Time to Garden with Herbas. Light some palo santo, take some CBD, lets start our 2021 garden

Sunday is funday and today is a sunny day. I feel sunny too. Time to draw, dream, plan a garden...

Our apartment loses sunlight in the Winter and today after a long time away the sun came to us. I instinctually played music, burned palo santo, and even threw dried rose petals I was saving all around the house. In this new normal of living indoors, I have decided, if the dog can chew things up and make a mess well I can throw rose petals all around the house. I have to sweep anyways…Maybe it's the CBD I take or the medical marijuana but I am calm in the storm a lot these days. I try to be the sun on a cloudy day and well CBD helps me through the storms. My wellness journey isn’t 1 step, 1 solution. Wellness is many parts many places. I need to be pain-free everywhere! My heart, mind, and body. CBD is helping me do that. I think I will blog more about my CBD and cannabis healing journey because I see there is still too much stigma around a plant. I will be doing some canna lobbying these coming weeks but today, this Sunday my CBD will help me feel fewer aches and pains so I can bend and finally get my indoor garden going. Having the sunbeam on my chosen nursery site was a sign. Time to let go and grow! Start West Harlem Container Garden 2021

Letting shit go, that's a good theme for 2021 so far. So much is beyond our control that more than ever focuses on that which you can control. Start with self. Are you caring for yourself? Are you caring for those that count on you? It is easy to feel overwhelmed but it is also just as easy to open your heart and see the grace, beauty, and abundance that we have. I value a sunny day like never before because it means we can walk many city blocks. But today I am sitting down to write before I go in the Sun. Because I have to start a garden soon and I promised I would document it. A contract I made with myself to follow through. 

To be honest I have not stopped gardening this winter. Just let week I purchased 2 ionanthas, a rubra, an orchid, a lemon tree, and a red clover. I also bought a bunch of seeds.

 I will not lie I am still very much on my limonene terpene quest and you will see more lemony and citrus herbs. I always try for lavender and rosemary… I did secure some amazing FoxWood farm soil too. All this at the Urban Garden center in East Harlem one of my favorite places  in NYC for gadding supplies. Once upon a time, I bought a lot of soil from them to fix all the treed beds around PS153 when I was their PTA president and on a green mission… title did I know that was the beginning of my green journey. Gardening with kids bought me back to plants. I was not plant-based or dairy-free in those days but was starting to tune into plant energy without even knowing it. I met a lot of plant people on the way. One of my mentors in community gardening the late Dr. Vicky Gholson. We were on Community Board 9 together and bonded over our quest to get kids' hands into the soil. Boy did we get Harlem kids' hands dirty. Because of ladies like Vicky I keep up the urban gardening, kids learn by what they see more than by what you teach— I know my kids will be gardeners one day...Just wait and see.

Now let us get started

I hope you saved all those old salad trays and take-out containers they are great for seedlings. Flame a fork on the stove and make sure you get poke hole underneath for good drainage.

What you need: seeds, containers, light, air, water, soil, time

Tap into the farmer almanac website for everything you might need to know of the best times to plant. I love to plants seedlings a week before a full moon, the pull is real and you will more than likely have stronger seedlings... Thus my rush to do this before the Snow Moon next week.

Containers I hope you saved all those old salad trays and take-out containers they are great for seedlings. Flame a fork on the stove and make sure you get poke hole underneath for good drainage. You can buy trays but I love an upcycled garden

Cover underneath your plants with plastic so you don’t have muddy, molding surfaces

Seeds:

 Save from last year! We gathered our favorites last year and purchased some organic seeds, again many sources and schools of where to get your seeds— JUST START TO GARDEN. some plants call to you, I have been a limonene terpene things for a while with lemon basil, lemon balm, verbena, lemon thyme, Lemon Tree! what calls you? think what you can sustain if you don’t have space for cucumber vines or patience then don’t grow them. Grow with intention….The urban garden center has good organic seeds

Lighting:

Make sure you have good lighting, you want your nursery clean and bright and your lights to be able to adjust as your plants grow. They need to be very close to containers in the beginning You can order grow lights like these or make DIY— I have done both after I jammed the wrong pc into a section and it snapped but the light works. I created my own out of a 2x4.

Ikea has lights, or you can LED versions yourself, seriously go Google crazy and have a DIY day to create your nursery lighting, natural lighting is great too but seedlings like and need a lot in the beginning. Keep the light low, you want your seedlings to focus their energy on being strong not reaching for the light.

Air is important, I open my windows every day even when it is 10 below because plants need oxygen every day, they clean our air but need new air so make sure you keep fresh air circulating in your apt or home, open windows every day!!!

Water with seedlings They all germinate at a different time. I have had rosemary and lavender seeds take 3 months to sprout… So do not overwater I like to use a spritzer with freshly planted seeds so I do not move seed around soil when watering.

Some seeds sprout in a few days!

 Here is where the patience and life lessons happen in gardening, this is not instant, you will reap what you sow I promise. We will keep sharing as we make progress feel free to share with us and tag us on your progress gardening.. this is just the start of 2021 garden season!