Herb Gardening - Spice Up Your Life

Admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:22:49 +0000

Herb gardening is becoming more and more popular – and with good reason! Herb gardens have a practical, as well as an aesthetic, value from the fresh herbs produced for cooking. However, herbs grown at home can serve many purposes beyond the culinary. Fresh herbs can be used in home-made beauty products, decorations and potpourri, or just enjoyed as part of a beautiful, aromatic garden.

Most people grow herbs to use during the winter months, when fresh herbs are not as readily available. If you fall in this category, you’ll need to know how to dry the herbs, as well as plant them. First, you’ll need to cut off the tops of leafy herbs, then wash them and hang them so that the water can evaporate. Once dry, they should be placed in a paper bag with the stems tied together and hung upside-down so that they can dry completely. This process will take about two to three weeks. Once done, you can crumble the leaves and dry them out further in the oven before storing them in a glass jar.

When planning your herb garden, it’s helpful to think about the kinds of herbs you’ll use most often. Basil is one of the most commonly grown garden herbs. “Dark Opal” and regular green basil are great for cooking and also make a beautiful addition to any herb garden. The Dark Opal variety has light pink flowers and dark red leaves, while regular basil provides a splash of bright green to your garden. Basil is most commonly used in tomato juices and pasta sauces – it’s a must if you enjoy good Italian food!

Chives are another herb that is commonly grown in the garden. Chive plants are long and delicate and resemble tall blades of grass. But don’t worry – they’re much stronger than they look! Chives require very little maintenance once planted. They are also very hardy, meaning that they grow well in a range of different temperatures, making them an ideal choice for the beginning herb gardener. Chives are often used in salads, egg dishes and many different sauces.

Mint is another easy to grow herb. It’s extremely low maintenance and it smells great! Just be careful to keep it contained – mint plants grow rapidly and can easily take over an herb garden! This herb can be used in mint jelly, mint juleps, mint teas, lemonade and other fruit drinks.

Two other commonly grown herbs with culinary applications are thyme and sage. These herbs are commonly used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey, pork and sausages, and they’re a staple in any well-balanced herb garden. You’ll also enjoy the beautiful blue spiked flowers that bloom on the sage plant.

If you’re interested in growing herbs for other purposes, consider growing lavender. It is often used to make candles and perfumes, or added to linen chests to improve the smell. In addition, a small sachet of these light purple flowers gives off a wonderful scent that can be used as a natural air freshener. Just watch out – lavender is another plant that will eagerly take over your garden if you aren’t watching carefully!

Other commonly grown garden herbs include:

• Borage - used in salads

• Chervil - used in egg dishes

• Sweet Marjoram - used to flavor lamb, fish, salad and soup

• Sesame - used to flavor crackers, cookies and bread

• Dill - used to flavor meats and pickles

When planning your herb garden, choose the herbs that you’ll use in cooking and around the home. You’ll get much more pleasure out of growing these beautiful plants if you enjoy the fruits of your labor. Plus, growing your own herbs is a great way to save money. The herbs you grow at home will be better quality, have more flavor and cost less than the ones you can purchase from the supermarket.

Environmental Impacts of Gardening

Admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:43:38 +0000

It’s hard to believe, but gardening can cause harm to the environment around it. When you dig and till the soil, you release carbon dioxide that is otherwise trapped in the ground, potentially contributing to global warming. You’re also destroying communities of good fungi and bacteria that live in the soil, and leaching potentially harmful fertilizers and manures into drinking water systems. All this doom and gloom isn’t a call to stop gardening – just a caution for gardeners to work more in harmony with nature.

Global Warming

Global warming isn’t a secret any more – we hear about it nearly every day in the news. But did you know that the earth’s soil gives off carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate of ten times that of human activity? Think about it. Living in the soil are millions of pill bugs, fungi, microbes and worms that breath, digest food and die – just like we do.

In the past, growing plants were able to compensate for this by absorbing the carbon dioxide released from small-scale tillages. Today, the industrial practices of modern agriculture till and compact the soil more than is necessary, and leave little time for fallow fields to restore the complex balance of fertile soil. Small scale gardeners can help reduce this trend by mulching or sheet composting beds to reduce the amount of tilling that is undertaken.

Good Organisms

Untilled soil contains beneficial fungi called vesicular-arbuscular-mycorrhizae, which is commonly abbreviated as VAM. These fungi form a symbiotic relationship with plants – the fungi increase the plant’s root hairs with their filaments, which increases the amount of essential nutrients passed on to the plants. The VAM also distribute zinc, copper, potassium and phosphorus, in return for the carbohydrates provided by the plants. These plant-fungi associations are often destroyed when soil is tilled. A gardener can compensate by mulching the soil heavily until it becomes soft and manageable, thus avoiding tilling.

Surplus Nitrogen

Gardeners tend to use a great deal more nitrogen-based fertilizer and manure than commercial farmers. This practice pollutes the soil around the garden and wastes the gardener’s money. Problems occur when excess nitrogen is applied to the soil and not absorbed by the plants in the garden. This remaining nitrogen can seep into groundwater systems or surface water systems, both of which are common sources of drinking water.

The best advice for addressing all these problems is to remember that everything should be done in moderation. Try not to till the soil to within an inch of its life or apply so much fertilizer that you’ll wind up with mutant tomatoes. Remember that too little – or too much – of anything isn’t healthy. Keep this in mind and you’ll help protect the environment and save a little green for yourself.

What is Butterfly Gardening?

Admin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:30:45 +0000

Butterfly gardening is a special type of garden design featuring arrangements of flowers and plants designed to attract colorful butterflies into your garden. Butterfly gardens are beautiful to see and spend time in, but it’s important to design them with the safety of these winged creatures in mind. For example, if you’ve keep a cat as a pet, you might want to consider a different type of garden. Watching your butterflies become kitty snacks is sure to take the fun out of your garden.

Designing a butterfly garden is largely a matter of personal preference. You’ll need to take the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow into consideration. It’s important to balance an appealing garden design with a mix of plants and flowers that attract the type of butterflies you prefer.

Before planning your garden, you’ll need to do a little research on what kinds of plants and flowers will attract the species of butterflies that live in your area. You can find this information online or in butterfly gardening books at your local library. Generally, you’ll need some type of water feature to create the kind of environment that butterflies like. You can use a decorative birdbath that will attract butterflies, provide visual interest to your garden, and keep stray cats and mischievous puppies at bay. Another option is to place a shallow dish of water on top of a post or hang the dish from a tree.

As in a typically flower garden, you’ll want to be careful in how you coordinate the flower colors and textures in your flowerbeds. Of course, the butterflies are not particularly bothered as to what colors you choose – the garden is for your enjoyment as well. Make sure your garden looks good so that you’ll enjoy spending time in it.

When trying to attract butterflies, remember that they prefer flowers that have nectar, rather than those that have pollen. Some examples include:

•Honeysuckle

•Day Lilies

•Yellow Sage

•Summer Lilac

•Milkweed

•Purple Coneflower

•Lavender

•Valerian

It’s helpful to draw up a color plan of your butterfly garden before you start digging in order to visualize the finished product as it will appear in bloom. Keep in mind that reds and oranges are more showy, dramatic colors that will have greater visual impact against a strong green background. Incorporating lots of green plants will also help your butterfly visitors to stand out better. Alternatively, consider blue and purple flowers set against a white background for a fresh, bright look for your butterfly garden.