Sweet Orange

Do you like the idea of having fresh vegetables that you can pick right outside your door but don’t feel you have the time to do the planting? Well, if that is the case, Harvest to Home has an answer for you. They will do the planting for you.

Of course, if you did the planting yourself, it would be cheaper. But if your time is more of the deciding factor, the services that Harvest to Home offer provide an answer. They will deliver and install either boxes that can be placed in your yard (or on a balcony) or raised-bed vegetable gardens.

If you choose the vegetable-box option, you will pick from their list which vegetable boxes you want delivered. If you choose the raised-bed option, then you will be able to work with the company to create a custom vegetable garden. For an additional charge, one-time or on-going maintenance is available. In addition, you can buy or rent accessory equipment.

Harvest to Home delivers to Orange and Los Angeles counties as well as Arizona. To learn more about the services provided, watch the Harvest to Home videos.

So Harvest to Home offers an option for getting the health benefits that fresh-picked, organic produce can provide you and your family. It’s a matter of your time or your money. Which would you choose?

The Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment (OCICE) in partnership with California Interfaith Power & Light (CIPL) is providing a “Solar Nights” workshop. In a non-pressure environment, the workshop will provide “up-to-date & valuable information to assist congregations who are ready to go solar, or just curious!”

For those congregations that are ready to go solar, the workshop will provide practical options that will help them save money. And for those congregations that are not sure if solar is the right option for them, the workshop will provide information that will help them decide.  It’s open to all–church leaders, laypersons, or the just plain curious. In addition, it’s free.

Here are the basics:

Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012

Time: 7 pm - 9pm

Location: Church of the Foothills, 19211 Dodge Avenue, Santa Ana, CA  92705

Cost: Free (A free will offering to cover the cost of printed program materials will be accepted.)

RSVP and Questions:
Allis Druffel, 310-752-3436
allis@interfaithpower.org
Deborah Strunk, 714-809-6166
deborah.strunk@att.net

Additional information is available on the OCICE flyer.

Photo: Reverend Canon Sally Bingham of Interfaith Power & Light

According to Southern California gardening expert Pat Welsh, January is a good time to plant the following vegetables in your Southern California garden.

From transplants:

• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Lettuce
• Parsley
• Peas
• Swiss chard

From seeds:

• Beets
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Mesclun
• Peas
• Radishes
• Turnips

As bareroot:

• Short-day onions
• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Strawberries
  (Point of interest, at least to me: Strawberries are not technically a fruit or vegetable, but rather an accessory fruit.)
• Rhubarb
• Horseradish

However, she lists the last three with reservations: According to Welsh, in Southern California, November is a better time to plant strawberries; rhubarb is difficult to grow, and horseradish grows like a weed.

Source: Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening: Month by Month In this book, Welsh provides month-by-month information on planting, watering, fertilizing, and pruning vegetables, fruits and ornamentals in your Southern California garden.

Photos courtesy Seeds of Change

A thought for living in the New Year:

The Roman philosopher Tacitus rightly observed that “the desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.-Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution via Flickr