162. Tasteful Nutrient Dense Gardening | Vermiculture | Denny Krahe Returns | Central Florida

diz runs podcast

I’m super excited because I am going back to interview my friend  from Podcaster’s Paradise in episode #1 that he had to record back then, I was listening earlier but it’s pretty fun, and still full of golden seeds… one thing I was gonna tell listeners if you want to go back and listen to it I think you have to go to my website and download it, it’s not available on iTunes anymore….

Dizruns.com homepage

dizruns.com

Today, anyway I am here to talk with Denny Krahe from central Florida, who is a runner, and his emails inspire me, one of the few still in my inbox, and regularly, even though I get to run enough, and I recently found out a lot of listeners are in Florida! He has so many golden seeds to share with everyone.

Millennial Rockstar

Are you a millennial?

I think technically, I’m in the gray area, if you will, my birthday is in 1982. idk, maybe I’m trying to pick the best of both worlds. if idk re 3-4 …. blend of most positive aspects of you a and gen x… I always love millennials and millennial another one of those rockstar your… … oh well if… I think millennials are rocking this world, I love millennials, I know they get a bad rap and the ones

If yu paint with a borad enough brush over things… you’ll find good, If you looking for the good in millennials … you there’s plenty of that. If you’re looking for good you’ll find people

That’s me, I always find the good in people, I’m like the eternal optimist!

Denny Krahe Running Coaching Training

Tell us a little about yourself.

In Central Florida, live in basically Lakeland

between Tampa and Orlando

I grew up in Northern Michigan…

right in my neck of the woods

familiar with winters,

moved down here for college

on the gardening side, it’s been an adjustment, because I’m used to 4 seasons, I’m not used to… literally I’m picking tomatoes, the 18th of December…

obviously growing up in Northern literally you don’t do that, and so Michigan 

when to plant things is an adjustment, cold weather…

four season landscaping

down here… things are quite a bit different

On the non-gardening side

DennyKrahe

I like to run, that’s my outlet, and that, that’s what my podcast is all about is all about, overall being healthy, fitness and activity and nutrition… food wise

nothing tastes better then something you pick within the hour, ultimate for fresh food and healthy living…

Isn’t your degree in nutrition? Do yo knowing to talk a little about growing your own food and eating…

my degree in athletic training… injury prevention/recovery.

definitely talk about nutrition

continuing education… mostly ex

recertification stuff

exclusively been nutrition based, food is medicine type of thing…

yeah,

it’s I don’t want to paint industrial ag, big ag with a completely bad sense

there is something to be said about growing your own, that pride that you have! Also, you pick it when it’s fresh, you can control what’s on it, can control what pesticides… 

want or not the chemicals or sprays

are bad for us or not, they might not be bad, but I don’t think they can be good

I’d rather know, I like to have that ownership, and know what’s going on…

Im of the belief that it doesn’t et much healthier when you grow it and whether pick it and your there throughout the whole process

even if it’s in the mind… healthier and throughout…

probably preaching to the choir to this audience

something special about sweat equity on your dinner plate worth every ounce of time and effort 

Let’s take a little thing from John’s better…. as an expert, what’s one thing that you think maybe show that ordinary listener or we would maybe know as someone who’s been studying healthier living… something we might be surprised about…

Food Cravings = Missing Nutrients

One thing that I really believe in, it’s been a little bit, but not years… been rattling around in my brain for a little bit … the idea that …. when we get hungry signals… it’s not so much ordinary that we need calories… we’re craving a vitamin or nutrient

carolers body says you need something…

when you get a pang

craving salty… potato chips which isn’t the best… you go towards your craving

the idea is we’re eating more processed food … get a signal that we’re hungry we’re looking for a mineral and nutrient… Then we eat something that is less then nutrient packed and nutrient dense…. the reason you’re hungry again in 30-45 minutes an hour,  is your body is going through that food and it’s your body is saying your still missing s your still hungry…

that nutrient is missing…

People think when your hungry, what your going for is calories… what I think and I have noticed this in my own life, not rigorous studies but I have noticed

the more nutrient dense food I’m eating which tends to be fresh and local and things of that nature…

the less hungry I am, because my body’s getting the nutrients and minerals all the stuff that comes from the ground… the 

stuff  I’m growing or I’m getting from the local guy down the road

organic produce 6 months of the year…

those are the times Im not hungry… I think it’s because my body’s not craving nutrients… 

if Im on the road

fall off the healthy fresh organic kind of bandwagon…

John Lee Dumas Mastery Journal

This is the greatest thing for me… I just go John lee Dumas’ newest book, the Self-Mastery Journal … I’m deciding what’s my goal gonna be? should it be a food thing or exercise piece? What should it be… and I’m living… I was telling the organifi guy one day… I don’t have time to mix it… I even scooped it out on Sunday last week. that’s how busy you are as a teacher… I have kids in my room at 7:30 in the morning and it’s pretty much non-stop till 6pm…

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 11.57.00 AM.png

Last summer I did the Food Babe’s Sugar Craving detox and it worked so good! I am thinking how can I put that back in my life…  but that might be hard if I live out of a cooler some days? Maybe I just have to put my mind to it …Food Babe Sugar Craving Detox Cover

This is a great thing for me to hear… I’m back to those cravings its perfect for me… 

Variety improves success

Variety as always important… if you’re always eating the same couple of things, you’re not getting the variety of nutrients… try to add…some variety as well will help!

Cool i like that! Do you want to tell us? Did you grow a garden?! I know youre super busy. Don’t you even have a book coming out?!

I’m working on a book. The entrepreneur’s curse! Always doing something. I have bene busy! The podcast is up over 350 episodes now!

And coaching runners…! Doing that! Doing the garden and working on the book!

Always working on different things and going 6 directions and be a good husband and present dad ~ going around in circles…

garden is going well…

IDK where we were the first time. struggle for me has been soil quality

live in a subdivision…when our house was built it’s a lot of fill sand, so certainly not quality soil… this is the battle I’ve been fighting for 3-4 years working to improve the soil quality … without just dumping a bunch of fertilizer, and things like that on it, obviously that’s not improving the quality, maybe a shot for your plants, but not helping your soil…

I was composting for a bit, that was going all right! 

Planet Natural Vermiculture composting worms

Planet Natural Vermiculture composting worms

VERMICULTURE

  • recycle food scraps
  • improve soil

and in the last year and half or so…. I’ve gotten into the vermiculture where you’re using worms to compost for you! And that’s been going really good!

I have a bucket, like a tote! A 30 gallon tote something like that…IDK maybe 18 gallon…! You know the thing you get a Home Depot and pack your blankets in over the summer time …

I just put my food scraps and bunch of worms in that thing and they do a their work! It’s cool to recycle the food scraps that way and improve the soil

  • add worm castings
  • more mulch
  • improve cover cropsWorms at Work composting

every 3 months or so I put some fresh worm castings on to the soil and add more mulch, improve with cover crops, picking tomatoes yesterday.

It’s a small garden… you know  growing up we had a huge garden so this is more of a flower bed

  • got 4 tomato plants
  • basil
  • Kale
  • Florida winter crops in here in the next couple of weeks…

10 feet by 12 feet

couple of fresh bits of produce

now that the soil quality

tomatoes taste good! That’s half the battle. It’s exciting to watch that improve and see the produce!

So you put the worms in a canvas bag? A tote?

No like a plastic tote, bucket that you store stuff in?!

Oh, yea, I know…

plastic tote bin Home Depot

Home Depot

I’m going crazy at school not collecting the compost, I keep trying to fiure out what to do because it’s like throwing all this money away…

Did you say you change it every 3 months?

There’s only 3 of us eating here

worms a little while to work through the food waste, there’s a little art to it…push all of the stuff to one side, then put 

worms kind of migrate… then you can kind of scoop out the casting they created

kind of keep that process going and recycling it…

the more food waste the more you get… you just throw it on

mix it in

Cover Crop Season

if it’s cover crop season… sprinkle it throughout the garden

slow, just like anything

you can throw fertilizer on and get that instant kick

takes a little bit to get there, I think it’s the the right decision

nice to be able to stick the shovel in and see it’s all black dirt, it used to be 

1st quarter of inch…

Without a doubt dirt, coming up with compost and that healthy dirt, is essential and hard to get buy…

I’m thinking we have 17 kids… who eat in my room but only once a day, if we just recycled the breakfast part… we started the garden club in November, it’s winter, but before you know it it’s gonna be open… They have all these bins down there adn there’s a guy from the food corps who has a heated green house. I’m so excited we’re talking today. I think the worms is a great idea! I had Cathy Nesbit

You were telling me about vermiculture…

I got my  ordered my worms from a guy in Pennsylvania, clearly they don’t have to be hyper local, you just have to protect them in winter time, which for me is easy the 2 dys of the year, I just throw a blanket over in it, I almost have more trouble in the summer time, when it’s so hot

so you need to keep them insulated

Any climate zone as long as you keep em moist and cool and warm in the winter your good!

I’ll be like I got us a class pet! I got us 100 worms! I just made that up… what size do they come in?

I think I got 500

it sounds like a lot

they’re not big

if you put your two hands together, it would be a heaping handful in your hands…

it’s not ridiculous quantities… they work fast… 

steady stream of food products… it sounds like you have a steady stream!

The kids are like let’s get a rbbit… I’m not good with a pet, I can’t keep it in the cage… then I’ll want to let it go and then it’s trouble!

worms are pretty self sustaining

great for the classroom

junk mail, you can throw some paper products in there… 

throwing, scrap paper! We have lots of that! 

The kids go through some paper too! I ahve bins and bins of triangles.. I think I have papers from 2007  at Head Start I kid you not. They’ll be like Jackie finally cleaned up her clutter! 

Cool solving two problems at once!

I also love the small garden part… we had like the smallest garden we’ve had in a long time this eyar and my granddaughter… I tough about making my garden challenge this eyar… I alwasys said if I started over I would build a small bed like 3×4 bed that’s hip high and a larger bed that’s 8×10 that I can sit on the edge and weed and harvest and maybe a raspberry patch or something small. Just like a little garden…

I was thinking that might be good for the 2017 garden challenge… maybe I’ll try to do that and mike cna do the big all out garden mini-farm I’ll be in charge of our food that we are gonna eat and he’ll grow for market….

Denny's Garden

That’s what’s growing … there’s 2 summer seasons … I plant the fall, end of year …. beginning of end of sept …. to harvest between now and the end of January… we will get a frost or two …. tomatoes will be running their course because it will be too cold… probably in the next week or I should have done a week ago, the kale…  brocolli … end of feb, beginning of March…. kale does better when the heat starts to show back up… good to get a couple of months of fresh kale for smoothies… saute or whatever

If I get the second round of tomatoes by Valentine’s Day … middle of May it’s just too hot and rainy and the bugs are too crazy …. root rot because of rain … some basil and some mint …. experimenting with different thing … sunflowers this year for the first time, it was almost like a buffer on the back of the screen porch….nice to have something to look at …. big yellow background! 

I need to get a better variety… the variety I have isn’t situated … constant experiment …. take some notes…. so you can find you make the same mistake… 

Im always…… by Valentine’ s day I have to plant my tomatoes then March I’m planting them and then there’s a couple of weeks before it’s too hot in the summer time …. carrots, green beans and kale and broccoli have been most successful so far…

half way decent…

Kale recipe

Im a huge believer in keeping things simple

  • kale with olive oil or butter
  • garlic
  • salt thrown on top
  • cook it so it wilts
  • a little bit of crunch

hit it on stove couple of minutes that’s about it, I don’t make it fancy

good like that for me, for my tatssebuds… 

Just kale and olive oil…

That’s it. If that is the green on the plate that night

IDK if my wife likes it… we have it a couple of times a week during the season! I enjoy it… and I don’t like greens! I like to have a little crunch in my greens…

Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?

Trying to figure out some fruit. I’ve tried the blueberries, I think, I need a different variety.

foolishly bought them at Lowes or Home Depot to think we’d get something for Florida. but we didn’t….

fig trees grow

just about every other house has them

picked out a spot

would be nice

If push came to shove I’m more of fruit then a vegetable guy! 

They grow in the heat so let’s give them a try!

My mom has a fig tree… They kind of remind me of a cross between a pear and a kiwi, no fuzz but yummy totally different then the dried fruit.

I have had them before from folks who have grown them

one of those things…

have this plan in my mind

no good excuse for when it happens… it’ll take two hours one day

get a good healthy plant… from a local nursery.

Well you’ll get it done at the right time.

Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.

I forgot to mention that I’ve also had I have had some success with okra. but I did not have that success this year, we had avery wet spring and summer

my okra

whatever reason, putting my plants in pots

directly into ground, they sprouted up, and growing like crazy… then as soon as I harvested the first round, the leaves started to fall off. I didn’t know at the time, usually they just keep producing you get sick of them and pull htem out to plant somthing else…

when i  went to take them out of the ground… alll of them had no roots, it was just so wet, they never , the roots never had to expand to find any water or moisture

we like th okra in the summer time, it wa skind of a bummer. sil la vis…

for whatever reason the

doesn’t take long

to shut it down

okra during the summer time…

lsoe out

try again next year

two years ago we’ll have

Thanks to our sponsors

 organifi.com

 use promo code OGP16 at checkout for a 15%discount!

Organifi Green Juice is a gently dried superfood mix that supports health and mental clarity, while detoxifying your body all in one delicious drink!

What I love about Organifi:

  1. makes me feel great!
  2. easy and doesn’t take much time!
  3. full of nutrients and superfoods I have a hard time getting anywhere else
  4. tastes delicious!

As a teacher, you all know my time is limited, I have kids in my room from 7:#0 in the morning till 6pm at night so if I can pull it off you can too!

And Organic Gardener Podcast listeners Organifi will give you a 15% discount if you enter code OGP16 to get a 15% discount at checkout that’s Organifi.com code OGP16 at checkout for 15% off your order anytime!

Santa Organifi Green Juice

 organifi.com

 use promo code OGP16 at checkout for a 15%discount!

Screen Shot 2016-12-21 at 7.56.07 AM.png

Recommended books on the Organic Gardener Podcast

The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Denny are you ready to get to the root of things?

Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.

I think the end of the season, when I’m first planting, starting out… IDK mind doing the weeding, tilling stuff, I don’t mind doing that at all… when things are growing up I don’t mind keeping it neat and keeping it tidy. But once it’s run it’s course I start to get lazy, and the weeds are growing, and I let them go and then the weeds are going to seed…

I can totally relate to that Im lucky if I make to the middle of the seas on.

end of the season…

What is your favorite activity to do in the garden.

I mean nothing at all beats walking out to pick dinner while your cooking dinner, pick tomatoes on top of the salad or a side dish or when it’s kale season and its green beans … 

you start the water or pan to cook and go out and throw it right in… from garden to pan in less then 2 minutes! Enjoying the spoils of your labor!

What is the best gardening advice you have  ever received?

I heard this from someone, I can’t remember if it was  book, maybe an article or books, something to the  extent of

“the best thing a farmer can put on his crops is his shadow”

walk out there everyday, to go out ther for me doesn’t take very long…

be observant

see what’s going on…

watch the process… obviously slow…plants don’t grow that much over night 

put your shadow on your crops

good for the mind

calming

always stuck with me since I had my own garden.

a good piece of advice…

Put yor crops in your shadow, I think that’s why mike is so successfl ecause he’s constantly out ther, walking around if a weed pops up, he’ just grabs it, and then they just don’t have a chance they are always getting grabbed rihgt away, I thik he does like 1000 sit ups a day or what ever you call it bends… bends down over and over…

Favorite Tool

A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.

Probably, I’ll go with multiuser functionability of a pitchfork. You can rake, dig, harvest … you can do a lot of things…

I think pitchforks are improtatn…we  have 2 compost piles, and there’s always one in them, and we were thiking of getting a third one…

A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?

Probably the sautee thing, I like to keep things simple

i feel like if you have good ingredients, poduce or meat sources, if you start with good ingredients and don’t screw it up too much

simple sautee

simple steam

something fresh, maybe a little salt

 and stay out of the way…it’s easy it’s quick not a whole lot of mess…. that’s my go to quick and easy!

A favorite internet resource?

google…

not too vague

just googling things

I don’t have any really blogs that I frequent, or always looking at stuff

even though I ve been doing this for 3-4 years, in Florida I’m still learning about the Florida seasons. The things I knew as true in Michigan , growing up there are certainly not

works down there…. googling things for florida

University of Florida

Ag websites

google

something

Florida, Central Florida

if you can’t find it on google…

A favorite reading material-book, mag you can recommend?

I used to really like Organic Gardening, but they changed it to Organic LIfe … Still a great magazine … I haven’t gotten into it as much … it’s still my favorite in print type of reading

What about running?

Runner's World Logo

Your Runner’s World… online publishing

google

Same publisher, Rodales for Runner’s World too…not necessarily everything

hairbrained or legitimate

millenial in my coming through

start off

Final question-

If there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?

On the local level, like I said, I live in a subdivision with the Homeowners

some of the rules

state will get in and support the homeowners rules or go against them

green lawns if you

plant natives

granted we live in Florida

not a big deal with the watering

where there are water restrictions

why do local municipality

why can’t we have native grasses

desert arid plants and cacti and things of that nature, that don’t need the water as much

may not be as beautiful if you try to manicure them 3/4 inch from the gound but if you let them grow they are pretty…

some of those restrictions… If we do anything with the yard we have to get it approved… I fI wanted to tear out my front yard

they would frown upon that.. a few of those restrictions… 

I think a lot of listeners will like that one of my most poplular intevewis was actually with brother who lives in the suburbs in NY and he talked about landscarping…

Do u have an inspiration tip or quote to help motivate our listeners to reach into that dirt and start their own garden?

Kind of like I talked about … pride factor …. feels good… to do something that’s good for you and your environment, don’t be afraid of what you don’t know… that held me back in florida for a long time…

Maybe do a better job then I do of taking notes of what works and what doesn’t… once you pick that first tomatoes… once you get that beautiful head of lettuce whatever it is your growing you realize I did this …you’ll be back for more … it’s addictive and it will take over…  end up with acres and acres of land taking care for, it’s wroth it! So just keep going and get that dirt under your nails…! Keep producing it’s a fun thing to do, it’s something

Good for you’re mind, body, and soul so keep it up!

How do we connect with you?

You can connect with me at 

coaching runners to work towards whatever goals that they have… I just don’t buy into that idea that what works for me, what works for you, might be very different… 

everything

to be the best we can be

where we are right now

coaching…through the podcast and blog and emails … is help people to do that….

one size fits one, instead of one size fits all…

everyone is going to have something slightly different…

You can catch up with me

Dizruns.com homepage

dizruns.com

Diz Runs Website

Social media… it’s gonna be me…there’s no other imposters….

Diz Runs Tribe Facebook page

You can find me at the Diz Runs Tribe on Facebook!

Diz Runs on instagram

On Instagram at Diz Runs

Whether it’s running or gardening…or whatever… I love to connect….if I sound remotely interesting…

lots of fun, lots of support. whether your new to running or a Boston qualifier! We have a good time.

It’s not just for Florida!

Screen Shot 2016-12-21 at 7.56.07 AM.png

Recommended books on the Organic Gardener Podcast

The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

If you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.

About the author, Jackie Marie

I'm an artist and educator. I live at the "Organic Oasis" with my husband Mike where we practice earth friendly techniques in our garden nestled in the mountains of Montana.

Leave a Comment