Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

I’ve always been a big fan of solar lighting.  I like the convenience of adding light where I want it in the garden without having to wire in electrical lines.  I also like how solar energy is collected during the day and distributed later when it is needed without using resources from the power grid.  Solar energy is a very…

There was one plant that I knew I would purchase the second I saw it ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia. I found one last year on a discount rack and rescued it from an unknown fate. ‘Oranges and Lemons’ quickly became one of my favorite plants in the garden. It bloomed forever and had some really attractive seed heads shaped like…

During a break in the rain on Monday I was able to take these shots. The blue of the sky is just starting to peak through the dark rain clouds. It reminded me of one of my favorite newer U2 songs, Window in the Skies (from U218 The Singles). My oldest daughter’s favorite part is when they sing “Oh, Oh,…

Recently I was invited to the 48-Hour Challenge with Better Homes & Gardens. For my project I chose to build an arbor! I’ve highlighted a few aspects of it over the last several weeks but I haven’t put down a play by play of our challenge. Hopefully you can follow along and if you want to tackle this project you’ll…

My last garden shed post was way back in June and I’m definitely overdue to share some more progress. This one has much more to do with gardening than building a shed so go take a look at the first part of two posts! The Gardens Around The Shed

While I claim no great skill or knowledge about cooking that big ole Thanksgiving turkey I can tell you about a couple herbs that may help you have a successful culinary experience!; I have the good fortune to have a mom who is an extremely good chef and I’ll share the recipe (or at least where to find it) that…

You hear a lot of us garden bloggers always talking about what to do in the vegetable garden, but what about what not to do? We all make mistakes.  We all do things that can be categorized under “OOPS”.  I’m going to share one of those “OOPS” moments with you today that quite frankly I’m disgusted with myself for doing….

I officially nominate the pumpkin for vegetable of the month! Do I hear a second?I realize that the selection of a pumpkin may be predictable but it’s such a seasonally appropriate vegetable for October. After all could you have even think of fall harvests and Halloween without pumpkins? Whether they are turned into pies or Jack-o-lanterns these orange globes of…

I just posted on the greenhouse shed page with a new report on the siding installation. The garden shed is shaping up! Adding the siding really changes the look for the better – much closer to what I’ve envisioned. There’s always more to do but progress is being made! I forgot to mention in the post but I also installed…

Here is a a list of posts that discuss using raised beds for gardening. Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden: 11 Things to Think About Companion Planting Vegetable Garden Layout The Benefits of Gardening in Raised Beds My Vegetable Garden Layout My Vegetable Garden Layout Part 2 New Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Layout Building My Raised Beds

Before I began building my greenhouse shed I did some research into what makes a good greenhouse. Among many important aspects like positioning (for ideal sun), materials, and passive heating I learned that a porous surface for flooring is essential. It makes sense, plants need water – plants will drip water, it has to go somewhere! In my greenhouse shed…

While wasps certainly are a normal part of nature and serve an important function we don’t always want to be around them.  Wasp stings can be quite painful and some people even have adverse reactions to their sting (as I can attest to, see the post on my swollen foot – not for the squeamish!)  Removing wasps from an area…

Pictures Taken: November 10, 2008. Red Maple ‘October Glory’ (Acer rubrum)

Picture taken on Wednesday March 5, 2008

The next step to putting the arbor together after we set the posts was to assemble the top. The top section was made from 3 45″ 4″x4″ pieces set in a diamond position. The arbor top was designed to fit the 4″x4″ pieces into the notched ends of the posts and they would also go through the front and back…

When creating any kind of garden plan one of the most important considerations is the amount of light the garden receives. Vegetable gardens and ornamental gardens are both affected significantly by the amount of light in the garden. Light changes two major aspects to your garden design: first the amount of light in the garden changes the plant selections and…

I wrote a short update post on the garden shed. It’s progressing, albeit slowly due to other gardening tasks that need attention. I do need some paint color suggestions so if you have ideas feel free to comment!

Here is Part Six of The Home Garden’s series of posts on how to garden on a budget.I began planning this post with the intention of talking about the importance of planning a garden. After typing and typing I realized that this is a subject so large that it really needed to be broken down into smaller sections. One of…