Bees in the Garden

We here at the DuPont Community Garden love us some bees! We know that a few of you out there might be allergic to their stings, but bees in the garden and agricultural fields are a good thing. In fact, they are critical in helping us to deliver a bountiful and varied harvest of fruits and vegetables. 

Why?

Bees pollinate the vast majority of the world's fruits and non-grain vegetables  They increase the yields of crops like coffee, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. And with the spread of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and spraying for the Zika virus killing millions of bees annually, the world's food supply could very well be heavily affected by the continued loss of bees.

Yes, you read that correctly. Without bees, we wouldn't be eating most fruits, vegetables, and seeds such as almonds, apples, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, and much more. 

What Bees Don't Pollinate

It's actually easier to show you what crops we would still be able to freely eat without bees around. While we might survive on this restricted diet (barely), we wouldn't have the variety of fruits and vegetables we have today.

Wheat, oats, barley, and rye (pollinated by the wind)

Potatoes (grown from tubers; bees needed for creating hybrids)

Corn (wind and hand-pollinated)

Ginger (grown from tubers; bees required for seed production)

Cactus (mostly moth, bat, and bird pollinated)

Rice (wind-pollinated)

Other foods not pollinated by bees:

• Sweet Potato and Yam
• Walnuts/Hickory nut/hazlenut/filbert
• Beets/Spinach/Chard
• Lettuces
• Banana (pollinated by birds and bats)
• Some peas and beans (although aided by bees)

Not much variety in that diet, eh? Let's take a look at what the introduction of bee-pollinated foods does to our diet.

What Bees Do Pollinate

Let's take a look at what the introduction of bee-pollinated foods does to our diet. Remember, without bees we wouldn't have these foods to eat:

Almonds

Apples and pears

Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)

Citrus (Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, etc.)

Sunflower and Jerusalem Artichoke

Stone fruit (cherries, peaches, plums, etc,; bee on cherry blossom)

Coffee (mostly pollinated by bees)

Melons and Squash (watermelon, cucumber, zucchini, acorn, etc.)

Grapes (kiss your wine goodbye without bees!)

Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)

Brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower; bees needed for seed production)

Avocado and Asparagus

Onion and shallots

And a few more:

• Sugarcane
• Sesame
• Nutmeg
• Macademia nut
• Cranberry
• Kiwi fruit
• Coriander
• Anise

What do you think? I personally prefer the diet WITH bees as pollinators, thanks very much.

Next time we'll look at the problems bees and other pollinators face, and what we can do to help.

What to do with all of those zucchini? Fritters!

It's July and the summer squash is coming in like gangbusters! Zucchini the size of nuclear submarines will soon be gracing our gardens. The most common question we face as gardeners is what should we do with all those boat-sized zucchini?

One of my favorite things to make, and eat, for supper is vegetable fritters. This paleo version of zucchini fritters brings in other midsummer favorites from your garden. Because this is paleo, the recipe avoids grains but if your diet is grain-friendly, feel free to substitute wheat flour in place of the coconut flour.

Paleo Zucchini Fritters

Adapted from a recipe by Steph Gaudreau

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini, shredded (about 5 cups)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 scallion or very small leek, diced
• A few sprigs of dill, chopped
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
• Coconut oil or ghee for cooking
• Sliced fresh tomatoes or salsa for topping
• 
  
• 1. Shred the zucchini into in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and toss well. Leave it alone for 10-15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly under water and drain.  
  2. Squeeze all the moisture out of the zucchini. Scoop up a generous handful of it and squeeze it like crazy. Get the shredded zucchini as dry as possible then place the dry, shredded zucchini in a different bowl. Repeat until you've worked your way through all of it.
  3. Add the coconut flour, egg, diced scallions, dill, and pepper. Stir to combine.
  4. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Melt a large spoonful of ghee or coconut oil in the pan. Pack a ¼ cup measuring cup with the zucchini mixture, pressing it down inside the cup. Turn the cup out onto the pan and flatten the zucchini until you get a patty. Fit about 4 or 5 in a large skillet at one time.
  5. Cook each side for 3 to 5 minutes or until nicely browned. Repeat until you‘ve used up all the zucchini mixture. Be sure to add more ghee or coconut oil to the pan each time you start a new batch.
  6. Cool on a cooling rack or cloth towel so they don’t get soggy.
  7. Serve with fresh tomatoes or salsa (or my favorite way, with catsup).

  
  

  

  The zucchini, after squeezing the water out.

  
  

  
  
  
  

  

  The fritters in the pan.

  
  
  

  

  Ready to eat!

  
  

Why is Gardening So Good for Us?

For those of us who spend time gardening, we don't need anyone to tell us that digging in the dirt feels good. We know from our own experience that gardening seems to lower our stress levels, can help us get a full-body workout, and allows us to grow our own healthy food.

Science is now starting to verify what we've known all along:

• Digging in the garden can lower stress and anxiety better than most other leisure activities
• Gardening can help improve symptoms of depression
• It can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes
• Gardening can help us sleep better
• And more...

But what exactly is it about gardening that helps us in so many ways? It may not just be the fact that we're outdoors, getting vitamin D and exercise, and reaping the benefits of the better nutrition we get from growing our own food.

It may be the microbes in the soil itself. 

Each teaspoon of healthy, organic garden soil contains billions of micro-organisms. Many of them exist in symbiosis with plants, meaning that the microbes help the plants absorb water and nutrients from the environment, and the plants in turn provide a healthy home for the microbes. But those soil microbes aren't just beneficial to the plants we grow, they may also help us as well.

Scarlet Runner Beans growing in the garden

It's obvious that when we garden, we get dirty. Dirt cakes under our fingernails, in our clothing, we breathe it in, and we even swallow it. Yep, even the neatest of us swallows a little dirt when we're pulling weeds or planting those carrots. With each little bit of dirt we ingest, we also swallow some of those soil micro-organisms. A few of those little critters make it to our guts. This isn't a bad thing if we're relatively healthy and the dirt is from an organic garden (like the DuPont Community Garden).

If you've been paying attention to the news for the past few years, you've probably seen the reports about our gut microbes and how they contribute to our mood. Well, one neuroscientist at the University of Bristol, Christopher Lowry, is showing that at least one common soil micro-organism can alleviate depression and anxiety. This common soil organism is called Mycobacterium vaccae or "M. vaccae" for short. Dr. Lowry has demonstrated that when given to mice, M. vaccae increases the mice's production of serotonin. Serotonin is a "feel-good" neurotransmitter (a brain "chemical") that helps increase feelings of happiness, improves sleep quality, and decreases anxiety. Human trials haven't been conducted yet, but many researchers think we'll find similar results with M. vaccae in our species. 

An oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London has demonstrated that giving chemotherapy patients this same soil microbe helped them achieve a better quality of life during their treatments. Her patients were happier, had more energy, and experienced less "brain fog" after being treated with M. vaccae. These early findings are tantalizing evidence that M. vaccae might have similar effects on us, but scientists need to do additional studies.

What does this mean for the average organic gardener? 

It means that if we're relatively healthy and using proper organic techniques, a little bit of dirt might be good for us. Definitely wash your produce and clean up after digging in the garden (wash hands, shower, and launder your clothing), but remember that researchers are beginning to show us that a little dirt isn't all bad. According to health experts like Drs. Mercola, Axe, and Perlmutter, with every weeding session you might just be helping both your mental and physical health.*

For more information about how gardening can be good for you:   

• https://qz.com/993258/dirt-has-a-microbiome-and-it-may-double-as-an-antidepressant/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/4-science-backed-reasons_b_9748320.html
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/23/soil-quality.aspx
• http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html
• https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/5-surprising-ways-gardening-improves-your-health/slide/5
• https://patch.com/us/across-america/why-gardening-good-your-mind-well-your-body

*Not intended to diagnose or treat any medical or psychological condition.

New Season, New Garden!

Welcome to the 2017 season of the DuPont Community Garden!

After a spring of very hard work, we're excited to announce our new location in DuPont, WA, on the Power Line Road just north of Center Drive. Stop by and see what's going on, or stay tuned to this blog for a season of fun and sharing.

In this season's blog, we'll: 

• talk about current happenings in the garden 
• share lessons we've learned about growing in the challenging climate near the Puget Sound
• learn about garden critters such as bees and chickens
• find out why digging in the dirt is good for us (and fun, too!)
• explore the "growing" culture of community gardening
• figure out what to do about slugs (yuk!)
• and much more.

Stop by and see what's new in the garden, or take a little virtual tour, below:

Yum...blueberries!

Basil growing in the greenhouse

Inside Greenhouse #1 at the DuPont Community Garden

Some of our outdoor garden beds

Each garden should have at least one gnome!