Gardening 101

Have you seen the price of blueberries and strawberries? Wow! Problem is...I love both of these fruit so since I'm really getting into expanding my gardening abilities this year, I thought I would do a little research and see just how difficult it might be to grow them in containers...and you know what...I think I can do this...And just in case you think you might want to try it, here's some tips:


Blueberries:

First, you need to know what variety of blueberry is best for a container. A dwarf blueberry plant, such as Tophat, grows very well in containers. The Tophat has small, sweet berries that are similar to a wild blueberry.

It will grow to be about 24 inches tall and will fill most containers.


Next, you have to choose the correct container. Make sure the container is at least 24 inches wide and 16 inches or more deep. This will be a good size container for permanent growth. A larger container, such as a whiskey barrel, will allow your Tophat to grow larger and give more fruit.

So what type of soil do you need? 1 part topsoil and 1 part sphagnum peat moss will give your blueberries the best start.

You will want to make sure you give your soil a good moistening before planting. Place your plant in the middle of the container and about 2 inches deep in the soil. Blueberries are an acid-loving plant, so make sure you get a time-release fertilizer. A 4-inch layer of mulch is also something that will help your blueberries grow, just make sure that you keep the mulch away from the plant itself. This will encourage new canes to develop.

You want to keep the soil moist and the mulch will help do that. Just make sure you don't overdo it, you won't want the soil to be too wet. Place your plant in the sun and that is it!

All you have to do now is pick the blueberries and enjoy them!



Strawberries:

You want to make sure your container allows your soil to drain. So hanging baskets and any other container that has a hole in the bottom for drainage will work. If your container comes with a saucer, you will want to make sure that your container doesn't sit directly on the saucer. This can cause too much moister on the roots of your plants.

Your strawberry plant will need 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day. If you don't have this much actual sunlight, then you might want to check on using a plant light.

Your strawberries need a well-drained soil that contains organic matter. Mixing a 5-10-5 fertilizer or 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate into the soil before planting will give your strawberries a great start. Just make sure to follow the directions on your fertilizer so you know how much to use based on the size of the container.

Basically, as long as the roots of your strawberry plants are covered, you should be okay. If you are planting more than one plant, you will need to make sure the plants are at least 2 feet apart, so planting one plant per container might work best.

Just like blueberries, you will want to water your plants only enough to keep the soil moist. Good drainage is best for your plants.

Believe it or not, being in the dark is just as important to your strawberry plants as having sunlight. So make sure your plants are in the dark from sunset to sunrise.

Enjoy! I know I will...

Another Avenue to Take...

This post won't be about Gardening 101, Cooking 101, Crafting 101 or Living Green 101...instead it is going to be about something new and exciting that I have recently learned about...I'll get back to the above items tomorrow so I hope to see you then...grin...

As you know, I have some links and adsense, etc on this blog. I've started doing this because of the economy. With finances being tight, I started learning about some interesting ways to make money on the internet...I write for eHow and Bukisa and have earned some passive income from them both. I'm not rich (yet), but every little bit helps and the money grows each month.

That brings me to the reason for this post - Blogsvertise

This is something I learned about from IcyCucky on her blog Wandering Thoughts

I looked over the site and I find it interesting and I love a challenge, so I think Blogsvertise and I will make a great match...but I guess time will tell...either way, I can't wait to start my adventure and I hope you come along for the ride...

Hugs...

Living Green 101

Okay, I came across something a little unusual today....Soap nuts...

Have you heard of these? I'm amazed and a little curious...what about you...would you use them?

I think I would...I like using vinegar in my laundry to make it softer and tomato paste as a facial mask is also something I like to do, so why not use something called soap nuts to do my laundry...

I'm going to have to do a little more research before actually trying these, but wouldn't it be fun to go to work and someone ask how you got your shirt so clean and you say...with soap nuts...grin...

Lilfix

Crafting 101

Do you have scrap fabric sitting in a drawer, taking up space? Do you have buttons or soda pop lids that you would like to do something with? Do you like magnets? Who doesn't...they make great little gifts...

Here's a couple ideas:

Take some quilted batting and cut it the same size as a button. Cut the fabric a little larger so that it will wrap around the button and the batting and glue the fabric at the back. Take a magnet and glue it over the fabric you just glued together and you have a one of a kind magnet for your fridge or your child's locker at school...

For the soda pop lids you would do the same thing only you will probably want to fill the inside of the lid with batting to make it easier to attach the magnet to that side.

For more unique ideas:

If you have someone in the family who enjoys sewing, why not wrap that material around a large empty thread spool, place the magnet on the back of the spool where your fabric meets so you can cover up the seam.

Take a thimble and put a magnet on it...or take a piece of fabric and wrap it around a small piece of cardboard. Take a sewing needle and put it through the fabric and back out again...glue a magnet on the back. It will look like a small sewing project...don't forget to put a small piece of thread through the eye of the needle and knot it, so that it really looks authentic...

Find a small jewelry gift box, if it has a bottom and a lid, glue the lid to the bottom of the box on an angle of sorts...glue some cotton to the bottom of the box...get those little wooden hearts and paint them and write "I Love You, Mom" or something that goes along with who you are giving the magnet to...glue the wooden hear in the box on the cotton and then put a magnet on the back of the lid...now every time they see the gift box, they will think of you....

Dog lovers, cat lovers, gardeners...find material that matches their likes and wrap some batting and material around:

buttons
milk jug lids
icing tub lids (for a bigger magnet)
medicine bottles (if you are giving this to a gardener, wrap the material around it and then purchase some of those small decorative flowers and put them inside so it looks like a vase...put a magnet on the back and they will always have flowers blooming)

A nature lover...find some very pretty rocks (small ones), clean them up...and put a magnet on the back...If you child has quit playing with Barbies...then why not find one of her (or Ken's) old hiking boot and put a magnet on the back of it...

Do you have pieces parts from an old game...checkers or chess...why not cut a piece of cardboard out...put some checkered material on the cardboard and glue a few checkers on your 'board'...magnet on the back..there ya go...

Small toys can be fun to use also...those little yellow ducky bath toys...put a magnet on the bottom of them and put them on the fridge if you have a duck hunter in the family...a fun twist to their sport...

Think outside the box...these little magnets can compliment other bigger gifts that you have gotten...or they can be neat little gifts to hand just to say, "thanks" or "I love you"...or just for fun...

Cooking 101

Brownies! I love them! So I thought I would share a neat little recipe that is great for a young person's birthday party.

Brownie Cones

1 package brownie mix
24 ice cream cups
1 (16 oz) tub frosting, any flavor
Colored sprinkles or candies, optional

Prepare brownies per package directions. Spoon the batter into each ice cream cup. Fill them half full. Place the cups in in muffin tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure the Brownie Cones cool completely. Decorate each brownie cone with frosting and sprinkles. Enjoy!

Gardening 101

I am in the process of getting my vegetable garden ready for planting and my flower beds cleaned up from all the leaves that have dropped from the trees. This got me thinking about the products that we put on our plants to keep the disease free, etc. Those chemicals have to stay on the produce which means we have to be eating those chemicals...so what is the difference between buying produce with chemicals on them at the store and growing produce with chemicals on them? Other than it costs less to grow them...I can't think of anything else...so I was on a search for chemical free vegetables to grow and what I found, I will be sharing with you each week...Here's the first installment...

Do you have a mole problem? They can destroy a yard by making tunnels and they can damage plant roots. Here is a very simple way to take care of your mole problem:

1 Cup warm water, divided in half
4 Tablespoons dishwashing liquid
Blender
3 ounces Castor oil
1 quart glass jar with lid (for storage)
Rubber spatula

You need to mix half of the water and all the dishwashing liquid in the blender. Blend for a few seconds. Keeping the blender going, you will want to pour the Castor oil into the blender. Blend for 30 seconds. Make sure it is blended well.

Pour this mixture into the glass jar. Pour the leftover water into the blender. Use the spatula to scrape the sides of the blender and blend again. After about 30 seconds, stop the blender and pour this into the jar with the other mix.

To use:

Mix 2 Tablespoons in a gallon of warm water. Find the mole tunnels, and poke a hole in the top of it with a stick. Pour about a cup of the mixture in the hole and then stomp on the hole to close it up.

Moles hate the smell of Castor oil, so they will be on their way to another lawn...and leaving yours alone.

Although, moles don't eat your plants, their digging can damage the roots which does harm your plants. If you have moles...then you have bugs. This is what the moles are after, so you want to keep the bugs to minimum also.

You can try a couple of these things:

• Place an old sheet or a piece of plastic or even an old newspaper underneath your plants and gently shake the plants. When the beetles fall off, you can ball up the plastic, newspaper, etc. and toss them both away.
• Pick beetles off of your plants and drop them in a jar with soapy water...

Good luck with your gardens...


And we can't forget your houseplants. Why not try a more natural fertilizer to keep them healthy...

Living Green 101

There are some very simple things you can do to reduce the amount of trash you throw away each day/week/month/year.

• Using cloth kitchen towels and napkins instead of paper towels and napkins will help reduce the amount of trash more than you might think. Do a little experiment. Every time you use a paper napkin and/or towel, put it in a separate trash bag and at the end of the week look to see how many you have used. You might be surprised at the number of paper towels in your bag. Cloth can be washed and reused over and over again.
  

• Store leftovers in plastic containers like Tupperware® that have lids so you don’t have to use aluminum foil or plastic wrap to cover the leftovers.

• Get your family off the junk mail merry-go-round (find your post about this on Brenda’s Page)

• Pay your bills online. Most companies offer email billing so you won’t get a paper copy in the mail. Sign up for online newspapers and magazine subscriptions…I mean, honestly, we both know those magazines are just going to sit in a pile never to be looked at again…and all those recipes, etc that you want will never be made. So why not get your subscriptions online…this way if there is a recipe you want to try, you can copy and paste it into your recipe word file on your computer…and pull it up when you are ready to use it and this way you don’t have to sort through all those piles of torn out recipes.

• Make your own coffee at home and get a travel mug to take with you in the mornings. Not only will you be saving the environment by not getting those Styrofoam coffee cups, but you will be saving gas by not traveling to the coffee shop and time. Coffee makers these days are equipped with timers so you can get it ready the night before and then you can wake up to a fresh brewing cup of coffee.

• If you just have to have a Starbucks or Duncan Donuts coffee and you don’t want to make it at home, still purchase the travel mug…some stores will give you a discount for using your own mug and not their cups. Ask your local coffee shop if they do this.

• Canvas bags! I know you’ve heard this one over and over again. And if you are like me, you tend to forget them in the car when you do go inside the store…so try this little trick…When you are going grocery shopping try putting your shopping list inside the canvas bags, this way you have to remember the bag because you need your list.

• Or keep one bag up front with you…put your pocket book inside it, so when you go to get out of the car you will remember it and you will remember to grab your other ones.

• Buying rechargeable batteries can be a little costly upfront, but think about the money you will save in the long run. If you have a child who plays video games all the time, they can go through a lot of batteries. So with a battery charger, you can charge 2 batteries while they are using the other two and switch off. No more having to make a stop for batteries to keep the kids happy.

• Just like the coffee, stop buying bottled water. They make some great filtering systems now and they make some very cute and reasonable looking reusable water bottles…you can refill your reusable bottle over and over again…and by using the water filtering system, you will save a lot of money.

• Does your company waste a lot of paper because they can only use one side? Why not bring it home for your kids to draw on. And if you don’t have any young children at home, why not donate it to a daycare (as long as the information on the other side isn’t anything that would violate someone’s privacy, etc.)…Or cut the paper in half and use it for messages or scrap paper, etc in the office.
  

Do you know what the biggest litter problem in the world is? Plastic grocery bags…so don’t use them!