How To Make a Raised Garden Bed

More and more people are going through tough times economically so when it comes to gardening they want to do it because of the many rewards – saving money, canning, preserving, dehydrating, freezing and eating food fresh and organically instead of buying it in the store. Raised beds are becoming more and more popular because people just don’t have the time to weed them on a regular basis nor do they have time to rent equipment to get the land ready. Raised beds are very beneficial and in some locations be used year round.

Raised beds can be used with wood, containers or even tires. The most cost efficient and the most common is the wooden raised beds. With our step by step instructions you can successfully make a raised bed in no time!

Tools – hammer, wood, potting soil/compost/manure mixture, newspapers, level, saw, nails

Step 1 – Determine the area that you are going to place your raised bed. Go ahead and make sure there is no unwanted weeds and the ground is semi-level.

Step 2 – Measure the area and cut your pieces of wood so that you can make a box or rectangle, cut your pieces of wood and then nail or screw them together at the ends to make your shape.

Step 3- Once your box or bed is made, you can lay newspapers in the bottom, a few layers will work best this will keep weeds from growing. Cover the newspaper and fill your bed with potting soil, manure or compost mixture. Filling your bed a few inches from the top works best.

Step 4 – level your soil by taking a board and running it slowly across to level the soil out. Now you are ready for plants, seeds or anything else that you want to plant in it.

Raised beds are very beneficial and are becoming increasingly popular because if you ever decide that you do not want the bed anymore they are easy to remove and your grass will grow back instead of having a tilled up area. Raised beds will also keep moisture in and keep a steady soil temperature so that even in the coldest months all you will need to do is cover your plants for safety. Making a raised bed is enjoyable and fun, so enjoy! 

Do You Save Or Are You Living PayCheck To PayCheck?

    In recent years the economy of the United States of America has changed drastically for millions upon millions of people. People who were once paying their bills, putting money away for a rainy day, and still having extra for all the fun things in life are now living paycheck to paycheck. These people are doing everything in their power to keep their homes and put food on the table for their families. A growing trend among millions of Americans is planting their own home gardens to help supplement their food supply. Many people start this process with little or no knowledge of how to do this, but find that it really not that hard at all. Plus the benefits are not only improving their grocery bill, but is also putting healthy produce on their families plates.

The local library and of course the internet is a great source to learn all the ends and outs of gardening. Once you have a grasp on what to do it is time to buy your supplies. These supplies can be purchased at most any hardware or home improvement store. However if you rather do your shopping online there are many online nurseries that allow you to purchase your plants through them most of the time at a wholesale price and they will be delivered right to your door. When considering what plants you wish to put into your home garden there are several things to take into consideration. The first being what types of food does your family like to consume. Another consideration is that most come in a lot of different varieties. There are many different types of tomatoes, melons, gourds, berries and so forth. Then you also need to consider how much space you will actually have in your garden. Some plants such as cucumbers and squash have vines that run and take up a lot of space. Then other plants such as tomatoes often grow to the point that they need your help to support them from toppling over. This is also an easy fix and supplies can be bought at a home improvement store or you can get creative with materials found in your garage such as a pole and a pair of panty hose.

Then with plenty of sunshine, some moisture, and a little hard work and patience on your part you and your family will love the rewards. As items are ripe and ready to come off the veins you can immediately serve them up to your family or you can prepare them for a later time. Most all vegetables, fruits, and herbs can be either frozen, canned, dried, or made into another product such as jellies, preserves, or can be used in pies. No matter how you choose to use them not only will you have full tummies, but your wallet will be a little fuller as well.

Jams and Jellies

Making jam can be a very fun process especially when the fruits are very fresh and ripe.  You may even have trouble eating the fresh fruits before we get to make the delicious jams out of them.

There are a lot of recipes that are available to make wonderful sweet jams.  A recipe needs to be found that will fit the type of fruit that will be made into jam.  There are recipes that are simple and some that will have several steps to preparing the fruit and getting it ready for the jam.

Any fruits that will be used to make jams will need to cleaned, washed and have all of the stems and leaves removed from them.  Some fruits will also need to be peeled before they are ready to make jam out of them.  It is also a great idea to not produce large batches of jam and to do them in small batches.  When the jam is made in smaller batches it will help the fruit keep color and flavor because the fruit will not have to be cooked as long.  When making jam there will also need to be plenty of sugar on hand since each recipe will call for different amounts of sugar to be added.

There are hundreds of recipes available to make great tasting jams such as Peach, Blackberry, Strawberry, Pear and there is even a recipe for tomato jam available.  There is also a great product called pectin that will help jams set up and become jelled faster and ready for the jar.  This product will reduce cooking time when just adding sugar to the fruits.  Jam can be canned in pint or half pint jars and will also make wonderful house warming presents or gifts at Christmas and other holidays.  Jars will need to cleaned thoroughly before placing prepared jams into them and will need to be sealed tightly so that the jam will stay fresh and will stay preserved.  Jams are great because they will be fresh and the cook can regulate what goes into them and can make sure that there are no additives in them to make them stay fresh longer.  Making jam is wonderful and will be great to eat on freshly toasted bread in the mornings when the weather is cold and crisp and will also make us feel great knowing that we have grown or preserved the fresh taste of the fruits.

Fall Brings An Abundance Of Apples

With fall upon us it seems like 

everywhere we turn there are apples, 

apples of all kinds, candy apples, 

apple pies, apple turnovers, apple 

cider and fresh apples. Fall is the 

prime time for apples and there is 

so many things to do with them.

Apple trees are one of the most 

popular fruit trees planted among 

homeowners. Not only are apple 

trees easy growers but they require

little maintenance and as long as you 

plant both a male and female tree 

you should have a large crop of 

apples year after year. Apple trees are

tall growers and have a large spread. 

They will not produce a crop during the first year but most likely start yielding after their 

second year. In most cases apple trees can reach heights of up to 35 feet and prefer full sun 

to partial shade with moist, well drained soil to grow at its best.

There are a wide variety of apple trees, Gala which is flat looking and wide they are most often 

found in a dark shade of red and are very sweet. Red delicious and yellow delicious apples are 

most commonly grown and used to eat fresh, making pies, applesauce or used in other recipes,

the granny smith apple which is bright green and used in baking because of their tartness. 

Honeycrisp apples are ranked top at the flavor chart because they are so sweet and give a 

mouth watering flavor to every bite.The only downside to growing apple trees is that not only 

are apples loved by humans but they are loved by most wildlife species so if you are not 

watching your apple production daily the birds, squirrels and deer will find your apples first 

and eat them right off the tree. Once your apples are ready to be picked you can pick them 

right off the tree with a ladder or a hook, but the best part in many places across the country is 

getting them off by shaking the tree itself allowing the apples to fall to the ground. Many

homeowners find it easier to put an old blanket or sheet on the ground to catch the apples as 

they fall and then picking them up that way.

Apples have a lot of nutritional value that humans and wildlife animals need on a daily basis, 

so why not grow your own apple trees so that you can have lots of grown apples right in 

your yard?

How To Put Your Extra Harvest To Use

The weather is turning colder and it seems like everyone's gardens are slowly coming to an end. You find yourself ending up with more food than you really know what to do with or you have so much food left you can’t eat it fast enough. Throwing it out isn’t an option..what choices do you have? Canning and Dehydrating are perfect ways to take care of them!

Canning can be a great way to go ahead and take those extra veggies and turn them into quick and easy meals. The only thing you can’t can is what you don’t try! Squash, meat, okra, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn it all can be turned in to stews and canned. You can even pickle it. Do you use tomatoes a lot, do you make a lot of spaghetti sauce? Canning your own tomatoes can save you lots of money from buying store bought.

Freezing your food is also an option but then you have to stop and think..do I have the extra freezer space? What if the power goes out? My food won’t last.

Dehydrating, is another great way to preserve your food without having to use up a lot of space and room. They also can keep for many years if done right. Investing in a dehydrator can not only save you time but money in the long run. You can make your own jerky, dehydrate your own onions, peppers, okra, squash, tomatoes almost anything you can think of. Fresh herbs is a staple item in most households and by dehydrating peppers, onions, tomatoes you can turn them into crushed bell peppers, tomato paste or even chopped onions that you can use on a daily basis.

Canning, dehydrating and freezing your food are great options if you have lots of extra food growing in your garden or can get food items at bulk wholesale cost that you can use and don’t want to throw away. Canning, dehydrating and freezing are personal preferences and it is really up to you on which one you find the best for you and your family. In the long run all three choices can save you lots of time, money and protect you in the long run. 

Fall Means Fair Time

When it comes to the fall, what does that mean to a lot of people? It’s time for the fair. The fair to many people is the one thing that they look forward to going to for months. It means quality time with their family, loved ones, friends or significant other, but to many others it means all the exhibits. There is just something about the fair that makes a lot of us excited like a little kid. The smells, the feel in the air, the lights, the fireworks, the sounds makes one excited that it is fall and fair time.

Most fairs have a lot of exhibits that people don’t know about because they don’t take the time to wonder around in the exhibit halls. For example, most fairs have several exhibit halls, one is filled with lots of handmade crafts, photography, cakes, baked goods and other items that people take the time to make. Another exhibit hall may be filled with vegetables that were grown locally that are record setters like pumpkins, watermelons, squash, potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables native to that area. Then there is the exhibit hall or farm building where they hold the cows, sheep, goats and petting zoo so that people can observe them and watch as they are being shown off, milked or sheared. 

The most favorite exhibit hall is the floral exhibit hall. The floral exhibit hall is home to all the gorgeous fresh grown flowers that have been cut, preserved or turned into floral arrangements. There you can find perennials, vines and annuals of all kinds to see, smell and look at. You will see specimens of roses, hummingbird vines, English ivy, day lilies, black eyed susan’s, daffodils and many other flowers all in one place. It is a gardener’s dream!

So next time you go to the fair, don’t focus on the food, crowds and rides – go see the exhibits, you may be surprised by what you see or find! 

Winter Gardening Tips

As the summer harvest winds down and the first crisp winds of autumn bring the first chill to the air many gardeners are already starting to plan what they will be putting in the ground come spring. This may be the wrong idea, however, because gardening isn’t just a spring and summer hobby, it’s a four season pastime. By following a few simple steps the garden can be prepared for cold weather which will make spring planting easier, and allow some of the cold resistant vegetables to actually flourish.

First, as with any seasonal preparation, the soil has to be considered before anything else. There will be some nutrient depletion in the soil after the growing season, and no winter vegetables are to be grown or if the bed is to be used for planting annual flowers in the spring this is the best time to replace those used nutrients. Be sure to remove any spent vegetables or annuals from the garden bed, if these plants were healthy they can, in turn; be composted and added back to the soil later. Till or turn the soil with a spade to a depth of about six inches, this will help to loosen and aerate the soil which will be beneficial the next spring, then add about a two inch layer of compost to the top of the soil and rake it to spread it evenly. This will allow the compost to enrich the soil to root depth during the winter. If growing cold tolerant vegetables be sure and mulch around them too as this will not only feed the plant but also serve to help keep it warmer and producing longer. Perennial vegetable like asparagus should be covered with a layer of mulch when they begin to go dormant for the winter, this will aid the plant and lead to an earlier harvest in spring. 

During winter taking care of cold sensitive plants can be as easy as covering them with an old blanket, tarp, or even unfolded newspaper on those night when the thermometer dips below level to produce frost. For smaller plants or young sprouts simply cut the neck out of a plastic two liter bottle and cover the plant to create a sort of mini-greenhouse. When covering plants to protect them from the cold it is a good idea to cover them before nightfall as this will help to hold in residual heat from the daylight hours.

One of the least know and even lesser understood ways to protect tender plants, especially if they are caught by a late frost and have begun to produce buds, is to cover them with ice. As night approaches simply place the garden sprinkler near the plants and let it run. This will cause ice to form on the plants, but, contrary to popular opinion, as the water freezes it actually gives off a bit of heat and this can be enough to protect those tender shoots and buds from the bite of that late frost.

Gardening is a pastime that has seen a real resurgence in recent years as many people turn back to nature to produce some of the food they consume and to beautify their surroundings. For some this is a mere hobby, for other it has become big business. Either way, a few simple steps in winter can mean a real boost to the spring growing season.

Shade Trees Can bring Relaxation

Shade trees make a great addition to a lawn or property.  These wonderful trees make a magnificent statement during the spring, summer and fall months of the year.  

There are some shade trees that will offer beautiful blooms and some of them will offer gorgeous deep green and light green leaves to enjoy during the spring and summer.  During the fall most shade trees will offer a wide array of colors such as orange, red and yellow to brighten up lawns and landscapes.

Shade trees will come in all shapes and sizes and will have a wide variety of heights when they are mature.  There are some shade trees that can grow as tall as 150 feet and some will grow to be around 30 feet.  Shade trees are also great to attract a wide variety of wildlife such as birds, squirrels and other small wildlife.  Birds will love these trees and they will make lovely places for wildlife and birds to build their nests.  Nature lovers will absolutely love watching birds as they are building their nests in these magnificent trees and then watching the little baby birds as they hatch.

Maple, Tulip Poplar and Oak trees are among the tallest of the shade tree family and will make lovely places to relax and enjoy the warm spring and summer evenings with a family.  They are also seen a lot growing in parks because of the large size that these particular trees will grow to be.

When deciding which shade tree will fit onto a lawn or landscape it is best to do some research and make sure what size the tree will become when mature.  Knowing this information will guarantee that there is enough space for the shade tree to grow properly and will become very healthy as it grows. Research will also need to be done to find out how to care for a particular shade tree properly while it is growing and to know how much water and what soil conditions would be best for the shade tree to grow. 

There is nothing more enjoyable during the spring and summer that having a wonderful shade tree to sit and relax under while unwinding from a busy day.  There is just something about sitting outside and enjoy a shade tree with family and friends and is also a great way to build memories with family and friends.

Affordable Landscaping on a Limited Budget

One of the first projects that most new homeowners dive into head first, is creating that perfectly landscaped yard. Unfortunately, most individuals who take on such hefty tasks are soon pulled back into reality by the sheer expense that such endeavors may require. Though a beautifully landscaped lawn may come with a hefty price tag, there are a multitude of ways in which one can achieve the same look, without breaking the bank. This article will explore great tips to achieve a great looking yard on a limited budget. 

 

                               

 One mistake that many amateur landscapers make, is purchasing expensive seasonal plants. Though they are often beautiful, such plants are notoriously temperamental, and require a great deal of care in order to prevent them from quickly wilting. There is nothing worse than investing hundreds of dollars in beautiful plants, only to have them perish within a few weeks. Cheap plants are not only less expensive, but can often be much more hardy during times of drought, extreme heat, and other environmental changes. Cheap plants can be purchased through a local nursery or lawn and garden store. Be sure to research such plants, prior to the time of purchase. It is also important to purchase plants when they are in season, as this will significantly cut down cost.

 

 

 Just like many flowers and grasses can require a great deal of money to care for properly, the same goes for different varieties of trees. It is always a good idea to consider purchasing trees that are native to that specific region. A tree nursery is a wonderful place to purchase trees from. Workers at a tree nursery are knowledgeable about what type of tree grows best in the region. They can even suggest which trees are most cost effective, and require the least amount of effort to maintain.

 

 

 There is much more to landscaping than grass, flowers, and trees. When shopping for various greenery, it is easy to overlook other unique and creative ways to enhance the landscape of one's property. To truly cut cost and bring down the budget, consider adding other natural elements into the yard.  Currently, popular landscaping trends incorporate water features and rock walkways, as well as wooden benches and additional elements that can shift the focus away from plants and flowers. Such natural elements inspire feelings of tranquility and relaxation, while lessening the need to purchase expensive plants, which may require a great deal of maintenance and care.

 

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