Organic Granny

  Such a surprise today to gently reach under the 6-inch layer of straw in our garden planter box and pull out a perfectly-shaped, flawless little potato! How did that happen? In the Spring when we were getting ready to plant our veggie garden, I brought out a plastic bag with 4 eye-laden spuds in it. Could we plant these? I asked my dear husband.   The punky potatoes in the bag were organic Yukon Golds that we would have eaten, had they not so quickly sprung eyes.  Besides being full of little white googlies, they were also a bit wizened up, not at all attractive as a possible dinner item. We thought about the idea for a couple of minutes and asked ourselves: What if the potatoes whack out and go really deep and have to be dug-- somehow-- out of the planter boxes? That could be an awkward and disabling experience for two old folks like us. So, back to the drawing board (in this case, the Internet), went I. I soon came across a youtube, about someone who had planted potatoes on the top

Lemon Balm,  melissa officianalis  ©Cynthia Zirkwitz 2019 Lemon Balm, or  melissa officinalis , is a perennial herb from the mint family.  It may have originated in Europe, the Middle East or Asia, but now it grows like a wild thing in my garden, and maybe yours?  But unlike other "invasive plants" (sometimes incorrectly labeled "weeds"), lemon balm has so many wonderful attributes-- lemon scent, lemon-y flavour, beautiful fresh vital green colour-- that you would never hack it out and dump it in the forest.  However, I do suggest that you grow it in a container or a bed that doesn't have access to other parts of your garden. But DO grow it. Order healthy Lemon Balm seeds from West Coast Seeds During the summer small white flowers show up, with bee-attracting nectar in them.  ( Melissa  is actually Greek for 'honey bee'.)  Melissa may well be the "honey leaf" referred to by Theophrastus, (c. 371-c.287BC) successor to Aristotle, and called "

Baby Bok Choy  I love bok choy.  During the beginning of the COVID19 period of isolation there was an amazing amount of organic bok choy available in our local grocery and whole food stores.   Bok choy comes from the cabbage/crucifer/mustard/brassica family, and is a Chinese Cabbage (grown first in Asia), as you might be able to tell from the name.  I guess we mostly see the Cantonese version here-- the Shanghai Bok Choy is a darker green-- the one I think of has broad light green/white stems and lighter green leaves, as in the picture above.  I particularly like the dwarf versions of bok choy, called Baby Bok Choy.  Light, easy to slice and eat, and mild-tasting with lots of delicious leaves. On Instagram I ran across an account that showed several small chunks of the bases of a bok choy plant sitting in water. When I inquired if they were rooting it to plant, they told me that that don't really wait for roots to form, but that they grow leaves from the old "wound" and a