The Green Korner

Today I'm talking with Monica at The Green Korner. You can also follow on Facebook.

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Monica at The Green Korner. Good morning, Monica. How are you? Good morning, Mary. I'm doing great. How are you? I'm good. And where are you located again? In Houston, Texas. Okay. I didn't catch any accent. I...

00:29
I could have guessed if there was an accent, but you don't have one. Oh, no. That's because I'm Costa Rican. My family moved into the States 50 years ago. However, I was born in Costa Rica and my parents brought me to the States when I was one year old. Okay, that makes sense. So I have been living in both countries since then. Okay. So you're in Texas. Cool. Yes. All right. So tell me about yourself and the green corner. Yes.

00:57
Like I said, I was brought into the States when I was 12 months. My great grandparents, they used to have tobacco farms. And my grandparents, they used to raise cattle and obviously they used to grow their own food. However, I was not really raised into that environment. And that was way before my time. Just a normal person. You know, I'm a community health worker.

01:26
And then we have the pandemic. And I was bored, quite honestly. I was like, oh my gosh, what am I supposed to do now? And I saw, it was a video, I believe it was on YouTube, about growing pineapples from the store. I'm like, yeah, right.

01:47
little that I knew that was going to be the beginning. I'm like, hmm, let me, you know, just get some pineapples. I started like growing, experimenting. Then I went with bunching onions and name it. So my dining room became a lab. And I'm like, hmm, okay, I'm liking this. So let me just start doing it outside in my backyard. And within a few weeks, I'm like,

02:17
convert my home into an urban homestead. So I redesigned my entire backyard. It's no longer a backyard. It's a mini urban farm. Every single inch, it's a racemate.

02:35
That's how The Green Korner came to life. Yeah, I was gonna say, is that why it's called The Green Korner? That is why it's called The Green Korner because in the early stages, I bought me a green house from Walmart. And it was a mess. I didn't know what I was doing. I was barely learning. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this corner is so green. Because I was upset because then I had ants beneath.

03:04
And I'm like, Green Corner, ooh, I like this name. That's how Green Korner, you know, the name that's where it came from. And then it was with a K because it's very distinctive. It's not like, you know, normal Green Corner. It's a very unique project and that's where the name came from. That's a great story. So.

03:32
I ask everybody this, are you using what you're doing to support the green corner or are you just doing this for you? No, I'm not doing it for me. Actually my vision is to touch as many lives as possible. I want to set an example that if I did it, you can do it. You don't have to have a agricultural degree. You don't have to.

04:02
know much. You can learn on your own and go from there because at the end of the day I believe growing our own food, that's what the future is. Yeah. And I feel like if you can read and you can read directions, anybody can grow produce. Anybody. Oh, absolutely. I watch infinite YouTube videos.

04:28
books, now I'm attending gardening classes in my community, which are free. I mean, the resources are there if you look for them. So my goal is to be another resource to people. Absolutely. And I'm going to do a shameless plug because you gave me a perfect opportunity to do it. My sponsor is Chelsea Green Publishing, and they have so many books about

04:56
just getting started and about growing things and homesteading and all the things that people want to read about. So if you want to go see Chelsea Green Publishing's list of books, it's ChelseaGreen.com. Thank you for giving me an opening, Monica. I appreciate it. You're welcome, Mary. You're the first person that I've actually been able to work that in with. So pineapples, I need to know more about pineapples. How did you...

05:25
How did you do that? Pineapples, you cut the crown, you put them in water, roots will start developing and then you transfer them into soil and after two years, you will get a pineapple, mind you, it has to be an organic pineapple. It has to be an organic pineapple. Now, carrots, please, those videos are not true. You cannot grow carrots from scraps.

05:55
I experimented with all of these hacks that they have. But to me that was the doorway into really learning how to grow food in a hundred percent organic way. I think that's the next step for anyone that will want to grow food. The purpose of it is to stay away from chemicals. And there's a way to work.

06:25
with Mother Earth. She gives us everything. All we have to do is just learn to combine herbs with vegetables. It's that simple. Yes, and Mother Nature sometimes takes things away. We had a whole ton of rain this spring and our cucumber plants are a mess because they got light really early. And there's nothing we can do about it.

06:52
It's just the way it went this year and we're so sad about the whole garden. And it's okay, you know, it happens. We had three summers of fantastic produce growing and this is the fourth summer and it has been a total wash. Oh, I'm so super excited. That's heartbreaking. Well, I'm not having good luck with cucumbers this season either. Actually, I'm fixing to plant some more.

07:21
and see what happens because the heat, it's overwhelming here now. Yeah, it's I have never seen this type of heat before. So it's plants are struggling a little bit, but it's OK. We, you know, we move on and we keep on working with new crops. Now I'm experimenting with cassava. Oh, OK. Yes. So, you know, just this is just about to go with the flow, go with nature. Climate changes, crop changes.

07:52
Yes, exactly. I had a lady call me this morning and she was like, is this Mary? And I said, it is. And she said, I talked to you last summer about cucumbers and you had the most beautiful cucumbers. She said, you guys haven't eaten this year? And I was like, no, I'm so sorry. And I said, check back with me in two weeks. We might buy some miracle, have some. And she was like, I will do that. And I'm thinking there's no way we're gonna have cucumbers, but I'm hoping. Just crossing your fingers, right?

08:20
Yeah, we have some in our greenhouse that are blooming and there's little tiny cucumbers out there, but I don't think it's going to make the amount that she would like to buy. So we're doing what we can. So back to the pineapple thing real quick. What kind of soil do they like? And I know they like it to be hot, right? They like it to be hot and they like it to be very acid. Okay. Oh, she did not like it when I used to fertilize them.

08:49
Oh my gosh, that was funny. I had like 10 or 15 growing at the same time and I did a fertilize half and the other half I didn't because that's another thing. I built the green corner for the soil not to be fertilized every single season. We need to...

09:15
learn from Mother Nature and understand how she works and just imitate her. I mean, she doesn't fertilize anything, right? So, on the experimental stage, I learned pineapples do not like fertilizers. Huh, okay. At least mine. That was my experience, of course. Yeah, and is it only one pineapple per plant? It's just one pineapple per plant, yes.

09:43
and do the plants take up a lot of room? They grow so beautiful. I mean, you can use them as ornamental plants. Okay. They're gorgeous, yes. You have to transfer them from, if you're doing it on container gardening, you have to transfer them to bigger pots as they grow and grow and grow and grow. I don't grow them anymore, just because now my main focus

10:12
It's on herbs and other types of crops, non-fruits. So I stopped doing pineapples. Yeah, I just, I didn't know anything about growing pineapples because we're not going to grow pineapples in Minnesota. I don't think it's gonna, I don't think it would work. We could maybe, maybe do it in the heated greenhouse, but I don't know that it would be, I don't know that the return on investment would be worth doing it.

10:39
No, maybe just as a small hobby experiment, but that's about it. Yes, not as mass production, no. No. No, and where are pineapples usually grown? I mean, the ones we buy in the store, where are they grown? They grow in the tropics. Yeah. They're tropical and subtropical. So mostly that I'm aware of, the ones that we get in the United States are from Central America and Mexico.

11:09
That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to say it and sound stupid this morning. Okay, so are you donating produce to the food shelves? Are you selling produce? What are you doing with what you're growing? Yes. Well, the focus of the Green Corner is not really to sell produce. It is more a community project slash I created.

11:38
and infused basil flower Himalayan salt for culinary purposes. So that's the product for the Green Corner. It's the basil flower infused Himalayan salt. It's already on Amazon. Wow. Yes, that's the first product from the Green Corner into the market.

12:06
And, but not, it's not selling produce. If anything, I'm trying to grow more food just to be able to go to the community centers and give this produce to, you know, to the ones in need. But for now, it's being mainly family members and friends. Fantastic. Share the wealth, it's a good thing to do. Oh, absolutely, yes ma'am. The...

12:35
The infused salt, that must smell amazing while you're making it. Oh my gosh, you have no idea. It's so satisfying and everything is by hand. We don't use machines. Everything is by hand. So you get the pleasure because it's delightful. Uh-huh. We grow basil every year and we grew a bunch in the greenhouse this year because again, the garden was pretty much a loss.

13:03
And I was drying basil a week or so ago in the oven. I was just like, oh my God, I love this time of year. I love it. Right. Yes. I'm blessed to have this type of weather in Houston, Texas, because I have it almost 12 months. Yeah, we will. We will because we have the heated greenhouse. So we're going to continue to grow basil all winter this year. I'm so, so excited about this. We're going to grow herbs. We're going to grow.

13:32
leafy greens, we're going to try growing carrots and raise beds and beets and radishes and see how it goes. Yum! And maybe be able to sell locally grown produce in January in Minnesota. That would be amazing. I would be so tickled to be able to do that because it's like, it seemed impossible when we first moved here four years ago that we would be able to grow anything in the wintertime outside.

14:00
And technically it's not outside, it's in a greenhouse. And I applied for a grant for building a heated greenhouse and we got it and it's built and we just have to put the insulation in and get a wood stove and some IBC containers to put water in. We use the wood stove to heat the water. The water's gonna radiate the heat out in the greenhouse and it should be about 60 degrees all winter long in there. Beautiful. Uh-huh, I'm so excited. I cannot wait to get this done.

14:31
Oh wow, I'm so happy for you. Thank you and me too. This is, we really wanted to do this. We've talked about it for years and just didn't know how to make it happen. And then there was a grant that I saw and I was like, I'm gonna apply for that grant. I'm gonna say we wanna use that money to make a heated greenhouse in Minnesota. And the grant people said, yes, here, take our money and do that, please.

14:58
Nice, why not? And this is the thing, you know, you have to really look for the resources. They're there. You just have to go to the grinding and you will find them. And it is grinding. I can't tell you how many hours I put in about six months ago, looking through different grants for.

15:19
women business owners because I'm the owner of our business, a tiny homestead LLC, because it's better if a woman is an owner if you're looking for grants. That's right. And I spent hours combing the internet for legitimate grant offers that we would be right for. And I only found maybe four in the entire hours that I spent digging. So it is work. It's time. But it pays back.

15:49
It does. So it's worth it. It's worth it. Yup. It absolutely is. And the best place to start is with any of the local to you extension service offices because they might know. And the other thing that I found is that the small business administration offices that are local to wherever you live, they have people who are specifically in charge of helping you find grants.

16:19
Yes, yes, they do that. That's my next step for the Green Corner because so far I have self-funded everything. So now it's time to expand even more. Oh, absolutely, because you have to. When you're a new business starting out, you can't self-fund it forever. You will go broke.

16:48
If you go quick and just having a regular full-time class, your site business is not going to do it for much longer if you want your business to thrive and if you want to really serve the community. Yeah, you'll burn out if you don't have resources to fall back on. Absolutely. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful thing to do, but it's real work.

17:15
Oh, it sure is, it sure is. And I just can't wait to have people, homeowners, or even people that they live in apartments, downhouses, to come back and tell me, thank you. Thank you, you know, like now we are eating from our own hands, this is amazing. And I do picture a world where every...

17:41
home will have their own garden and flourishing and you know having this biodiversity that needs our help. Absolutely, yes. And I don't want to sound panicky or anything, but I was looking at Facebook and stuff this morning because I do that trying to find more people to interview because Facebook is great for feeding me people to talk to. And there was a link to an article about this monkey pox thing that's going on right now.

18:11
And I don't know if it's true. I'm not going to say it's true, but it might be the next pandemic. And I'm like, I am not ready for another pandemic. No. I heard that last year. Uh-huh. So, so it might be, I feel like it might be smart for us all to consider that COVID was not.

18:38
was not a unicorn that there are other things that might come down the pike that we might want to prepare for. Absolutely. And like I said, I don't want to be alarmist because I don't like that. Don't panic. Everything's okay. But if you have the wherewithal and the means to maybe start thinking about what you would need if the supply chain shut down again and maybe start planning for that ahead of time.

19:06
it might be a little less difficult. Oh, yes, absolutely. If anything, if anything, COVID gave us the tool. Exactly what you just said, you start planning, you start learning, you start implementing. So whatever comes our way, you will be prepared. Yep. And you will be able to sleep at night knowing that your family's well-fed.

19:34
Yes, absolutely. And I, I hate being the person who's going to be heard saying there's this thing that might be coming down the pike. Get ready, because I don't want to be the, the person that's crying wolf because I don't, I don't want to be that person. You know? Yes. Yes. And, and I don't think, I don't think you are at all or any of us that are foreseen future events.

20:04
because at the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with taking precautions. It's just like, you know, saving everybody. Now, if you have to say for in case of an emergency, well, everybody, it will be good if everybody start working towards learning how to grow what they like the most, just in case there's nothing wrong with that. If anything, that will that will give people satisfaction. For sure. My daughter.

20:33
just moved to Florida over the winter and she had been living in California. And California is now having the little earthquakes. And I can't lie, I'm real happy she's not still in California. And I'm real concerned that there's going to be a big earthquake in California sooner than anybody knows. And I'm so thankful that she's not there anymore. The one that just happened in Los Angeles, she lived in LA.

21:03
So she's now in Florida and I understand that Florida gets hit with with hurricanes. But I feel like maybe a hurricane might be more survivable than an earthquake right where you are. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I I lived under both conditions. Costa Rica, we get a lot of earthquakes and I lived in Florida for two years and yes, hurricanes piece of cake.

21:32
If you compare them to an earthquake, obviously. Yeah. When she moved to California, she was like, you guys should come visit me in California. And I was like, sweetie, no, no, I'm not coming to California. I'm sorry. And she was like, but, and I like, no, no, you can come visit us in Minnesota where we get blizzards and we get downpours, but we don't get hurricanes and typically don't get earthquakes. Yeah.

22:02
So, yeah, I saw the 4.5 earthquake news come through on LA the other day and I was like, oh, thank God she's not in LA right now. I would be crying, you know? Yeah. So, but there are things you can do to prepare for everything and you can't know everything to prepare for. So it's a double-edged sword. You do what you can. And

22:30
Sometimes even that isn't enough, but at least you feel like you've done what you could exactly Exactly, and and it puts you in a track of Thinking out of the box Yeah, we uh, we don't have a lot of herbs growing this year either and I had dried a whole lot of thyme and basil and rosemary

22:56
And I don't even know what else last summer when the garden was doing really well. And my son brought in some basil from what is growing out there a couple days ago. And he was like, do you want to dry this? And I said, I do. And I looked in my pantry and I have bags of dried basil from last summer. And I was like, thank God I did that last year because we're not going to have a lot to dry this year. So even in...

23:24
Even in a situation where there's not something big and scary coming down the pike immediately, I still am prepared for this winter for herbs because I did the thing last summer. That's right. And that's how our great grandparents or grandparents, they used to do it. When they would stop, why they would stop, you know? So I think it's time to bring that back into our real life.

23:51
Yeah, and I'm not gonna lie, basil you buy from the store in the little plastic containers that's dried is not nearly as potent as basil you grow. Of course not. No, not at all. It doesn't even compare. No, it does not. It does not. Yes. The show of life, it's long.

24:20
You know, so stores, I'm pretty sure they don't control that as tight as other products. So, yes, they lose their flavor really fast. Yeah, and herbs are easy. I mean, I'm not... If you have a black thumb, which I don't believe anybody actually has a black thumb, I think they just don't have the information to work with to not kill their plants.

24:50
If you want to start small, herbs are the best thing ever. Thyme grows like a weed. Basil grows really well. Rosemary does really well almost all over the United States. And it's simple to process. You literally just cut whatever you wanna use for the leaves off the plant. Just cut the stems. And then you put it on a cookie sheet and you roast it in your oven.

25:19
at the lowest temperature possible for about an hour, and then you check them. And if the leaves are crinkly, when you squish them between your fingers, they are dry enough to go in canning jars or Ziploc bags. You put them in a dark cabinet, you label the jar or the bags, you know what it is. And it's good for like two or three years. It's the simplest thing ever. That's it. Or even if you don't wanna use your oven, if you are so concerned about your electricity bill,

25:49
just hang them in a dark place. Yes, but you really got to check them. I've done that and I've had a couple mold on me. So, oh, really? Yep. Oh, no. Yeah, I never had mold in mine. Well, your climate is different than ours, too. Yes. Well, of course, that that also depends on.

26:13
the room that you're going to put them in. But I know there's some people because they have asked me this question. Oh, I don't want to use my oven. You know, I don't want to .. I'm like, okay, just hang them in there. Yes, you're right. They need air circulation. Dark air circulation. If you have those conditions, you don't need your oven. Yeah. And our oven is a propane gas oven. So I'm not too worried about the electricity. Oh, nice.

26:41
And propane gas is really efficient. I had no idea. It is. I love it. Yeah, so that's how we do it. We also have a food dehydrator that you plug in the wall. And if we're swamped in stuff, we need to get dried. We'll use that. But usually we just use the oven because it's fairly quick. Oh yes, yes, yes. I'm telling you, we have all the tools we need. We just have to use them.

27:08
Yeah, I just wanted to explain how we do it because I haven't really gotten too deep into the process of how to dry herbs on the podcast. And my mom actually asked me about it yesterday morning because she has basil she needs to harvest. And she said, I'm sure you've explained this to me before, but tell me again. And I was like, it's super simple. Here's what you do. She was like, thank you so much. And I was like, you are so welcome. I'm going to talk about this on the podcast sometime this week.

27:38
No, that's awesome. Well, it's kind of like me. When I was learning how to infuse rosemary into olive oil, because I love rosemary with olive oil. Yes. Yes. I had to go back to my information several times because each time I will forget. It happens. It happens.

28:06
I'm with your mom. Yeah, and the thing is if you don't do it every year you will forget. That's right. I mean, I've made I've made French onion soup for years once it gets cold and every fall I have to get my recipe out and read through it again to remind myself of the steps. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely Yes, so it's not a sin to forget things. It's fine

28:34
As long as you have you haven't written down somewhere. Exactly. And as you get older, your brain gets full. You know how, you know how you have to clear the cache on your computer and defrag your computer once in a while? The same thing with the brain. It's the same thing with the brain. Yes. And I don't know any way to defrag or clear the cache in my brain because my brain just soaks up everything. So I figure by the time I'm 75, I'm going to be like, I have

29:02
dig way back to find the thing I want in my brain. Right, yes, and that's when writing, making lists, making notes, it becomes your best friend. Yeah, absolutely. And we're all human. We all make mistakes. We all have great successes. We all forget things sometimes. Sometimes we're talking along and use the wrong word even though the brain said use this word, the other word came out of your mouth. Yes.

29:30
Isn't that amazing how it happens? Uh-huh. I've done it on the podcast and I'm like, I meant to say something else. That was stupid. And then I listened to it back and I'm like, well, nobody else knew what word I was digging for so it's fine. That's right. But either way, you are doing a fantastic thing at the green corner. I'm very excited for you. How long have you been doing it? It has been a almost four years project.

30:00
Yep, you said COVID, so it must have been four years. Yes, and the basil flower infused salts, we just launched it last month. Okay, cool. How's it going? It's going good. It's going slow, which that was forecasted. I'm not surprised at all, but I'm loving every single step of the way. Okay, and the Himalayan salt with the basil flowers, you said? Yes.

30:29
Yes. Is that that's for cooking with? That is for cooking. You can use it as garnishing or you can use it like in your recipes. In our website, we give recipes on our weekly newsletter at the corner.com. So people will know how to use it if they need an idea as well. Yes. Okay. I have a crazy question.

30:58
Himalayan salt is good in a bathtub, right? Like you're gonna take a bath. Yes, some people use it for a bathtub. However, Himalayan salt is very beneficial for cooking. Okay, yeah, I just didn't know if maybe you could use the basil Himalayan salt in your bath if you wanted to have a basil bath. Not the one from the green corner. However, I believe you put Himalayan salt in.

31:28
basil, fresh basil, would be amazing. An amazing pot. I think it would smell amazing, yes. Right? It would be great, yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know if you could do that, because there's so many herbs and salts that get used for personal care, body care, that I didn't know if it was a double dip in kind of thing.

31:49
Oh no, I wish. I wish Mary it was, but this particular item is not. Okay, good to know. Well, maybe you could develop one of those too in your spare time. You just gave me a wonderful idea. Thank you so much. You're welcome. All right, Monica, I've loved talking with you. You sound so full of joy and happiness and your voice is beautiful. Oh, thank you, Mary. I had a wonderful time and I hope it will not be the last.

32:18
I hope not too. You're going to have to hit me up when you develop something new and talk about that too. I sure will. All right. Thank you, Monica. Have a great day. Thank you, Mary. You too. Bye.