I have been having a losing battle with cattails for the past couple years. This was what was lurking under my snow peas after I pulled them out. The problem with cattails is they do not emerge until the temperatures increase and given their broad root structure trying to remove them will most likely kill the plants (in this case peas) surrounding them. If you attempt to pull cattails…
If I didn’t have a big house blocking my southern exposed window, otherwise I would have completely tried this myself. The basic idea is to take come recycled plastic bottles, use an air pump and some tubing to create an air water pump to push the nutrients to the top and gravity takes care of the rest. The great part of this is that it is an open design…
Egg shells are a great additive to increase the calcium content in the soil of your vegetable garden. Calcium is important to plants specifically because it helps with cell wall structure imperative for strength of plants. There are many specific plants that respond well calcium supplementation: apples, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherries, citrus, conifers, cotton, curcurbits, melons, grapes, legumes, lettuce, peaches, peanuts, pears, peppers, potatoes, tobacco,…
Summer has finally appeared here in the Pacific Northwest with temperatures in the 90s I decided this would be a good time to dry some herbs in the garage given it was already at the right drying temperature without any heating required. Here is the basic steps to harvest, dry, and store your own dried basil. 1. Pick and clean (optional) the leaves Start by trimming as much as…
Cloning herbs is an inexpensive and fast way to expand your herb garden. This is also a great method to possible give or receive (with permission of course) from friends/neighbors. Unlike cloning other organisms, plants have a much simpler procedure you can do in your kitchen. 1. Take cutting from mother plant. Cut a stem of total length of about 4-5 inches, cutting 1/2 inch above a leaf node. …
Lots of blossoms, still waiting for that first fruit, hopefully our warmer weather coming this week helps out…
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:…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…