Gardening Question of the Day for Friday, March 28, 2008
(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))
What is a Heat Zone Map? (answer).![]()
What is a Heat Zone Map? (answer).
From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Spring’s late - first crocus showed up yesterday
(Via Country Gardener)
Crocus in bloom on this day a year ago
I've never been one to keep a garden diary in book form, but the great thing about blogging and digital photo metadata is that you have a pretty good record of what's blooming when from year to year.
The picture of the crocuses above was taken a year ago today. Yesterday's four little crocuses growing through old verbascum leaves sure didn't look anything as nice as the crocus patch above. And this evening, it's snowing...again.
Interestingly, last year, we had snow on April 8th (it was Easter weekend). Of course, it didn't last long. From the looks of things, I won't be surprised if we get a bit of snow again this April.
Last year's Easter weekend snow
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener
Crocus in bloom on this day a year agoI've never been one to keep a garden diary in book form, but the great thing about blogging and digital photo metadata is that you have a pretty good record of what's blooming when from year to year.
The picture of the crocuses above was taken a year ago today. Yesterday's four little crocuses growing through old verbascum leaves sure didn't look anything as nice as the crocus patch above. And this evening, it's snowing...again.
Interestingly, last year, we had snow on April 8th (it was Easter weekend). Of course, it didn't last long. From the looks of things, I won't be surprised if we get a bit of snow again this April.
Last year's Easter weekend snow © Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener
The Good Earth: Beautiful, Bountiful Beds and Borders
(Via Idaho Gardener)
Dear Readers,
Some of you will be brave enough to come and hear me speak tomorrow at the Boise Flower and Garden Show. Some of you will be brave enough more than once. The first session is titled: The Good Earth: Beautiful, Bountiful Beds and Borders. In one hour, I will have just enough time to whet your appetite for this pressing front page topic. The mission, should you chose to accept it, is to grow as many edible plants as possible on your little patch o’ land. For some of you, that patch will be five acres, complete with cows and chickens. For the rest of us, probably 1/6th of an acre -give or take a few square feet and subtracting the house from the middle of it. Some folks have already downsized and are happy chillin in their townhouse or condo. For you, patio gardens.
I am posting a partial list of resources for you, right here and now. I am hoping most of you are already inundated with a bevy of seed catalogs so I can forgo the long, long listing of those. And unless you are on the trail of the perfect red spotted Italian pole bean, you can find most anything you need locally. Support those independent nursery retailers, please.
Here’s the resource list I will hand out tomorrow:
RESOURCES FOR BOUNTIFUL BORDERS (the presentation is geared for Idaho gardeners)
PLEASE take a minute to check with our local agriculture extension office (or the one in your home town). In Boise, call 377-2107 or check it out online, great lists and comments on plants that prosper here:
http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/idahogardens/fvh/yearly.htm.
Edwards Greenhouses, extensive offering of heirloom and popular vegetables, herbs, etc. http://www.edwardsgreenhouse.com/, 4106 Sand Creek Street, Boise, ID 83703, off Hill Road
Fruitland Nursery in Fruitland ID 208-453-4204. Extremely knowledgeable, Kathy Carnefix is carrying on her family’s legend as a superior nursery owner. The carry heirloom and newer varieties of fruiting trees, nuts, raspberries, strawberries, etc. 45 minute drive, but take a sandwich and make an outing of it with some other garden-goofy friends.
Far West Nursery and Landscape has some nice cane fruits, rhubarbs, strawberry varieties and lovely blueberry shrubs.
D & B Supply: great looking strawberries in several varieties, some are in a 6 pack for $6 and some are in 4 inch pots for about $2.49 each.
Other nurseries and vendors will carry these items; these are just the ones I had time to visit in the last week.
BOOKS:
Designing the New Kitchen Garden by Jennifer Bartley
The Compleat Squash by Amy Goldman
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Perfect: One Man, One Woman and a Year of Eating Locally
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
Cooking Outside the Box: Easy, Seasonal, Organic: The Abel and Cole Cookbook (Hardcover), by Keith Abel
The Victory Garden Cookbook (1982) Marion Morash,mine is now a pile of loose pages.
More tomorrow. Or soon. I promise.
Post from: Idaho Gardener
How’s going green, going?
(Via Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas)
Imagine your garden five years from now? The veggie patch is going stronger than ever, the compost is rotting just nicely and the residue from all those herbicides you used in the last century has finally dissipated. Going green wasn't as hard as you thought...
Imagine your garden five years from now? The veggie patch is going stronger than ever, the compost is rotting just nicely and the residue from all those herbicides you used in the last century has finally dissipated. Going green wasn't as hard as you thought...
Or, would the picture look very similar to today? Even though you started out with the very best of intentions, achieving 'GREEN-ness' just seemed a little out of reach. While you did try natural pesticides their success was very limited and short-lived. You're left wondering whether your paranoia levels have increased but you swear that your exotics have now become the biggest target to every critter that ever lived.
It amuses me somewhat, the effort that organisers of LIVE EARTH, EARTH DAY and EARTH HOUR are going to when honestly, it all comes back to us...the individual. We can make commitments, evangelise our friends, sit in the dark for an hour - I'm sure we've been kept in the dark longer than that - and spruik the many virtues of going green but unless we DO we've got a swallow's fart chance of improving this world we call home.
What are we missing? Measurement!
We talk about what we will DO but very rarely communicate what we have DONE. We fail to keep ourselves accountable to the "THIS-IS-WHAT-I-WILL-DO" statements we brandish at dinner parties.
To get the ball rolling here's a list of things I plan to achieve in my quest to GO GREEN within the next 5 years.
- Reduce my lawn by half (currently 275 sq.m) and replace with some paving and substitute groundcovers
- Replace my gas guzzling mower with a manual-powered alternative
- Start my backyard aquaponics setup
- Replace many of my cottage plants with drought-tolerant alternatives and/or veggies
- Replace 90% of my exotics with indigenous plant species
- Plant 2 more fruit trees
- Use only my own compost for potting mix, mulch, soil improver and fertilisers
- Watch "An Inconvenient Truth" without gagging
and here's what I've done so far;
- Created a 3 bin compost system for dealing with garden and kitchen refuse
- Proactively discarded and not used synthetic herbicides and pesticides in the past 5 years
- Planted more indigenous species to encourage birds, butterflies and other helpful insects into the garden as natural pest controls
- Used only cloth gloves - which are later composted - rather than synthetic fabrics
- Reduced my watering to more acceptable levels
- Bought most of our landscaping materials as recycled rather than purchase new
Not bad but still a long way from where I would like to be.
So, how are you going? Is your garden getting GREEN-er and will it be more organic in 5 years time? Are you making changes now that will impact your garden for the future and make it not only more green but more sustainable as well?
Tips and Helps for Going Green
Here are some resources (aff.) that may even help you in your quest for going green;
- 50 Plus One Tips for Going Green
- Alicia Marie Smith
- Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability
- Greg Horn
- It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living
- Crissy Trask
- The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time
- Elizabeth Rogers, Thomas M. Kostigen
Spirit Of The Amaryllis
(Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)
Hils wanted me to see her two Amaryllis which are in flower by her dining room window.The sun crept through the clouds and illuminated the red sail like petals...
This Quadruple flowering one has a reddish/salmon colour but had the quality of a stained glass window.
This one was Ferrari Red, with the centre in shadow being darker in colour...
The third Red photo shows the ghostly eyes, not just Orchids and Pansys that have faces on them. The spirit of the Amaryllis smiles through.
Mine is a poor cousin with three foot leaves but no sign of any flower buds. Heres hoping it flowers for me.
Hils wanted me to see her two Amaryllis which are in flower by her dining room window.The sun crept through the clouds and illuminated the red sail like petals...
This Quadruple flowering one has a reddish/salmon colour but had the quality of a stained glass window.
This one was Ferrari Red, with the centre in shadow being darker in colour...
The third Red photo shows the ghostly eyes, not just Orchids and Pansys that have faces on them. The spirit of the Amaryllis smiles through.
Mine is a poor cousin with three foot leaves but no sign of any flower buds. Heres hoping it flowers for me.
Lawn Care Secrets Revealed - How You Can Have A Beautiful Lush Green Lawn Without Watering
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
El nino weather patterns have seen many countries, states, provinces and municipal areas introduce regulatory measures to ensure long term conservation of water. However, with the introduction of water restrictions, falling dam levels and an increased awareness of water shortages, people still have not been educated clearly about effective water use, particularly in the care of their lawns. Generally, lawn and turf grasses have different water needs than garden plants.
El nino weather patterns have seen many countries, states, provinces and municipal areas introduce regulatory measures to ensure long term conservation of water. However, with the introduction of water restrictions, falling dam levels and an increased awareness of water shortages, people still have not been educated clearly about effective water use, particularly in the care of their lawns. Generally, lawn and turf grasses have different water needs than garden plants.
Flowers Hold A Special Place In Our Lives
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
Flowers are the most beautiful gifts of Nature and the joy of life. We all admire various kinds of flowers and include them in our day to day lives such as in rituals, decorating our offices and homes and in weddings. Some kinds of flowers have a special place in coronations, rituals, and celebrations.
Flowers are the most beautiful gifts of Nature and the joy of life. We all admire various kinds of flowers and include them in our day to day lives such as in rituals, decorating our offices and homes and in weddings. Some kinds of flowers have a special place in coronations, rituals, and celebrations.
Even A Small Garden In Your Home Can Make A Difference
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
Human beings have ever depended on the trees and plants around them to provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine and above all oxygen. Now, various researches are increasingly revealing that plants and flowers can also contribute to better physical, mental and emotional health.
Human beings have ever depended on the trees and plants around them to provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine and above all oxygen. Now, various researches are increasingly revealing that plants and flowers can also contribute to better physical, mental and emotional health.
It’s not time for annuals yet
(Via Dig in with Kym - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com)
Sorry, it's not time for fuchsias yet. I get irritated every spring when nurseries (and I use this term very loosely; really, what I mean is big-box stores) start urging people to buy, buy, buy. Don't get me wrong, I'm...
Sorry, it's not time for fuchsias yet. I get irritated every spring when nurseries (and I use this term very loosely; really, what I mean is big-box stores) start urging people to buy, buy, buy. Don't get me wrong, I'm...
Jump Into Spring Lawn Care with March Lawn Tips!
(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)
Now that we are in the early stages of spring, there are plenty of things to do to prepare your lawn for the coming weeks. For the month of March, we will focus on several lawn care topics of interest: Compost, Irrigation, and Mowing.
Now that we are in the early stages of spring, there are plenty of things to do to prepare your lawn for the coming weeks. For the month of March, we will focus on several lawn care topics of interest: Compost, Irrigation, and Mowing.
