(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-05, 20:00:00

Can I plant jicama in Michigan? (answer).

From The Old Farmer's Almanac.

(Via Girl Gone Gardening)

Posted by admin to food, photos on 2008-01-05, 16:13:00

Delicious!

(Via grow this)

Posted by admin to Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv, childhood outdoor memory, sense of wonder, smells of snow on 2008-01-05, 11:46:00

It was a perfect, quiet day, and the kids are skiing down the mountain – and they’ve got their headphones on. They can’t enjoy just hearing nature and being out there alone. They can’t make their own entertainment. They have to bring something with them”
- Richard Louv, in “The Last Child in the Woods” quoting a parent describing a recent ski trip with teenage children.

I’m reading “The Last Child in the Woods” which “explores the increasing divide between the young and the natural world, and the environmental, social, psychological, and spiritual implications of that change”. The author says that Baby Boomers (born 1946 and 1964) “may constitute the last generation of Americans to share an intimate, familial attachment to the land and water”. Here's me and the kid, communing with nature a few years ago. Ok, many years ago.

Before he gets to analysis and recommendations, he describes the richness of his own childhood, and his earliest memories of using his senses and “sensing wonder” which I think is Rachel Carson’s phrase.

It made me try to recall my earliest memories of the great outdoors. I think it must be rolling through the grass down an enormous hill in my front yard. Visiting the neighborhood years later, I was amazed to find that the hill is shorter and less steep than a flight of stairs. It must be about 4 feet long, on an incline that requires more than gravity to roll to the bottom. But it was Soooo big back then! I’m sure it was originally almost a hundred miles long, and steeper than mountains.

For me though, the sense of smell is my strongest connection to early childhood memories, and seeing blogger pictures of snow, I'm remembering the snows of my childhood. The closest I get these days to the snows of yesteryear is the realization that a killing freeze murdered my coleus - whose skeletons you can see in this picture.

I remember the smell of a smoke from chimneys when we were out in the snow. I remember the smell of melting, drying snow suits hanging in the basement laundry room after we came in from the snow. As everyone knows, puddles of melting snow beneath the basement clothes line smell different than puddles of regular water. I remember the earthy smell of wool scarves wound around my neck to cover your nose and mouth, after the scarves got caked in snow from snowballs my very accurate big brother threw.

What a shame if the generation of kids out skiing or sledding somewhere today will, years from now, associate nature with the play list they made for their iPod. What’s your earliest memory of using your senses out of doors?

(Via Plant Care)

Posted by admin to House Plants Care, Troubleshooting on 2008-01-05, 09:26:02

Walking into a restaurant the recently, I noticed a large planter that was full of water. The soil looked like it was very “heavy” and not capable of draining the water away from the roots for the next week or two.

Does the plant owner wonder how come the plants don’t do well in this planter or soil?

Just as there are many components that make up machinery - soil has unique components and properties.

In order to develop a healthy root system, both indoor and outdoor plants require good drainage. If you have either indoor or outdoor container plants, be on the look out for salt buildup on the soil surface or pot.

What is salt build up?

Whitish-colored deposits can form and are composed of salts built up from hard water and fertilizer. This is usually an indication of insufficient drainage, and not enough flow of water through the pot and soil.

To avoid salt buildup, water your plants each time until liquid runs out of the bottom of the pot. This is also one reason that many people burn their plants with fertilizer - they leave behind salts that burn roots.

Make sure that the drainage holes on the bottom of each plant container are open to allow excess water to flow out of the pot.

Unfortunately, some plant containers such as terrariums, plastic pots provided with bulb forcing kits or decorative gift plant containers do not have drainage holes. Most plants that live indoors are “double potted”. Potted plants with drainage holes are placed in a decorative pot without a drainage hole.

Small containers and Styrofoam are often placed in larger decorative containers for improved appearance or to make it easier to remove the inner pot for plant care. Make sure to check the level of the water in the bottom of the larger container regularly.

If the plant’s root system is submerged in water for long periods, root injury will occur if the condition is allowed to continue. Excess water should be poured out of the larger container periodically - sub-irrigation is a different story.

Another method is the use of sub-irrigation containers. Many interiorscapers use sub-irrigation because of the reservoir that it has and the ability to “program” when the plant needs watering again.

Remember watering a plant is important - but draining the water off is just as important.

(Via Girl Gone Gardening)

Posted by admin to Mr. Hyper, chores, expiriments, food, girlgonegardening on 2008-01-05, 07:26:00

37*, feels like 28*, 93% humidity, SSW 14 mph wind, cloudy This is the weekly menu starting from Sunday (tomorrow) to Saturday. I do dinner only since breakfasts are simple for me and Mr. Hyper doesn't eat breakfast or lunch. If I have leftovers then I will use up the left overs and skip the next meal on the menu. Sunday: Turkey bacon, spinach, and egg white frittataMonday: Herbed skinless