Best Tomato Growing Tips and Tricks: Organic Gardening
Plant deep. Bury a tomato plant's stem and the stem will sprout a slew of new roots that help the plant grow sturdy and tall quickly. You can bury just about all of stem--pluck off the branches below the top flush of leaves. Early in the season, when the soil is still cool, dig a trench 4 or 5 inches deep in the soil and set the transplant into it, again burying the stem up to the top leaves. If you're transplanting later in the season, when the soil has warmed or in dry climates, bury the transplant in a straight, deep hole. Cooler, moister soil below 6 inches deep helps tomatoes survive in hot, dry summers. Feed the soil first. Avoid the common mistake of overfeeding your tomatoes. "A lot of organic gardeners overload their soil with manure and get fewer tomatoes for it," notes Will Brinton, Ph.D., president of Woods End Research Laboratory in Mount Vernon, Maine. Homemade compost typically supplies all the phosphorus (P) your tomatoes need for good flowering and fruiting.
Vertical Gardening on the Patio
The most common reason gardeners try out vertical gardening is to make the best use of a small or limited space. You can combine vertical trellising with container gardening on a patio to grow great plants in a tiny amount of space. Using upwards space rather than outward space is particularly important for vining plants or very fast-spreading plants in small areas, since they can otherwise quickly take over a small container or spread across your patio. Vertical gardening also provides convenience to many gardeners. There’s less bending and weeding, and tasks like pruning, watering, harvesting, and checking for bugs are easier when the plant is growing vertically. Vertical Garden Setup When you are planning your vertical patio garden, think about what plants should go where, You can maximize room on a small patio even further by adding hanging baskets or upside-down style planters hanging from eaves, railings, arbors or canopies. What to Grow in a Vertical Garden?
DIY Gift: Terrarium Kit
November 30th, 2012 It’s widely accepted that terrariums are awesome, which means they also make awesome gifts. It’s hard to wrap a terrarium though, so a DIY kit is the perfect solution. It would be easy to whip up a whole bunch of these kits if you need a lot of inexpensive, creative gifts. Or wouldn’t they make amazing party/wedding favors? To make your kit, first put about an inch of small stones in the bottom of a jar. Print a 3 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ terrarium instruction card on card stock, and cut it out (download printable cards here—for personal use only please). If you’re feeling ambitious you could make a few polymer clay mushrooms to include in your terrarium kit. Tie some twine or ribbon around the jar, and you’re done.
Mens gradestokken kryper gradevis nedover ....
drømmer jeg om sol og sommer og .... et veksthus av gamle vinduer! Er ikke dette herlig? Tenk så fint det blir med blomster og tomater og en god stol utenfor - et lite bord til kaffekoppen....
Top 10: Greatest Bonsai trees
Details Written by Oscar3 Though growing Bonsai trees is a hobby practiced by many people around the world, its Asian origin is still obvious. Not surprisingly, the most impressive trees are to be found in collections of famous Japanese masters. We have put together a list of ten stunning trees that are unique in their beauty, balance and realism. These trees will help you appreciate this ancient and fascinating art! The ten trees are not ordered in any way. (#1) An 800 year-old Bonsai tree at Shunkaen, by Kunio Kobayashi A remarkable tree which is well known for its extremely high age; the tree is reported to be over 800 years old, one of the most expensive bonsai trees! (#2) Goshin "protector of the spirits", by John Naka Goshin ("protector of the spirit") is a bonsai created by John Y. (#3) Small Bonsai; a Shohin tree by Morten Albek A gorgeous Rockspray Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horisontalis). (#4) Pinus Silvestris, by Stefano Frisoni (#6) Flowering Bonsai, by Wolfgang Putz Links
TetraBox Light by Ed Chew
Liquid to Light Designer Ed Chew takes a green step in the right direction with the TetraBox lamp, a light object made from discarded drink packets that would have otherwise ended up in landfills already packed to the brim. The design is achieved by unfolding the packets and refolding them into hexagonal and pentagonal sections that are then pieced together to form a geodesic sphere or any other desired shape. Designer: Ed Chew
40 Inspiring DIY Herb Gardens
If you love to cook you most likely can’t live without fresh herbs. You can buy them when you need them but it would be much better if you will always have them in pots near by. This way it’s much easier to mix them in small doses and add in all meals you’re cooking. Of course to have them on your kitchen or right outside your kitchen door you need to organize a thoughtful herb garden that also looks great. We’ve gathered for you a bunch of cool ideas that might inspire you to do that. Enjoy! Herbs And Vegetables In Modern Planters Of Different Heights (via bhg) DIY Herbal Window Box (via bhg) DIY Colorful Vertical Garden On A Fence (via shelterness) DIY Recycled Seed Pots from Newspapers and Magazines (via shelterness) Container Herb Garden (via bhg) How to Turn Coffee Tins into a Hanging Herb Garden (via curbly) DIY Flower Pot Herb Tower (via curbly) Herb Garden With A Bentwood Trellis (via bhg) DIY Small Space Vertical Garden Of A Pallet (via shelterness)
Project Wednesday: "Cork" Boards
I have had so many projects that I have wanted to get done for a long time, but just did not have the time to complete them, let alone even GET to them. So this recent staycation that Fer and I have been on has afforded me a good amount of time to get to a lot of things and here is one of them. I have been collecting wine corks for a long time and for the most part just store them in two large glass cookie jars, but have been wanting to make something with them for awhile (which is why I collect so many.) I have had these pictures for quite a while and they have served their purpose but now I found a new purpose for them. So armed with some black acrylic paint and tons of corks I went to work. Here they are all covered. Then I started to arrange the corks, not as quick and easy as you would think if you want it to look good. Here they are all arranged and ready to be glued. gotta love the glue gun. :) all done. looks good. I hung them on the wall with Velcro. and now to put it to use.
