85% of your athletic success comes from fueling your body properly. Everybody knows that a good diet includes lots of healthy vegetables. I don’t know about you, but sometimes the vegetables at the store are, well, yucky.
Growing up in the Salinas Valley, I remember the strong smell of pesticides that growers put on the broccoli, onions, and probably (yikes) artichokes. After I finished college, I started understanding more about nutrition and the way food is grown.
In my 30′s, I started understanding more about organic food. So I bought it more. And it tasted better.
Now that I’m in Iowa, I’ve started a square foot garden (I had to start small since I have no clue how to garden in rows like they do here). Below is a photo of my garden (prep and finished product). My trusted garden assistant made sure the beds were filled properly:
After measuring equal parts of soil mix (1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 multiple kinds of compost) and adding to the beds, we now have plenty of places to plant our favorite veggies (again my gardening assistant is managing the project):
For more information on square foot gardening, consult squarefootgardening.com. My husband and I built the beds (using 6″ tall boards) and have 3 4′x4′ beds, 1 4′x6′ bed and 2 4′x8′ beds.
In my 4′ x 4′ bed, in each square foot space, I’m planting the following:
Row 1: 1 watermelon, 1 bell pepper, 1 broccoli, 1 cauliflower
Row 2: 1 artichoke (not sure if they grow in Des Moines), 2-4 lettuce, 1 cabbage, 4 kale
Row 3: 4 kale, 1 artichoke, 9 bok choy, 1 cauliflower
Row 4: 9 bok choy, 12 carrots, 1 bell pepper, another bell pepper
I’ll post pictures of my bounty (if the deer and/or other animals don’t eat everything) as Spring progresses.
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