Posts Tagged “gardening”
Posted by: Rose in herbs, tags: gardening
 Via: seattlepi.com
1. At a nursery, pick up seeds, potting soil, and a few small pots or a window box (it must be shorter than the length of your windowsill-measure first!). Get a container at least four to five inches deep with a drainage hole at the bottom.
2. Fill container with soil and place seeds on the surface. Cover with an eighth of an inch more soil, then mist with water from a spray bottle (pouring water directly on the soil could disturb the seeds). Cover top of container in plastic wrap to prevent seeds from drying out.
3. Herbs should start to sprout in one to two weeks – leave plastic wrap on, without watering, until then. Once you can see them growing, unwrap, but resist the urge to water again until the soil feels dry an inch beneath the surface. When in doubt, wait another day to water – you really can kill herbs with kindness. – Vinnie Drzewucki of Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, NY
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If you are new to the wonderfully healthy and economical past time of gardening, this list might be interesting to you. For all those who have been gardening for ages already, maybe you enjoy checking what this lady thinks is essential, and add what’s missing, from your own experience 
Via: baltimoresun.com
 By Susan Reimer
Use the right tool for the job” was the motto of my father, the woodworking hobbyist.
My mother, however, used the same cast-iron skillet to cook just about every meal.
I am their daughter, the gardener, and I don’t think you can have too many garden tools, even if you find yourself using your garden knife for just about every job.
Since this is the time of year to take stock of garden hardware and draw up a spring shopping list, let me offer my list of essential garden tools.
Every gardener has a trowel and a pair of pruners. What follows are items that make the garden’s toughest jobs easier.
•A garden cart.
•A mulch fork.
•A perennial shovel.
•Gardening knife
•A gardening-gear organizer.
•Garden kneeler.
•Pruner holster.
•Rain barrel.
•Gloves.
•EasyBloom plant sensor.
Explanations and estimated price of all listed items you can find here
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 We finally got our seeds, accompanied by a nice letter from FEDCOs, and what they are telling their customers there did not come as a big surprise to us: Fedco has had record sales this year, an over 40% growth in seed sales, which adds to the 20% growth they saw last year… At a time where good news from any company out there are extremely rare, isn’t is significant which business is prospering in times such as these ?
So we will see a lot more gardens and finally less useless lawn in the neighborhood, it seems.
Good luck with your garden, everyone !
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Via: Seattle Garden & Kitchen Examiner
A prolific garden can save your family a lot of money
 Food prices are continuing to rise while more and more products get recalled. It only makes sense that all of us considering ways to raise some of the food we eat. The more we food we raise, the less we will have to buy.
By growing our own food, we are able to know exactly what was added to the soil unlike store bought fresh produce. By having our own gardens, we also have the satisfaction of providing for ourselves and being part of the solution and, not the problem. Winter is a great time to start planning your vegetable and herb gardens.
We personally, have saved a great deal of money by growing (and preserving) our own fruits, vegetables and herbs. Each year we go over what worked and what didn’t and adjust our garden accordingly. This is an important part of gardening, adjusting and readjusting to make sure you continually get the most out of your garden.
Not all gardens will, or should, be the same. Each gardener needs to take into consideration which fresh (and preserved) fruits and vegetables your family eats most often. This can be done by simply asking questions – does everyone in the house like green beans, do we consume enough salads to make growing our own lettuce worthwhile? Will your kids snack on cherry tomatoes, carrots or fresh berries? How often do we eat peas or potatoes?
Also consider which fresh fruit and vegetables you seem to purchase every trip to the market and if there any items you avoid buying because they are too high priced, even though they can be grown locally? And lastly, do you wish you could treat your family to organically grown vegetables but the price is just too high?
Full Story
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Via: washingtonpost.com
As gardeners, we are at the forefront of the new Green Revolution.
 Thirty years ago, most home landscaping consisted of lawn, foundation plantings, a few trees, and perhaps a bed for flowers or vegetables. Plants were chosen for their color when flowering and their availability at garden centers. Maintenance included mowing, fertilizing, spraying, pruning and watering.
But we now know that native plants can endure without synthetic chemicals or fertilizer, or much watering or labor, once established. And that insects that depend on native plants are important food for birds.
Knowing this, gardeners can take steps to promote sustainability in their landscapes. It involves how you use your property — everything you own. Here are some key steps that will help you to create a sustainable gardening culture and promote renewable energy:
· Use plants, trees and shrubs that are native to your area. They are already adapted to local growing conditions.
· Keep the soil in good condition with homemade compost and mulch, saving energy by using on-site materials.
· Collect rainwater to irrigate plants and to clean your tools, deck, patio and car.
· Control your use of pesticides and herbicides. Employ natural remedies such as soap sprays and hand-removal of weeds. Use the least toxic methods of control. Encourage beneficial insects such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps. Research the techniques of integrated pest management, use them in your landscape.
· Recycle materials on your property, including compost and masonry. Pots, pans and teapots make great containers for planting. Scrap lumber can have another life as fencing material. Carryout containers are perfect scoops for potting soil and fertilizer and save you a trip to the garden center. Plastic jugs with holes punched in the bottom will water your plants during dry spells.
· Increase food production. Plant more fruits, berries and vegetables so you can eat locally and seasonally, decreasing the need for food to be transported from all over the world. Make your edible plantings as beautiful as flowerbeds by training them on trellises, arbors or other structures. Mix in beneficial flowers, such as marigolds, which are natural insect repellents. Don’t forget herbs.
· Encourage diversity. Install a wide variety of flora that allows plants, birds and insects to cohabitate.
· Use all spaces to install greenery, including patios, porches, balconies and window boxes, to reduce your carbon footprint even further.
· Use less energy. Disturb the land as little as possible. For example, heavy machinery uses fuel. Create berms for sound protection and privacy. Plant swales to reduce rainwater runoff, which can cause water pollution. Use plants to provide shade to reduce cooling costs and windbreaks to reduce heating costs. Make use of muscle power and not horsepower as much as possible. Even small devices, such as hedge trimmers, waste nonrenewable energy.
· Make garden chores more efficient. Take time to compost, mulch, plant and harvest.
· Take responsibility. Educate yourself and others. Investigate community resources, such as community gardens. Evaluate practices used in your garden, and decide whether they are environmentally responsible.
· Evaluate any feature or plant before installing it on your property by asking if it will require a lot of water, fertilizer, pesticide, electricity, gasoline or other fossil fuel. If it does, alter the plan to make it more sustainable and energy-efficient.
Sustainable landscapes are practical. They save energy, money and labor. Creating them may take a little more thought and effort at the beginning, but the end results will better sustain all of us.
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We just wanted to share a picture from our garden
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Via: iStockAnalyst .com
Water thoroughly and deeply
Watering can be the biggest task in August particularly if the weather gets hot. Vegetable gardens, most flowering plants and the lawn all need about 1 inch of water every week to keep them green and looking nice. Be sure to water thoroughly and deeply each time. When possible, do your watering in the morning or early afternoon so the soil has a chance to warm up before the cooler evening hours set in. Deep watering will induce the plant’s roots to grow deeper, where they are less likely to dry out. The added benefit is deep roots anchor the plant into the ground better. Light, surface watering actually wastes water, because the water never actually reaches the root zone of the plant, and the moisture rapidly evaporates from the top inch of soil. The best way to tell if your plants are receiving enough water is to take a trowel or shovel and dig down a few inches. The soil should be moist at least 3 or 4 inches deep to ensure that the water is reaching the root zone of the plants. Of course, if you planted drought-resistant plants in your garden, you won’t have to water as often, but the principal of deep watering still applies.
Gathering herbs
As your herbs mature, gather them for drying regularly. Harvesting once per week is ideal. Keep your basil deadheaded. For most herbs, a well-drained soil will give the most flavor and scent. Do you know the difference between a herb and a spice? A herb is from the foliage of a plant, while spices are from the seeds, bark or other parts of a plant; some plants supply both herbs and spices.
Fruit care
Strawberries should be thinned out before fall. Remove all but two or three runners from your main plants for abundant, large fruits. If you have diseases on your fruit trees, get rid of the affected fruit. Don’t let them sit under your tree as sources of infection for next year.
Finding late bloomers
Mid- to late-summer blooming trees can be hard to find if you move beyond crape myrtles. Some shrubby plants work well when pruned into small trees at providing height and later season interest. The old stand-by, PeeGee hydrangea with its large white snowballs makes a showy and distinctive small tree if trained upright when young. Butterfly bush can also be trained to a single trunk and grown as a tree. Look for vigorous-growing larger varieties such as Opera rather than the more compact Nanho forms.
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