Growing Celery Indoors: Never Buy Celery Again Remember when we tested and shared how to grow onions indefinitely last week? Well, at the same time, we've been testing out another little indoor gardening project first gleaned from Pinterest that we're excited to share the successes of today — regrowing celery from it's base. We've figured out how to literally re-grow organic celery from the base of the bunch we bought from the store a couple weeks ago. I swear, we must have been living under a rock all these years or just not be that resourceful when it comes to food, but we're having more fun learning all these new little tips and tricks as we dive deeper into trying to grow more of our own food. This project is almost as simple as the onion growing project — simply chop the celery stalks from the base of the celery you bought from the store and use as you normally would. We let our celery base hang out in the saucer of water for right around one week, give or take. Update 2: Here's how we are looking at almost 3-4 weeks of growth:
50 Resources To Help You Become More Self-Sufficient We live in an interdependent world. Although at one time all of humankind lived independently and self-sufficiently, group cooperation allowed for more efficient use of resources when hunting and gathering, raising young, making clothing and tools, and building shelters. Banding together ensured our long-term survival; dividing labor into specialized tasks has helped sculpt today’s modern, globalized society. Because of specialization, we enjoy a high quality of life. Yet being a small cog in the greater machine means we are often disconnected from – and unaware of – the processes that go into fulfilling our most basic needs. Becoming more self-sufficient means you’ll develop practical skills that will surely serve you well throughout your lifetime. Grow Your Own Food Fruit & Vegetable Gardening – Green thumbs are made, not born, and anyone can learn how to grow a backyard cornucopia of fresh, organic produce. Permaculture Techniques Attract Beneficial Insects – Stop using pesticides.
Easy vegetables to grow Planting a garden doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. But the fear of failure keeps many a gardener-wannabe from spending time and energy on planting backyard crops. Knowing the easy vegetables to grow for your region — in addition to when and where to plant them — is the best way to ensure success. When planning your crops, try to space out the planting of foods that have a short harvest season. Some of the easiest garden goods for first timers are yellow squash and zucchini, potatoes, radishes and tomatoes. Squash plants can be planted into small hills, and are ready to eat when they are about 6 inches in length. Radishes are another no-brainer crop. Strawberries are popular for their ability to grow in many places and for their sweet, tangy taste and beautiful appearance. Keep in mind that something must be done to keep away the squirrels — they have a thing for those sweet berries. Tomatoes are possibly the most popular garden vegetable. Know of other easy vegetables to grow?
Pallet Gardening 101: Creating a Pallet Garden This year I will be planting a large salad garden and I thought it would be fun to grow my lettuce and other greens in wood pallets to change things up a bit in the backyard. All you really need to do a little pallet gardening is a wood pallet, some good soil, and a few seeds. Using a wood pallet to start a garden can be a great space saver, plus as a bonus, there is no soil to til or weed. This is exactly the kind of project young children would love, especially if they could have their own wood pallet to work with. What to look for in a wood pallet: If you live in the Tacoma area you can purchase new pallets from Girard Wood Products in Puyallup, Washington for about $9 each. Personally, I suggest using a new, clean, fresh pallet. But if you like to live life on the edge, Here are a few pointers when looking for recycled pallets: Look for a pallet that has HT stamped somewhere on the pallet. Also, watch out for old, rusty nails or staples. So here we go. ~Mavis Related posts:
Just in Time for Winter: How to Build Your Own Mini-Greenhouse | Living on GOOD Gardeners looking to extend the growing season into winter can do so with a cold frame. These handy mini-greenhouses trap heat and keeping cool-season veggies growing in spite of frosty weather. Cold frames are inexpensive to build and don't consume a lot of energy. They yield fresh, local vegetables when mediocre grocery store fodder is being shipped from afar. Fall is the perfect time to build a cold frame and start planting. This modular cold frame design offers two frame options: single- and double-tier. The lid should be kept shut on cold days and propped open for ventilation on unseasonably warm days. WOOD SELECTION: Cedar is best. WOODCUTTING 1 — Each 10-foot, 1 x 12-inch board will yield one 60-inch front/back panel and one 40-inch side panel. 2 — For the two-angled side panels, choose the most flawless 40-inch side panel and mark a diagonal line lengthwise, from corner to corner. 4 — Cut the lid pieces from the 1 x 6-inch lengths of cedar. Text by Wilder Quarterly.
Mark Ruffalo Adventures in Field Botany / Illustrated-Glossary Leaf Morphology: Phyllode/ Cladode: modifyed stems that act as leaves. Ensiform: leaves sharp edges, taper into a slender point (fern) Stellate: hairs come up like fingers. Peltate: "petiole joins to the center" in leaves. Glossary of Terms: WHORLED - more than two (2) opposite leaves. OPPOSITE - leaf nodes are on opposite sides of twig. ALTERNATE - leaf nodes alternate in pattern along branch. DECUSSATE - Arranged on a stem in opposite pairs at right angles to those above or below, resulting in vertical rows of leaves. PALMATE - consisting of leaflets or lobes radiating from the base of the leaf. CAPSULE - a hollow dry fruit with 3+ locules (chambers) Dehiscent = splits open to release the seed. Indehiscent: remaining closed, do not split open at maturity. Capsule Types- Dehiscent: Capsule breaks to release fruit Indehiscent: This is a drupe, no hard capsule that is made to split open A walnut is a drupe fruit. OVATE (ovoid) OBOVATE (obovoid) ELLIPTICAL Root Index Tuberous Roots: ex- Sweet Potato
6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre Off-grid Urban Homestead – Urban Permaculture Over 6,000 pounds of food per year, on 1/10 acre located just 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Everything from there electricity, biodiesel, and 90% of the food they eat is produced on this 1/10 acre of property. There electric bill is usually $12.00 a month. To follow Urban Homesteading, you can find them at Comments comments How to Grow Vegetables | Guide to Growing Vegetables Some general considerations for growing vegetables: Sowing Tips When sowing seeds, a good general rule of thumb is to sow to a depth of approximately twice the thickness of the seed. Some smaller seeds require light to germinate and should not be sown too deep; otherwise they may never germinate or break through the surface of the soil. Keep seeds well-moistened while awaiting germination and check regularly. Select a light-weight, well-drained medium for sowing to ensure good seed to soil contact. Growing Tips Most vegetables will produce better results if sown and grown in a soil-medium that is well-drained, rich in organic matter (fertile), and fairly lightweight. Most vegetables will prefer good quantities of natural, direct sunlight daily. If direct sowing your vegetables (planting seeds straight into the ground), thin plants to recommended spacing and enjoy culled vegetables in salads, sandwiches or elsewhere vibrant, young greens can be appreciated. Harvesting and Seed Saving