How does your garden grow? Hopefully, you have some new plants growing in your garden or in containers. Maybe you have even harvested some radishes or salad greens. Did you know that you can keep planting some crops all summer long? Vegetables like radishes, carrots, spinach, and beets grow quickly and have a long planting window. You can plant these vegetables multiple times over the garden season to extend your harvest from the summer into the fall, this is called succession planting. If you still have space in your garden try direct seeding a new crop of carrots or lettuce and you will have a fresh crop to harvest in August and September!
(Photo Credit: OSU Extension)
Make sure you plan your garden so your plants get enough sunlight. This Sun for Everyone activity from the Jr. Master Gardener will help you think through your garden plan. You can use the information from seed packets, seed catalogs, and Chapter 1 of your Seed to Supper book to learn more about what each type of plant needs.
Let’s check in with Kristin at the Josephine County Food Bank to learn how they keep produce growing all season long for our local food pantries.
Have you noticed chewing damage to your basil plants or other vegetables plants in your garden? It might be earwigs! Earwigs aren’t all bad as they can also eat other garden pests like aphids, but they can cause damage to plants in your garden.
Check out this fact sheet to learn more about earwigs and watch this video from the UC IPM program to learn how to control them without chemicals.
Your Jr. Master Gardner handbook has some great activities to help you learn about Caring for Your Landscape. Check them out starting on page 115. Let us know what activities you did by sharing pictures in our photo gallery.
Do you ever wonder why your favorite foods taste so good? Well, you can thank your taste buds for letting you enjoy the saltiness of pretzels and the sweetness of strawberries.
Your taste buds don’t do all the work; your nose plays a role in taste as well.
Olfactory receptors inside your nose contain special cells that help you smell. They send messages to your brain about the taste of your food.
Source: https://www.alimentarium.org/
Think about a food you love that fits for each of these five basic tastes sensations
Not sure what Umami is? Umami is a Japanese word used to describe a taste that is savory or meaty. Foods that have a strong umami flavor are broths, gravies, fish, mushrooms, cheese and soy sauce.
Noticing the taste of our food can help us slow down to enjoy our meals, be more aware of eating, and savor the flavor of food. Watch this video on Mindful Eating to learn more:
Being Mindful means using all your senses like sight, touch, smell, and taste to enjoy food. Now try this Food Adventurer Mindful Eating activity yourself and see how it changes your eating experience.
Being mindful and aware while we eat can help prevent us from overeating, and can help us notice how delicious our food really is!
Being mindful and eating healthy is an important part in taking care of your body. Eating breakfast every morning is something you can do to give yourself the best possible start to the day.
Watch this video about choosing a healthy breakfast:
Not all healthy breakfasts look the same!
Check out this information and activity about Breakfast Around the World. Are there some breakfast foods you have never heard about before? Some you might like to try?
Eggs are often part of a healthy breakfast because they are a great source of protein! Protein helps keep your muscles strong and keep hair and skin healthy too.
Be an expert reviewer by watching and completing the survey for this Oregon Harvest Video about Eggs.
Taking care of your body is not only about making healthy food choices and staying active - your mental health is important too! Sometimes we need to slow down to relax and give our minds a break. Taking a moment to realize what we are grateful for, can allow us to feel more positive and happy during the day.
A garden is a place where we cultivate much more than food.
It is a source of endless learning opportunities, a place to enjoy the beauty of nature, observe insects and birds, read a book, and recharge the mind, body, and spirit.
Creating a Gratitude Journal is a great way to reflect on and record things you observe that you are grateful for and enjoying in your home, community, yard or garden.
Materials Needed:
Directions:
Yoga can be a great activity to recharge both your mind and body. Most kids love yoga and stretching activities and it can help to relax and focus energy. Get the Family together this week to move and try this short Yoga flow.
Moving together as a family can be so much fun! For more ideas, look at these 10 tips to Be an Active Family.
Hey Parents! Tickle your taste buds and spice up meals by using fresh or dried Herb and Spices.
Breakfast can be sweet or savory but either way aim to include a source of protein like eggs, nuts, beans, cheese or peanut butter – here’s some Food Hero favorites:
OSU dietitian Kelly Streit shows how easy it is to make Food Hero Garden Veggie Cakes.
For this recipe, you can use just about any vegetables such as potatoes, zucchini, carrots, leftover cooked broccoli and more and it’s delicious for breakfast lunch or dinner. Eggs are versatile, economical and a great source of protein.
Which comes first the chicken or the egg? Learn about raising chickens and gathering eggs in this video compliments of the Oregon Farm Bureau -
