I threw away banana peels and coffee grounds every day for years before I finally connected the dots. Making compost from kitchen scraps is actually free, not just cheap, and the setup costs nothing if you do it right.
Spring garden bed prep in the Pacific Northwest doesn’t have to cost much. Free city compost, wood chip deliveries, and shredded leaves can get your beds ready for planting without spending a lot.
Another exciting day this week to be included in an interview on Science Friday with Ira Flatow. I’ll update this post and press page with a link to the interview when it becomes available. For people who were listening live here are a few of the topics that were discussed for quick reference: How to make your own upside Down Planter In your Garden The most profitable plants in…
I doubt there is anyone who enjoys pulling weeds, though now at the end of the season is a great time to do some preventive measures to prevent new growth next season. Kill your weeds early: The sooner you pull your weeds the easier it is to keep up with them. In addition, if you pick the weeds before the mature and flower and drop seeds you will save…
If it were up to me every part of my landscaping would be edible. Though my homeowners association may disagree with me but blueberry bushes looks just as nice as any ornamental plant/bush when you visit the nursery with the obvious bonus of free food. When selecting a blueberry bush, unless you are very patient spend about $10 a plant and get some more established ones (about 1/2 inch…
Though the advice on the back of a seed packet gives some great information, they are recommendations and their advice may not exactly apply to your garden. First is row spacing, many times you read something like “plant seeds 3 inches apart in rows 1 foot apart” This brings up some immediate logic of why can the plants be 3 inches apart one way but 12 inches in another. …
When your fruiting plants are flowering and bearing fruit this is a good time to give them a little extra boost. Though you don’t want to throw any old fertilizer at them at this point. You want them to get the nutrients they need to produce high yields of produce, though you don’t want to shock them with an abundance of nitrogen to stimulate new vegetative growth when you…
Growing up in rural Washington state, the job market was a somewhat lacking for those under the age of 16. Given this at the age of 14-15 I was sucked into the attractive and lucrative career of spinach rouging, also known as “The Worst Summer Camp Ever” The basic premise of the job was to walk down endless “female rows” in the hot sun and destroying any male…
Building a raised vegetable garden is a very easy and with the right planning can also be very inexpensive. First you need to answer a few important questions before you get started. The first you have to pick a location. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the location; sun, water, convenience, and competition for nutrients. SUN – You want to pick a location where…
I am moving into a new office this week so I had to bring a couple of my lemon verbena plants home and given the great weather we were having I decided to move them right back into the garden. Fortunately they were a little leggy from lack of sunlight in my office so I cut off some of the dropping stems and was about to put them…
This is really two trellises in one. I started by taking a couple bamboo stakes (reused from a couple of one season too long Halloween scarecrows) and bound them together at the top using some twine. I then put the ends in the corners of my garden leaning against the cinder blocks surrounding my raised garden. I following this by adding some twine up the trellis to allow the…
It has been a blessing that the competition for free coffee grounds at the Starbucks at my work has increased now the weather warmed up and I have freed from the temptation to grab yet another free shiny silver bag of grounds. The reason is, I have put four bags in my compost, worked generous amounts into my vegetable garden and I still have six bags left. Now I…