My Garden! May 2011

Roma Tomatoes

I got the seeds from Roma Tomatoes I bought at the store. I did the same thing with the Bell peppers down below. You don't always have to buy your seeds!



Green Bell Peppers

Broccoli And Swiss Chard In The Raised Garden

The plastic bottle in the picture is a type of irrigation I use when I am not in town for a few days. You can save you milk jugs and poke tiny holes on the sides to make it a time - released watering system. It will work up to 3 - 7 days of watering depending on the size of the jugs. I have four 1/2 gallon jugs in my raised garden. It works up to 3 days.

Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, And Basil

Different Ways To Burn Calories: Hand Wash Your Car!

Image Credits: joe-ks.com

     One thing I noticed more than ever is that people are not outside as much as they were when I was a child. We have everything at our beckon call. We do not need to get up for almost anything anymore. That is why the pounds keep on packing on!

     A way to get off your feet, burn some calories, and save some money in these economic times is to wash your car. You can do it the "green way" by washing it by hand at your house or go to your nearest self-service car wash location and go at it. Either way, you are off that couch and burning that extra energy you have stored in your fat cells.

     The best times in the day to do this is in the morning or late afternoon. If you are outside and there is no shade available, make sure to use some sunblock SPF 30 and above to protect your skin.

Natural Insecticide For Plants Recipe

                                           Image Credits:

                                          dezinerfolio.com

 Natural Insecticide for Plants Recipe

Ingredients:

1 quart of warm water                                                  

2 tb or organic liquid dish soap

1 large re-used spray bottle

 

Directions:

1. Warm up a quart of water on the stove or microwave. Pour the warm water inside the spray, then add the organic liquid dish soap. Shake it up and it is ready to use!

                                                                                                               I had a big problem with tomato worms attacking my bell pepper plants and I did not want to use any thing harmful to the plant or myself. This homemade insecticide took care of the problem!                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                    

21 Great Ideas From Wise Bread: Living Large On A Budget

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Image Credits: Wisebread.com

I was checking out my mail when I came upon this intriguing article on Yahoo.com about 21 things you should not buy new. This article is very important for those who are living on a tight budget. I for sure

am one of them. It gives you information where to buy used things (ex: Craiglist, Freecycle, & yard sales). You can get awesome deals on used items such as cds, dvds, gardening tools, furniture, cars, house, etc. Check the rest of the helpful things Wise Bread can help you with.

My Garden!: The month of March.

Roma Tomatoes
These tomatoes came to be because I did not make sure to clean out the seeds out of the tomato scraps. I can not complain though, these Roma's are starting to look really good. The were a breeze to grow. To keep the white flies away, I planted 2 garlic cloves with each Roma tomato plant.

Basil
I have had this basil for a few years. It is a hybrid between sweet basil and purple ruffles basil. It as green leaves, but blooms purple flowers. Very strong and aromatic!

 Broccoli
This is my last broccoli flower head. Before, I had planted many seedlings close together, but then I read that they need a lot of room, like tomatoes. I can not wait until their next growing season, so I can have large flower heads and a larger bounty!

Right next to the broccoli, is a cauliflower plant. Obviously, I mixed up the seedlings due to not labeling the pots!

Cabbage
My cabbage's flower head is starting to form. I also planted garlic nearby to repel cabbage bugs. Which includes:

• cabbage looper, cabbage maggots, & cabbageworms

Bell Peppers
I am not to sure what color the bell pepper will be. I had saved some seeds of all the colors, but I do not know which ones colors had survived. Pretty fun not to know, it is like a surprise!

Mammoth Sunflower Seedlings
I am just barely starting them out. I also have some other seedlings of red sun sunflower.

My Garden! Febuary's Pictures!

Broccoli plants
My second broccoli plant has sprouted it's flower head! The more I read books and jot down things in my journal, the better I become at gardening.

I know that next time, I will plant 1 broccoli plant in each square foot or large pot. They need a lot of room. Since, mine are close together, the flower heads are going to be small. Which is ok, because this is a learning process.

Here is the second flower head up close. Gardening is hard, but it is so much fun to do. Especially, when you reap the benefits or producting your own food.

Here is the 1st flower head that sprouted. I have already harvested this one and put it in the freezer. 

Chamomile

In my earlier post, I thought that this was either oregano or thyme. However, I really starting to believe that these plants are Chamomile.

If they are, I planted these back in September of last year. I have no idea why they took so long to sprout. I had thought the seeds were probably no good.

This is great news, because Chamomile has great medicinal properties!

Cabbage

My largest cabbage is starting to sprout its flower head. I had some pest attack the outer leaves, but sprinkling some Cat's Claw around it did the trick.

Bell Peppers

I need to split these guys up, because like tomatos, they like room. I got the seeds from the actual bell pepper bought at the store.

Cauliflower

These are my cauliflower plants. Like the broccoli, they need to be planted with a lot of space. My yeild will be small, but it is my 1st time and watching them grow is great!

Marigold

My marigold has also sprouted a flower head.

My Garden!

Marigold

Here some pictures of my garden as of January 31, 2010. Above is my marigold. Can not wait until it blooms!

Fuji Apple Seedlings

These are my Fuji apple seedlings. It is funny how I got them. When you start reading gardening books, they warn you to take out all the seeds out of fruits or veggies you are going to put in the compost. Well, I did not pull out the apple seeds. So, out of the many that have sprung up in my garden, I decided to keep three and see how they grow. To avoid unwanted seedlings, make sure to take out the seeds!

Broccoli

These are two broccoli plants I have in my raised garden. One of them have a flower head already coming out. Below is my compost.

Flower Head of Broccoli

I am so excited, this is my first broccoli flower head. Making a journal really made the difference in my gardening. In addition, reading the All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! book and other gardening books.

Here is my compost. Every since I read the All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! I found out that I had been doing my compost wrong all along. So, I took it out of the container I had it in and now turn it in a corner of a fence. I turn it every day to have it ready in two weeks.

Cauliflower

Also in the raised garden, I have two cauliflower plants. They have not yet sprouted a flower head, but I will make sure to take a lot of pictures of the progress in my garden.

Garlic

These garlic plants will be done once the leaves turn yellow.

Cabbage

Thyme

My Garden!

    This is my semi - homemade greenhouse. I bought the shelves at Wal-Mart for about $20 and just simply wrapped it with left over plastic I had from plastic bags and some tape to secure it.

    I am experimenting with starting seedlings in regular potting soil or in vermiculite. So far, I planted cabbage, leeks, nicotiana, calendula, crooked neck yellow squash, and Texas yellow grano onion in the vermiculite. The cabbage and the onions sprouted in just 5 days. The leeks and squash took about 8 days.

    I planted some dill, banana and jalapeno peppers in potting soil on January 6th. Only 1 dill seedling has sprouted and it took 2 weeks. I am still waiting for the rest to sprout. I got the vermiculite idea from the "All New Square Foot Gardening," by: Mel Bartholomew.

    This is a picture of the second shelf containing the squash, avocado, cabbage, and oregano seedlings.
The oregano seedling was actually found growing next to my only dill sprout. I think it was a seed that did not sprout last growing season.

    To make more room for my plants, I decided to make an earth box. I found directions on the internet. If you have power tools, this can be an easy weekend task to take up. I made mine out of a storage box, yogurt containers, plastic ties. The tools I used were a hand power saw, hand saw, a drill, and a vise. This is what it looks like below.

    According to the directions, you need to use potting mix and not potting soil. I made the mistake of putting potting soil in the earth box yesterday. So, I will just shovel it out and put in the recommended mix. The potting mix itself was somewhat expensive. 2 1 cubic foot bags were about $7.00 each. It is a mixture of peat moss, compost, perlite, and dolomite. The instructions provide a mix you can make for yourself in the question and answer part. I am thinking about planting some All Star strawberry plants in my earth box. I should be able to grow 10 of them in this self-watering container.

I will make sure to talk about my garden at least once a week. I have also made a journal for my garden this season and it is making a difference. If you do not want to make you own earth box, you can just click on the links below. Every thing just takes time and patience!

Square Foot Gardening by: Mel Bartholomew

   I have had a green thumb every since I was a child, but just with ornamental plants. Then, I moved on to growing herbs. Those required some attention, but it was until I tried my hand at vegetables, I really began to understand I needed to educate myself in gardening techniques.

   I had heard of Square Foot Gardening techniques from the Garden Girl, Patti Moreno ( bottom right ). From her website, I learned how to make my raised garden, but it was until I had finally bought Mr. Bartholomew's book began to understand my mistakes.

    The "All New Square Foot Gardening," book helped me with my composting, separating plants, spacing plants, starting seedlings in vermiculite, and mixing the perfect soil for gardening. I had tried to grow vegetables for 2 seasons with little success.  I am very exited to see what differences in production I will see with these new techniques. 

    Mel Bartholomew's book is very readable and easy. It will not bore you out. It is actually very interesting and I really enjoyed reading this book. It only took me about 12 days to go through it.  

If you want to get into gardening, this is book can teach you the easy way to make it happen without a lot of hard, back breaking work! I highly recommend it, click on the link below!

by Mr. Mel Bartholomew (Author) All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! (Paperback)

Some of My Favorite Green Ideas from Planet Green

This is one of my favorite green websites. They always come up with great ideas on how the make your change over to the green lifestyle easier.

Here is things you should make instead of buying. read more

Do it your self beauty treatments. read more

Different uses for Alka Seltzer. read more

A homemade pizza stone. read more

65 easy green diy projects.read more

Composting

Last week, I prepared my raised bed for compost. Since it had rained really well last week, the material in my compost was well broken down.

I aired out the soil by turning it and weeding out all the plants and weeds I do not want in the bed.

Last growing season, my garden did not produce well because my mind was not totally into it. However, now I am writing down all my information in a journal to keep better track and create a food producing garden.


Making a journal is very important because all the different plants' needs are not the same. Just like your body, you need a journal to know what is working and what is not.

Here is my compost. I know it is gross looking, but it is the most natural fertilizer you can give to your garden. Plus, it eliminates vegetable, weeds, dead plants, and paper materials from your trash.





This is my raised bed fully composted. All I did was spread the compost over the top of the soil and water. Watering adds the nutrients to the soil faster and prepares the soil for the new planting season.

Homemade Deodorant

Homemade Deodorant

baking soda

petroleum jelly

cornstarch or orris root powder

Direction:

Step 1: Add 3 tablespoons of petroleum jelly to a small pan or pot and melt. Then, add 3 tbsp of baking soda and cornstarch (or orris root powder). Mix and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

Step 2: Put the mixture in a re-usable container and allow to cool.

Application:

Step 1: You do not need a lot of this mixture. Use your index finger and apply enough to fill up the tip of the finger. Apply the deodorant cream in the palm of your hand and smooth out. Then, apply to your armpits.

I have tried this for a week and it works great. I do not need no more than 1 thin application of the cream. Make sure to put only a thin application of the cream when using.

Organic Counter and Floor Cleaning Solution

Homemade Cleaning Solution

1/4 cup of vinegar

reusable spray bottle

warm water

essential oil

Directions:

Step 1: Add 1/4 cup of vinegar inside an empty spray bottle. Fill up with warm water and add 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oil

Instead of buying expensive organic cleaners at the store, you can simply make it yourself. This solution is good for both the floor and counters. Be careful with marble, because vinegar might scratch it.

7 Ways How to Eat Green From Fitsugar.com

I love reading Fitsugar.com They always have pretty interesting and helpful posts. I have been learning how to be green for about a year. I still have a lot to learn. Here is a perfect post for those who are at the beginning of turning green. read more

Changing over to a green lifestyle influenced me to change my health standards. Being green, losing weight and maintaining health go hand in hand together. Plus natural foods taste great!

Starting or Turning you compost!

Fall is right around the corner which is the best time to start a new compost or turn your compost you collected all summer. Even though it takes some time, composting is the best and natural way to fertilize your garden.

All you need to do is find an area in your back yard or patio area to start one. For, people who do not have a back yard or a patio area, you can use 2 containers (make sure one can fit in the other) and place it under your sink. I went and bought a storage container for mine. Make holes in the bottom of the container holding the compost to ensure runoff. Lastly, just start putting your vegetable food scraps, egg shells, weeds, dry or green plant cuttings and wood. If you use wood or very thick dry plant cuttings, make sure to make them small enough so they can break down faster.

Here is mine. I have not used the compost yet, so I am real exited to use it for my fall garden this year. I have used other supposedly organic fertilizers for my garden, but I could not get it going real good this year. Before, when I used to use the synthetics, I had a beautiful garden, but there is also no telling what type of bad chemicals I was putting in my body. With a compost, you do not have to worry about that or about cost.

Here, I added some dry and green plant material I had saved from my summer garden. I also watered the compost in order to increase the break down of the materials. Make sure not to water log your compost

This is what my compost looks like after it has been turned.

This is what it looked like before it was turned.

Here are some wonderful articles from about.com to help you with your compost and how to use it. read more