Bio: LaDonna Kinnick CFH (Certified Family Herbalist) and organic gardener. Graduate of Dr.John R. Christopher’s School of Natural Healing. I incorporate herbal medicine with permaculture and hugelculture to maximize potential yields, health and wellness of the soil and plants and ultimately feed our bodies the most nutrient dense foods that I can.

Tell me about your first gardening experience?

18 years old. Killed cactus. Never watered it or touched it or anything. Was a gift. Had never had any gardening experience.

What does organic gardening/earth friendly mean to you?

Contributing back to the earth. Giving back to the soil.

Who or what inspired u to start using organic techniques?

Becoming sick at 28-29 years old. Found out it was food.  Need for food without pesticides.

How did you learn how to garden organically?

Studied on internet. Worldwide encyclopedia. Husband farmer lineage still very much alive in his family.

Tell us about something that grew well this year.

Tomatoes. (New Hugelkultur (HOO-gul-culture)  – raised bed) Grapes – variety of superfood.

Talked about aromatics helping keep bugs especially mosquitos at bay.

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/hugelkultur-the-ultimate-raised-garden-bed

Is there something you would do different next year?

Change the time when planting fruit trees. Would plant in “Hugel culture” tight bedding.

Do you have any secrets for preserving food-making it last? 

freezing and dehydrating make sure you don’t under hydrate

Do you have any special techniques for cooking weird or unusual foods?

Okra which can be kinda slimy but is good for our bodies. Eat it right off the plant nice and crunchy.

Can freeze it just raw and comes out just like from the garden.

A favorite recipe you like to cook?

Any kind of sauce or dish with tomatoes.

A favorite tool that you like to use? If you could only have one tool that you could keep what would it be?

My hands. A rake and a shovel and hand pruner

A favorite internet resource?

Geoff Lawton – Permaculturist. Teaches how to take deprived land and regenerate it. Greening the Desert (middle east desert)

A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend for our listeners?

Studied Herbal Medicine.

A favorite song you listen to when working in your garden?

No music just the birds.

How about an inspirational tip for gardeners?

Anybody can do it. Don’t have to have experience or lineage.

Companion planting does so much, it’s just fantastic.

Thanks for visiting Mike’s Green Garden. If you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/organic-gardener-podcast/id962887645

If you have any comments, questions, guests you’d like to see, or topics you’d like us to cover please send us any feedback positive or negative. We’re here to serve our audience and we can only improve with your help!!! Thanks for visiting Mike’s Green Garden changing the world one garden at a time.