Category: Gardening

What Is Winter Indoor Gardening

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There is no need to stop gardening if temperatures in your area are to cold to garden outdoors. Indoor gardening can be done to fulfill your gardening urges.

Indoor gardening is done on a small scale and the plants need more care than a summer outdoor garden. Fertilization, lighting, pollination, soil, temperature and watering are all factors that needed to be monitored carefully when gardening indoors.

When gardening indoors planning is very important to your success. If you decide at the end of your growing season that you want to keep gardening indoors you just might have trouble doing it. For more details www.the-spam-files.com Seeds in most areas are hard to come by in the fall. Buying enough seeds for your spring planting and storing a few extra for your indoor winter planting is the one thing to keep in mind. Other thoughts are what you want to plant.

When choosing plants that you want to grow indoors also takes some planning. In most places space is going to be the main factor. Keep plants to smaller sizes. For tomatoes you might consider cherry tomatoes, lettuce stay with a leaf lettuce and beans you can plant bush type beans.

After you have decided on what crops you would like to grow over the winter months indoors and have the seeds you need readily on hand you can start preparing to plant.

Soil will be your next consideration.You are going to want to have a soil mix or soilless mix that has a soil structure that is going to retain the moisture and nutrients that the plants are going to need to survive.

After you have your containers filled with your soil mix and your seeds are planted you will need a good location that has sufficient lighting. plants require at the minimum of six to eight hours of sunlight and the plants will have to be placed close to the light source. For more details www.america-gardener.com One problem that tender plants might have is that the cold temperatures that could radiate off windows when the sun goes down will harm them. If this is a problem you could supplement them with heat growing lamps to compensate the cold temperatures.

Pollination is another issue with indoor gardening. There is no wind or insects needed to pollinate the plants naturally. manually pollinating will have to be done. All that is needed is a small artists brush to gently transfer the pollen from one flower to another.

Watering of plants will need to be monitored daily. Plants being grown indoors in a confined space with the heat on don’t get the humidity needed to go long periods of time without watering. Usually you ill need to water daily or every other day. Watering frequently can also deplete the nutrients in the soil. A good balanced organic fertilizer that is slow release will replenish the nutrients back into the soil that are needed for the plants to thrive.

Health Benefits Of Herb Gardening

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One trend that is quickly gaining huge popularity is herb gardening. People everywhere are starting their own gardens and producing great herbs and other plants that are much healthier and cheaper than the produce that can be purchased at the store. While it used to take a fairly large garden to grow herbs, it is now possible to have your own herb garden inside your home through a process called hydroponic gardening. This means that you will be able to enjoy the health benefits of herb gardening, even though you may have limited yard space or live in a small apartment.

Besides being a great experience, there are many health benefits of herb gardening. The first main health benefit of growing your own herbs is the added nutrition that you and your family will be getting from your food. Home grown food is higher in nutrition because it can be harvested at peak ripeness. This means that you and your family will be getting more nutrients from your food, which will lead to less medical problems. Another one of the health benefits is that garden grown plants are not contaminated with the harmful chemicals and pesticides that are widely used in commercial farming. These chemicals can be dangerous to humans, even in small amounts, so not having them on your food can help keep you healthy.

Aside from the health benefits there are many other benefits that make growing your own food a great option. Plants that are grown at home will be much fresher than plants that were picked, shipped, and sat in the store until you purchased them. The best tasting plants are the ones that are picked fresh and immediately used., and this is only possible for you if you grow your own.

Starting your own garden can be a great idea and also be a lot of fun. Try to choose herbs and plants that you will be using frequently and others that you may not be able to find in local stores. By growing your own herbs you will be getting all of the health benefits of herb gardening as well as better tasting food at a lower cost. If you are new to herb gardening and need some additional information, you can find tips, tricks, and suggestions on the Internet. There is a lot of information that will be able to help you get started with your own garden.

Market Gardening On A Budget

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Market gardening is a great job. Bringing fresh healthy food to appreciative customers can be enjoyable and profitable. But if you are on a budget, how can you start market gardening without breaking the bank? Here’s some suggestions to get started growing for market on a budget.

Step 1: Finding land to start market gardening. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to own a farm to be a farmer! In most rural areas, there is good land that is underused. Put the word out to your neighbours that you are looking for a small plot for a market garden. You can also find land by driving around and looking for fields that appear un-worked, without animals grazing. Ask local farmers if they might be interested in renting you a small plot; they may even take a share of the vegetables you grow in exchange. A plot as small as 5000 square feet can produce an amazing amount of food for sale.

Step 2: Covering your start-up costs. Here’s a way to raise the start-up capital you will need for seeds and equipment. Approach your friends, family, co-workers, boy scout troop, hockey buddies, in short everybody, and tell them you will be raising delicious, fresh, naturally-grown vegetables, and if they hurry they can get on the list to get some. You can ask them for a deposit to secure their share of the bounty from your garden, or even get them to pay you in advance for veggies they will receive throughout the season. This model of market gardening is known as Community Supported Agriculture, and is a popular and successful model to start gardening for money.

Step 3: Getting your equipment. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on market gardening equipment to get started. You can hire a local farmer to plow and disc your garden space for you. A simple light stand for starting seeds indoors can be built with florescent shop lights and 2 by 2 lumber. Shop light usually come with chains that will let you adjust their height as your plants grow. A market garden of up to an acre can be managed with mostly hand tools, often available cheap at farm auctions. If necessary, you can buy a used rear-tine roto-tiller, or rent one as required. Other recommended supplies include drip or soaker hose for irrigation, and a roll of floating row cover to protect your plants from weather and insect damage.

Step 4: Ordering seed. This is one place where you don’t want to skimp too much. Check the seed catalogs from different suppliers, and find the best prices and sizes of seed packets that suit your growing needs. It’s better to order too much rather than too little seed; if you run out in the middle of the season, more seed may be hard to find. And most seeds will keep for several years, so anything you don’t plant can be used next season.

Step 5: Putting it all together. You now have your land, some customers, start-up capital, and market gardening equipment. Now you actually have to grow the delicious vegetables your customers are expecting. To start with, you need a production plan for your garden. You need to figure out how much of each crop you need to grow, when to start growing them, and when they need to be replanted to ensure a continuous harvest. Your planning will be based on such factors as the length of your growing season, your date for last frost in the spring and first frost in the fall, the number of customers you have, and the equipment you have available. For example, if you have ten customers that each want one head of cabbage from you each week, you will obviously need at least that many cabbages available for harvest on a weekly basis. And since not every seed germinates, and there will be some losses due to weather or insects or disease, you should allow for a ‘safety factor’ when determining how many plants to start. To be sure you will have 10 cabbages ready for harvest, you might start 15 seeds to allow for losses. Follow this kind of analysis for each crop you plan to grow.

Step 6: Maintaining your market garden. Market gardening is real work, requiring regular daily attention to be successful. You will spend time each day in watering, weeding and feeding; the gardener’s WWF. One key to this is, don’t start too big a garden the first year. Perhaps just grow vegetables for a few friends, then as your experience grows you can increase the size of your garden.

Ideas To Make The 75th Birthday Personal And Unforgettable

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It’s always a tough job of figuring out what to give to someone you love who will celebrate his or her birthday. The gifts that you will give to a person on his or her 75th birthday should be extremely special. Here are some gift ideas that will help you with your search for the perfect gift especially for someone celebrating such a milestone:

Go platinum

A person’s 75th birthday is a platinum birthday, and platinum 75th birthday gifts are simply fitting for the occasion. Items like platinum jewelry, frames, and decor are ideal and great gift ideas. If you find platinum items too expensive, you may also choose to give gifts that are platinum coated. Engrave the name of the birthday person, along with the date of the celebration, on the gift item to make it even more special and memorable.

You could present the celebrant with greetings recorded by family and friends

Exert a little extra effort and visit the celebrant’s family, relatives and friends. Record audio or video greetings they have for the celebrant and save it to a disk. It will surely be a surprise to the birthday celebrant if you can play the music which he used to love or sing while he was younger. The celebrant will appreciate your gift and also cherish it all through his or her life. You can also look for some services on the Net that will gather the greetings for you to help you save time and effort.

You can gift a basket which has been beautifully decorated by your own

Gift baskets make a wonderful and fun birthday gift no matter what the age of the recipient. One gift could contain lots of exciting stuff. Look for things that are also 75 years old that the celebrant will remember from their youth.

Make a collage or scrapbook

Generally, as people age, they tend to get more sentimental. Make a collage of pictures or a scrapbook to touch someone’s heart. Do not forget to include pictures taken during the different milestones of the celebrant’s life. Look for memorable moments in the person’s life such as pictures from a baptism, school days, graduation, first job, wedding, first family picture and other moments. Include photos of the celebrant’s favorite stars sports team, movies, and even favorite food if you decide to make a scrapbook. You could touch the heart of the celebrant by posting lines from his or her favorite song, poem, quotations in the scrapbook. In order to make the surprise even more sentimental, you should have visits from grandchildren, children, in-laws, and any other close friends who are available.

You must take into account the hobbies and the preferences of the celebrant

A gift that is bound to delight someone who is celebrating his or her 75th birthday would be to give him or her something that relates to his or her hobby or interest. Adding to a collection or finding items that bring back fond memories of the past are both wonderful git ideas. Coins, stamps, and other collectibles, which are meaningful to the celebrant, might also be considerations. If the birthday celebrant like to cook the dinner, let him do it and give him an apron and book containing recipes. If the celebrant loves gardening, you can give a new set of tools in a favorite color to make the gift more interesting.

Give the celebrant a pleasant shock with a ticket for a couple to an exquisite holiday resort

If you can afford it, surprise the honoree with an amazing gift of two plane tickets for two to an extraordinary vacation spot. Take into consideration the recipients age and whether or not they are able to travel. In order to make your gift everlasting memorable, opt for a spot for the birthday celebrations which is almost near to the residence of the celebrant and the celebrant would really love that idea.

Remember memories fondly by encasing a portrait in a frame, painting, or by writing poetry about the event

You must maintain emotional relationship with your gift and get a portrait, painting or a poem framed keeping that consideration in mind. If you want to frame items make sure to include one of the celebrant’s favorite. The children can be asked about their favorite photos or recite a poem or scene if you are a friend or relative. Choose a platinum-coated frame to go with the platinum birthday theme or a vintage-inspired frame that older people often love.

To finalize your gift to a person’s 75th birthday, make sure to creatively wrap it and with a heartfelt dedication inserted to make the gift complete. A gift from the heart is always most appreciated and remembered, as it illustrates the giver’s thoughtfulness.

Make Your Goal Living the Simple Life

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A recent article in the New York Times “the Island where People Forget to Die” by Dan Buettner really got my attention. I am a registered dietitian and yes it is a good goal to lose weight if you need to, and to lower your cholesterol, blood sugar and triglycerides if you are on medications for these conditions. I suggest a full examination not of your body, or weight but your total lifestyle. Coincidentally I am writing this article during the recent “Franken storm”. My “normal lifestyle” has changed to a much simpler one. This situation has given me reason to pause.

This article is a must read. It identifies a man in his mid-60’s diagnosed with lung cancer and given nine months to live. He chooses to return to his ancestral roots in Ikaria Greece. What occurred was astonishing. He adopted the local ways of living and his strength started returning. The years passed and his health continued to improve. Today, at 97 years old, three decades later he is cancer-free! He never received chemo therapy, took drugs or sought therapy of any sort.

So what happens on this island that improved this man’s health? Geographically the air and water have been identified as being responsible for extending life. There have been other communities with centenarians. There are similarities within all these communities that can be helpful for all of us to heed.

The residents of this island choose to have a simple life. Their day starts late morning with a breakfast of goat’s milk, wine, sage tea or coffee with bread and honey. Lunch includes beans, potatoes, greens and whatever home grown seasonal vegetables are available. Often dinner is small with bread and honey. Meals and social times extend late into the evening sharing stories, wine and or teas. The Ikarians farm their own vegetables, raise their own animals, and enjoy drinks made from locally grown herbs. Their focus is not on monetary success, multitasking and watching the clock; instead they choose to enjoy an enormous sense of community and time for daily naps.

As an RD I counsel patients and together we create goals. My initial assessment includes information for genetics, lab values, as well as diet and exercise habits. Very often it comes to light that my patients are under stress or don’t have a social network, in addition to other weight and health issues. The Ikarians don’t seem to have these stressors and they certainly seem to enjoy socializing with a close community of friends. Could these differences make so much difference with health? Research has indicated that dementia, cardiovascular disease in addition to cancer have been delayed or totally avoided.

The Times article has brought more of my attention to the importance of “way of life”. So let’s examine this way of life that seems to be so beneficial. Our cultural ways of multitasking, rushing and watching the clock are not included in Ikarian residents thought processes. Focus on taking naps, enjoying the social aspect of eating and having a lifestyle that naturally includes being active as opposed to gym time seem to reap impressive health advantages. Everyday life includes daily walking, gardening, and heavy manual labor. Another topic that I found extremely relevant was not particularly what these residents eat but what they do not eat such as sugar and soda. Their diets are based on the Mediterrean diet, a plant based format for Ikarians consisting of goats milk, wine, teas, coffee, whole grains, honey, beans, and home grown vegetables. The Mediterrean diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This diet includes moderate amounts of alcohol but limited dairy and meat products.

Low intake of saturated fat is associated with lower risk of heart disease and olive oil has been found to reduce bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. Tryptophan found in nuts, seeds, legumes, soybeans and other soy products, tuna, shellfish and turkey is one of ten essential amino acids. The body uses tryptophan to synthesize serotonin which is helpful in regulating appetite, as well as elevating moods and increasing the ability to enjoy beneficial sleep. Coffee, also included in Ikarian diets, has been controversial but of late research credits it with lower rates of diabetes, and heart disease. Basically to summarize, the additional benefits of the Ikarian diet include fewer pesticides, more foods in their natural form and choices that are loaded with beneficial vitamins and minerals. There is no mention of packaged and processed foods or beverages.

This wonderful article really got my attention. It ended by the cancer victim showing no further signs of cancer, and returning to the US to ask his doctors if they could explain what happened. When the interviewer asked “What happened?”this former cancer victim replied “My doctors were all dead.”