Suffering With Joy

The Wellness Attitude and Spring Planting

February 24, 2010

Tomatoes and cantaloupe in the Earthboxes, mid-July.

It’s cold today but the sun is shining and I’ve been thinking about spring planting.  For the past three years we’ve been growing vegetables because of high grocery prices, pesticides used by commercial growers, because home-grown tastes better, and because it’s good therapy for us to putter in the garden in the sun. We found a sure-fire way to guarantee good produce – the Earthbox.

I’ve never been one to like pulling weeds and digging in the dirt because of my fibromyalgia pain and fatigue so when we discovered there was a way for decrepit people like us to raise our own veggies we decided to give it a try.  Maybe some of you will find our story helpful, especially if you have arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other physical problems that have inhibited you from growing your own produce.  For us, it’s also part of a wellness attitude – taking charge of our health as much as possible.

Earthboxes are great because we just follow the directions, put the box in a good location, and keep the bad bugs at bay.  You can’t overwater because there is a reservoir that has an overflow outlet that tells you when to stop.  It’s a big help for water conservation.  You also can’t over-fertilize because the plastic mulch keeps the fertilizer from washing away.  No need to weed, either. It’s a good option for people who don’t have a lot of space, too.  We started with four and now have six, one being a permanent home for strawberries.

We’ve put in tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cantaloupe every year. The zucchini prefers to be in the ground although the Earthbox site says you can put in four squash seedlings.  I like these boxes because they are movable.  If you find a better location in the yard for the crop you’re growing you can always take advantage of it. A couple of years ago we hired a handy man to make supports to tie the tomato and pepper plants to and they have worked well. By August the tomato plants in the boxes are like a jungle – so lush and filled with fruit you can’t see the supports.

whiteflies

We’ve learned a few things about handling bugs that attack the plants. Neem is a good, natural pesticide that causes chewing and sucking insects to forget to eat and to mate but doesn’t hurt humans, birds, or pets.  If you spray it early in the morning it will not hurt beneficial insects like bees or butterflies.  It takes longer to work than traditional pesticides because the bugs have to eat it first.  If you’re interested, here are some Neem insecticide products you can check out for your garden from my Amazon store:

Green Light Organic Neem II – 24 oz Spray #07824

Pure Neem Seed Oil – quart I mixed my own spray from the oil.  Warning – it smells stinky to me, but it sure works.  I got rid of all the whiteflies that infested the honeysuckle, daylilies, and tomatoes last year.

Green Light Organic Neem Concentrate – Pint #17016

I found out that putting egg shells in the soil makes tomatoes taste fantastic, so I’ve been saving and crushing mine in preparation for spring planting. Now if the weather would just warm up a little, I could get to the business of soil enrichment.

Home grown produce is good to share with neighbors.  It makes a good excuse to visit friends and share God’s bounty, just one more benefit we like from the efforts of gardening.

Tags: fibromyalgia, wellness