Urban Gardening

I just wanted to put up a post to let people know that you don't have to have large amounts of land to garden! Great, fresh food can be grown even in you live in an urban area! I found a really good site to pass along to people that can give people a heads up on growing their own fruits and veggies in the city!   Urban Gardening

Pictures courtesy of: Urban Garden Resource


Take a look and enjoy!

Germinating Plants!

Today I was pleased to find that I have a couple of plants germinated in my green house. One was a cucumber and the other is a tomato plant. Pictures coming soon!

Irrigating Your Garden

Before long, your plants will be in the ground and growing quickly. This means that they will require lots of water. Since summer rains can be hard to predict, it could be wise to irrigate your garden. Watering by hand with a watering can is more than adequate, but if you have lots of gardens or just a large plot in general, irrigating could be a more efficient solution.

Water dripping for a black irrigation hose.

Last summer, I took a few scraps of black irrigation hose home from work to put in my garden. One of the gentlemen I worked with suggested I pick up a hose attachment from the local hardware so I could attach it to my house water spicket.  After doing this, I ran the irrigation line through my summer and winter squash plants to see how it would work. It worked beautifully! Because the hose has pre-made holes already placed at consistent intervals (6, 9, or 12 inches), I could place the holes near the plant's roots without water the rest of the non used garden space which just generates weeds.

I would definitely consider purchasing some of this hose if you are looking for a watering solution.

Enjoy!


Photo courtesy of DripWorks.com

Green House!

Finally, my green house is put together! After I finally found the charger for my power drill, I was able to finish assembling it. It is loaded up with seeds and egg cartons and I'm hoping to start planting this evening. Here are some pictures of it.

I have it sitting high in a southern facing window, so it gets plenty of sun during the day. Because of this, it is also very warm and I don't know if I will need to wrap it in plastic at all. I will be posting more pictures as the plants start to germinate!

Stay Tuned!

Island Beds

I recently found a really interesting article about construction of island garden beds. I've done a few of these at home and they have turned out really nice. These beds are a great way to add features to the landscape around your house and they look very elegant when completed.

The author of this article below had a cool quote: "An island bed is a bed not connected to anything, such as your foundation or property line. It exists as an island, alone in a sea of grass."

Click here for the article: How to Build an Island Bed with Retaining Wall Bricks

Homemade Stool & Garden Shed

Surprise, surprise, there is another awesome find in the April issue of Popular Mechanics. On page 104, there are instructions on how to build collapsible stool. Among its many possible uses, I thought would be perfect for gardening. It is small and sturdy which mean it would be great in many different situations that come up while gardening. Having done a lot of gardening myself, I figured that it could be a very nice tool if you have to sit and pull a few weeds, pick berries, or do small hedge pruning.  

Since I love to draw, I sketched up the plans described in the article. Feel free to try it out. It should be an inexpensive project. I am excited to make one and see how it works. At first I thought it might be kind of small so, I may want to make the chair a bit bigger. The Popular Mechanics website also boasted a garden shed design that is available here: Build Your Own Garden Shed, Plans Here

Many thanks to PM. Enjoy.

Time to Germinate!

Within the next couple weeks, I will begin posting pictures of my green house shelves and give reports on the germination process. It should be quite exciting watching the little plants sprout and it will also liven up the house a bit, getting some fresh green into the mix. Please check back for updates on that. I will probably being doing my first post on the green house I build over the fall and winter.

Thanks!

Garden Tools at TJMaxx

If you happen to be a fan of gardening and also a fan of TJMaxx, you might want to stop into a store near you. I recently visited a TJMaxx and found them to have a very nice display of garden tools that included pruners, trowels, and the enlarged forks for pulling weeds!

 Enjoy!

Organizing Those Tools!

As I continued through the latest issue of Popular Mechanics, I found yet another awesome method that could benefit a fellow gardener. It is fairly common to end up with a hose that gets a leak or gets a bit worn out from use. However, instead of just tossing it in the trash, try using it for tool organization. The article in P.M.shows how to cut a hose into segments and then make it in into useful tubes that you can put tools through. You can check out the picture below (page number coming soon).

When you cut up the hose, leave a portion that creates the tab shape shown in the picture. This will be used to secure your new tool holder to a wall. I drew up a picture from memory because I don't have the picture from the magazine to reference. Thanks to P.M. for publishing such a useful article!

Save those Egg Cartons!

When it comes time to start planting seeds and your looking for nifty ways to reuse materials or keep a tighter budget, try saving up those egg cartons. Many egg cartons are now made of a soft, cardboard like material that is perfect for holding dirt and germinating seeds.

It's a great way for little anyone to get a start at gardening without having to buy lots of trays for germinating. I found this picture on a fellow bloggers page and it is a perfect example of a simple, easy to use germination tray that can hold a large number of seeds.

To read the story behind this picture click here: Mastering Horticulture