Transplanting Plants - Without Killing Them

 

 

My Grandmother had the most beautiful flower and vegetable garden.  I would come home with a huge bouquet from her garden.  She had peonies, iris, and any other flower you could think of in her garden. 

            She would ask me if I wanted a start for my own garden and of course the answer was an excited yes.  If was then that I first learned how to transplant without killing my new plants.

            The first thing she would do would be to have me get some newspaper, lay it out in layers and then wet them down with the hose.  I would have a few piles of wet newspaper around the lawn when she would dig around the plants she was going to give me.  She would dig down around the plant on all four sides before trying to uproot the plant.  The least amount of root disturbance the better. 

            She would then dig around the plant again until it came up easily and bring it over to the newspaper and put it in the middle of the wet paper.  I would wrap the newspaper around my newly dug plants then wet it down again with the hose. 

            When I transport the plants home I didn’t always get them in the ground right away so I would keep the newspaper wet until I was able to transplant them.

Planting Carrots - Carrots Love Tomatoes

 

Carrots seem to just be the vegetable that looks healthy and tastes good.   We all want to plant our own carrots and have crisp carrots to snack on.  I have just a few tips on planting your carrots that I use; you can try them if you like.

         Carrots like soil with lime, humus and potash in it.  When carrots have long periods of hot weather and too much nitrogen they seem to have poor flavor.

 If you plant onions, leeks and herbs like rosemary, sage and wormwood by them they seem to be a repellent to the carrot fly.

 Carrots tomatoes and leaf lettuce grow well together, but carrots don’t like dill, the feeling is probably mutual.

 The roots of carrots are beneficial to growing peas.

 When storing carrots and apples they should be stored a distance from each other to prevent carrots from taking on a bitter flavor.

 Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

Blend Your Own Seed-Starting Mix

How to make your own seed-starting mix.

        4 parts screened compost (look below)

        1 part perlite

        1 part vermiculite

 

      2 parts sphagnum peat moss and/or coir

To keep the dust down, lightly moisten the ingredients before blending them thoroughly in a dishpan or wheelbarrow.

This mix strikes a balance between moisture retention and drainage, both of which are necessary for seedlings. Regulating the moisture is key, “It’s easy for the soil to stay too wet, and that can lead to damping-off.” Damping-off is a fungal disease that causes newly germinated seedlings to topple over and die. Some flower seedlings, tend to be more sensitive to too much moisture. For those, she makes a special batch of the mix, using less compost and replacing coir with peat moss. Sphagnum peat moss and perlite tend to lighten the mix and allow it to drain more quickly. Compost, vermiculite, and coir increase moisture retention.

This mix is made mostly from shredded leaves and other garden debris—but she avoids any organic materials that might introduce weed seeds to the compost. Having compost in the mix means that seedlings rarely need to be fertilized until they are moved outdoors to the garden; the compost provides a constant mild feeding. Compost also counters the natural acidity of peat moss. In mixes that don’t include compost, add 1/4 teaspoon of lime for every gallon of mix.

Build a Compost Screener

Prevent rocks and plastic from getting into your compost by creating a compost screener.

 

If you have a screen for cement you may use it or you can make your own.

Some organic debris breaks down quickly into compost, while twigs and hedge trimmings lag behind. This compost screener allows gardeners to remove the chunky, unfinished bits from compost that is to be used in potting mixes or as a soil amendment or topdressing. It also removes stones and plastic trash that may have found their way into the compost pile. Use a gloved hand to work the compost through the mesh, one or two shovelfuls at a time.

The screener is designed to sit atop a wheelbarrow or garden cart; the screened compost ends up in the wheelbarrow so it can be transported to wherever it is needed. Materials needed are 2-by-4 untreated framing lumber, galvanized hardware cloth with 1/2-inch square mesh, 2 1/2-inch galvanized deck screws, and 3/4-inch galvanized staples.

Begin by measuring the wheelbarrow. The dimensions of the wheelbarrow tray will determine the lengths of the 2-by-4s. Cut two boards about 16 inches longer than the width of the top edges of the tray, allowing them to overhang the edges 8 inches on each side. Cut two shorter boards about 8 inches less than the cross dimension. (The screener can be built so the overhanging boards extend to the sides of the wheelbarrow, or to the front and back. A rectangular shape is easiest to construct, although it’s also possible to match the tapered shape of some wheelbarrow trays.)

With a handsaw or jigsaw, cut long notches at each end of the longer boards. The cuts can be angled or curved with a jigsaw, if desired, to make the screener fit more snugly atop the wheelbarrow. Check to make sure the notched boards fit the wheelbarrow tray. Assemble the four boards with 2 1/2-inch deck screws.

Cut a rectangle of hardware cloth to fit the underside of the screener. Attach it with a staple gun, fastening about every 6 inches.

Using Screened Compost
Three good uses for screened compost:

Lawn fertilizer. Spread about 1/4 inch of screened compost on the lawn in early fall. Use a leaf rake to distribute it evenly.

Mulch. Blanket the soil in planting beds with an inch or more of screened compost. As mulch compost offers slow-release nutrients and a tidy appearance.

Potting soil. Fortify houseplant or seed-starting mixes with compost, adding one part of screened compost for every three parts of commercial potting soil.

Planting Onions from bunch onion scraps

 

 

Garden fresh onions year round

This it works well. You may have fresh onions year round.
The trick is to take the cut end (root side) and plant it in a pot, water well, give it some time and voila! You have fresh (and free!) onions at your disposal. This will work for a variety of different onions and the beauty of this tip is that as you use the onions, you replant the cut root ends to grow more. You can use a tub just for onions and haul it indoors during winter months (will need lots of sun) or if it’s just green onions you’re interested in growing, a large flower pot will do.

I learned this tip a couple of years ago and have tried it and found that it works and is quite marvelous. I love to use fresh green onions but am always out or there is a slimy little bag of them in the bottom of the fridge.
Here is my marvelous tip for growing them yourself and recycling a bit.

Onion Recycling Tutorial

1. Take the onion you are using for cooking, green, red, yellow, or white, it doesn't matter.
Cut off the root end. You are going to do that anyway. For a bulb onion like a red, white or yellow, I kinda core the onion and cut out a little cone there at the root end.

This onion came from my garden so the roots are huge but the ones from the store work the same.
2. Take that root bit you cut off and plant it in dirt and water it well. You can directly plant this in the garden. I plant mine in a tub in my yard for easy onion access year round. You can even plant them in a flower pot in a sunny window.

There you have it. In a few weeks you will have tons of green onions for the picking. Actually I just take my knife out there and cut them off at the ground and they grow me another onion quickly. If you just need the green parts for your recipe, just snip off a few of the green things and chop them up. The onion plant will send up more and that will actually stop the plant from going to seed which makes the onion tough.

 

How to wash make pillows white.

One of he reasons pillows turn yellow is sweat.


When pillows start yellowing we usually toss the pillow and buy a new one. But do that when you can whiten a pillow that is still perfectly good. You may see an old article from Martha Stewart Living that suggested pillows should be WASHED at least twice a year.

This is the Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution” treatment. You can CLICK HERE to read all about it, but basically it involves the following ingredients:

• HOT HOT HOT water
• 1 cup of laundry detergent
• 1 cup powdered dishwasher detergent
• 1 cup bleach (you could try “A Natural Bleach Alternative if you are opposed to chlorine bleach)
• 1/2 cup borax

Not only did the whole pillow-washing process turn out to be much easier than I anticipated, it worked like a CHARM!  

WASHING and whitening your pillows:

• Check the care label to confirm that your pillow (down or synthetic) can be machine washed – most can be.
• Remove the pillow case and any pillow protector
• Fill the washing machine about 1/3 full with HOT water (I even added a couple of pans full of boiling water).
• Add all the ingredients in the Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution (or, if you’re just looking to wash your pillows, add your detergent now) then start the machine and allow it to agitate for a few minutes to makes sure all the detergent dissolves before adding the pillows.

• Once the detergent is dissolved, add the pillow(s), and then allow the washer to fill the rest of the way with HOT water. I washed two pillows at a time, which helped balance the load when it came time for the spin cycle.

• Agitate the pillows for several minutes, then turn the pillows OVER to allow the top side to get the full effect of agitating in the HOT water. Agitate for several minutes more.

• Put your machine on the 2nd rinse cycle or just run it through twice manually.

DRYING your pillows:

• For down and feathers, use the air cycle. For synthetics, use the low heat setting.

• Place the pillow(s) in the dryer, add a couple of tennis balls covered in clean socks or a few Homemade Dryer Balls to help FLUFF the pillows as they tumble dry. (If it’s a nice day you could also set them outside in the sun to dry!)   I dry on the clothesline.

 

Weighted Hula Hoop with Ribs Review

 

          The weighted Hula Hoop with ribs is going back.  If I wanted to get beat up I would go back to sparring in Karate and even then I could protect myself.  Using that Hula Hoop with ribs is like being jabbed in the body and no way to stop it. 

            I will be going to Amazon and buying a weighted Hula hoop without ribs.  I tried to buy local (local considering where I live) but the only ones carried by Dicks sporting goods was the ribbed one.  At least they carried a weighted Hula Hoop which is more than I can say for Big 5, Sportsman Warehouse or any of the other sporting good stores I went to.

            I am doing this to have fun and get in shape.  I’ll let you know how the new Hula Hoop is when I get it in and try it out.   





First Day Hula Hooping

 

           I did my first time hula hooping with my new hula hoop yesterday and those ridges do hurt.  I have bruises from the weighted hula hoop.  It took me a while to get back on the hula hoop (like riding a bike) but I did get it going for a very short time.  I have read that you are not to go very long the first time with these hoops.  There were no instructions in the hoop box so I looked elsewhere for information.

As I was starting my husband was laughing at me, he told me he would show me how it was done.  Well, he didn’t get it going at all and gave up after a few tries.

          I will hula hoop again today, I will give the ridged hula hoop a good go before I call it quits on the ridges and go to the completely round one.   I’ll keep you informed on my progress. 

 

Hula Hooping

 

 

I used to be able to hula hoop for long periods of times (at least it seemed that way).  I went and bought a regular hula hoop and didn’t do so well.  I then heard about the new weighted hula hoops that are all the rage so I bought one yesterday when I was out of town as there are no stores in my town.   

I will hula hoop again. 

 I got the hula hoop put together, it came in parts - I was going to go outside hula hoop when it started raining, so I will keep you informed and let you know how the new ribbed hula hoops are.  I would have preferred one without ribs but that is the only type available at the sporting goods store I went to.  None of the other sporting goods stores even carried it.  They had a three pound one, I read I needed four pounds but I figured I will start with three pounds and if I can master that I can always buy another one and go up in weight. 
 

 I have a feeling this isn’t going to be as easy as when I was ten or so, but I am not too old to try.. 

 

Sage protects Cabbage

 

When I think of sage visions of turkey ready for the Thanksgiving feast come to mind.  Sage has become a part of my life.  I use it in eggs, roast, salads, stuffing, potatoes and many other dishes I cook daily.  I have multiple plants of sage that I harvest and use throughout the winter.  My grandkids love grinding sage in one of my many mortars to put in a dish we are making.

 Sage protects cabbage and all their relatives against the white cabbage butterfly.  It also helps with the flavor of cabbage.

 Sage grown with carrots protects them against the carrot fly and is helpful with rosemary (another one of my favorite plants.)

 Sage was long ago used medicinally in stuffing and meats to make more digestible.  The flavor of sage is unique and one that I have come to enjoy.  It is also said sage is good for your lungs.

 



Catnip is not just for Cats

 

If any of you have every had catnip you will know once you have one plant you have more.  Catnip is like mint and reproduces well.

Catnip contains insect repellent oil.  Fresh Catnip seeped in water and sprinkled on plants will drive out flea beetles.

The compound in catnip is chemically like those found in certain insects.  Two of these occur in ants and another in the walkingstick insect which ejects a spray against such predators as beetles, ants, spiders, birds and even humans. 

            Sprinkle catnip on your shelves to drive away black ants and if you have cats you will find they will love it.  I have some cats that spend a lot of time in my garden around the catnip.

           



 

Cleaning the Chicken Coop

 

     This is quite the elaborate chicken coop, one I would love to have.  I have two chicken coops and neither looks this good.  I have had my chickens (about 60) out running around the ranch.  It is time for them to go back into the chicken coop so I plant my garden, so the long dreaded job of cleaning my coops is here.  A very important rule for all of you gardeners to remember, YOU CAN’T HAVE CHICKENS RUNNING AROUND AND A GARDEN TOO!

           My sweet husband (I say that because there were many other things he had to do on the ranch today but helped me instead) and I went about the job today, both coops needed to be cleaned out and the chicken waste taken to the garden.  As I look out my window toward the garden I see some of the chickens happily rooting through the poop that was dumped in the garden like it is some kind of delicatessen.   Why couldn’t they have got rid of it while they were in the coop rather than make me haul it out and have to don a mask and dig through their garbage?  Chickens will eat anything, including each other (YUCK).

 

            Be careful with your chicken waste because it needs to be put in the garden sparingly as it can burn your plants if too much is put in and it isn’t broken down well.  It is wonderful to put in your compost pile, especially if it has broken down (not too fresh).

 

          I love my chickens but now is another time I would like to be like Martha Stewart and say “today I cleaned out the chicken coop” without having to set a foot in it.

Planting Beans

 

 

You are probably looking at this picture and thinking I will never be able to live up to that picture.  Well, it isn’t a picture of my bush bean garden, not enough weeds and the soil isn’t that pretty at my place.  I am working on it, but give me time and a gardener.  Let’s face it, we are not Martha Stewart.  When I say I am going to plant beans today, that doesn’t mean I have a group of gardeners who will be planting today and I may be the supervisor or just tell them to do so.  I admire Martha and am a wishing I had the staff she does, but I have to deal with who I have – me, a husband who is busy and young Grandkids who are willing but get easily distracted.   So all you gardeners out there with less cash flow than Martha, do the best you can and you will enjoy the fruits of your labors.  Just a few hints to help you be more successful, at least things I feel help me to have a better bush bean harvest.

The other beans that are included in the bush beans I am talking about are wax beans, green beans, snap, and butter beans.  If you plant a little celery with them, about one celery plant to every six or seven beans that will help.

Plant cucumbers with bush beans and they will do well together.  Bush beans planted in strawberry rows help each other, both advancing more rapidly than if planted alone.

Bush beans help corn if you plant them in alternate rows.  Do not plant near fennel (don't like or onions, all beans don’t like onions.  Beans do grow well with summer savory. 

I do like the way they have the small fences up in the picture above to help keep the beans upright, great idea!



Planting Potatoes

 

Now you are really excited about this garden you’ve started and young potato plants come to mind.  You first need to start with potatoes that have eyes in them.  You need to cut up the potato plants and make sure each section has an eye in it.  If there is any bad spots in the potatoes throw it away, do not plant bad seed.

Dig your furrows with a hoe or shovel and plant your potato plants in the ground, plant about 3 inches deep and 12 inches apart.

Potatoes do well planted with cabbage, corn, beans and horseradish (which should be planted at the corners of a potato patch).  They also do well with marigold and eggplant (which is a lure for the Colorado potato beetle.

Potatoes do not do well planted near pumpkin, tomatoes (same bug attraction) raspberry squash and cucumber.  Sunflowers stunts potatoes growth and the presence of these plants lower the potatoes resistance to blight.

If you plant beans with potatoes they help protect against Colorado potato beetle and the potatoes protect the beans against the Mexican bean beetle.

Nightshade weed attracts potato bugs and they eat the weed and die.  Nightshade is a member of the same family as potatoes and it has poisonous leaves, white flowers and black berries.

Cabbages do well planted between potatoes after the first hilling.  If you see lamb’s quarters in the potato patch it is an indication that the crop should be moved to a new location.

The reason to plant eggplant with potatoes is the Colorado beetle is attracted to eggplant rather than the potatoes as they prefer eggplant (unlike my husband who dislikes eggplant and I love eggplant.)

Don’t grow potatoes near apple trees as it can cause the potatoes to be more susceptible to phytophthora light.

When you harvest your potatoes don’t store with apples as ripening apples give off small amounts of ethylene gas which can give the potatoes an off flavor and they may not keep as well.  The apples also can lose flavor.

Good luck with your potatoes!

 

Planting Peppermint

 

 

Spring is here and with it comes our trip to the greenhouse and any other store with a garden area.  The herbs are lined up and the first one we usually see is the peppermint with visions of tea made from our own special blend.  (Maybe I’m wrong but that is usually what comes to mind.)

You have your peppermint at home and want to get it in the ground as soon as possible.  Well here are a few ground rules.

Peppermint demands humus and moisture.  It also likes small amounts of broken down chicken manure.  I have a pile from last year I will be using in various areas.  It is time to clean out the chicken coops and get more of that good stuff (not a fun job.)

Peppermint planted among cabbage will repel the white cabbage butterfly.   If you plant it by chamomile the chamomile will benefit with more chamomile but the peppermint will have less oil.  Plant by shrubs as Peppermint drives away red ants from the shrubs.  I would recommend you plant it where it won’t get dug up every year and you will end up with a nice crop for years to come.

Peppermint is said to help you sleep, I combine it with chamomile in a tea I the evening sometimes to relax.  I have it all over my yard and haven’t bought mint for years.  Just remember they like water and have fun with them as there are so many fun types of mint.  Some of the mint I have is peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint and this is just to name a few.

I’ll do a blog on drying mint later, your house will smell like mint and the jars will fill up with your store for the winter.

Lilacs

 

Beautiful age old lilacs.  These lilacs were taken from a bush that was brought from a start across the plains in either a covered wagon or push cart by the Pioneers. 

It is time for lilacs to come out in the spring.  For those of you who don't have availability to someone with a lilac bush and have to buy one here are a few tips to give your lilac bush a better chance.

Roses and Lilacs get along well.

 

Lilacs grow where there is winter, they need the cold winter and grow best in zones 3, 4, and 5, in the cooler regions of zones 6 and 7 and in the warmer regions of zone 2.  Although I grew them in Arizona and they didn't do as well, they don't like that much heat.  They don't like wind chill.  Lilacs need proper drainage and grow best along rocky, limestone hillsides.

Lilacs like sandy, gravelly loam mixed with organic matter like compost and aged manure.  In early spring sprinkle a little wood ashes around the base of the lilac bush and work it gently into the top layer of soil  Every three years apply a cup of ground limestone to the soil and work gently into the soil but be careful of the roots.

 

Plant lilacs in full to nearly full sun for you to get those pretty lilac flowers.  It is best to prune lilacs annually and the best time to prune is after they bloom.

 

After the lilac is established and the size you want it to be cut to the ground approximately one third of the oldest branches and thinnest suckers.   It send the energy into the bush and it will do better.  Remove suckers and small twiggy branches.  Cut the flowers after blooming snipping very close to the end of the flower but be careful to not remove new growth that will give you next years flowers.

 

If  you don't want a lilac tree keep to the height about eight to nine feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planting Tomatoes -Tomatoes don't like Potatoes but love Carrots

 

Tomatoes and all members of the Brassica (Cabbage) family repel each other and should be kept apart. Tomatoes and potatoes should be kept apart. Do not plant fennel near tomatoes.

Tomatoes protect asparagus against the asparagus beetle. Tomatoes also protect gooseberries against insects.

Tomatoes are compatible with chives, onions, parsley, marigold, nasturtium and tomatoes love carrots!

If you plant garlic bulbs between your tomato plants they protect them from the red spider mites. Stinging neetle grown close improves the keeping quality of tomatoes.

Tomatoes will protect roses against black spot. If you are not able to plant tomatoes close to roses make up a solution of tomato leaves in your vegetable juicer, adding four or five pints of water and one tablespoon of cornstarch. Strain and spray on roses.

Don't plant tomatoes near young apricot trees, the root excretions of tomatoes have an inhibiting effect on young apricot trees.

Tomatoes and corn shouldn't be planted together since the tomato fruit worm is identical with the corn ear worm.

Don't plant near potatoes since tomatoes render the potatoes more susceptible to potato blight.

You may grow your tomatoes in the same place year after year, unless you have a disease problem, then plant them in a new place.

If you smoke be sure to wash your hands before you work I your garden, tomatoes are susceptible to diseases transmitted through tobacco. 

Planting Peas - Peas don't like Onions!

 

     It is time to plant peas in if you haven't already put them in the dirt, if you are unsure about your area check with the local farm bureau.  There are a few guidelines I follow when planting my peas (and other plants). 

 

     Plants like animals and people have other plants they don't like and some they really like.  If you are going to go to all the trouble to buy seeds, plant them, weed them and water them it is best to make sure they are surrounded by others they like and get along with well.

 

     Peas grow sell with carrots (carrot roots contain an exudate beneficial to the grown of peas), peas do well with turnips, radishes, cucumbers, corn beans and potatoes, and many aromatic herbs.  Peas planted near turnips do well together.

 

Peas do not like (or grow well) with onions, shallots, gladiolus, garlic (all alliums inhibit the growth of peas and beans).

 

If you put wood ash around the base of pea vines it helps to control aphids.

If you want to plant caraway seed, sow it with a crop of peas. 

 

Just a few of the guidelines I go by when planting my peas. I will keep you updated as I plant my garden and let you know what plants I don't get along.  

 

 

 

 

CREPE RECIPE

 

As I was going about getting ready to make breakfast I decided to get away from the pancake and everyday recipes that I routinely make for breakfast and instead make crepes.  I have had many a crepe and enjoyed them, telling myself I will make them sometime, well today is sometime. 

 I have been saving this recipe and it turned out really well.  My husband wasn't as impressed as I was as he is a pancake and eat the same thing every day guy, but I was very pleased with my resulting crepes.  (I did try it a long time ago and it didn't turn out quite as well.)

Whisk 2 eggs with 1 cup milk - skim, 2% or whole milk - whatever you have.

Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon oil

2 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking power

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash of ground allspice 

Refrigerate 20 minutes and stir before using

Heat an 8 inch nonstick skillet (I used a larger flat cast iron pan that I sprayed with oil as I try to avoid the nonstick skillets.

With a ladle or 1/4 inch measuring cup add 2 tablespoons batter to hot skillet.  Tilt and rotate pan to coat (I used a high spatula to spread it) and cook 30 seconds or until crepe is browned lightly on bottom and edges are dry.  Lift with a silicone spatula and flip over.  Cook about 5 seconds then put on a sheet of wax paper.  



 Continue on until all the crepes are done.  I spread my homemade plum jam on the crepe and put sliced strawberries on it.  My husband added strawberries and sliced bananas to his (couldn't find any whipping cream but I told him that was all right since we didn't need the extra calories.  If you have some put a spoonful on.

 It is delicious.  Just add whatever jam, syrup, fruit and nuts you have in the kitchen to your own special crepe.