Great Vegetable Seeds from The Real Seed Catalogue How to Make Homemade Peppermint Extract Part of the reason that I decided to grow mint this year was so that I could try making my own peppermint extract. Jesse and I are pretty much obsessed with mint (especially mint plus chocolate) so we go through a lot of mint extract. Even though I buy my extracts through Azure Standard, they’re not exactly cheap, so making my own seemed like a great way to save some money. I finally got down to it last weekend. The extract has only been sitting for a few days so far so I can’t tell you how it came out, but I wanted to share the method now in case anyone else has an abundance of mint just begging to be used for something. How to Make Peppermint Extract I did a quick Google search and found a multitude of recipes, all of which followed the same basic outline. Harvest a bunch of mint leaves from your mint plant. Harvested mint leaves Remove mint leaves from stalks (if applicable) and pack leaves into a measuring cup to determine how much mint you have. Mint leaves ready to be rinsed
Seedstarting FAQs, How to Start Seeds, Growing from Seed A seedstarting kit, such as the Seedstarting Grow Kit, makes it easy to grow vigorous, healthy seedlings. I've talked to so many gardeners who are experienced at growing plants outdoors but hesitate to start seeds indoors. To me, starting seeds is one of the most rewarding parts of gardening. It gets my hands in the soil (or at least the seedstarting mix) during the dark, cold days of late winter and early spring. Three for the price of one! Even the most experienced seedstarters occasionally have problems. Poor germination. Damping off. Mold and algae growth. Pale, stretched-out seedlings with weak stems. Discolored leaves.
The best way to sprout strawberry seeds / growing strawberries Neat way to grow strawberry plants from the seeds on the berries you buy from the store. Fragile come unarose shows how to take seeds from your strawberries that you are eating and sprout them and then transplant the little seedlings into a container till the are ready to go in to the garden. I like it, you won’t have to buy seed or starter plants again. photo credit Fragilecomeunarose
10 Best Heirloom Seed Companies Selected By Readers © MrBrownThumb When I set out to publish the post on seed sources for foodies, Kitchen Gardeners, and Chefs I did not intend to create an all-inclusive list of seed sources. I thought I would just highlight four of them, and maybe TreeHugger readers would find one they had not heard of before. I expected the post would be well-received because of the seed companies that I chose. Almost immediately, I started seeing comments pointing out that I had "forgotten" this or that heirloom seed company. Seed Saving Organizations Seed saving organizations are slightly different from seed companies. 1. The most popular suggestion for inclusion was Seed Savers Exchange. 2. The Kusa Seed Society's mission statement states its purpose as being to increase humanity's knowledge and understanding of our connection to edible seed crops. 3. One commenter suggested the Organic Seed Alliance. Seed Companies 4. 5. Seed Sources for Canadian Gardeners 6 & 7. 8, 9 & 10. How did I do this time?
Heirloom Seeds: Sustainably Grown, Organic, Untreated and Open-Pollinated Sustainable Seed Company Shallots, Lemon grass and Apple plants from seeds Great video from My inspired creation. She has bought shallots,lemongrass and saved some seeds from store bought red delicious apples and has now got all of them to root. Then she can transplant to the garden and grow her own . Pretty neat. I really didn’t think the seeds from apples would grow. photo credit My inspired creation
The Top 10 Healthiest Seeds on Earth by John Summerly, They come in all different sizes, shapes and colours. The seed is an embryonic plant itself and the origin of nutrition. A plant goes to great lengths to produce each seed and fill it with high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential oils and dormant enzymes. A seed is life. How to Eat Seeds There is only one way to derive nutrition from seeds and that is to eat them raw. - Choose raw and unsalted seeds - Avoid coated or roasted seeds - Avoid sugar coated seeds The 10 Healthiest Seeds on Earth Serving Size = 1 Tsp Consider these facts about Chia seeds: - 2.5 times more protein than kidney beans - 3 times the antioxidant strength of blueberries - 3 times more iron than spinach - 6 times more calcium than milk - 7 times more vitamin C than oranges - 8 times more omega-3 than salmon - 10 times more fiber than rice - 15 times more magnesium than broccoli Serving Size = 1 Tbsp More people are discovering the nutritional benefits of hemp seed, nut and oil.
Top 10 Recommended Grasses Grow Posted By Andrew McIndoe @ 7:41 on August 17th 2015 Category: Blog, Ornamental grasses Our Top 10 Recommended Grasses Grow Love them or loathe them, grasses have become essential subjects in today’s planting palette, mainly because they mix well with perennials in prairie style schemes, adding light height and movement, especially later in the year. I have resisted writing about grasses to grow with perennials, maybe that’s a subject for another time. Designers love them and plant them in great drifts, most have clearly never divided a miscanthus after a couple of years. Phalaris arundinacea ‘Feesey’ My first choice is the grass I knew as a kid as gardener’s garters. Stipa tenuissima I first came across this wispy, gossamer grass on a trip to France. Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ There are loads of varieties of miscanthus, mostly grown for their plume like flowers, at their best in autumn and still beautiful through winter. Stipa gigantea Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’
How to Save Your Seeds I think the practice of saving seeds is due for a revival. Seed saving is rewarding in so many ways. It’s very easy. If you find yourself smitten by it, there are ways you can get more expert about it. However, even a little seed saving is an empowering and powerful thing to do. Basics What you basically do when you save seeds is this: you go to the seeds when they are ready and get them; you make sure they’re really dry, and then you store them. It’s as simple as that but … Getting good seeds at the right time involves knowing the usual life cycle of a plant and whether a seed will stay true. You can gather them in different ways such as plucking, rubbing, shaking or grabbing. Making sure seeds are dry enough means having a good drying space for them. Storing seeds well involves having appropriate labels and containers for them. Plant Types and Specifics Plants are annual, biennial or perennial. ~Annual plants (such as lettuce and tomatoes) flower and mature seed in the same year. Lettuce Whew.
Attracting Hummingbirds One good way to enjoy the company of hummingbirds is planting a hummingbird garden. In addition to providing them a natural diet, a hummer garden is an excellent way to attract birds to your nearby feeder: since hummingbirds feed by sight on regularly-followed routes - called traplining - their inquisitive nature will quickly lead them to investigate any possible new source of food. A hummer garden is also a great way to capture the birds on film or video, and makes a much nicer backdrop for your photos than the typical plastic feeder. Using pesticides around hummingbird plants is a very bad idea. Since hummers, like most birds, have virtually no sense of smell, the flowers that attract them tend to have little or no fragrance, apparently directing their resources instead toward high visibility and nectar production. Trees and Shrubs Vines Coral Honeysuckle Cypress Vine Morning Glory Scarlet Runner Bean Trumpet Creeper Flowers Some may be annuals or perennials depending on climate.
Off Grid Info - Food Independence - Where To Get Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO Seeds - Organic Seeds Join 75,000+ Fans on Facebook: Follow Us On Pinterest: Please Share This Page: Here is a useful list of 40+ 230+ companies supplying heirloom / non-GMO / organic seeds. If health is wealth, then this page is solid gold! :) Please share this important information. **UPDATE** This page has proven to be massively popular...! , we are gathering them up and will add them to this page as soon as we can. Please Like Off-Grid On Facebook to stay in touch and receive our latest posts! USA (states in alphabetical order) EUROPE (except UK & Ireland) South Africa All inquiries - please contact: Privacy Policy | About
How to Start a Vegetable Garden - Vegetable Garden Plans Even if you've never tried growing food, there are good reasons to sacrifice some of that green carpet for a starter bed. First, chances are you don't use your lawn as much as you think—how long has it been since you played Frisbee out there? Second, most turfgrass has a thirst that can only be satiated by overhead sprinklers, which lose a lot of water to evaporation and runoff; veggies, by contrast, can be watered by efficient drip irrigation. Finding the right spot is simple. The most effective way to dig up a patch of lawn is to rototill it, which will remove the turfgrass and allow you to mix in soil amendments at the same time. It's essential that you clear your bed of as many weeds as possible, especially perennial monsters such as Bermuda grass, dandelions, and bindweed. And if you're not ready to dig up your lawn just yet, build a raised bed instead. Three Edible Layouts Choose your plants based not only on what you want to eat but also on what grows well in your area.