Mike and Andrea Y. are throwing a Compost Unveiling Party this Saturday from 1-4! The address is 2535 1/2 Summit Street and it will be in their backyard. Please bring a snack or appetizer (they are probably making homemade ice cream!). Any questions give her a call - 464-7904
see you there!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Keeping Window Boxes Watered
I have a problem remembering to water my three window boxes. An idea I got recently from the book You Grow Girl is to take plastic bottles, I used plastic tonic water bottles, cut a few holes in the lid and then cut the bottom of the bottle off. You then dig a hole near the plants and shove the bottle, lid down, into the soil. The water drips continuously preventing your plants from drying out-death and you just add more water to the bottle as it empties. This is a mini irrigation system and it has worked wonderfully for me!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
raise those beds!
i serendipitously fell into a solution for deterring rabbits from brunching on my beloved seedlings. I built raised beds with 2x10 lumber. seems for all their bounding and hopping, those offensive Oryctolagus cuniculus cannot vault over a mere 9 3/4 inches!
this becomes a relatively inexpensive way of keeping the peace. or, in my case; keeping the leaves... er, on the plants... get it? cause they don't eat the... ah, forget it.
in constructing these beds, i used angle brackets (the cheaper kind for deck building) to keep the corners together. Once the beds were filled to the brim with dirt the semi-square structure true'd itself up. don't worry about minor undulations in your yard when building your bed, as long as the pits and peaks aren't sufficient to stick your fist through, the filling of the bed will ensure that the frame doesn't move.
for further lepus deterent i planted onions around the perimeter. the green from these isn't sufficient enough to impede my harvesting of inner most plants and the rabbits usually leave onions alone.
I built and filled three raised beds: 4 x 8, 14 x 7 and a 5 x 10 for around 300.00 (cost of corner ties, dirt and lumber). but, for that initial cost, now i don't have to put up chicken wire every year, fiddle with netting enclosures or mesh contraptions. raised beds also easily adopt into the square foot gardening method, become a cold box with ease and can be covered with bird netting (if your soil isn't all the way to the top). overall, this is an easy and attractive way to keep your plants nibble free and just that much easier to weed/ harvest (i mean: hey, 1o inches is ten less inches that i have to stoop down, right?).
one last thing about raised beds; the local cats see a giant box as, well, a giant box. i haven't figured out how to keep felix domesticus from making occational, er, deposits in the garden. luckily this is only an issue before the plants have really taken off with foliage. and, really, is there any way to control a cat?
so i say: good luck and good riddance! (to those herbavoric hare's, i mean...)
this becomes a relatively inexpensive way of keeping the peace. or, in my case; keeping the leaves... er, on the plants... get it? cause they don't eat the... ah, forget it.
in constructing these beds, i used angle brackets (the cheaper kind for deck building) to keep the corners together. Once the beds were filled to the brim with dirt the semi-square structure true'd itself up. don't worry about minor undulations in your yard when building your bed, as long as the pits and peaks aren't sufficient to stick your fist through, the filling of the bed will ensure that the frame doesn't move.
for further lepus deterent i planted onions around the perimeter. the green from these isn't sufficient enough to impede my harvesting of inner most plants and the rabbits usually leave onions alone.
I built and filled three raised beds: 4 x 8, 14 x 7 and a 5 x 10 for around 300.00 (cost of corner ties, dirt and lumber). but, for that initial cost, now i don't have to put up chicken wire every year, fiddle with netting enclosures or mesh contraptions. raised beds also easily adopt into the square foot gardening method, become a cold box with ease and can be covered with bird netting (if your soil isn't all the way to the top). overall, this is an easy and attractive way to keep your plants nibble free and just that much easier to weed/ harvest (i mean: hey, 1o inches is ten less inches that i have to stoop down, right?).
one last thing about raised beds; the local cats see a giant box as, well, a giant box. i haven't figured out how to keep felix domesticus from making occational, er, deposits in the garden. luckily this is only an issue before the plants have really taken off with foliage. and, really, is there any way to control a cat?
so i say: good luck and good riddance! (to those herbavoric hare's, i mean...)
Monday, April 27, 2009
All Natural Sprays and Soap Recipes
Sometimes a gardener needs to take it up a notch with pest control, but resist the temptation to buy chemical pesticides from the nursery or home improvement store. Try the following recipes as go-to formulas for knocking out all kinds of unwanted visitors. I'm crossposting this to Sacred Earth
All Natural Insecticide Soap -
The soap in this recipe gets into the skin of the insect, causing dehydration and then extermination. Be careful not to add too much soap or you risk harming your plants. It is particularly helpful for soft bodied insects. Also, use a biodegradable liquid soap such as Dr. Bronners Liquid Castile Soap. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap and 1 quart water. Combine these ingredients then use in a spray bottle as needed. Add this recipe to others for to boost it’s effectiveness.
All Purpose Pesticide Spray -
Gather together some strong scented roots and spices such as cayenne, horseradish, ginger, garlic, onions, mint, rhubarb and anything else you can think of. Boil these in enough water to cover them and let the mixture sit overnight to marinate. Strain it out, put it in a spray bottle with some All Natural Insecticide Soap (see above) and you are good to go. This will keep for several weeks unless frozen.
variation - Instead of using all of the other herbs, simply use 1-2 heads of garlic. Deer and rabbits in particular are repelled by this.
Caffeine Spray
While human tend to enjoy the little jittery burst of energy that comes from caffeine insects on the other hand will do well to repel insects - particularly aphids. Gather any or all of the following herbs: yarrow, tansy, pennyroyal, thyme, lavender, rue, catnip and artemisia. Mix at least a cup of this herbal mixture with 2 tbsp used coffee grounds and 2 cups of water. All this to marinade for at least 24 hours before straining and placing into a spray bottle. This can keep for several weeks
All Natural Insecticide Soap -
The soap in this recipe gets into the skin of the insect, causing dehydration and then extermination. Be careful not to add too much soap or you risk harming your plants. It is particularly helpful for soft bodied insects. Also, use a biodegradable liquid soap such as Dr. Bronners Liquid Castile Soap. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap and 1 quart water. Combine these ingredients then use in a spray bottle as needed. Add this recipe to others for to boost it’s effectiveness.
All Purpose Pesticide Spray -
Gather together some strong scented roots and spices such as cayenne, horseradish, ginger, garlic, onions, mint, rhubarb and anything else you can think of. Boil these in enough water to cover them and let the mixture sit overnight to marinate. Strain it out, put it in a spray bottle with some All Natural Insecticide Soap (see above) and you are good to go. This will keep for several weeks unless frozen.
variation - Instead of using all of the other herbs, simply use 1-2 heads of garlic. Deer and rabbits in particular are repelled by this.
Caffeine Spray
While human tend to enjoy the little jittery burst of energy that comes from caffeine insects on the other hand will do well to repel insects - particularly aphids. Gather any or all of the following herbs: yarrow, tansy, pennyroyal, thyme, lavender, rue, catnip and artemisia. Mix at least a cup of this herbal mixture with 2 tbsp used coffee grounds and 2 cups of water. All this to marinade for at least 24 hours before straining and placing into a spray bottle. This can keep for several weeks
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
shepherd's hook?
kind of a longshot but does anyone have any of those shepherd's hooks to hang baskets on lying around they are not using?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
First Garden Club Meeting Scheduled!
The first meeting of the season will be held on Sunday, April 26 at 5 pm at Beth Montgomery's home. A hand out will go around church and an announcement will be made. The topic will be square foot gardening!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Helpful Calculator Tool
I found this great website PlanGarden.com a few weeks ago and it has really helped me! Today while messing around on it's website I found a very handy tool which can help you calculate the space you need for a certain vegetable, the weight generated from that space, the average price and savings if you purchased that amount from a store, farmers market, or if it was organic. im in heaven!
http://plangarden.com/app/vegetable_value/
http://plangarden.com/app/vegetable_value/
Monday, March 30, 2009
Help Grow Your Soup
This is a program sponsored by Campbell's Corp. By clicking on a link near the bottom of the page, seeds will be donated to FFA chapters across America. You can also get a package of free tomato seeds (not heirloom, sorry!) Here's more info on the project(s).
According to a resource link on houseparty.com, you'll need the following info to get the seeds:
According to a resource link on houseparty.com, you'll need the following info to get the seeds:
- Can Code 1: P8039
- Can Code 2: U6
- variety: I clicked "Chicken Noodle" and it was correct.
Click the GET YOURS NOW arrow <-------- to the right with the seed packet picture.
The codes worked when typed versus copy and paste with omitting caps.
It may take several tries for the link to come up, you may have your own codes in your pantry to try, as well.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Seed the Day
Dagoba Organic Chocolate encourages people to have urban gardens. Resources are available.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Great Sunflower Project
from the website:
By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. The first batches of seeds are mailing the week of 23 March 2009. We'll be sending our next round of annual Lemon Queen sunflower seeds at the end of April 2009. Just in time to plant!
It takes less than 30 minutes.
It's easy.
Free Sunflower seeds for planting.
No knowledge of bees required!
Enter your bee counts online or send us your paper form.We would love to have you join us; let’s help our most important pollinators together!
By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. The first batches of seeds are mailing the week of 23 March 2009. We'll be sending our next round of annual Lemon Queen sunflower seeds at the end of April 2009. Just in time to plant!
It takes less than 30 minutes.
It's easy.
Free Sunflower seeds for planting.
No knowledge of bees required!
Enter your bee counts online or send us your paper form.We would love to have you join us; let’s help our most important pollinators together!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Call for topics!
The first CV Garden Club meeting of the season will be in April and the topic will be about Square Foot Gardening. I believe Steve Languis is on board to be our guest speaker. Date coming soon!
What other topics would you guys be interested in discussing at a meeting?
What other topics would you guys be interested in discussing at a meeting?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Setting an Example
White House adds a garden; first "since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a so-called "victory garden" at the height of World War II."
Friday, March 20, 2009
bulk compost/mulch
anyone interested enough to coordinate a bulk purchase of mulch and/or compost? i assume we could save money doing it this way- but honestly don't have the time to organize it... anyone have thoughts on it?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Fresh Local Fruit !
Ok, I admit, this isn't really a "gardening" announcement, but many of you are interested in local fresh fruits and veggies. This info is not listed on their website; we are on the mailing list and received an email announcement.
is having an end of winter sale
10 pound bag is $10
20 pound bags is $16
Apples were harvested at the peak of perfection last fall
and have stored them all winter
and have stored them all winter
in their coolers to ensure outstanding quality.
Saturday, March 21 and 28, 2009
9am to 3pm
located 1/4 mile east of the Morse Rd/SR 310 intersection
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
End of the farmers market for us all?
Below is an email I just sent off to Laura Zimmerman, who heads up the Clintonville Farmers Market. Because this concerns so much of us, especially those with a heart for redistributing our food to those in need, I thought I'd post a copy of it here.
I recently read about House Resolution 875, that while in its infancy I must admit scared the bejesus out of me! I feel it could threaten the very fabric of our community's ties to locally grown food not to mention what I deeply believe is out right to grow, distribute, and purchase food of our choosing. I thought you might be interested, if you don't already know about it, in reading a little about it and watch it's developments.
Here is a link about the resolution (here is another) and here is one to track it's progress through legislation.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Volunteers needed for gardening ministry
Vineyard Church of Columbus has put together a wonderful eco-ministry and they are in need of volunteers. The ministry has some plots ready for gardening near the Fruit of the Vine food pantry on 5th ave. Because this is our mother church and their ministry is working within our parish, and heck because it's just fun to garden here are some volunteer opportunities happening soon that we really encourage you to participate in.
org
April 18: 10 am to 2 pm, Earth Day
Volunteering in the garden at 3 city community gardens. (LOTs of help needed!) Please let me know if your available. Sign up available at http://www.picturethis09.April 26: 10 am to 2 pm, Weinland Garden Kick Off!
(connect with the community, cooking demos, seed giveaways, tour the garden) all are welcome.Contact e mail for us is eco.vineyard@gmail.com
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Just a little heads up...
My Uncle and his family own a small Nursery in New Albany and they are offering some great classes this Spring. Their gardens are beautiful and it is a great place to go if you are looking for some ideas. The kids love it over there.
This spring, they are offering classes in dish gardening, tufa stone container making, Herbs gardening (which I am taking), organic gardening (only a $5 fee with a BREAKFAST included!!), floral arrangements, hayrack window boxes, container gardens, and a building healthy soil class. Classes are affordable and the instructor is great ~wink~. For more information, contact www.mccland.com or call 855-1288. Their site is still under construction, so you may have to check in or call. The nursery opens for the season this weekend. If you are looking for some unique plants or veggies, they'll have it or could get it for you. Hope to see you there!
This spring, they are offering classes in dish gardening, tufa stone container making, Herbs gardening (which I am taking), organic gardening (only a $5 fee with a BREAKFAST included!!), floral arrangements, hayrack window boxes, container gardens, and a building healthy soil class. Classes are affordable and the instructor is great ~wink~. For more information, contact www.mccland.com or call 855-1288. Their site is still under construction, so you may have to check in or call. The nursery opens for the season this weekend. If you are looking for some unique plants or veggies, they'll have it or could get it for you. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
This book by Barbara Kingsolver explores gardening, and eating locally. Here's a few YouTube videos related to the book- (Barbara reads chapter 1 for an audience) 1, (a bio of Barbara, and interview) 2, (humorous musical book review) 3, (student project based on the book- interviewing an organic farmer) 4.
The family/book web site contains pictures, recipes, a visual tour of the farm, and other resources.
The family/book web site contains pictures, recipes, a visual tour of the farm, and other resources.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Square Foot Gardening
We went to the Home & Garden Show today, and attended a couple of the speakers. The most informative was Mel Bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening.
His ideas challenged my traditional farm gardening views. But, it turns out we've already been practicing some adaptations of his basic philosophy in our backyard. Before the seminar ended, I was already sketching ideas for more raised beds that would fit out "landscaping" and give us more flexibility in veggie/ herb/ edible flower gardening.
Mr. Bartholomew is not a trained horticulturalist. By profession, he is a civil engineer and efficiency expert. After a successful career, he retired at 42 years old and got involved at the start of his community's garden. He realized that growing things in rows was not an efficient use of space. Applying his professional knowledge to gardening, he developed this system for efficient use of space, water, soil, and crop rotation.
In the early 80's, he wrote his original book, but in recent years, he has come out of second retirement to revise and add to his book. In an effort to eliminate world hunger, the he has founded a non-profit that goes into Third World countries and teaches this type of small space gardening to schools, orphanages, shelters, correctional facilities, elderly, wheelchair bound, missionaries, and people groups in many parts of the world.
We've ordered a copy of his book, and we're trying to get ahold of a DVD. (If we get one, we might host a gathering, or interested people can borrow it from us).
Also, last night we found parts of some of his older PBS shows, and short introductory videos on YouTube. Here's a variation of the plain square foot garden for a focal point garden (the qualitu/ adio is poor- probably taken from an old video tape or tape of Tv). Other people have made their own video version based on his ideas- expert village has a whole series of short videos on YouTube. Here's a series of Mel's work done in association with Health Foundation- video 1,2,3
(it gives many of the basics). There's also a series of tips by Mel and Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl- Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.
Here are some pictures & info about how people have put Mel's ideas to work for them. In any case, it's something some of you too might want to look into!
"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." - Anonymous
His ideas challenged my traditional farm gardening views. But, it turns out we've already been practicing some adaptations of his basic philosophy in our backyard. Before the seminar ended, I was already sketching ideas for more raised beds that would fit out "landscaping" and give us more flexibility in veggie/ herb/ edible flower gardening.
Mr. Bartholomew is not a trained horticulturalist. By profession, he is a civil engineer and efficiency expert. After a successful career, he retired at 42 years old and got involved at the start of his community's garden. He realized that growing things in rows was not an efficient use of space. Applying his professional knowledge to gardening, he developed this system for efficient use of space, water, soil, and crop rotation.
In the early 80's, he wrote his original book, but in recent years, he has come out of second retirement to revise and add to his book. In an effort to eliminate world hunger, the he has founded a non-profit that goes into Third World countries and teaches this type of small space gardening to schools, orphanages, shelters, correctional facilities, elderly, wheelchair bound, missionaries, and people groups in many parts of the world.
We've ordered a copy of his book, and we're trying to get ahold of a DVD. (If we get one, we might host a gathering, or interested people can borrow it from us).
Also, last night we found parts of some of his older PBS shows, and short introductory videos on YouTube. Here's a variation of the plain square foot garden for a focal point garden (the qualitu/ adio is poor- probably taken from an old video tape or tape of Tv). Other people have made their own video version based on his ideas- expert village has a whole series of short videos on YouTube. Here's a series of Mel's work done in association with Health Foundation- video 1,2,3
(it gives many of the basics). There's also a series of tips by Mel and Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl- Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.
Here are some pictures & info about how people have put Mel's ideas to work for them. In any case, it's something some of you too might want to look into!
"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." - Anonymous
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Garden Journals
Keep organized this upcoming season by downloading this awesome software I found called "my garden journal". That is one thing that I plan on doing this year that I havn't in seasons past - organization and record keeping that is.
Plot your garden by the foot on supplied graph paper, qualify your soil, keep track of when you planting things indoors and out, pests and control methods, yields, etc. Loving this find!!
best part - FREE
Plot your garden by the foot on supplied graph paper, qualify your soil, keep track of when you planting things indoors and out, pests and control methods, yields, etc. Loving this find!!
best part - FREE
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Random News & Ohio Gardens
UPDATE:
Here's a picture tutorial and shopping list for making raised garden beds. If you continue to follow her web site, it sounds like in coming days/ weeks, she will address other topics like soil for the raised beds.
Franklin Park comunity gardens program
Summer 2009 conference
Columbus/ Franklin Co
Ohio
Gardening Tips
Here's a picture tutorial and shopping list for making raised garden beds. If you continue to follow her web site, it sounds like in coming days/ weeks, she will address other topics like soil for the raised beds.
Franklin Park comunity gardens program
Summer 2009 conference
Columbus/ Franklin Co
- Master Gardener Home Gardener series
- garden clubs
- more discussion
Ohio
Gardening Tips
- Westerville Garden Club- tips
- John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds- horticulture tips
Local Gardening Seminars
- Gardening 101- last Feb by OSU Extension
Monday, January 26, 2009
when to plant seeds
if you want to know when to plant your seeds yougrowgirl.com has a handy
chart just enter your towns info from the frost chart and it does the work for you
eta: the frost date for central ohio is typically around april 15
chart just enter your towns info from the frost chart and it does the work for you
eta: the frost date for central ohio is typically around april 15
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Let the Season Begin! (sort of)
Just a reminder that January is a prime time to place orders for seeds and plants for our summer gardens!!
What is everyone growing this year? We have hopes of growing:
broccoli
lettuce (head & leaf)
carrots
beans
collards
banana peppers
jalepeno peppers
sweet peppers
onions
cucumber
melons
spinach
beets
and maybe corn and asparagus depending on how much room we have.
my question is: does anyone have any resources about plants that encourage the presence of bees?
What is everyone growing this year? We have hopes of growing:
broccoli
lettuce (head & leaf)
carrots
beans
collards
banana peppers
jalepeno peppers
sweet peppers
onions
cucumber
melons
spinach
beets
and maybe corn and asparagus depending on how much room we have.
my question is: does anyone have any resources about plants that encourage the presence of bees?
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