Self-Watering Veggie Table A Brief History of Gardening in Containers: Do you like gardening but digging in the dirt is too painful, messy, or time consuming? Container gardening is your answer. For many years now, container gardeners have been using pots, tubs, and boxes of all sizes to garden in. While raised bed gardens have also gained in popularity, so have "bucket gardens" or tubs become an economical way to garden with more control over your soil and more success with hard to grow vegetables. Recently, the advent of so-called "self watering" containers have helped gardeners to grow flowers, vegetables, and herbs with even more success. At the University of Maryland Extension, Jon Traunfeld designed a Salad Table which is essentially a shallow wooden frame with a large surface area and a mesh bottom that allows water to drain. The Idea: I loved the idea of a salad table as a way to maximize the space I have to grow salad greens to feed myself and my rabbits. What is Self-Watering?
ZUCCHINI BEEF SKILLET Posted on August 4, 2013 by The Southern Lady Zucchini is one of my favorite summer vegetables and I am always looking for new ways to make it. I just add some cornbread muffins to accompany this dish and it makes a meal. 1 pound ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon chili powder 2 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped (You don’t have to peel the tomatoes, sometimes I do and other times I don’t) 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn 2 tablespoons pimiento 1 tablespoon dried parsley 5 cups unpeeled thinly sliced zucchini (Can use yellow squash instead of zucchini or a mixture of both) 1 package onion soup mix 3/4 cup water Brown beef, onion and green pepper in a large skillet.
hippychick's adventure to sustainable happiness Those Old Fashioned Skills Could Save Your Life What old fashioned skills and abilities did your grandparents or great-grandparents have that, if you had those skills, would help you to survive in the event of a long-term survival situation: a real TEOTWAWKI (aka: “the end of the world as we know it”)? This is the question that was asked in a blind study of a group of online workers. Here are the old fashioned skills most identified as being employed by their ancestors and considered necessary to survival: 1. Hunting – My grandfather and father were good hunters; we always had meat on the table. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. As this last person describes, our grandparents and great-grandparents employed a variety of old fashioned skills and were all about surviving: “I’m most impressed that they knew how to live off the land and how to make everything they needed. We would all do well to learn some of those old fashioned skills, lest we some day fail to survive a situation that our ancestors would have taken in stride. The Author: C.L.
Austin Organic Gardeners - Home For 65 years, the members of Austin Organic Gardeners have shared information about successfully raising vegetables and ornamentals without using harsh fertilizers that harm the soil and toxic pesticides that disturb the ecological balance. Monthly meetings are held the second Monday of each month (except October and December) at the Zilker Botanical Gardens at 6:30 P.M. The club's philosophy is that human and animal health depends on the health of the soil that produces their food. Healthy soil, which is rich in organic matter, abounds with organisms that convert minerals in the soil into forms plants can use. Join us for our April meeting as Dr. Download 2014 planting dates from Tim Miller of Millberg Farm Visit the AOG Blog Site Check out our events page for upcoming gardening events like a seed swap in February and the AOG plant sale in March
Homemade Bleach Alternative ~Non-Toxic and Frugal | Deep Roots at Home I must make a confession. In our home, we’ve gone green in so many areas: water collection barrels, passive solar and solar collectors, in transition to organics in the pasture, raising some of our own food, safe household products…uh…well…hmmm, that is except for bleach. You see, I didn’t think I could get my washload (especially dirty wash cloths and work clothes) really clean (like germ-free) without it. However, bleach is something that was traditionally used even when I was a girl in the 50s, so I overlooked it for some time. (In case your mom didn’t tell you, it’s a very bad idea to mix bleach and ammonia. So when I saw a simple recipe to make a bleach alternative on Andrea’s blog {Frugally Sustainable}, I decided to check it out. Here is the recipe for Homemade Bleach Alternative: - 1 ½ cup 3% hydrogen peroxide - ½ cup white vinegar or lemon juice - Pure water to fill a gallon jug - 10 drops lemon or lemongrass essential oils (optional/omit if using lemon juice) Notes: ~ Jacqueline
Austin Herb Society Hope Farms 590 KLBJ Hosts and Shows John Dromgoole hosts the longest, continuously running, organic gardening talk show in the United States. For the last twenty-five years on KLBJ AM 590, he has shared his passion and extensive knowledge of organic gardening. Originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, he eventually picked up Sunday mornings, too. His show, GARDENING NATURALLY, is unique in that it takes a non-chemical approach to gardening. John's main focus is protecting the environment while enriching the soil and growing healthier plants. On Saturdays from 9a.m. to 11a.m., listeners call in with their questions about problems with trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers and vegetable gardens. Visit John’s website: www.naturalgardeneraustin.com Don Gardner’s Watering Guidelines for Trees Are your trees getting enough water to help them survive the drought? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Don’s tips for watering: Please note that these guidelines are for watering your trees, not your grass.
Dry Ridge Farm | The Omnivore's Delight raised garden beds: hugelkultur instead of irrigation raised garden bed hugelkultur after one month raised garden bed hugelkultur after one year raised garden bed hugelkultur after two years raised garden bed hugelkultur after twenty years It's a german word and some people can say it all german-ish. I learned this high-falootin word at my permaculture training. Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. I do think there are some considerations to keep in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that wood is high in carbon and will consume nitrogen to do the compost thing. Pine and fir will have some levels of tanins in them, but I'm guessing that most of that will be gone when the wood has been dead for a few years. In the drawings at right, the artist is trying to show that while the wood decomposes and shrinks, the leaves, duff and accumulating organic matter from above will take it's place.
Goldfinch Gardens Goldfinch Gardens is a small farm located in beautiful Celo, North Carolina. We specialize in a large variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers of the highest quality, available March through December. Our online farm stand is a new way of supplying your family with natural, locally grown produce.