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Summer Veggies, Spiralizer, Orchid Growing & Firescaping

Thursday, 4.25.19

During the first day of Spring Garden Show, I decided to check out an 11am seminar about Spiralizer recipes at William Sonoma. I have a similar Spiralizer from Bed Bath & Beyond. Chef Enid demonstrated some recipes for a group of people.

While cooking corn kernels with butter, add some chili lime and maybe some salt. You can also squeeze a lemon or lime over the corn. You can use some rubs.

Use a Spiralizer to spiralize a zucchini. Make sure it is firm. Cut ends flat and shorten the zucchini so that it will be firmly situated in the spiralizer. Choose the blade. There are three different blades. She used the noodle blade for the zucchini, which creates angel hair noodles. You can also spiralize a squash with the noodle blade. Then, sautéed spiralized veggies in pan. Add some rub flavors, such as chipotle, Cajun, spiracha. You can also sprinkle some cheese over it.

Tip: use a deep pan, and make sure it is nonstick.

Heat butter in pan. Add zucchini noodles and other spiralized pieces to sautéed. Add Cajun rub for more flavor. (rubs are made from spices). Add a tablespoon of rub for the whole pan. Sprinkle spice to color veggies in the pan. Add lemon or lime juice. Add some garlic.

Firescaping

Thursday, 4.25.19, Spring Garden Show, 11:30 am

Firescaping involves preventing wildfires. Such fires are mostly started by people, whether intentionally or by embers. It is best to avoid using anything made of wood near your house. Make sure the vegetation around your house is low.

At noon, I ate my lunch, which I brought with me from home.

1 pm: Orchid Growing

It is important to give orchids what it wants and needs. Orchids are exotic flowers, and they thrive in a tropical climate. This plant has the largest family, which includes over 30,000 kinds of orchids. It needs lighting, temperature, air circulation, humidity, and a stable area. Place it away from other plants. Orchids are epiphytes, which means air plants. They live on bark of tree. They need water, light, temperature, and repotting.

Water: don’t use sodium soft water. No ice cubes. Fertilizer is good because it is like vitamins.

Lower the light when the plant has bud.

Temperature: orchids are sensitive to temperature. Low temperature creates shock, but helps spiking. 60-80 degrees F is the best temperature. 77 degrees F creates perfect bloom. Lower temperature creates less flower. Higher temperature creates more growth and less flower. Never use less than 50 degrees F. For Cymbidiums, use 80 degrees F, and 40-60 degrees F at night.

When to repot? New plant, new growth, new roots, broken media, bug infestation, and sick plant. Pull out the weeds. It creates moisture, where other creatures can reside. Don’t break off roots. Don’t overpot. Orchids gets moisture from the air and grows on trees. Look for pests. Cinnamon and rubbing alcohol are good to keep pests off.

Media: use 50/50 of fine bark and moss. Place in a clear container, which helps photosynthesis. You can use plastic cups. Pick up plant by the leaf to see if it is well-supported.

2pm—Summer Veggies

This summer, consider growing tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins.

Grow a variety for flavor.

Beans also grow well during the summer. Summer veggies need sunny weather, level area, access to water, space, and well-drained soil. You can use raised beds, containers, ground, and square-foot gardening. Consider growing tomatoes and cucumber on trellis. Use potting soil because garden soil is compost, not soil. So, do not use garden soil. Use large containers. Make sure there is consistent amount of water and sun. use time-release fertilizer and drip irrigation.

Use coffee filter for draining with liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks and granular fertilizer every 3 months.

Such plants need full sun for 6 hours daily.

Place taller plants in shaded area.

Consider inter-planting with flowers.

Temperature should be between 55 degrees F to 100 degrees F because they need heat, but not too hot.

Use mulch.

Use fertilizer when adding compost. Use organic fertilizer.

Use 6 to 8-foot trellis for growing tomatoes.

At 3 pm, I checked out a food demonstration by Chef Amar Santana. (I will share demonstrated recipes on separate post)

At 4 pm, I checked out a seminar about container gardening.

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