Erica Hanks : A Gardener with Style

At first glance Erica Hanks’s southeast Charlotte home seems as quiet as a Chic-Fil-A on Sunday morning. A sweeping front lawn sets the family’s handsome two story home well behind the tree lined street.  A small brook ambles across the property like a hedgehog on a country road, while a gentle breeze carries the chatter of cardinals and blue jays. Off in the distance a tennis ball is served. Inside, it feels more like Monday morning on the trading floor.

As a mother and professional wardrobe stylist with celebrity clients peppered across the country, a typical day might include preparing pancakes with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit for the kids while packing for a mid morning flight to a photo shoot in New York.

Erica’s work has made big waves - from advertising corporations to professional athletes – And she stays busy.  Her clients have been featured in the Huffington Post, Vogue TV, Marie Claire, ESPN, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Forbes Magazine, Southern Living Magazine, and the UK's Daily Mail.

With a schedule this hectic, most people would send a well-heeled personal assistant out for groceries, or get really cozy with local restaurants.

But Erica wanted her family to share the experience of growing their own organic produce at home. 

 

Her requirements were simple, but firm :  A smart looking raised bed design, tall enough to keep hungry rabbits out, and made with wood that hasn’t been treated with any chemicals. Her organic garden needed to have enough area to grow a fun assortment of the family’s favorites : kale, spinach, lettuces and chard, and, naturally, she wanted a smart looking border filled with glacier pebbles that would tie the design together nicely for a clean, elegant look.

Sturdy raised bed design? Untreated, cedar? Organically grown spinach? Now you’ve got our attention.

The centerpiece of Erica’s organic garden is an L-shaped Kitchen Garden design increased to a height of 25”. The 4’x4’x25” square bed nestles nicely with the L, allowing 2’ of space between the beds. The Microfarm Kitchen Garden design is made with locally milled red cedar, and filled with a blend of pine fines, mushroom compost, and Stalite PermaTill.

This soilless grow medium maintains the perfect balance of drainage and aeration, allowing plant roots to thrive and absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. Our organic nutrient blend of blood meal, bone meal, kelp meal, rock phosphate, and dolomite lime provides plants the ideal range of slow, medium and fast release sources of macro and micronutrients to deliver harvests that wow.

And because Erica’s schedule isn’t going to slow down just because she has a new organic garden, our maintenance team will be making weekly visits to ensure that the family’s fresh organic produce is always just a few steps away from the kitchen.

The Magic Behind Jack's Beanstalk

With a quick dip in flour, breadcrumbs, and seasoning, an ordinary chicken breast becomes a mouth watering morsel that critics fawn over and diners wait in line for. A quick dip in legume inoculant won’t deliver such instant, finger licking gratification, but it can deliver legendary bean harvests and soil fertility that are just as magical.

 Like a comic book superhero given one special gift, legume crops possess the unique ability to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in root nodules. There, the nitrogen is transferred to the surrounding soil, in a useable form where it can benefit plants grown in the following season. The process of concentrating nitrogen in the legume root nodules is performed by naturally occurring bacteria called rhizobacteria.  Legume inoculants are essentially living rhizobacteria delivered via a powder or liquid which helps it stick to a treated seed. Don’t underestimate the power of these microscopic magicians  - inoculant not only enhances soil structure and fertility, but also improves top and root growth, and yields of the treated plant. New plantings of legume seeds should always be treated with rhizobacteria inoculants, especially because other naturally occurring bacteria compete for space on legume roots.  Treating seeds with rhizobacteria inoculant ensures a strong presence of nitrogen fixing rhizobacteria once the seed germinates.  And because inoculants are made with living bacteria – whether in powder or liquid form - it’s important to note of the product’s expiration date, and always use fresh inoculant if in doubt.

Inoculate seeds just before planting, and carefully follow product guidelines. With most powdered inoculants, seeds are first moistened, then coated with the powder. Some growers even use milk and molasses as a wetting agent which also provides food for the rhizobacteria while helping the powder stick to the seeds.

Crown Town Compost Delivers

Your backyard is small. Really small. The neighbors on either side can hold polite conversation across your patio, and the fire department mandated that the maximum number of occupants at your annual 4^th of July bash is 7. In fact, even calling it a yard would be generous... like referring to bowling as a sport. 

Yet despite your modest sized sliver of the American Dream, you still found a sunny corner where a cucumber vine rambles out of a Kitchen Garden along the fence. And  in principle, you’re sold on the idea of composting your kitchen scraps, but fitting a compost bin in your yard would be like cramming  a 12^th circus clown inside an already overstuffed Volkswagen beetle.

Or maybe your neighborhood HOA ranks compost bins just above rusty RV’s on cinderblocks, or you live on the 37^th floor and your backyard has a metal railing and concrete floor.

Either way, Crown Town Compost can help. Every week, they’ll pick up your kitchen scraps and other compostable material and take it to a certified compost facility. There, it’s combined with the onion peels and pepper stems from your neighbor’s fajitas, and egg shells and coffee grinds from the local diner to make premium organic compost.

It’s easy to get started, and once you sign up, they’ll deliver a 5 gallon bucket and “composting 101” handbook right to your door.

Simply fill the bucket with compostable waste, and leave it outside for weekly pickup. They’ll bring back bagged organic compost that’s ready to use in the garden. You can feel good about keeping organic material out of the landfill, and even better about the awesome organic compost you’ll have for your organic garden.

Bummed that Crown Town Compost hasn’t made it to your neighborhood yet?  Cheer up – they offer community compost days where you can bring compostable material to Atherton Market.

Visit crowntowncompost.com to learn more.

5 Spicy Greens that'll keep it Interesting

Let’s face it – you’re a fine cook, but no one would accuse your salads of having too much flavor. In fact, they’re about as daring as a trip to the library. Bored croutons tumble over predictable blends of romaine and iceberg , placing the  burden of excitement on a slice or two of red onion.  But it’s a new year, and one of your resolutions was to take it up a notch, and spice things up a little. You already got the nose ring. Now it’s time to add a little kick to those salads with these naturally spicy greens that are easy to grow, and never boring.

Arugula
Take one bite, and it’s easy to see why the British call this spicy powerhouse ‘Rocket’. The smoky, spicy flavor adds unmistakable depth and flavor to salads, and has become a staple green that can really send a salad into orbit. In the garden, it’s more tenacious than a Mexican drug cartel, and doesn’t need much more than a sunny location and moderately rich soil to thrive. 

Cress
Like things fast? You’ll love growing cress. It won’t get you to work in 6 minutes like that Ducati, but in as little as a few weeks, it’s ready to add zing to salads, soups and even smoothies. Packed with vitamins, it sprouts quickly, and is easy to grow - even indoors on a window sill.  

Mustard Greens
The spicy kick of mustard varieties ranges from the ‘call the fire department’ burn of the old time favorite ’ Giant Southern Curled’ cultivar to the more subtle ‘Ruby Streaks’. Just a few leaves will turn a ho-hum salad into a conversation piece, or try preparing mustard greens as an unforgettable side dish. Like other greens, mustard greens thrive in cool weather, and the outer leaves can be continuously harvested.

Mizuna & Mibuna
Disturbing game shows. Pac Man. Mizuna and Mibuna. Japan has given the world so much, and these two spicy Japanese cousins have been used for centuries to add visual interest and a spicy cabbage flavor to salads. Mizuna has spiky, serrated leaves while Mibuna’s foliage is longer and more rounded. Both are cold hardy and easy to grow in spring and fall, but beware nighttime raids from snails who will zero in on these plants like a sake fueled kamikaze. 

Nasturtium
Almost as versatile as a Swiss army knife, but much more tasty, the nasturtium is easy to grow and adds a fun pop of color to any organic garden.  The leaves add a peppery flavor to salads and sandwiches, and the flowers make a memorable garnish. The tiny fruits can even be pickled and used like capers in salads, and as if that wasn’t enough, nasturtiums pull double duty as a companion plant that helps deter squash bugs, whitefly, and cabbage worms. Talk about talent! 

Tatsoi
After a few harsh cold snaps, your garden looks emptier than the bread aisle on a snow day, and only the heartiest leafy greens like kale, collards, chard, and tatsoi remain. Yes, you heard right - tatsoi. While it doesn’t get headlines like kale or collards, tatsoi is also extremely cold hardy, and unlike kale, its thick dark green leaves add rich, spicy flavor to salads and can even be used as a substitute for spinach.

6 Non-Toxic Wood Preservatives

Linseed Oil
It didn’t take early agricultural civilizations very long to find uses the flax plant. Lots of uses, actually, including food, medicine, and fiber.  The oil pressed from flax has also been used for centuries as a natural wood preservative because of its ability to penetrate deep into porous fibers, and protect wood from moisture and rot. Raw linseed oil is cold pressed from flax flower seeds, and purified and refined through the process of boiling, which eliminates protein and improves properties like drying time and finish. Pure Linseed oil is non-toxic, and safe to use as a wood preservative in organic garden structures like raised beds, greenhouses and chicken coops.

TimberPro UV
If you’re used to wood preservatives wrapped in warning labels with lots of explanation points, skulls, and crossbones, you might be skeptical when you open a bucket of Internal Wood Stabilizer. The clear, non-toxic  liquid has no odor, and with the consistency of water, it can be easily rolled or brushed onto bare wood. Timber Pro Internal Wood Stabilizer has a chemical reaction with naturally existing free alkali in wood pores. Over time it permanently hardens into silicate glass crystals that fill the pores, and help prevent water from soaking into the wood.  

Tung Oil
Gunpowder. Kung Fu. General Tso’s chicken. Much has China contributed to the world, and among these gifts we can also count Tung Oil ; a natural oil preservative that has been used to protect and seal wood for centuries. Tung trees grow primarily in the mountainous regions of China, and pure tung oil is made by cold pressing the tree’s seeds. Pure tung oil is non-toxic, and safe to use on organic garden structures that have contact with food supplies, including raised beds, chicken coops and greenhouses. Tung oil seals moisture out of wood and its elastic properties help it provide continuous protection, even as wood expands and contracts in the elements.

Eco Wood Treatment
Plenty of wood preservative products claim to be ‘natural’ and ‘eco-friendly’, but when both LEEDS and the Green Building Council give the thumbs up, you should take a closer look. Eco Wood Treatment is a non-toxic, mineral-based powder that, when mixed with water, permanently protects wood with one application. The product penetrates deeply into wood fibers, and never cracks or peels. Eco Wood Treatment contains only organic compounds, and is safe to use on garden structures like raised beds, chicken coops and cedar greenhouses. Select from a variety of tinted colors, or even create a custom color so that new wood can be matched with an existing structure.

Lifetime Wood Treatment
It’s not often that a recipe lasts 60 years, but some are good enough to withstand the test of time. But unlike your grandmother’s beef stew, Lifetime Wood Treatment has become a favorite non-toxic wood preservative for builders and wood workers  around the planet. Like an heirloom tomato variety, this unique family recipe has been passed down through generations of woodworking craftsmen. The natural formula penetrates wood fibers, and seals out moisture, plus Lifetime Wood Treatment creates no toxic residue. It is safe to use for raised beds, chicken coops, greenhouses and other organic garden structures.

 Pine Tar
Without pine tar, fleets of marauding Nordic vessels might never have ventured from the safety of harbor, leaving throngs of fur-clad warriors to instead play chess and write poetry. Pine tar has been used for hundreds of years to seal and preserve wood, and it’s still used today to seal utility poles, roofs, boats, fences,  and other outdoor structures – even below ground. Preserving your raised beds with pine tar might not have such historic implications, but it will safely extend the life of the wood without contaminating the surrounding soil with toxic chemicals. Thor would be proud, and perhaps a little curious about the shiny metal wagon parked in the driveway.