The Importance of Gardening in 2023 and Aeroponic Innovations
Hey there, fellow garden enthusiasts! Today, I want to share my thoughts on the significance of gardening in 2023, and why I believe it's an absolute must! With climate change becoming an increasingly urgent issue, it is more important than ever to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment . Gardening provides not only a powerful solution, but a doable one. It grants us access to fresh, wholesome food and also carries a host of environmental benefits. Whether it’s a backyard garden, community garden or aeroponic garden, they all reduce the need for transportation and packaging of store-bought produce and can reduce or eliminate the need for harmful pesticides and fertilizers. I'm passionate about sustainability, nurturing connections, and making a positive impact on the world.
Gardening has been so therapeutic for me. Studies show that spending time in nature can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and improve overall well-being. Gardening is a great way to get outside, get your hands dirty, and play in the dirt. The years that I’ve had “bumper crops” and had to give away broccolini, zucchini, tomatoes & cucumbers were so satisfying and gave me a chance to know my neighbors. The year I started making pickles it was because, I literally had 2-3 new cucumbers every morning (if my dog Sadie didn’t get to them first!). The benefits of gardening extend far beyond environmental concerns. As social beings, we thrive on meaningful connections and the well-being of others wellness.
Gardening can also lead to substantial cost savings. Growing our own food can be a budget-friendly alternative, particularly if fresh produce is expensive or scarce in our vicinities. Community gardens in food deserts might be the only way families can afford fresh, in season produce. Community gardens, in particular, serve as nurturing spaces for people to cultivate their own food while forging connections with like-minded individuals. Gardening offers a wonderful opportunity to build vibrant communities and foster a sense of togetherness.
The first garden I ever planted I was VERY pregnant with my son, I planted all kinds of vegetables, plus we had a plum tree, an apricot tree and a lemon tree. Gardening is a good way to get little ones to try foods they may not normally try. Planting the seeds, smoothing out the soil, watering and checking their growth every day is a fun and interactive way to teach little kids where their food comes from, the importance of sustainability and encourage them to try what they’ve grown.
Lastly, let's not forget the sheer beauty that gardening brings into our lives. Whether it's a windowsill herb garden, a blossoming balcony, or a flourishing backyard oasis, plants and flowers add color, texture, and fragrances that uplift our spirits. Right now I don’t have a yard so I’ve opted for an aeroponic garden, I go out every morning and tell my plants how beautiful they are and how much I appreciate them. My tower is on my front porch, I love the aesthetics and seeing the growth day to day brings me and my neighbors so much joy. Passersby ask what I’m growing and I look forward to being able to share my produce with them. There’s more than one way to have a community garden. In urban areas there are literally farms of vertical/aeroponic gardens. Tower Garden
Gardening holds immense importance in 2023 and beyond. It encompasses so many benefits….from sustainability, community building, mental and physical well-being. So, friends, let's embrace gardening as a transformative journey of connection, nurturing, and positive change for ourselves, our communities and the environment.
Composting is good for your garden and for climate change
This is a picture of my compost bin, after putting a bunch and brown matter on top and before adding water. It’s normally disgusting looking! I started composting spring of 2018, and I had no idea what I was doing, I kind of still don’t.
I just started throwing all of my produce scraps in a trash can and went from there. I know last year I didn’t add nearly enough brown matter but it still did it’s magic. After a year of composting I added it to my soil and it turned into super soil, my garden went crazy this year. As you can see from previous pictures and zucchini and cucumber recipes. Somehow I ended up with black soldier fly larvae, which according to the internet is one of the best things you could possibly have in your compost bin, again disgusting.
Composting is actually a very important part of combating climate change. Here’s a video done by our daughter about how composting is a part of the solution. Composting can not only remove existing greenhouse gases from our atmosphere, but stop the production of methane, a GHG that is 36x more potent than carbon dioxide!
(Fun fact: Sage was filming this video when I showed up in Berkeley to surprise her for her 21st birthday)
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Zucchini is one of the most versatile vegetables. I’ve had so much from my garden this summer that I’ve been putting it in everything! From zoodles, savory zucchini pancakes, soups, shredded in salads, muffins and bread. I revamped my chocolate zucchini bread so it’s now completely plant based. You can use one kind of flour or a combination like I did. I’ve made it gluten free many times by substituting the unbleached and whole wheat flour for all oat flour or 1/2 oat and 1/2 buckwheat or rice flour. (Buckwheat is a seed, not a grain. Quinoa is another seed that’s often mistaken for a grain). My favorite way to eat this is with a little vegan cream cheese or butter.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white or raw sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 flax ‘eggs’
1/2 cup avocado oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans or 24 muffin tins
For the flax ‘eggs’ use 1 Tbsp flax meal and 3 Tbsp of water for each ‘egg’ (you can grind the seeds in a food processor). You can also use an egg replacer or chia ‘eggs’. Mix the flax meal with water and set aside until it’s a gelatinous texture.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once flax ‘eggs’ have reached a gelatinous texture, start adding the wet ingredients. Make a ‘well’ in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add flax egg, oil, apple sauce, vanilla and shredded zucchini. Mix until combined. Add the nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon evenly into loaf pans or muffin tins.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, for muffins bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pans; cool completely on wire rack. Enjoy!
What is zero waste?
Miriam Webster defines zero waste as:
generating little or no waste
zero waste
noun
The creative waste management strategy of "zero waste" is a combination of community and industrial responsibility that includes deconstruction in spite of demolition, composting to keep odorous organic waste out of landfills, recycling, and a screening facility to allow more separation and reuse of waste rather than incineration. —Aimee Dolloff
We were first introduced to the zero waste idea back in 2014 when I was watching a segment on Raechal Ray with Lauren Singer. Lauren writes a blog called Trash is for Tossers, she also opened a package free shop. Our daughter took off with the idea and did a bunch of research, which led her to the book Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson, which was Lauren Singer’s inspiration.
We’ve always sort of recycled, at least the obvious stuff. I haven’t reused as much as I could because when I was a kid my nana’s house was cluttered (think hoarders!) with different food containers she’d cleaned and saved and it drove me nuts.
What we’ve come to learn is not as many things are recyclable as you’d think, including the packages that have the symbol on them. That is mostly to tell you which kind of plastic it is....very confusing.
As a household that eats plant based, it’s a little more difficult to go completely package free. For example I can’t buy vegan cheese at the deli and put it in my own container (a least not yet!) but for me that’s a trade off I’m willing to make. We have vastly reduced our trash, we compost and have a garden so at least in my mind we’re doing pretty well.
Now what does all this have to do with you? And what are small steps you can take?
We’ve all heard “reduce, recycle, reuse” well it’s actually now “refuse, reduce, reuse”. You’ve probably heard about the ban on plastic straws, even before that actually goes into effect, you can simply say you don’t need straws at a restaurant. You can bring your reusable coffe cup for your morning java, a lot of places will give you a small discount for it. In California we’re charged 10 cents for a bag at the grocery store so most of us bring our own, well what about the produce and bulk bags? Some stores sell packs of reusable bags, or they are available online.
I know it’s a lot! But one thing, one step, one bite at a time. Chunk things down to something that’s manageable for you.