Though not the best summer for tomatoes, our mild summer has been great for strawberries. Until recently I was picking about a pint a day from our modest “strawberry patch” Many became a quick snack, smoothies, and others got frozen for consumption this summer. This morning the kids wanted something special for breakfast so decided on making some homemade strawberry syrup. Homemade Strawberry Syrup Ingredients: 2 cups sliced…
This is an unfortunately record, being the latest I have gotten my first ripe tomato. In case if anyone was wondering, this was on the 1 gallon milk carton upside down garden planter.
The jalapenos are doing great, they are loaded with peppers and I already harvested some to make some jalapeno powder. The Cayenne peppers are looking good and though they are a little late, I am just waiting for them to just begin to change color before I dry them and make some cayenne powder. The bell peppers are not doing quite as well the ones above have a pretty…
Photo from Alberta Home Gardening You’re not the only one who enjoys your garden–deer, rabbits and even household pets may find your flowers or vegetables to be tasty treats. And, of course, dogs and cats may mistake your garden beds for a great place to do their business. While organic or eco-friendly pest control is a good idea for combating any type of pest, it is especially important to…
I was contacted by SoilLogic and offered a free sample of their product Moisture X-Tend. Though I could attempt to describe their product, I will let them do it in their own words… Moisture X- Tend helps water penetrate the surface of the potted soil easier and remain within the soil root zone up to 4X’s longer than untreated water. This innovative soil moisture management product helps prevent water…
Other than gardening I also enjoy cooking manly foods such as chili and BBQ rubs. One seasoning I have heard being used for both recently was jalapeno pepper powder. Not seeing any in local stores and having an abundance of jalapeno peppers in my garden I decided to attempt to make my own. 1. First picked some nice green jalapeno peppers from my garden, I chose to use…
Don’t have the space, money, and/or time to have a full size pond? May want to think about adding a small container water garden. All it takes is a sealed decorative container and you can have an attractive addition to your garden. I would also recommend the mosquito prevention techniques of creating moving water with a pump or add some goldfish to eat the mosquito larva. Via apartment therapy,…
I first saw this idea on a garden mailing list at work but given most of you are not on that, I figured I should share with the rest of you. My problem was I had a big bag of seeds and it was always a pain to dif through and find the right seeds for the time of year I was planting. My solution was to use Darice…
The common theory is that the origin of the word “strawberry” is based on the practice growing the plants with a layer of straw mulch to help retain moisture, deter pests, and keep the berries cleaner for picking. There is also a thought that they were simply packaged in straw when being brought to market. There is one problem with this theory which in this article from Snopes sums…
I normally hang my garlic off my bike to allow it to cure and store to use over the winter, but given the large amount of garlic I have grown and I have gotten into better shape and am actually using my bike, I decided to attempt to create a pretty garlic braid. After spending a 10-15 minutes checking on the internet on the various knots and techniques to…
I like to use garlic powder for making my own BBQ rubs and in cooking where I am too lazy to cut up some fresh garlic. Whenever I go to buy garlic powder at the grocery store I normally end up convincing myself to get 11 ounces of garlic salt at $3.99 versus the $7.49 for a 9 ounce container of garlic powder. Though this not what I really…
Knowing your soil composition is very important if you are attempting to amend your existing soil to get your premium soil for growing. You soil is made up of four components; sand, silt, clay, and organic material. Sand has the largest particle size of all these components and creates large gaps between them which is excellent for water to flow through and roots to grow in. On the contrast…