Community, Help, and Encouragement for Active Parents
Photo by Nick.Allen When your picture grape vines, you may envision them in rows and rows along rolling, hillside vineyards. I have to agree that these plantings are lovely. But, did you know that grapes tend to fit neatly into backyard gardens? much the way that espaliers do. Grapes can be easily trained against a [...]
Sub-Group Characteristics and Specific Cultivars These English Roses are developed from Alba roses giving them the wild-rose daintiness, gently nodding flowers and a lighter scent than other English Roses. The English Alba Hybrid Roses are English Roses that have been bred closely back to Alba Old Roses giving them many of the Alba characteristics. These English Albas [...]
A gardener needs good tools to work effectively. I know for myself, I can keep going as long as I’m not cold. Once I get cold, I’m done. And the worst offenders are my ears and my hands. A beanie cap takes care of my ears nicely, but my hands are harder to please in [...]
I love speaking with new gardeners. Their first question tends to be “How hard is it to grow tomatoes?” For me personally, they are quite easy, but for a novice they can be intimidating. Planting is really the easy part. It is caring that takes a bit of time and a lot of patience. Getting [...]
With a move back to victory gardens, edible landscapings and organic or homegrown food and drink, one easy project to try is a tea garden. Many of the common tea ingredients are from flowering plants or flower petals, giving gardeners the perfect opportunity to grow their own tea ingredients, while enjoy beautiful blooms in their [...]
Photo by mallydally Cucumbers (Cucumis sativis), affectionately known as “cukes”, come in many forms: bush variety, vines, lemon-shaped, yard-long types, and burpless. If you’ve thumbed through any seed catalogs, you’ll notice that they break them down into the groups such as slicing (for salads and sandwiches), for cooking recipes, and those that are perfect for [...]
If you want to grow healthy plants, then you’re going to need healthy soil. While many plants have differing needs, most plants like a rich, friable, crumbly soil- one that’s not too sandy and not too heavy with clay. Annual plants, like vegetables, are especially hungry and thirsty plants, so it’s important that your soil [...]
Photo by Swanksalot Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) basically falls into one of two categories; Italian (flat) or French (curly). While they’re both hardy biennials, meaning they flower and go to seed every other year, like many herbs and vegetables, they’re usually grown as annuals. The general feeling among gardeners is that the French curly parsley is [...]
Photo by Stevep2008 As a new gardener, one of the first things that you’ll be hearing about are growing zones. People mention them over and over in garden centers, seed catalogs, blogs, and gardening books. But what are they exactly? And how do you use them? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have outlined [...]
Nothing could be better than fresh, home grown, organic produce that tastes terrific. But what does organic gardening really mean? Can you trust the labels? Can you be sure that organic produce is really chemical free? What Organic Gardening Is NOT It’s important to understand that organic gardening is not just a matter of substituting [...]
