Still no tomatoes…
Lots of blossoms, still waiting for that first fruit, hopefully our warmer weather coming this week helps out…
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How to make dried oregano
This winter I went through my spice rack (which was given as a wedding gift 11 years ago) and threw out any spices I have yet to open and took inventory of spices I have at least used half of the container. These herbs were added to my growing list which one of which was oregano. Here is the basic steps to harvest, dry, and store your own oregano:…
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Guest Post – Sustainability Through the Consumption of Things Conserved
I do not have too many guest posts but I thought this topic was so interesting I couldn’t refuse. Though Dan specifically talks about purchasing more exotic foods for consumption but the very same principals can also be used when selecting species of plants to grow in your garden. “In other environmental issues we tell people to stop something, reduce their impact, reduce their damage,” – US Ecologist Gary…
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Growing a stevia plant
While heading to my local home improvement I noticed an unusual plant in the herb display and moved closer to investigate. It turned out to be a Stevia plant which is more well known as the primary ingredient in a new artificial sweetener Truvia. I immediately grabbed a good looking plant, I have wanted to grow one of these myself but given the high price of the seeds and…
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First pepper of the year
It has been slow to warm up this year but finally getting some warm enough nights to bring my peppers outside for a little while. Though they were flowering in the grow box I was surprised to see a sweet yellow pepper already growing. This is definitely a record for me by at least a good month.
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How to freeze strawberries
One thing I realized halfway through the winter was that I did not nearly save enough berries to make it through. With local strawberries showing up in my garden and in the farmers market this seemed like a perfect time to get an early start this year. Freezing strawberries is much like freezing other berries strawberries are just as easy with just a few simple steps: 1. Quickly wash…
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Winner of the "Garden Safe gift pack giveaway"
And the winner of the GardenSafe Gift Pack is…Ashley. Thank you for everyone who entered. I am still looking for more giveaways coming soon so you should have another chance to win shortly…
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cheap | free | free gardening tool | giveaway
Garden Safe gift pack giveaway
Last week I was contacted by Garden Safe asking if I would like some samples and given I used the last of my insecticidal soap protecting my peas from aphids I graciously agreed. Expecting to get a couple bottles to try out I was definitely surprised to get the lifetime supply (at least fro my little garden above) Not wanting to share the love with my readers they also…
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Scallions, green onions, and spring onions
I guess while we are at lets not leave out shallots, salad onions, bunching onions, and green sticks. For the purists a scallion is technically slightly less mature than a green onions. No matter what you call them this is a very versatile version of the conventional mature bulb version of the vegetable and shouldn’t be overlooked in your garden. What is great about green onions is the provide…
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Starting seeds in paper towels
Most often I start my seeds in a mix of coconut coir and perlite in seeding cells or small containers, though there are occasions when it may be better to start your seeds in a simple paper towel. Before going into the benefits first lets go over the technique: Get a paper towel, napkin, or coffee filter and spray with water so it is moist (not soaking wet or…
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Ultimate Aquaponics setup
I actually thought I already posted about this bad boy which unfortunately is only a design concept from Philips. For those that are not familiar: Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment. Aquatic animal effluent (for example fish waste) accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank (for example a recirculating aquaculture system). The effluent-rich…
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Growing Pepper Plants Indoors
Pepper plants need specific environmental (temperature and humidity) conditions to establish growth and create high yields. If the temperatures get too low it will stunt its growth or not produce blossoms, when the temperatures get too high the plant will drop it blossoms resulting in no or reduce yields. The perfect temperature range for peppers is between 70 and 80 degrees F for Bell peppers and hot peppers can…