News ‘o the North :: Fresh Mint, Fresh Mojitos

Last summer Data Dog Kate and I were smitten with Blueberry Mojitos.  We tried the unique cocktail over dinner on a movie date and were instantly hooked.

Your average grocery store sells fresh mint, but it is pricey.  This summer I intend to grow my own mint to use for use in this refreshing dessert drink.  My mint seeds are on order!  ArtMail editor Kerry has warned me the plant grows like a weed.  It will be planted in a separate pot on my back deck vs. in our raised garden.

Data Dog’s Blueberry Mojito

– 1 heaping handful of fresh (or frozen) blueberries
– 3 mint leaves
– 2 TB sugar (or simple syrup)
– 3 TB lime juice
– Club soda or Sprite
– Bacardi Rum

Smash the blueberries, mint and sugar together (use the back of a spoon). Add lime juice, desired amount of Bacardi (shot and a half or so) and top off with club soda or Sprite.

*It is heaven.

Give the recipe a try and let us know what you think.

– Zina

PS:  We have a saying here at the dog house, once a Data Dog always a Data Dog.  If you look at Kate’s LinkedIn profile you will notice she has moved on to Kohl’s but we still consider her part of the pack!

Friday’s Field Trip :: Waukesha Floral & Greenhouses

Mike and I took a field trip on Friday afternoon out to one of our favorite floral shops, Waukesha Floral & Greenhouses, to chat gardening tips with Marty Loppnow, green thumb extraordinaire.  We also brought along our video camera…

In this segment, Marty gives us a tour of the greenhouse, shows us the ropes on prepping our soil and how to make sure the roots of our window garden plants are healthy. He even explained what cocopeat was! Now we know what Stan, the amaryllis, is growing in.

Thanks again, Marty (& Jane) for taking time to give us a tour of your beautiful shop!

Stay tuned, as we’ve got another video coming up.

Back to the grindstone,

– Colleen

P.S. Psssst..Mother’s Day is coming up, don’t forget to order flowers for your mom!

Growth Chart

We’re on day 5 and we’ve started to see a little action from our seeds. The Wheatgrass is peeking through the dirt and the Zinnias are showing signs of life as well. We had to rotate the pots since they were growing at an angle toward the sun.

Stan, the Amaryllis is showing a few, green signs of life, but nothing substantial yet.

No signs of life from the herbs yet, but the mystery flower is starting to bud and we haven’t killed the tomato plant yet!

Stay tuned, more posts from the dogs later this week. (*You might even see us in action!)

– Colleen

Woes of a city gardener

…or, How Window Box gardens came about.

As an avid green thumb with a land deficit problem, I find myself in a pickle when planting season comes around.  I’m partial to growing vegetables, but I (like many folks) don’t have the outdoor space to devote to a full garden.  Enter the window box garden (or container garden) which has quite a history and is a popular technique for renters, high-rise apartment dwellers, and guys like me.

There are many great reasons to garden partially or exclusively in containers. Not only does growing in pots allow you to have a portable garden that can be moved to create any effect you want, but they can be brought inside as soon as the Wisconsin weather turns cold for a fresh, year round supply of flowers, vegetables, and herbs.

It’s thought that the practice of window box gardening stems back to ancient Rome.  In fact, there is historical evidence of people having window gardens in Greece as early as 375 A.D.  Soon after, the concept spread with the Romans throughout Europe to England, France, Ireland, Germany, Egypt, Holland, and the Orient.  The legendary (and possibly mythical) Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered to be one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Nearly all these civilizations cultivated their own gardens for practical purposes: to provide sustenance, medicinal herbs, and flowers like lilies, violets and pansies for rituals.  But among the lower classes, in small villages where peasants had little gardening space, many people grew the plants they needed in window boxes.

The window box itself has evolved over time from the earliest known stone and brick structures in Greece to Roman terra cotta form.  From there spawned several new varieties such as wire hay baskets found in English cottage gardens, and the elegant wrought iron window boxes of France. Window boxes later spread to America, where they adorned colonial homes.

Back in Roman days, the window box gained popularity among the rich upper classes that began developing balcony and rooftop gardens that eventually became very elaborate, overflowing with flowers and trailing vines, shrubs, small trees, and even fish ponds. As the focus of gardening moved from survival to pleasure and art, the rich created the formal Roman gardens with rolling lawns, fountains, and marble statues that remind us of classical Rome today. Yet, the humble window box always maintained its popularity, and to this day, the second- and third-story windows of many Italian villas still have window boxes brimming with color.

Your fellow peasant farmer (a.k.a. city gardener) heading back to the grindstone as we await some growing action from our herbs.

– Mike

News ‘o the North :: Spring Gardening

Data Dog, Zina, here signing in from Rib Mountain.  Preparations for a raised garden, Up Nort Der, Hey!, are set in motion for the weekend.  Last year we successfully grew pumpkins, sunflowers, and sugar snap peas.  Granite Peak is still officially covered with snow, but I have been assured by my trusty co-worker Kerry and CEO Johnathan that broccoli and sugar snap peas will withstand a hard spring frost.  Below are shots from last year’s raised garden in early June.

Helmut, our gnome security guard, protects our garden bounty from the local riffraff including small varmint & deer. Inspired by this movie clip from the film Amélie and the brilliant interactive Travelocity marketing campaign, Helmut has traveled across the nation.  Below is a shot from a summer trip at Zion National Park.  The National Park Foundation recently added some great interactive aspects to their site including the opportunity to take an eHike or view your favorite park via webcam.

Enjoy the weekend and remember April showers bring May flowers.

– Zina

Do the green thing

Happy 40th Anniversary of Earth Day!

While we’re still waiting for our little window garden seeds to sprout up (fingers crossed they actually do), I thought I’d share a fun and cheeky site that’s devoted to doing the “Green Thing.” They provide 7 easy ways to help reduce your footprint and have some creative (and sometimes odd) videos they’ve produced to drive home their message.

Important (and easy) green things to do:

1.    Walk the walk!
2.    Stay grounded
3.    All-consuming
4.    Easy on the meat
5.    Human heat
6.    Plug out
7.    Stick with what you got

Below is one of their videos about unplugging electronics when not in use…hopefully they recycled the Post-It Notes after they were finished!

They’ve also got a post up recognizing Earth Day on their own blog; check it out when you have a chance.

More from the Cubicle later!

– Colleen

Dirt don’t hurt

Full steam ahead! We’ve decided to try our hand at a little indoor gardening for our first project in the un-used cubicle, so we’ve put together a little window garden. It also seemed fitting with Earth Day coming up tomorrow.

On Monday, after some quick “how-to” reading on window gardens, I ran out and grabbed some seeds, seedling starter, potting soil, a watering can, a few pots and containers, and a few seedlings.

Here’s what we’re attempting to grow:

From seeds:
–    Basil
–    Mint
–    Chives
–    Cilantro
–    Dill
–    Wheatgrass
–    Zinnias

From a bulb:
–    An amaryllis

From seedlings:
–    Tomato plant
–    Marigold
–    A mystery flower (this was a freebie)

Yesterday, Anne and I planted the seeds and transplanted the seedlings, while Mike, ahem, supervised.

Oh, and Anne had a nice time with the amaryllis planting. Does anyone know why the dirt-like substance you plant the bulb in is called cocopeat?

Anyway, on our little garden’s second day, things are looking good so far. Nothing is dead yet at least. Fingers crossed I didn’t kill the tomato plant when I potted it. My green thumb is a bit, well, raw.

We’re aiming to keep the little guys going for at least a month….but hopefully longer. And in the meantime, we’ll keep you updated on how they’re doing as well as share what we learn along the way.

Stay tuned,

– Colleen

P.S. If you’re as excited as we are about the progress, check out more photos on our Flickr page!