Then a few years ago we built an addition and we had a great big pile of clay to do something with! The time was right! I did lots of research over the winter and by summer I knew what needed to be done. My husband used the clay to increase the grade of our slightly sloping yard, and he and my son dug a hole. I laid the stone around the pond, and the girls and I arranged the stream and waterfall. That took us to autumn, but by spring of last year we were ready to populate the pond with flora and fauna – and, as I had hoped, never a day goes by without the girls going over and playing in or just admiring the pond! They love the fish, but the frogs are a big hit! They love the stream, too, and this year we are filling the adjacent rock garden with Stepables so they will have colorful and soft plants under foot. I am so happy with our watergarden! Nothing seems to invoke in a child a sense of wonder and awe and joy of nature like a pond. I hope you will find a way to add water to your property, not only for your own enjoyment, but for your children.
For years I have wanted a water feature in my gardens. I wanted the children to be able to play in a stream and splash in a brook. I loved waterlilies and the ecosystem of a pond. I loved the look and sound of a waterfall. Unfortunately we were not blessed with a natural water feature on our property, and it didn’t seem we could make one. About ten years ago I bought a little patio pond kit, with a large black cauldron, a waterlily, and a vertical plant of some kind. I was thrilled! I bought a couple goldfish and looked forward to a summer with a nice little watergarden. Unfortunately, by mid-summer the snails were eating my lilypads and my fish went belly-up (I later figured out the poor things cooked! black pool, hot sun, no water circulation… poor things!) So I gave up. I poked holes in the cauldron and turned it into a planter.
Then a few years ago we built an addition and we had a great big pile of clay to do something with! The time was right! I did lots of research over the winter and by summer I knew what needed to be done. My husband used the clay to increase the grade of our slightly sloping yard, and he and my son dug a hole. I laid the stone around the pond, and the girls and I arranged the stream and waterfall. That took us to autumn, but by spring of last year we were ready to populate the pond with flora and fauna – and, as I had hoped, never a day goes by without the girls going over and playing in or just admiring the pond! They love the fish, but the frogs are a big hit! They love the stream, too, and this year we are filling the adjacent rock garden with Stepables so they will have colorful and soft plants under foot. I am so happy with our watergarden! Nothing seems to invoke in a child a sense of wonder and awe and joy of nature like a pond. I hope you will find a way to add water to your property, not only for your own enjoyment, but for your children.
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I was introduced to homeopathic remedies well over ten years ago. I can’t remember the particulars, but I know a friend referred me to a woman in the area who was expert in homeopathic and herbal remedies. Although I favored a more holistic and natural approach to maintaining health, I was none-the-less skeptical – there are a lot of quacks out there pushing a lot of snake-oil, not to mention New Age masquerading as medicine. So I did some research and found there was solid science behind it.
Homeopathics fall into two groups: cell salts (also called tissue salts) and remedies based on herbs. Both are manufactured in a similar process, which extracts the essential elements of the salts or plants and combines them with a carrier, which I think is sugar, to form little tiny pills. Some dissolve instantly, some are like tiny hardcandies, but both taste really yummy and children love them! They taste like little sugar pills. I have had wonderful success with both cell salts and homeopathic herbs and will give some examples in future posts. But the great thing about them is that contrary to most over-the-counter drugs, which simply mask the symptoms and sometimes actually counter-act the body’s self-healing efforts, thus slowing the healing process, these products actually provide the body with the nutrients it needs to heal itself quickly. This is true medicine. One example will suffice. Consider cough suppressants. Now, if the body is trying desperately to rid itself of awful, green gunk stuck in the esophagus, why on earth would you want to stop it? Do you want to walk around with gunk in your body? It’s infected! Might as well keep pus in a wound. Now, there may be brief times you will want to stop the cough – when you can’t sleep, when you’re at a play on Broadway… but for the most part you want to get it out quickly. What homeopathics do is provide the body with what it needs to quickly and efficiently eliminate the gunk, making it less sticky so it will come out easier, and give the body extra nutrients to fight the disease. Which method would you prefer? If you say the latter, then you want to use homeopathics. The best and least expensive source for homeopathics on line is Vitacost. Delivery is super-quick, shipping very reasonable, prices are great. Descriptions of my favorites to come! If you have successfully used homeopathics, please share in the comments section! This is by FAR the best weed book I’ve found so far. Identification is almost FOOLPROOF with it! What makes it so good is, not only does it have almost all of the weeds in my garden, it has REAL, COLOR photos and shows the weeds as seedlings as well as mature, so you can identify them young and yank them (if you want). Close-ups on the flowers, roots and even the seeds themselves, as well as comparing look-alikes, all make identification a snap. It’s really thorough! These authors really wanted to help people identify their wild garden volunteers. But this is not just a picturebook, although that’s what really sets it head and shoulders above its counterparts. Each plant includes the following: Common name and synonyms as well as botanical names, descriptions of seedlings, mature plants, roots, flowers and fruit, winter appearance, propagation, habitat, distribution, and similar species. There are even comparison tables in the back, comparing multiple species side by side. Oh, I just love it when I find thorough people who really love their work! This is a must in the library of anyone who wants to really know the plants in the world around them. After identifying your local plants, then go on to learning their uses: edible, medicinal, or otherwise. Our wild plants are wonderful. Start to get to know them, and start here! Now, if only there was a counterpart to this book for the rest of the country. I saw some titles, but I don't know if they have all the excellent features this book has. If anyone knows, please inform us in the comments! Candied Flowers add such a lovely touch to any cake or other special treat! And they’re not hard to make. First, choose some edible flowers. You can work with them whole, like Primrose or Johnny Jump-ups, or remove petals of larger flowers, like roses or nasturtium. Wash the flowers a while before using so they’re totally dry. Next, beat an egg white slightly in a small bowl. Holding the flower by its stem and using a very small paint brush, coat the flower both front and back with the egg white. Sprinkle the flower with superfine sugar, both top and bottom, for a glittery look. Dry on a rack (move them around after a couple hours so they don’t stick. We did tiny flowers, so we put ours on a plate instead of a rack, and they turned out fine.) Leave in a dry place or dehydrator for a couple days, then store in a tin. Some varieties will last for months if stored dry and sealed. If they become distorted or broken, use as confetti on the cake! An alternative method is to make a paste of confectioners’ sugar and egg white and brush it on the flower, top and bottom. This gives a muted, old-fashioned look. These are strawberry blossoms. The one on the left was done with powdered sugar paste. It is more defined, I think, than the one with granulated sugar, and the green parts underneath show through. I liked that, but we only did a couple of those. We also candied some lungwort flowers, which are like little tubes, so we hung them to dry (we tried dandelions, too, but they were a flop.) Below are some additional pictures. The cake is decorated with strawberry blossoms, violets, lungwort flowers, primrose, and sweet woodruff leaves. So you see? You can have your cake and eat your candied flowers, too!
So, always wanted to make jam, but were intimidated by the processing and the mess? Well, you need not be intimidated any more! Just grab yourself a packet of Ball Original Fruit Pectin (formerly known as Sure-Jell), and make yourself some freezer jam! Here are the steps, but the instructions are right in the packet. There are also instructions for berry, cherry, peach, strawberry-banana, and strawberry-kiwi. We actually added a few mulberries to our strawberry batch, giving us wonderful purple dots in the pink!
Here’s a simple starting craft for children in the garden! Do you have spring bulbs that you can’t find when the foliage has died? Do you ever accidentally dig them up, or worse, chop one in half while digging? I hate that! Last year I planted a lot of bulbs and was concerned about that happening more often. I put sticks in the ground to mark their place, but they are unsightly, and tend to get knocked down anyway. So I thought, why not have rocks with pictures of the bulbs on them, to mark the spot? It could be whimsical or artistic or serious, but it would be ‘garden art’ with a purpose! (no pink flamingoes in my garden!) So I set Angela to make a couple to start, and she and Anna-Grace made our first markers. They used acrylic craft paints, the kind available in bottles at any craft store. Then Angela sprayed them with Sealer, to make them waterproof. So easy! Personally, I wouldn’t have gone with pink rocks (yes, I’m too grown up, I know) but they did a great job, and a house full of children should have gardens that reflect their presence. Pink it is! So set the children at it, and they will have a great time! Wisteria (Asian) *** (3 stars) Botanical name: Wisteria Type: Deciduous vine Growth Habit: grows 30 ft or more! Lighting: Sun Zone: USA zones 4-9 Ah, wisteria! I battle with "the great green monster" all throughout the summer, trying to keep it at bay. Every year I toy with the idea of tearing the darn thing up. Then spring happens, and its orchid-like lilac clusters fill the air with a heavenly perfume – all is forgiven! If you wish to plant wisteria, by all means, DON’T plant it near your house! Its vines climb under the siding, up the electric meter poles, across the telephone wires, and under the porch. It’s truly a menace… except when in bloom! The blooms come out before the leaves, and my plant, due to the indiscriminate war I am waging against it, does not have a perfect shape when "naked", so it looks a little funny. But the smell and the color are exquisite. I took a cutting from my grandfather’s wisteria shortly after he died in ’92. I think it was my grandfather who caused me to love plants. His home was like a fairyland to me. His wisteria was in the middle of his front yard, with other flowering trees, and was beautifully shaped, like an umbrella. Little did I know the fight I was in for, planting the beast near my house! Who knows how often Poppop pruned it? But it was perfect. Perhaps mine can be someday, too, if I just remember how perfect its parent plant was, and think of my dear Poppop. OK, that’s my goal this summer. Try to turn the wild animal into a pet. Poppop, help! After overhearing several of my daughters playing out by the pond, my oldest called to me and said, "Mom, you know you did something right when your children name their frogs after a Hilaire Belloc poem." Thank you ! Here’s the poem, a fitting first entry to this blog's poetry selection.
The Frog by Hilaire Belloc Be kind and tender to the Frog, And do not call him names, As "Slimy skin," or "Polly-wog," Or likewise "Ugly James," Or "Gap-a-grin," or "Toad-gone-wrong," Or "Billy Bandy-knees": The Frog is justly sensitive To epithets like these. No animal will more repay A treatment kind and fair; At least so lonely people say Who keep a frog (and, by the way, They are extremely rare). From "The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts" I WISH this was my house! Three years ago we started a much-needed addition on our small farmhouse. Although the shell was enclosed by the time winter came, the yard was left a mess of clay and dirt. No grass or trees or shrubs remained around the back of the house, and I truly became despondent every time I stepped outside. My heart sank, surrounded by so much dreariness. That winter I craved color so desperately that I swore that I would find plants and flowers that would give me the beauty I needed during the cold, gray winter months. Susan Roth to my rescue! This book was for me a turning-point, and I will never look at gardening the same way again. Susan really made me think of all four seasons when designing gardens, starting with "the bones." What are garden bones? They are the framework around which the garden is designed – what makes the garden "as inviting in January as in June." This was for me a revelation, as I had for years just focused on summer color. But color and interest is possible during the winter, too, and I don’t mean just evergreen shrubs. I spent that winter devouring this book, and by spring, I had a plan! This book is divided into four seasons, beginning with winter. This is important, because it is in winter that the bare bones are showing, and this placement emphasizes the significance of this season in the planning stage. Trees, shrubs, ground-covers, and yes, even winter flowers are explained in detail. This is repeated for each season, with long lists of plants that are attractive at that time, and the most exquisite photos! Following the seasons is a chapter dedicated to design, emphasizing not just color but texture, form, balance, and weight. She ends with a detailed encyclopedia of plants, listing how they look in each season. I can’t say enough about this book. It’s not that I’d never thought of garden structure before, but the layout of this book makes everything so clear. The following spring I put many of the "bones" in place, and this past winter when I stepped outside I always smiled, and though it was cold, my heart was warm. Because I had beauty. You must have this book in your collection, and use it! Even if your property has been or will be professionally landscaped, having this book prevents your yard from being like all the other landscaped yards, because you will be able to choose some unique features for your home. You will be amazed at how your gardens can really be stunning all year long, when you put into practice the advice she gives. Please be sure to post a comment after you use this treasure of a book! Gardening Centers are great. For the plant lover, they offer rows and rows of annuals and perennials and shrubs, often bursting with color, to entice one to take them home. The downside, however, is that there’s little variety. Garden Centers need to make surefire income to stay opened, so they mostly grow what sells easily, and the more unique plants remain pictures in the catalog. Ah, but you need not be a victim of this narrowing of choice! You have within your grasp the power to have almost any plant you desire! That power is: grow from seed. It’s not hard, and the rewards are great. Here are the steps below, complete with pictures. Step 1. Buy a good potting soil. Add water and stir. It should not be crumbly, but neither should it be soggy. Just wet enough to hold together when you squeeze it, but crack into a few large chunks when you open your hand. You must do this first, since potting soil does not wet easily. It is designed that way, so that it also does not dry out too easily, either. Once the soil is right (if too wet, wait for it to dry out a bit – maybe the next day) fill your pots. I save and re-use the six-packs I get from seedlings, but I have also used yogurt cups and cardboard egg-cartons. They actually work great for seeds whose instructions say "do not disturb the roots when transplanting." Since they biodegrade, you can tear them apart, enlarge the hole in the bottom or tear off the walls a little, and put them right into the ground. Step 2. OK, now for the fun part. Read the back of the seed package for planting instructions and plant the seeds to the level the instructions say. Rule of thumb if the instructions don’t say – tiny seeds are barely covered with soil, larger seeds are planted at least as deep as their diameter. If the seeds are tiny and dark, you may want to put on a thin layer of sand to help you see. In general, plant several seeds in each pot, because not all will sprout, and not all that sprout will be sturdy. Remember to label your pots, or you'll have mystery plants! These are seeds of the perennial Scabiosa, a beautiful flower with an ugly name. I planted one in each to make it pretty for the picture, and also because I planted more pots than I ultimately wanted, expecting some not to sprout. Most did, but I did not have to transplant them (step 5), which was handy, since I had two dozen other varieties to transplant! Here are some larkspur seeds growing in an egg carton with a (well washed) meat tray underneath. Recycling is a good thing! Step 3. Water the pots lightly. I use a mister, and that really works well, preventing the plants from getting too wet and drowning. Using a watering can is not recommended, as the water will come out too hard. Another good method is putting water in a pan underneath and adding water to that, but be sure not to overwater. Here is a handy gadget – the pots sit on a mat that is in a pan of water. The mat soaks up the water through wicking-action. Works great. Step 4. Put them under grow lights, VERY close to the surface of the pots (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that!) They have to be very close so that the seedlings don’t get "leggy" – way too long, stretching for the light. It’s ok, the florescent lights don’t put out heat, so they won’t burn the plants. If you take good care of them, they will grow nicely and look like this after a few weeks (I ran out of pots! This actually worked very well. Drawback – plants that grew quickly and could be transplanted early grew with those that needed a few more weeks, so I had to keep this under the lights longer, along with transplants in separate pots. Got pretty crowded.) Here are some basil and parsley seedlings growing very nicely under lights. Normally I just buy a few plants, but this year I wanted to sell greens at the farmer's market along with flowers, so I needed a whole lot! Here are some cosmos. Very leggy, no matter what, but the ones on the right were grown under two "cool light" flourescent bulbs, and the ones on the left were grown under one "cool" and one "warm", supposedly giving full spectrum light. The picture does not do it justice, since the ones on the right are actually much longer than they appear, they are just half lying down. Most seedlings do just fine under cool lights, but some will be happier with full spectrum. In the end, however, both grew fine outside, and that's the goal! Step 5. Transplanting time! This is fun. Choose healthy, strong seedlings, after at least the first set of true leaves appear. Make a little hole in your moist potted medium (ie soil) with a knife or other pointy object. (You will have followed step 1 above for these new pots, right?) Carefully work the seedling out of its first pot, using that pointy tool again to scoop it out rather than pulling it up! Try to have soil on the roots. Ideally you should not hold a plant by its leaves, but seedlings are so light that it’s not a problem. Just support the stem with your other fingers. Carefully place the seedling in the hole, letting the roots go in straight, and firm the soil around it. You should plant it at the same level it grew, but if my seedlings are leggy (a real problem with cosmos) I sometimes plant them deeper to shorten the stem. This has never been a problem for me with leggy seedlings, but as a general rule, plant things at the same level. Step 6. Put these little babies back under the grow lights until they get a little stronger, or until they can be put outside to "harden." Step 7. Harden the plants. (oops! Sorry, forgot to take a picture again!) This means taking them outside on mild days in early spring. Take them out for only the day, then bring them inside at night. Do this for about a week, then leave them out overnight when no frost is expected. They should be strong enough now to stay outside, but be sure to bring them in if you are expecting frost! They’re not THAT strong. Water daily, especially if in the sun. Semi-shade is best. Before I had a patio I would put them next to the picnic table on the ground. They would get a few hours of sun, then they would be shaded during the heat of the day. Watch them, though! There is very little soil, so even if you water them in the morning, if it’s very sunny they could be dry by the afternoon, and there goes all your hard work!
So there you have it. It sounds harder in writing than it really is. And you will love the freedom of being able to grow whatever you want! Well, almost whatever. Nature does have its limits, but most seeds will love you! |
AuthorWelcome to Growing Goodness! This website is dedicated to growing good things, both plants and children. It's a gardening blog with maternal overtones, as I discuss the goodness and value of plants, both wild and domestic. In the process I hope to help you pass a love of nature on to your children. Happy Gardening! Archives
August 2011
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