CommuniTea Garden

        

Thinking of starting a garden this spring? Stop by the cafe and pick up a few starter plants to put in the ground! We have perennial greens, herbs, annuals and ground covers. 

If you are looking for a great Mother’s day gift, we have hand-painted planters with starter plants too! We up-cycled cans from the Dandy kitchen, made a few drainage holes and turned them into planters you can put on our porch or front steps. 

Don’t forget to check our blog for planting and growing tips! We will have more info about what your plants like and what will keep them happy right here at the Communitea Garden blog! 

Happy growing! 

-Ralph & Sarah 

Tia Meer of Simple Living Institute did her second workshop at Dandelion recently. She introduced the art of composting and how it all breaks down (i had to).

To put it simply, you need a balance of about 3 parts carbon to one part nitrogen to have an effective compost pile. Considering the carbon part to be ‘brown’ and the nitrogen part to be ‘green’ is then further translated to decaying yard waste and grass clippings/raked up leaves to be brown and the fresh kitchen scraps and manure and tea leaves to be green. We set up our pile in a 3x3x3 pile. It needs to be big enough to get hot enough to kill pathogens and weed seeds. (We found out that our compost pile’s bad smell was due to an imbalance in the carbon/nitrogen ratio. Too many tea leaves and not enough carbon creates ammonia and therefore a terrible smell!)

Tia set up each group of people with a bucket and a bunch of dense organic matter to cut up into few inch pieces. Banana leaves, palm fronds, and other types of yard waste were cut up with clippers and thrown into the buckets. This was for the brown section of the lasagna we were creating.

Tia showing us that you could use a banana leaf or spanish moss to clean out a bucket instead of a towel.

People brought their own organic wastes to compost and Tia brought some of her own as well including rabbit manure and starbucks coffee grinds. Dandelion supplied prep kitchen scraps like carrot and sweet potato shavings, cilantro ends, and tea and coffee grinds from the counter.

The pile starts off with the browns we cut up at the bottom, then some compost (already made), then layers like a lasagna… greens then browns then greens then browns and so on, making sure to cap off the top with browns in order for our critter community not to be going through it all.

This was one of the green layers…

And here is a brown layer!

The last thing you do is soak the pile with water. “Just enough so that it pees,” Tia says. Water will leak out the sides when you have enough.

Thank you so much for everyone that came out and learned about composting!

We have so many Dandelion greens in the garden and wanted to make a soup with them! Not only are dandelion greens delicious, but they are packed full with vitamins and minerals and are a great tonic for the liver. The reason they are so nutritious is because they are dynamic nutrient accumulators which means they pull nutrients deep from the soil and concentrate them in their leaves. When they loose their leaves they cycle those nutrients they accumulated back into the soil for other plants to use. Dandelion has so many benefits that its become a staple crop in our garden!

If you’ve never had dandelion greens or think its a “weed” try this soup and I’m sure you will change your mind :) Here’s the recipe: 

6 oz of dandelion greens 

6 oz baby spinach greens or arugula greens 

1 Tsp oil (we really like coconut oil) 

2 cups vegetable broth 

1 onion 

1 carrot, chopped 

1 1/4 cup milk (we like coconut or almond milk) 

1 tsp mustard

salt & pepper to taste 

spring onions for garnish 

In a large pot on medium heat, add oil, onion, carrots and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. While thats cooking, roughly chop the greens and add to the pot to cook for another 5 minutes. Add veggie broth, bring to simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes. Lower the heat and add the milk. Let everything cook for a few more minutes to make sure the soup is evenly warm. Puree in small batches either with a food processor or a blender then add the mustard, salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped spring onions and enjoy! 

Rain water catchment been on your mind? Well now, you can learn how to capture it to water your garden or even water yourself. Tia Meer of Simple Living Institute (http://www.simplelivinginstitute.org/) will be showing us how at Dandelion Communitea Cafe this Thursday (10/13) at 5pm! YES!

We “up-cycled” our yogurt containers to make quick seed labels! Get creative with what you already have instead of buying new. Not only does it save you money and time, but its one less item contributing to the waste-stream. 

Putting potting soil in seed trays and sowing seeds. 

Root vegetables and vine crops! Great day to seed beets, carrots, turnips, squash, peas, and beans. 

Farmer’s Almanac Planting Calendar 

If you really want to get your hands dirty and learn about Ecological Gardens aka Permaculture, Simple Living Institute is offering a course right here in Orlando! Check out their website for more info. 

PDC Orlando