This is the fourth and final installment of my beginner gardening tutorial. For this class I decided to list some of my favorite books and growing aides. The book list is by no means exhaustive but I have some that have truly helped me form the backbone of my gardening approach. These products have definitely … Continue reading Beginning Gardener: Class 4-Walking You Through What You Need To Know
This is the third part of a four part online course. It’s free and if you would like to know more go to the top of this page and click on the Gardening Basics tab. Or you can get the first and second parts of this course here: Beginning Gardener (part 1) and Beginning Gardener … Continue reading Beginning Gardener: Class 3-Walking You Through What You Need To Know
Learning to garden takes time. It's also helpful to have a seasoned gardener show you how to garden in your area. If you don't have someone on hand: you now have me! I may not live where you do (and it makes a huge difference if you are growing in a different area) but I … Continue reading Beginning Gardener: Class 2-Walking You Through What You Need To Know
Spring is on the way! It's time to brush up on your gardening skills and learn new gardening ideas. This year I thought I'd get back to basics and start publishing pieces of my gardening advice from my page: Gardening Basics. For the novice gardener: read on and stay tuned! This is pretty much everything … Continue reading Beginner Gardeners: Walking You Through What You Need To Know
Last night we had one of only a handful of freezes for the year. February is our spring down here in Southern Texas. It's time to put my corn in (we have two seasons for sweetcorn down here!) and I seeded the other bed with spring veggies about a week ago. One of my favorite … Continue reading Watering With Soaker Hoses
I love using milk jugs! My kids drink a lot of milk and we always have empty gallon milk containers. These are always useful in my garden! I use them to harden off transplants and in this blog entry: to keep tender plants (like tomatoes) outside, where they're warm and have plenty of light, while … Continue reading Quick Mini Greenhouses From Milk Jugs
Update: It's now 7 years after I wrote this article and all of the pieces I've included in this post are things I'm still using! It works! I'm sick. This has been a bad year for colds in our home. My youngest boy started school and he loves to germ up while he's there and … Continue reading Decadent Herbal Cold Remedy: Turmeric Milk
I have a next door neighbor that I absolutely love! I used to watch her daughter after school and she has helped me out when I've had my husband out of state or driven one of my kids home when they got sick at school and we weren't able to be reached. She's super cool. … Continue reading For My Fun Neighbors
I tend to write posts for problems I come across that I can’t find an answer to out there…anywhere! This year I wanted to make gingerbread cookies for my kid’s teachers. I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish (a yummy gingerbread cookie dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes.) It sounded … Continue reading Drool Worthy Gingerbread Cookies From A Molasses Cookie Mix
I always have these great ideas about making everyone gifts. Then it gets down to the last minute and I end up having picked ideas that are way too complex to complete in the time I have left. Luckily: These cookies can be done in one day. I just finished them and they are beautiful! … Continue reading Stained Glass Cookies!
During the holiday season I reflect on the things I am grateful for. At the top of the list is my family, and more specifically: my two young sons. The following article is my love letter to my boys. From the beginning through the end of every day, they are always in my thoughts. I … Continue reading A love letter to my boys
I love growing exotic fruit. With some of them: I'm totally flying blind until I get to taste the first harvest, which can take years, and if I don't like it I've wasted time and space on it. (I'm looking at you astringent persimmon: with the texture of snot and a taste like pumpkin after … Continue reading Growing Pomegranates
Here is a great idea for fall gardens! Kohlrabi is awesome! This year has started off with a whole mess load of stress. We have had to gratefully step through doors (so that we could close them) while trying to remain open to new adventures. It's been rough, but gratitude is an incredibly stabilizing force … Continue reading Kohlrabi Ham Bake!
Halloween 2015 Oh, I had fun making this! She's now four years old. It has been one of my favorite projects. I have a huge display this year and she still holds her own, even with our 12 foot ghost and witch circle (you can get those instructions here)! I saw this "packing tape ghost" … Continue reading Easy Packing Tape Ghost
I would bet that most gardeners have a list of a few things that they do, out of habit, that are counterproductive. For me it's gardening without gloves or long sleeves. I almost never wear gloves or long sleeves. I love to work the soil with my hands, I weed bare handed and I harvest … Continue reading Curing An Extra Itchy Case Of The Gardening Stupids
While we had plenty of rain this year for my vegetables it was a poor year for fruit. We got so much rain this year that the peaches all aborted and the limbs oozed sap trying to find a way to compensate for the deluge. My persimmon also dropped most of its fruit in response … Continue reading Shrub-A-Dub-Dub What To Do With Imperfect Fruit
The things I grow in summer are things that I don't have to baby. Today our "feel like" temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not interested in doing manual labor in that sort of heat (Although, I did. I was out in that heat for about an hour and a half yesterday weeding and pulling … Continue reading Low Maintenance, Highly Productive, Annual, Summer Vegetables.
We had a nice long winter, down here in Texas, that had enough chill hours for my fruit trees. Unfortunately, our bee population in the spring is pretty sparse. I had some hardships that made it impossible to get out and pollinate my pear tree. After I watched all of the small fruit abort I … Continue reading Be The Bee! How And When Hand Pollinating Makes Sense.
Both of my grandmother's had cast iron collections. These were things they either purchased in Kansas or are my family's heirlooms. My family on a road trip to Washington DC.My granny on my mom's side married a jerk, (to say it mildly) after my grandpa died. He made her get rid of her antiques, which … Continue reading How I Restored My Antique Iron: Two Methods
This month is heavy on the picking and light on the work. Why? Because I worked hard in the spring to create this exact scenario. Water-wise, deep beds have yielded incredible amounts of produce. See how we built them here: Hugelkultur, Keyhole Gardens: Bridging Ideas and here: Mother’s Day Raised Hugelkultur Bed! Instructions for creating … Continue reading Reaping The Rewards Of Spring Planning
Crazy Green Thumbs 