There are a lot of people that have a hard time understanding what they can do in their spare time. As you find that you have spare time you should be sure that you understand how you are going to be wise about spending your spare time doing something productive. First, you should make sure [...] Read more »
A Grow Light Helps Give Plants An Early Start
One way to get a jump-start on a garden each year is to plant the seeds inside and use a grow light to help them germinate and grow. Seeds can be planted indoors as early as February or March. When they are given water, light and lots of tenderly loving attention, they can be ready to plant [...] Read more »
Frustrating Spider Mites – They’re A Problem, So Let’s Solve It!
When you’re cultivating a garden, you must be on the lookout for the various pests which can cause trouble. While there is a seemingly endless supply of hazardous pests to look out for, some are much more prevalent than others. One of the most common pests are spider mites. These tiny arachnids can infest most [...] Read more »
How to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Texas Garden
Texas gardeners are blessed with two seasons each year to harvest home-grown tomatoes. Texas squirrels are blessed with two seasons each year to take a great big bite out of home-grown tomatoes before Texas gardeners can harvest them. Squirrels feast on pecans, fallen fruit, squash, cucumbers, and even watermelons and cantaloupes. Rummaging through your garden [...] Read more »
Blackberrys Planted – Apache and Araphao
Today I planted my Apache and Arapaho Erect blackberry cells from Stark Bros (3 of each). There are both thornless varieties, and with any luck I will get an extended harvest from having two different breeds. I have planted them in a row of 6, with about 2 feet between each seedling, in the front [...] Read more »
Blueberry Bushes Planted
Last night I finally got around to planting the two Blueberry bushes I have had parked in a box in the house for a few days. Both plants are ‘Rabbiteye’ varieties…one is of type Tifblue and one of type Climax. The theory is that having more than one variety of Blueberry improves the yield, I shall [...] Read more »
Why I Started Building An Organic Garden
While I have heard many times that the pesticides that we find on our fruits and vegetables that we buy from the local grocery are bad for you, I really never took it seriously. That was until I saw exactly what residue came off some fruit that I rinsed under our water ionizer. This lead [...] Read more »
Lasagna Gardening
Anyone who has tried lasagna gardening will be sure to tell you how much easier it is than traditional methods of preparing soil. It is a procedure for building up soil, usually in a raised bed for a flower or vegetable garden, that basically involves layering different organic materials on top of each other – [...] Read more »
Square Foot Gardening
One gardening method I have found really useful when space is limited is the technique of square foot gardening. Pioneered by Mel Bartholomew in the 1980s, there are a series of books available explaining the tips and tricks to making Square Foot Gardening work for you, I recommend this one, the All New Square Foot [...] Read more »
New House, new Garden!
Having recently moved to a new house, I have an entire new garden to work with. My former residence, a townhouse, had a postage stamp sized yard. The new place (in Keller, TX) has a good sized yard. I do have to work around a pool, but even so I have a lot more real [...] Read more »