Tag Archives: Green
A Green Hoe™ Give-Away
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we are excited to offer our first Green Hoe™ Give-away! Please share YOUR favorite ‘GREEN‘ eco-friendly practice in the home or garden by leaving a comment on this post! Examples: mulch leaves, use vinegar on weeds instead of chemicals, use natural cleaning products in home, etc.!
Using a random number generator on March 23rd at 12 midnight EST, one lucky ‘GREEN’ Hoe will select one Green Hoe™ product below from our Boutique! The Winner will be announced March 24th at 9:00 a.m. EST!
Happy ‘GREEN’ Hoeing, Friends!
May all your gardens grow,
A Guest Post from Kelly Guerin – The Art of Seed
Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.
~Terri Guillemets
Over a year ago I met Kelly Guerin on Twitter. She was a fun and excitable Peep who LOVED gardening and was interested in becoming an entrepreneur. There was an instant connection between us! She and I talked a bit about starting a business and things one might expect during the journey. I admired Kelly’s ambition and drive; juggling motherhood, a full time position, and a passion to start a business can be challenging!
Just a few weeks ago I learned that Kelly made her dream a reality! She recently launched a COOL online heirloom seed company named The Art of Seed. I adore these kinds of stories and asked Kelly if she would write a guest post for us. It is my honor, pleasure and delight to share a bit more information about a wonderful young lady who said YES to herself!
Thank you Kelly for sharing your journey with US! We wish you ALL the best! Now, here’s Kelly:
My whole life has been spent in the garden. I started growing Cosmos and Hollyhocks in my grandma’s gardens, then transplanting Impatiens in my parent’s backyard, and now creating small intimate vegetable gardens for friends and family — gardening surely is my calling!
My absolute favorite part of gardening is being creative and adventuresome with the many types of heirloom, vegetable, and flower seeds available. There are wonderful stories to be told about all of these plants but the best stories are the ones created when growing them. My 3 year old son calls the Red Zebra tomato the Yellow Lion! I lovely assure him to call it whatever he wants! Together, we plant, water and pick tomatoes; gardening brings so much joy to my soul!
The Art of Seed has been a dream of mine forever. Raising young children puts life into perspective so I know when I’m not spending time with them I better do something I truly enjoy! Launching my own business affords me the opportunity to share my excitement with others. It is my mission, through The Art of Seed, to bring that same joy and passion to others around the world!
Here are a few of my tomato favorites!
Green Zebra Tomato
Mortgage Lifter Tomato
Purple Tomatillo
Federle Tomato
Be sure to visit Kelly’s website, The Art of Seed, and check out the gorgeous merchandise!
May all your gardens grow,
But Who Will Warn Our Wildlife?
What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?
~ Henry David Thoreau
May all your gardens grow,
Tips On Tree Planting!
A man doesn’t plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.
~Alexander Smith
During a recent walk I spotted a huge GLARING problem with a row of trees planted last year in a new subdivision by my home. The manner in which these trees were planted is often common, but extremely detrimental to a tree’s health.
Although I felt awful for the young trees, I knew it was a perfect opportunity to take some pictures and share the information with others. After all, spring is right around the corner and there will be a lot of newly planted trees!
As you may already know, the root system of a balled and burlapped tree is encased with burlap and a wire cage. It is our best practice to cut back the wire cage. Then, we cut the burlap away from the tree and lay it down; it is alright to leave the burlap. Fine Gardening‘s website offers a very helpful video on how-to plant a balled and burlapped tree. Be sure to check out the video; great info there, Friends!
In the picture above, the burlap and wire basket was never removed. We HIGHLY recommend removing both as demonstrated in the Fine Gardening video.
Twine or string is often tied around the trunk of the tree to secure the burlap and wire cage. However, the twine and cage was not removed at the time of planting, which may effect the health of the tree.
In the picture above, you can see the wire cage protruding through the soil. Another potential problem for this tree is the lack of mulch. Rocks were randomly thrown on the soil surface, which offers no benefit. Mulch is a must! Mulch helps to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and adds nutrients to the soil as it decomposes. Bonus: when used around trees, it eliminates the possibility of damaging the trunk with lawn equipment.
We hope this information is helpful! With a little TLC, a healthy tree will live for many, many years!
May all your gardens grow,
Cultivate the LOVE this Spring!
I feel so blessed to have dear friends that truly love me for me. Recently, front and center on my Facebook Page was a lovely garden poem from my beautiful friend. How thoughtful of her to think of me.
I was so delighted after I read her Sunday morning message, garden stuff has its way with me, that I nearly squealed like a pig! My next immediate response was to thank her then share with my other Facebook friends. And now, I am sharing with you; it’s just too GOOD not to!
Without further ado, this is the message Cynthia left for me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Here are some tips for your GARDEN:
Go out to your GARDEN alone, while the dew is still on the roses.
Plant 4 rows of lettuce:
✿Lettuce be faithful
✿Lettuce be kind
✿Lettuce be patient
✿Lettuce really love each other
Plant 4 rows of squash:
✿Squash gossip
✿Squash indifference
✿Squash grumbling
✿Squash selfishness
Plant 3 rows of peas:
✿Peace of mind
✿Peace of heart
✿Peace of soul
No GARDEN is without turnips:
✿Turnip for meetings
✿Turnip for service
✿Turnip to help each other
To complete your GARDEN, you must have thyme:
✿Time for each other
✿Time for family
✿Time for friends
Water freely with patience & cultivate with love!
May all your gardens grow,
A Desktop Solution!
Dig this! A very practical desktop solution by Gothenburg, Sweden-based designer Love Hulten! The “Senescent Desk” screams tranquility and is certain to relax the mind, body and soul while hard at work! This unique piece of furniture, made from untreated wood, is a self-contained garden with a water-tank, a mist maker, and two fans – all made from recycled plastic!
Now, you can mix work with pleasure…right at your desktop! Dig in!
May all your gardens grow,
Plantable Packaging Creates a WIN-WIN!
Future generation is the most important thing.
~ Confucius
These very COOL vegetable labels designed by student Ben Huttly are creatively genius and outrageously practical!
The attempt to eliminate waste in a very eco-friendly manner is well-served with recyclable natural cotton twine and biodegradable paper labels.
But here’s the best part: the labels are made from the seeds of the food they so affectionately adorn! I am in love with this plantable packaging idea! Bravo Ben Huttly!
May all your gardens grow,
Soil Solarization…an Eco-Friendly Process!
Even the richest soil, if left uncultivated will produce the rankest weeds.
~Leonardo da Vinci
I am excited to share with you the BEST organic technique to battle weeds, soil diseases, and pests when you are planning a new garden! Solarization uses a transparent plastic sheet to capture the heat and energy from the sun, which in turn causes a physical, chemical, and biological change in the soil without the use of chemicals.
The soil temperature is raised to lethal levels for many soil borne plant pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and pests along with weed seeds and seedlings. Soil solarization doesn’t only kill problem weeds at the surface, it destroys the roots below, all while making nitrogen in the soil more easily available to your new plants. Pretty cool!
Solarization isn’t a “quick fix” like chemical herbicides and pesticides. It requires a little time and effort on your part. The best time to solarize soil is during the months when the suns rays are strongest. (For Zone 5b that’s June-August.)
First, grab a cool beverage then roll up your sleeves!
Get your gear:
- Lawn mower or weed trimmer
- Shovel or tiller (for new beds)
- Hose
- Clear plastic tarp (0.001-0.004 mil. thick), available at most stores where paint is sold
- Rocks, concrete blocks or something to secure the plastic in place
Get to work:
- Clean the area you want to solarize by removing rocks, twigs and other debris.
- Mow down any tall weeds and grass and rake the area so the ground is as level as possible. For new garden beds, till the area first and remove any large clumps of sod and weeds, and rake level.
- Moisten the area thoroughly with water until soil is dark but still crumbly. Lay the plastic down ASAP after watering.
- Cover the soil with a clear plastic tarp, placing it as close to the soil’s surface as possible. Air pockets will prevent the soil from heating to maximum temperature.
- Secure the plastic with rocks, blocks, etc., around the perimeter, or bury the edges in a trench.
- Keep the plastic in place for 4 to 6 weeks.
- Remove the plastic and plant your bed. Remember to cultivate no more than 2″-3″ below the soil and mulch deeply to prevent new weeds.
During the solarization process, the heat that is generated is hot enough to kill a wide variety of soil-inhabiting pests and noxious weed seeds. PLUS, solarization helps to stimulate the release of nutrients from organic matter already in the soil – a beneficial and natural bonus for treating garden soil where veggies, herbs or flowers will soon be planted!
May all your gardens grow,
