Esteban's Garden

I have a renewed sense of purpose when I cook now that I have the knowledge and materials to grow my own produce. I’m looking forward to using fresh tomatoes and peppers to make my own salsa and pickle my own cucumbers for delicious sandwich toppings. I am very proud of my sunflowers and how they turned out. They are tall, beautiful, and vibrant. I want to grow more sunflowers and tomatoes in the fall so I can continue to harvest lovely vegetables. My new garden-fresh lifestyle makes my family very happy to see grow and produce for us. We are all participating now and finding new seeds to grow and consume together. Looking back, I think the class is one of the best structured classes I’ve taken online. The slow release of information throughout the 12 weeks of the course kept me engaged and looking forward to every week of new material. I think the volume on lectures could be a little higher as I was having trouble hearing the material at times, and perhaps organized visits t...

Organic gardening is defined as an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity whilst, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones. This is in line with the popular definition of “organic” as it is sustainable and ecological in practice but the allowance for chemicals and controls does go against what most believe to be the purest form of agriculture. And it makes sense to use controls and pesticides as we have been modifying our crops for so long there is no such thing as a completely “organic” untouched plant.   This week disaster struck my garden, as it was overloaded with water and began to rot. I drained it the best I could, but it is still oversaturated with water and needs more time in the sun before it can rebound. I’m very disappointed I did not catch on quicker as this would’ve saved s...