Ideas, Info, Tools & Technology to Create Your Dream Garden
gardening
Labeling Fruit Trees
May 15th
If you want to mark important trees and shrubs, copper labels last forever, and are easy to make.
How To Make Copper Plant LabelsI’m very excited. Last night I made copper labels for all of our fruit trees. All it took was; some 1” labels, which you can buy, but I won them at a gardening event; metal stamping set; wood scrap; and a hammer.
To do the stamping -
- Pick out the letters needed from the stamping kit.
- Place label on scrap wood.
- Align stamp for placement on the label.
- Hit lightly with the hammer.
The Irrigation Maze
May 1st
Sprinklers are fun to play in, but not very efficient for watering your yard.
We’ve all heard that putting in an irrigation system is the way to go, but how do you decide what you need, especially if you’re still putting in your yard and are not quite sure what the final plan will look like? We keep changing our minds about what we want; where and how many of this or that we want to grow.
Not only that, there are new developments every year, or at least that I hear about, so keeping up with options can take a lot More >
Feed Me!
Apr 24th
Knock, knock FEED ME!
Nature Amongst UsOne of the things I like the most about living in the country is all the wildlife. We have an abundance of birds which are my favorite, but also, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possums, and although I’ve never seen one I’ve seen the prints for deer.
Wildlife can be a delight and a pain at the same time. Just this morning I had one bold sparrow hanging on the window and pecking it, to let me know it’s time to refill the feeder. Then, while I was meditating, a huge squall happened right outside my window. A More >
The Luscious Smells Of Spring
Apr 19th
The hevenly scent of lemon thyme and oregano as they grow together in my garden.
Today I finally got to cleaning all the weeds out of the herb garden. I was appalled to see how many and how big they had gotten this early in the season. Just goes to show you how early it got warm.
I was surprised to find a little plant called Mexican Mace, I don’t have the botanical name, growing. When I planted it I thought it was an annual. Then last year I thought it was coming up from seed, but this year it is too More >
Learning By Doing
Apr 2nd
Is this salvia or sage for you?
Trial By FireA number of years ago I had the privilege of working at a garden center. I ended up being the buyer for all the perennials, herbs, and frequently the annuals. I was so excited. I was going to be able to make my living being surrounded by plants, what could be better. I received my first order and scanned the form. My heart hit bottom, everything on the list looked like it was written in Greek, well actually Latin.
I spent hours with a perennial guide next to me looking up all the More >
Keeping Up With “Frankenseeds”
Mar 29th
On several occasions I’ve talked about GMO or GE crops. Monsanto and Seminis are the two main companies developing these seeds. While developing their “frankenseeds” they’re also keeping their foot in the legitimate seed door. I recently found a listing of many of the varieties that Monsanto and Seminis sell.
What does this mean for the home grower or the conscientious gardener? Anyone who’s concerned about the effects of Monsanto’s work can vote with their pocketbook, by staying away from seeds that are offered by either Monsanto or Seminis.
Safe seeds will ensure the planets food supply.
The best way to do this More >
Glorious Oriental Seeds
Mar 27th
One thing that the US has is a poverty of varieties of vegetables. When you enter a supermarket you find just one kind of broccoli, one variety of carrot, one maybe two varieties of cucumber (eating and a pickling). What most Americans don’t know is that there are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of varieties of almost every vegetable on the planet.
I recently found a great site for buying typical oriental vegetable seeds. Unfortunately I found the site after I had ordered all my seeds for this year, but I wanted to share this resource with you, so that you can More >
The Overwhelm List
Mar 22nd
Preparing for the New Season
About a week ago I walked around the property and made note of anything that needed to be done. I came in with a staggering 42 projects that need completing. In looking through the list only a few are attainable in a single day and some could take several weeks to complete. Egad, I just thought of another one!
I love gardening. It’s in my blood and when I don’t do anything for awhile I start to get cranky. Since we bought this property, though, I’ve been in overwhelm mode almost since the start.
The SituationWe have one More >
Missing Out On Gardening Time
Mar 20th
There’s nothing more aggravating than having an unreliable car. In today’s world a car is no longer a luxury. Gone are the corner grocery and drug stores. Now you have to drive 5-10 minutes to get to a super-grocery or department store. When your car repeatedly fails you, it can create tremendous amounts of stress and cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Not only that it can cut into time you’d ordinarily have to enjoy yourself. Putting in new gardens, painting a room, designing the pond next to the entrance, etc., can be seriously hampered if you are repeatedly spending More >
2012 Premiere
Mar 15th
First spinach seedlings of 2012 emerge.
Ta-da! The 2012 garden show has begun. The very first spring seeds have sprouted. Planted on 3/2/12 the very first spinach seeds have broken ground. I was waiting with bated breath, as it seemed like forever for the first seeds to emerge.
I planted both spinach and sugar snap peas that day. So far just a few spinach seedlings are showing.
We’re having a very hot spring already and I’m concerned that the rest of the spring seeds, which I plan to get in the ground in the next few days, will sprout and immediately bolt. In More >