Articles tagged “Gardening”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Build a Movable Cold Frame By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Apr 4 2008 If the protracted cold is interfering with your plans of getting a head start in your garden, Green_Anarchist from Instructables has directions on how to build a movable cold frame/greenhouse you can position over your plots to encourage seeds to germinate: The greenhouse is planned to be used as a movable greenhouse to + READ MORE

Make Durable Plant Markers Out of Soda Cans By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Apr 3 2008 Get another use out of that empty soda can before you pitch it into the recycling bin.By using some heavy gauge wire, some wire cutters, a hole punch, scissors, and a fine-tipped ballpoint pen, you can make cheap, corrosion-resistant plant-identification markers, so you keep track of what's growing where. + READ MORE

Throw a Seed Bomb By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Apr 1 2008 The weapon of choice for guerrilla gardeners everywhere, seed bombs (or seed grenades) are compressed balls of soil and compost that have been impregnated with wildflower seeds.Jettisoned onto barren, abandoned, or otherwise inhospitable land, including construction sites and abandoned lots, seed bombs are a covert-and... + READ MORE

Find Seeds From Any Vegetable, Herb, Flower Variety By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Mar 28 2008 If you're looking for seeds from a particular vegetable, herb, or flower variety, and you're not having any luck with your favorite gardening catalogs or the local seed swap, try Mother Earth News' Seed and Plant Finder. + READ MORE

Listen to Your Garden Grow By Kelly Rossiter IN Home & Garden Mar 28 2008 My neighbour Sue, who to my everlasting sorrow is no longer with us, had the most magnificent spring garden you could imagine. Suddenly I was planting 200 to 250 bulbs a year in my very small back garden and even-smaller front-yard space.A number of years ago, I was out walking in the late evening at the time of year... + READ MORE

Garden, Eat Salad to Reduce Lung Cancer Risk By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Food & Health Mar 21 2008 Score another one for good old-fashioned diet and exercise: Eating four or more servings of green salad a week, and working in the garden once or twice a week, can substantially reduce your risk of developing lung cancer, whether you're a smoker or a nonsmoker, according to researchers at the University of Texas M.D.... + READ MORE

Share Gardening Catalogs With Your Kids By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Mar 17 2008 Difficulty level: Easy While mail-order seed catalogs are meant to entice adult gardeners, their appealing images can also spark children's interest in learning more about gardening, the environment, along with food and nutrition, according to Evelyn Neier, a horticulturist and state coordinator for the Kansas Junior... + READ MORE

Find 21 New Uses for Old Tennis Balls By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Feb 15 2008 Just because your old tennis ball has lost its bounce, doesn't mean it can n't serve up an extra use or two. Use to clean black scuff marks, from any hard-surface floor, by cutting a hole in the ball and staking it with an old broom handle 12. + READ MORE

Build Your Own Self-Watering Container Garden By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 25 2008 More than just another container garden, the patented Earth Box is a virtually maintenance-free system that allows you to grow food in your own backyard, balcony, or deck. I haven't done any fancy layered fertilizer stuff, but supposedly if you put a layer of fertilizer down first, before the dirt, the water will bring + READ MORE

Detox Your Home: Maintain a Poison-Free Home for Your Pets By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 25 2008 In 2006, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) fielded more than 116,000 calls to its Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) hotline, several of which involved seemingly innocuous household items, including plants. Be aware of foods that are inappropriate for pets: Avoid feeding your... + READ MORE

Make Seed-Starting Pots From Recycled Materials By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 24 2008 You don't need elaborate seed-starting biodomes or habitat-destroying peat pellets to get your greens to sprout. Newspaper: A little origami magic turns a single sheet of newspaper into a seed-starter pot that you can later plant whole into your garden in late spring or early summer. + READ MORE

Tend to Your Garden in Winter By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 16 2008 Although many of the perennials grown in the garden slumber through the winter months, the gardener is far from inactive, according to Stephen and Val Bradley, authors of Fragrant Gardening (2003, Laurel Glen). Remove any dead flower heads, yellowing leaves, and other plant debris before mold starts to form, to cut the + READ MORE

Calculate Seed-Sowing, Planting Dates By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 14 2008 Garden planners can calculate seed sowing and planting dates in seconds with the handy Microsoft Excel-based Lazy Gardener's Automatic Seed-Starting Chart. Download the seed-starting chart file at You Grow Girl, enter the frost-free date for your region (refer to Almanac.com for the down-low), and the spreadsheet will... + READ MORE

Plan a Garden By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 10 2008 January and February are the best months to start plotting your garden, so you can order the seeds in anticipation of spring. If you're sticking to herbs this year, pick up Herbal Remedy Gardens: 38 Plans for Your Health & Well-Being and Herbal Tea Gardens: 22 Plans for Your Enjoyment & Well-Being by Dorie Byers (1999, + READ MORE

Borrow From a Tool-Lending Library By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 7 2008 If you're finding it tough to justify the purchase of an expensive belt sander or a rotary hammer drill for what is likely a one-off project-we know we would-and your neighbors are acting ornery, find out if you have access to a tool-lending library in your neighborhood before you make a bank-breaking purchase. + READ MORE

Attend, Organize a Seed Swap By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 4 2008 Eagerly waiting for the postman to jam your mailbox with seed catalogs? Before you start circling your orders with gusto, consider checking off the items on your garden wish list by attending-or even organizing-a seed swap.Not only will you be able to stash away some dough, but you'll also be able to meet and greet... + READ MORE

Composting Basics: Make Compost Fast By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Dec 3 2007 Ready to supercharge your compost? A couple of tips for the fainter of heart: Periodically sprinkle in mature compost with good bacteria to give a lagging pile a boost. + READ MORE

Cultivate a New Generation of Gardeners By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Nov 29 2007 Putting your bairns to work in the garden isn't just a way to scam some free labor; gardening, whether at home or at school, offer the little nippers the sensory experience of growing food, as well as the physical activity involved in manipulating tools, planting, harvesting, and building structures such as tomato... + READ MORE

Grow a Tree By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Nov 19 2007 The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now, according to one Chinese proverb. One acre of forest absorbs 6 tons of carbon dioxide and releases 4 tons of oxygen-enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.And, with its cool nights and pouring... + READ MORE

Composting Basics: Make Your Own Fertilizer By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Nov 12 2007 Instead of watching your vegetable cuttings get trucked off to some distant landfill for all perpetuity, give your garden soil a zero-cost shot of high-powered, plant-loving nutrients by letting your kitchen waste degrade into rich, earthy compost. transferred back to other plants Fats, grease, lard, or oils-create... + READ MORE