-productive (and love measurements and numbers), this book is for you! While I personally don't "double dig," I highly recommend reading about the concept, as outlined in this book. Biointensive mini-farming also incorporates some great composting methods.

The Soul of Soil: A Soil-Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers. By Joe Smillie and Grace Gershuny. This book helps you understand the science (and magic!) behind soil, and you'll never look at dirt the same.

Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-free Vegetable Garden. By Sally Jean Cunningham. This book is especially good for those who want a beautiful garden ecosystem and are less concerned with producing a lot in a small space. Nevertheless, some of the intercropping techniques and beneficial flower strips can be incorporated in even the largest of agriculture systems.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. By Toby Hemenway. The concepts of permaculture are very important in designing your backyard. This book can help you create a system where all the parts work together, which will minimize investment in labor and unnecessary equipment.

The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener. By Eliot Coleman. While this resource is typically used by market gardeners, I recommend it for home gardeners so you can understand the importance of crop rotations and other soil-improving techniques. And for those who want a garden all year long, Eliot Coleman is the master of season extension.

The Mulch Book: A Complete Guide for Gardeners. By Stu Campbell. I came across this great find at a used bookstore, and it has been very helpful in fine-tuning my mulch-addicted gardening style.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS

Keep these resources handy when you're in the heat of the summer and need to avoid a gardening catastrophe.

The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy without Chemicals. Edited by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley. Includes easy-to-use and in-depth problem-solving, insect identification and disease symptom guides.

Organic Pest & Disease Control: How to Grow a Healthy Problem-Free Garden. A Taylor's Weekend Gardening Guide. Edited by Barbara Ellis and Frances Tenenbaum. I love the simple descriptions and large illustrations in this short 120-page guide.

Burpee The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically. By Karan Davis Cutler. While the instructions in this 440-page manual can feel overwhelming detailed, I love to learn the exact specifications of each plant. The alphabetical listing of plants include sections on site & soil, how to grow, and potential problems. It even delves into requirements of specific varieties of each vegetable. If you're having trouble with a certain plant and want to try everything under the sun to get it to thrive, this book is for you.

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. By Suzanne Ashworth. Whether or not you want to take the leap into seed-saving, this resource is important to understand the different pollination techniques and histories of vegetables. (So you can understand why those volunteer squash that sprouted in the compost pile don't quite look like the ones you planted last year!)

The Mother Earth News editions from the 1970's. At that time, the magazine published how-to articles on sustainable technologies, including precise instructions on how to create solar boxes and the like. Since the magazine was produced in Hendersonville, you can find back issues floating around in many basements in our region. You can also order issues online.

GARDENING FOR PROFIT

Whether or not you have an interest in producing for profit, it's good to review these resources to keep a practical mindset. It's much easier to dream than it is to implement, and these books keep you focused on numbers and logistics.

The Growing for Market journal is published 10 times a year and provides information about the latest trends on organic vegetable production and marketing. Sign up for a subscription at www.growingformarket.com

The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Managing Finances, Crops and Staff—And Making a Profit. By Richard Wiswall. Before you make the leap of investing into an enterprise, it's important to run the numbers to make sure it won't break the bank. This handbook helps you do so.

New Roots for Agriculture. By Wes Jackson. This book is not intended to be a practical how-to guide, but I like it because it helps you hold close the motivations for your work. Even though Wes Jackson primarily writes from a Midwestern large-scale farming perspective, he still has been a tremendous inspiration in my endeavors in soil-building.

ONLINE SOURCES

So maybe your computer is not as cozy to cuddle up to as a book, but Google is often the quickest way to answer a question. However, sorting through the prolific information can be annoying. Here are a few reliable sites:

The NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Project, known as "Attra" to most, has excellent articles about soils and compost, organic farming and pest management. While the site is geared for the small farmer, anyone committed to proper land management will appreciate Attra.

If the online materials are from the Cooperative Extension, then you know that the information has been thoroughly researched and tested true throughout the years. One of my favorite Extension resources is Growing Small Farms, produced by the Chatham County Center. Debbie Roos, Agriculture Extension Agent, is an excellent resource about pollinator gardens.

SEED CATALOGS

Don't forget that seed catalogs often specify growing requirements of crops.

Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog is an excellent resource about interesting vegetable, herb and flower varieties and gardening tools to make your life easier.

The Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.

The Southern Exposure Seed Exchange emphasizes varieties of vegetable, flower, herb, grain and cover crop seeds that perform well in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The company specializes in heirloom and open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds.

Sow True Seed is an Asheville-based company that has over 400 varieties of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds. They are forward-thinking company with excellent ambitions such as increasing the number of North Carolina farmers who produce seeds to sell to the company.

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Megan opens up her library to clients of her garden coaching service. You can hire Megan to help you design a garden system that fits your lifestyle and needs, set up a management plan, and work with you in the garden. Set up an appointment with Megan by calling 828.333.4151 or emailing gardens(at)wncmretc(dot)com.

Therapeutic benefits of physical work

2011-11-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Deck cleaning produces suds like waves washing on shore

Suds trickled from the sponge in my hand and mixed with the water surrounding me. The frothy water moved up and around me, like a wave washing onto shore, before dripping off the deck.

As I watched the suds rinse away mildew stains, I felt a release of tension, which had built in my body after hardship had inflicted my family's life and my own life the last two months. A long list of disappointments, ranging from just annoying to utterly tragic, had left my family feeling like the only light at the end of the tunnel was a train coming full speed toward us.

My thoughts seemed to move from out of my head through my shoulders to my arms to my hands to the sponge to the suds to the water and dripped to the ground 15 feet below me. With that release went sadness, and mental clarity took its place.

A looming house appraisal required for a refinance forced me to scrub the deck, a task I had avoided for a year. But once I started scrubbing mildew off the deck floor, I only felt better and better. The therapeutic benefits of physical work turned a chore into a needed emotional release.

The activity reminded me why I have structured my lifestyle to include physical work. The needs of my large garden keep me moving throughout the year. Our bodies hold tension as we overthink and become needlessly stressed in our busy lives. As we work in the garden, those points of tension release.

Over the years when working with gardening newbies in farm fields, I've noticed they immediately start dreaming about technological fixes and labor-saving devices that would decrease their time in the field. "I wonder if there's a machine that rips the bean plants out of the ground and then shakes the beans off the plants," one of my friends said to me as we slumped over a row of green bean plants in the heat of the summer.

My fellow farm workers' imaginations have also invented robotic insects that could eliminate the tedious task of thinning the carrot patch. The robot would be able to discern which tiny seedlings were not the beginnings of a feathery carrot top, and pluck the weeds from the patch.

Society has trained us to think of ways to avoid physical work, rather than letting ourselves glide into the moment, ignore our complaints, and instead enjoy the repetitive movement.

Organic vegetable farmers will tell you they become addicted to farming once they learn how to enjoy work. Moving quickly from task to task, their bodies act before (it seems) their minds can instruct, driven by an invisible force. Just when the farmers think they can't work any longer, energy rises from that unknown source to propel them further, so that working from sun up to sun down is actually enjoyable.

Time and again I have felt the therapeutic benefits of physical work in the garden. Even tasks like heavy lifting, mulching and digging are relaxing and meditating, as the hard work forces superfluous thoughts from my head.

"Short and Sweet" Wild Pinks. Silene caroliana var. wherryi

My rough two months spurred me to finish a yard project that I've been working on for three years so that I could feel those therapeutic benefits. I finished filling in native plants in a disturbed area of my property. While appreciating the golden light against the color of the surrounding trees, I dug up about 75 lilies (which had started from a gift of about 10), and transplanted them to another part of the property. In their place went false indigo, yellow root, nodding onion, Carolina bush pea, creeping phlox, rudbeckia, coneflowers, culiver's root, floxglove beardtongue, liatris, beebalm, anise hyssop and blue eyed grass. Nothing gives me energy like quickly disappearing fall weather.
My mom also mentioned the therapeutic benefits of chores during our period of bad luck. As she washed my windows following the day after we received yet more tragic news, she said "Cleaning is good for the soul." She's the one who laughed at me ten years ago when I suggested that she likes to clean because it's her meditation method. (That was well before meditation became a household word in Ohio. Or maybe it still isn't. Living in Asheville gives me a different perspective on what is socially acceptable.)

Modern life has nearly eliminated the need for the majority of the population to perform physical work. Fewer and fewer people are lucky enough to use their bodies throughout the day for their vocation. Meanwhile, what has replaced physical work is a booming "healthcare" industry. Perhaps if we all picked up shovels more often, if we handled the grimy chores rather than avoiding them or hiring others to do them, then our backyards would be the primary places we go for healthcare.

Follow this blog and the M R Gardens Facebook page for growing tips and advice on low maintenance weed-free garden systems. You can also hire Megan to help you design a garden system that fits your lifestyle and needs, set up a management plan, and work with you in the garden. Set up an appointment with Megan by calling 828.333.4151 or emailing gardens@wncmretc.com.

No machine needed: Worms do the tilling

2011-09-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

"I'm never going back to my old way of gardening!" My neighbor recently said to me. "Building the soil the top down makes much mores sense. My garden was so much more productive and easier to maintain. I did almost no weeding this year!" She thanked me profusely for showing her my method of gardening, which requires no mechanical tilling.

Spring garden—no mechanical tilling needed

For the past two years I watched my neighbor diligently till her garden, and then struggle with weeds, plant disease and nutrient-related issues. At first, I remained quiet.

I typically don't suggest new gardening methods unless someone asks for my advice. Gardening is good, no matter what methods people choose, so I won't critique or try to convert until they ask. It's important that people find the gardening system that works best for their personalities, work styles, schedules and local surroundings.

I am not a gardening purist. My agricultural mentors are so diverse that I borrow concepts and draw tips from a wide variety of methods, including Lee Reich's Weedless Gardening, EliotColeman's Four Season farming, Ruth Stout's no-dig method, Patricia Lanza's lasagna gardening and John Jeavons' Biointensive mini-farming. I don't follow any one of these philosophies to an absolute T, but instead pick and choose what makes most sense for my location, goals and values.

Straw mulch on garlic

I admit—my spine does shiver like someone ran fingernails down a blackboard when I see a tiller break open ground. I can't help but want to protect the soil structure—the key to good soil tilth. Healthy soil is the foundation of the Earth's health—and therefore our health—on so many levels.

But I remain quiet until people ask.

So was the case with my neighbor, until she repeatedly exclaimed about the quality of my produce and beauty of my garden. How do I do it? She wanted to know.

It all boils down to soil tilth, I explained. A simple test with a digging fork showed her the impact of tilling. When I drove the fork into her garden, the prongs barely sunk so that they were only halfway underground.

Then we walked across the street to my garden. My foot barely exerted any pressure as I pressed the fork into the soil, and the prongs quickly disappeared underground. I then lifted the dirt with the fork, careful to not to disrupt the soil layers as I did so. The moist soil fell off the fork in small loose clumps.

While the first couple of inches of humus are the most nutrient-rich soil layers, many vegetable plants like to grow long roots to capture water and minerals well below the surface, I explained. "Mechanical tilling compacts the soil, so that the roots can't grow deep," I said. Moreover, tilling lifts buried weed seed to the surface, so they are more likely to sprout, adding to garden labor.

Leaves on edamame and popcorn

Most importantly, a no-till gardening method keeps soil structure in place. A well-structured soil provides many ecosystem services. Water percolates under the surface without disrupting nutrient-rich topsoil. A healthy population of earthworms and miniature organisms break down organic matter into a useable form. The healthy, intact soil system combats disease more easily and provides habitat for predators of garden pests. I could go on…

In general, a garden becomes easier to manage when we work with our ecosystem rather than disrupt it. So to take care of my soil, I follow the guidelines below when creating a garden system.


Layers of cardboard, manure and grass clippings

1) I start garden beds in the fall by layering cardboard, manure and other organic matter on the area to become the garden. The grass blades and roots underneath the cardboard decompose along with piles of organic matter so that the soil is rich and easy to work in the spring. The decomposition process takes at least three months.

2) In the spring, I loosen the top 12-inches of soil with a digging fork, and if I'm direct seeding, I'll break up the clumps further with a hand tool until the soil is fine. This process is not labor intensive if enough organic matter was added (the amount required is dependent on the soil's clay/sand consistency) and has decomposed properly. The clumps should fall apart easily.

Broadfork (A simple digging fork works too)

3) Unless I've just seeded a bed, it is always covered with mulch—most often grass clippings or leaves.

4) I continue to add organic matter to the soil throughout the season, whether that be composted kitchen waste or manure, cover crops or amendments such as bone meal, depending on the plants' specific requirements.

5) My beds are permanent. I never walk in my garden beds, but instead on paths mulched with wood chips surrounding the garden.

To be precise, plenty of tilling is going on in my garden. I've created the ideal habitat for worms to thrive, and they in turn aerate the soil, which is the key action of tilling. Oxygen stimulates the activity of microorganisms to release nutrients to the plants.

I should also clarify that it is possible to create good soil tilth even with tractor tilling. But I have only observed that on farms with specialized equipment and a skilled mechanical farmer.

For us backyard gardeners, some cardboard and mulch will do the trick, and in the meantime, the plants love all of that organic matter and produce flavorful, high quality fruits and veggies.

Follow this blog and the M R Gardens Facebook page for growing tips and advice on low maintenance no-till systems. You can also hire Megan to help you design a garden system that fits your lifestyle and needs, set up a management plan, and work with you in the garden. Set up an appointment with Megan by calling 828.333.4151 or emailing gardens@wncmretc.com.

Why I garden: My growing list

2011-06-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

While gardening, I gain inspiration for writing and other projects and find solutions to issues I'm facing.
When I need a break from the computer in the middle of the day, I can go pick raspberries.
The garden is a way to give back to my community by donating excess food to community organizations and trading over the fence line with neighbors.
My edible yard adds to the aesthetics and diversity of my community. Neighbors frequently remark on it.
When I'm overwhelmed by the overload of information and activity of modern life, or just plain tired from travel, my garden is a place of rejuvenation.
In our busy lives, we often forget the speed that the world is meant to operate. The garden — and the kitchen, where I peel, pickle and can — is a place to learn the natural pace of the world.
The garden teaches me to appreciate the simple things in life, as well as helps me understand the complexities.
The garden toughens me up — both literally (my skin, muscles and stamina) and metaphorically (my ability to face crisis).
Just when I think I've figured something out, the garden humbles me. I am always learning.
It's amazing how digging up beds and spreading mulch helps burn off stress, excess energy and calories.
When I need time outside, it's right out my backdoor. No drive to a scenic view required.
I love good food and the endless varieties of vegetables and herbs.
I can guarantee that food is grown the way I want it to be done if I do it myself.
The garden repeatedly rewards me with a sense of accomplishment as I see my visions realized.
It is a piece of the country in the city, and helps a farm girl like me thrive in an urban area.
It connects me to my ancestors (who were farmers), and it reminds me of scenes from my childhood (like snapping beans with my mom).
The garden is a great place to learn about the rules of the ecosystem and the growing requirements and uses of an endless variety of plants.
The garden is a great place to get to know my partner, friends and neighbors.
The garden is great place to get to know myself.
It opens up an opportunity to connect with you! Share your reasons for gardening on the M R Gardens Facebook page.

--Megan Riley, M R Gardens

Quality of life in the garden

2011-06-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

"Wow that's a lot of hard work!" — a common statement when people look at a big garden.

"I could never afford that." — another phrase I hear frequently.

In disagreeing, I don't want to mislead anyone about the required investment of time, sweat and money in garden work. But I do find that when people change their perspectives just a bit, these statements change as well.

To budding gardeners who are letting the fear of this investment stand in the way of starting a garden, a source of nourishment on so many levels, I ask: How can you integrate the garden into your daily lifestyle? Can you look beyond the hard numbers of a garden budget and instead to the wide value it adds to your life? Do you think your quality of life will improve such that the investment is worth it?

Almost everyday I think of a new reason of why I garden, but I'm perhaps motivated most by the need for physical work. Gardening is both muscle-building and meditative, and I love the tactile and sensory qualities of it.

For a five-year period of my life in my twenties, my living situation switched between several rental arrangements. That meant space for gardening was limited. Considering I had lived and worked on organic farms the four years prior to this period, I spent a lot of time dreaming about an edible yard on a piece of property I would own someday in the future.

These pictures in my head grew most vibrant while I ran on the treadmill at the gym. While I needed my daily gym routine to release stress, I was unfulfilled within the stale-sweat odor and four walls. I preferred the sound of birds, the scent of soil and the sensation of dirt on my fingers.

When I finally did take the step toward home ownership, my realtors had a hard time understanding why I cared most about the lawn size and sun exposure, so much so that I would ignore houses' structural issues. (Well, until the realtors, rightly so, brought me to my senses.)

Soon after I moved to my new property and laid out my garden beds, I dropped 20 pounds. The hour that I spent at the gym in my twenties, plus the commuting time to and from it, is now spent in the garden. My membership fees now go to seed orders and equipment purchases. And I receive the benefits of the gym, plus much more.

A lot of people treasure their time at the gym. If you do, don't give that up! It's important to keep the activities that nourish you. (For me, daily walks on the Mountains to Sea trail are a priority above gardening). The only way gardening will stay in your life is if you don't let it rule your life. Instead, examine your life goals and see how gardening can integrate within it.

When I allow time for the garden, the other areas of my life tend to flow. I gain inspiration for my writing. I find solutions to pressing issues, as my mind drifts between work projects to relationship issues to the state of our society. And I build muscles that I never knew existed, which greatly improves my athletic and dance abilities. Part of the reason why dance (my means of exercise in the winter) comes so easily to me is because of the bodily awareness I gain in the garden.

I haven't even touched yet on perhaps the biggest benefit of the garden: good food. On a daily basis, a plate sits on my dinner table that rivals what I could buy at the best restaurants in town. I have become so spoiled by the quality of vegetables from a healthy garden that my body has become sensitive to all foods. Buying organic and unprocessed food is an activity no longer driven by my ideals and values, but by my nutritional requirements. Even in winter, I can enjoy the summer's bounty that I canned, froze or cured and stored.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this quality food is the reason why I now spend very little on medical bills. It's why I feel fulfilled by the simpler things in life, instead of continually seeking "more." It's why I have a clear vision for my life path, my career and my community.

I'm not implying all your dreams will come true if you just plant a garden. In fact, unless you manage a garden properly, incorporate time-saving systems, and find ways to fit it into your schedule, it could become a burden. It could also lead to heat exhaustion in mid-summer if you don't plan time for tending it in the early morning or evening hours.

Yet I do encourage those interested yet intimidated by gardening to first examine their top priorities. Do you want more time outdoors? More time with family? More time for goal-setting or meditation? Perhaps gardening can fit into those priorities. Time tends to open up, as the hours spent in the produce aisle or behind the lawn mower decrease, and the energy to pursue other life goals increases.

--Megan Riley, M R Gardens.

The other overwhelming part of the gardening is learning how to do it! Follow this blog and the M R Gardens Facebook page for growing tips and advice on low maintenance no-till systems. You can also hire Megan to help you design a garden system that fits your lifestyle and needs, set up a management plan, and work with you in the garden as you begin your new endeavors. Set up an appointment with Megan by calling 828.333.4151 or emailing gardens@wncmretc.com.

M R Gardens' amaranth microgreens: Off to kindergarten

2011-05-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Megan shares her experience of growing greens (and reds, in this case) for a chef.

Microgreens at WNC Chef's Challenge

"Is it like seeing your kids all grown?" my dinner partner Michelle Pugliese asked me.

Strangely enough, I indeed felt like I was watching my kids at a bus stop on their first day of kindergarten. Instead of big yellow, they were embarking into the bellies of restaurant customers.

My microgreens were on plates of 85 customers at Cucina 24 in Asheville, NC, which participated in the WNC Chef's Challenge on April 11: Sunburst Trout Farms vs. Never Blue Tapas Bar & Grill. Charles Hudson, Sunburst Trout Farms Research & Development Chef, ordered amaranth, sweet peas, and a mild micro mix to add to his artwork, which others call dinner.

Amaranth microgreens

His eye for color attracted him to amaranth. Up until this point, the plant was a malicious weed to me – I became all too familiar with it on an organic farm that heavily relied on horse manure for fertilization. (Apparently, pigweed can't get enough of the nitrogen). Its superfluous seeds can make it a plain pain-in-the-back, but it sometimes can be beneficial to gardeners. Pigweed serves as a trap for leaf miners and other pests, as well as a shelter for ground beetles.

Amaranth-inspired biscuits

The amaranth microgreen is a slightly different variety than the common pigweed. Its burgundy shade, which turns to deep purple and light pink in the right light, inspired Charles to make taffy and biscuits tinted with a hint of the color as he prepped for the Chef's Challenge. In its baby form, the level of concentrated active compounds provide ample nutrition – much more vitamins than one would expect from a bite size garnish.

Taffy, also inspired by color of microgreens

For years, I've grown vegetables for myself and dinner guests, or helped farmers produce food for sale, either through my labor, communications work or grants management. The WNC Chef's Challenge was the first time my products, or my "kids" as Michelle would call them, helped provide nutrition and entertainment for a room full of customers. Now that I've experienced the full cycle of growing and feeding people, I entirely understand the addiction to farming. It is indeed rewarding.

I also appreciated growing for Sunburst Trout Farms, a business with deep roots and a 63-year history yet with progressive managerial and marketing styles. CEO Sally Eason puts her employees first: she encourages their creativity and allows adjustments to schedules to fit their unique work styles. Because of her open-mindedness, her employees had the opportunity to compete in the Chef's Challenge, and a new grower had a chance to share her microgreens.

I will continue to use my communications skills to help the diverse farms of Western North Carolina, and similarly, I hope my other business, M R Gardens, continues to assist growers and chefs in creative ways. I foresee my microgreens on the plates and in the stomachs of attendees of other future events, perhaps fundraising and outreach efforts of my clients.

And, in M R Gardens style, I'm already brainstorming ways to extend these nutritional snacks to those who normally couldn't afford them. For when M R Gardens kids leave the property, they ideally help all layers of the community.

In 2011, the WNC Magazine Wine & Food Festival, where the Chef's Challenge grand tasting takes place, will share proceeds with F.E.A.S.T., a hands-on cooking program that focuses on seasonal, local ingredients and education. Children are taught how to plant, harvest, cook, eat, and enjoy food that is fresh, easy to prepare, affordable, and sustainable. The program holds classes in public housing centers, public and private schools, and the YMCA and YWCA. F.E.A.S.T. is a program of Slow Food Asheville.

M R Gardens: Healthy plants, healthy communities

2011-05-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Note from Megan: Since entering the sustainable agriculture field in 2001, I have gained a great appreciation for all scales and methods of farming, including those of the backyard or apartment patio grower. It is in our backyards that we connect to our food and enjoy the taste of a fresh tomato with basil. It is here that we experience seasonality, life cycles and the natural pace of life. It is here that we connect to past generations and relearn our grandmothers' ways of food preparation.

We're at an important point in time when generations that did not grow up in the garden are regaining the extensive knowledge of growing food before older generations are gone. Plus, we're learning traditional methods of gardening pre-chemicals or even pre-tiller.

M R Gardens is my small contribution to this effort. M R Gardens' products and educational materials add to the reinvigoration of fresh eating that is fueling the small diverse farms in the WNC region. Meanwhile, all of us can have the experience of walking out our back doors and picking foods that were grown especially for us.

M R Gardens: Healthy Plants, Healthy Communities

M R Gardens is a resource for home gardeners, local restaurants and community organizers. Owner Megan Riley gives advice on how to install no-till, weed-free garden systems and fills special orders of vegetable starts, microgreens and culinary herb bouquets.

Four principles guide M R Gardens: Health, Community, Traditions and Sustainable Systems

Burgundy Okra

Health: Since Megan grows on a small scale, she gives individual attention to the plants and her customers in hopes of producing healthy products and relationships. She follows organic practices so that her plants grow strong over a natural time period.

Community: Megan sells on a sliding scale so that all residents in her community can afford healthy plants. Those who want to support M R Gardens on a larger level help offset the costs. Megan also reaches out to community organizations that are spreading access of healthy food to low-income areas.

Traditions: The corner of Oakley where M R Gardens is located used to be a strong farming community, and her neighbors often talk about the spectacular garden that the former owners of her land tended. Bits of that gardening tradition still remain in the community, and Megan hopes to reinspire her neighbors. Megan exchanges heirloom seeds with Cherokee Reservation growers and others who have been in the mountains for generations. She also buys from a local company that grows seed specifically suited for this area.

Sustainable Systems: Megan promotes a no-till, low maintenance garden system that relies on layers of organic matter and healthy soil structure to create a good habitat for plants. She also incorporates native and/or beneficial plants to attract pollinating insects and garden pest predators.

Call 828.333.4151 or email gardens@wncmretc.com to place an order or set up an appointment.

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M R Gardens, a set on Flickr.