http://frugalliving.about.com/od/gardening/ht/Soil_Test.htm
How to Grow 100 Pounds of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes. They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump... According to this article from the Seattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet. All that is required:
Gardening Tips - 7 Habits of Successful Gardeners Originally published January 2009 Or is it the Seven Pillars of Horticultural Wisdom? As everyone's resolutions remind us, we love attaching a number to advice, a number smaller than the one I regard as most realistic: The Twenty Three Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty-Two Things It's Important to Remember Before Getting Out of Bed. So be warned: I haven't really honed it down to only seven; these are just the first seven essentials that came to mind when I decided to do this. And not in order, either. Recipe for Cilantro Lime Hummus The Super Bowl is right around the corner, is everyone ready for the big game? I am cheering for the Steelers and Josh is undecided, he likes both teams this year. If you aren’t a football fan, no worries, the game is still going to be fun as long as you have some good food to munch on! What is on your Super Bowl Menu this year?? Ours isn’t finalized yet, so we are open to suggestions:) If you are looking for a healthy and tasty snack, try this Cilantro Lime Hummus with baked pita chips. I love hummus in every shape and form.
Plants Can Reduce Crime, Prevent Zombie Attacks (Video) © MrBrownThumb The positive effects of gardens on property values are well-known. What most people may not know is the benefit of plants and gardens on reducing crime. Everything You Need to Know About Composting With Worms Following my recent blog post on the Do-It-Yourself Vermipod, I’ve been receiving a ton of questions from folks who built Vermipods and are looking for information on how to manage and maintain their new pets. So here’s a compilation called Everything You Need To Know About Composting With Worms… Common Worm Species Care and Cultivation of Permanent Garden Beds - Organic Gardening One of the basic tenets of organic gardening is to put as much effort into improving soil fertility as you put into growing your crops. When you use permanent garden beds and pathways, you can concentrate on building soil in deeply worked beds that will improve over a period of years, all the while growing robust, disease-resistant vegetables. Permanent vegetable beds also make more efficient use of water and fertilizer, and soil compaction is limited to pathways where repeated footsteps can naturally inhibit the growth of weeds. In the 2008 article Gardening for Keeps, I addressed the practical aspects of designing a garden using permanent beds, pathways and green access corridors (which also produce nutrient-rich grass clippings). In this article, I will cover some benefits of permanent garden beds, plus discuss the invisible soil food web and how you can conserve and enrich the life-forms that create superior soil fertility. Limiting Soil Compaction With Dedicated Beds
Popsicles! Not to sound full of myself, but I’m pretty sure this is the be all, end all of popsicle roundups. There’s a little something for everyone: the foodies, the purists, the ones who prefer frozen yogurt, the ones who prefer a little alcohol, everyone. Tweny-five options to be exact. The post I did last summer on the cold guys was one of DC’s most viewed ever, so I thought you’d all be up for another round – was I right? Click on the photo to be taken to the recipe. All photos and recipes copyright of their respective source unless otherwise noted.
7 Ways to Give New Life to Dead Trees in Your Backyard © MrBrownThumb. Magnolia tree in downtown Chicago. Growing up, the property neighboring me had a young pear tree that served many functions to the neighborhood kids. That particular pear tree was the center of life for many of the kids I grew up with. When the new owners of the property paved over the yard to create a parking lot I was happy to see that the tree had been spared.
Vegetable and Herb Companion Planting It’s the time of year when you should start thinking about planting your fall vegetables. Actually, we might be a week behind for some vegetables, but if your neck of the woods is anything like mine, summer came late, so hopefully we’re okay. A great way to get a good harvest is to “companion plant.”
Start a Quick and Easy Food Garden If your yard has at least a 20-by-28-foot space that gets full or almost full sun, you can grow enough vegetables to have fresh food all season with surprisingly little effort. Go ahead and dig beds if you’re lucky enough to have naturally fertile, well-drained soil, but don’t let soil flaws stop you from starting a food garden. Instead, use this quick and simple bag gardening technique. This method is almost too easy to believe, but it absolutely works! Caramelized Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Want to know how to make one heck of a delicious chicken dish? Good. Because I was going to tell you anyway. First up. Chop up some jalapenos and other good stuff. Saute them in a little butter.
Study: Depictions of Nature in Children’s Books Down By Half Since 1960 normanack/CC BY 2.0 When you settled into bed at night as a child, can you remember what your parents read to you? What were your favorite children’s books and did you pass those vintage classics onto your kids?