Growing Herbs: Cilantro
Posted on 7 March 2010 | Comments Off
I remember my first encounter with cilantro. I was in Boston and I went to an unbelievable taqueria, the kind where they make everything before your eyes out of amazingly fresh ingredients. When they asked if I wanted it on my burrito, I had to taste it first. It was marvelous. Next I made my first cilantro pesto and I was forever hooked.
The cilantro herb often reaches heights of up to 3 feet and has become very popular lately in Tex-Mex cooking. If you take a quick glance at it you might think that it is parsley, but its sweet and musky taste will confirm it’s certainly unlike any parsley I know of. It may surprise you to know that cilantro (the foliage which has brilliant pink blossoms) and coriander (the plant that comes from the seeds) are from the same plant.
You can get your cilantro from your local nursery, but I love to start mine from seeds. Because it’s an annual, you will be starting fresh with new herbs each year. I start mine in pots inside on my kitchen windowsill when there’s still frost on the ground, and it usually takes about 7 to 10 days for the seeds to germinate.
Cilantro plants enjoy moist, rich soil, so it is best to grow them in a raised bed after the weather gets sunny. If you live in a hot climate, make sure you provide some shade for your cilantro. Be warned, too much sun or too much heat can make your cilantro go bitter.
It will take about nine weeks for your cilantro herb to go from seed to its brilliant white, pale pink or lavender blossoms. You can positively wait until the weather gets warmer and then plant your cilantro right in the earth. After you plant your seeds the clear skies and warm weather along with a little rain will turn your seeds into sprouts in just two weeks.
For the strongest flavors, use your fresh cilantro in your summer dinners. Just snip off a few leaves and add the whole thing to your dish or chop it up and add to your tacos or Mexican chicken.
You can also dry your cilantro and use it later for fall, winter and spring dinners. The best way to ensure that the leaves will have a heavy concentration of oils is to lop them off just before the plant blooms. Use a drying rack for the best outcomes. Keep in mind that you will need more of the dried cilantro than you will the fresh because the flavor won’t be as strong.
The very best way to harvest the coriander seed is by hanging it upside down in a paper bag to dry. Once the seeds have dried, you can release them from the pod by rolling them between your hands. Next you’ll want to freeze the seeds for at least 2 days and then keep them in a cool, dark spot.
As one of the curry spices, you can use the crushed coriander seeds as a powder in baking, stews, soups and casseroles.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Herb Garden Plants. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Some Essential Facts Regarding Lawn Care
Posted on 7 March 2010 | Comments Off
A perfectly designed and properly maintained lawn multiplies the charm of your garden. Garden lawns are both decorative and functional. It is often said that a garden without a lawn is incomplete. But lawns need much more care because any defects like overgrowth, diseased patches, weeds etc could not only harm the lawn, but also destroy the aesthetic beauty of the garden. This is why you need to take proper lawn care.
There are many aspects involved in the process of properly maintaining the lawn. The most important of all is that suitable grass should be planted according to the climate of the area. That is why in colder regions such grass varieties are planted which remain green through the winter. It is also preferable to see the month you are planting the grass since planting at the wrong time can spoil your entire efforts.
You want to take proper lawn care by providing it with the mandatory water and dung. Moving helps the grass maintain its perfect health. You have to be sure of the quantity of water and fertilizers applied since overfeeding or underfeeding might end up in the lawn getting ill. Every sort of grass has its own necessities. Compost, corn gluten meal etc are very efficient in saving the greenness of your lawn.
Many of us feel that the lawn needs some improvement, but we do not know what exactly to do. In fact, what you have to do is to check your lawn thoroughly to see whether insect growth, weeds, bald patches, water accumulation, discoloration etc are there. The next step is to find out the reasons and start treatment. For example, bald patches are mostly caused by shady plants and as such, planting additional grass there can prove to be negative and expensive.
You shouldn’t think that lawn care is an especially tricky process. If you persistently keep a tab on diverse facets of the lawn like the plants, the grass, trees around, the turf, the borders etc, the process would become easier. The feeding process, watering, protection from being walked by slipshod folks, impedance of pest and weed growth etc require sufficient attention from your part.
How To Pick An Ideal Compost Bin For Your Garden
Posted on 7 March 2010 | Comments Off
If you want to obtain the optimum results from your flower beds or veg plot, mixing in compost with your land is really a great strategy. The cheapest way to obtain compost is to produce your own!
When getting started with composting, one of the initial decisions that will have to be made is exactly what sort of compost bin you should use. There are many different kinds of compost bins that you can select from, based on your preferences, the amount of space you’ve accessible for composting and your budget.
The major element that all compost bins have got in common is they must be able to keep warmth so that they can enable the elements to compost effectively. In many ways, compost bins do the job like ovens. The only distinction is in addition to holding heat, compost bins should also be able to maintain dampness also. While it is quite feasible to compost utilizing a heap rather than a compost bin, the benefit to using a compost pin is that they make every thing look nice and neat. Additionally, compost bins can help to contain the odours that are sometimes associated with composting.
One particular error that some folks make when composting is choosing to use a wooden fence or some other framework as a sidewall for composting. The problem with this is the process of active composting will ultimately decompose the structure in addition to discoloring paint and wrecking timber that has not been treated. As a result, you need to use only compost bins which are made from plastic or metal. This will assist to prevent corrosion and rust from happening.
You’ll want to select from an enclosed compost bin or an open sided compost bin. The benefit to enclosed compost bins is they do are likely to keep wetness as well as heat much better than open sided compost bins. The drawback is that they are also typically more compact. Because of the fact that enclosed compost bins keep the wetness and heat much better, they also tend to allow the elements to rot more rapidly. Open sided compost bins are bigger and store much more material but due to the fact they operate slower, they may not compost as much material over time as an enclosed compost bin.
The dimensions of your space might also determine which type of compost bin you pick. Enclosed compost bins often work better in small yards while open sided compost bins would not function so effectively in smaller gardens.
Find the Best Indoor Plant
Posted on 6 March 2010 | Comments Off
There is a wide variety of indoor plants to select when you are in the market for plants for your home. How does one find the best indoor plant? To select the best indoor plants there are a number of criteria one can use. Things like experience with plants, flowering or non flowering? hanging or non-hanging? Vine or ivy?These are all things to consider when you are looking for your indoor plants to find the best fit for your home.
Indoor plants have many pluses to their repertoire to spice up their appeal. They are excellent air filters and have been proven in several scientific studies to reduce mental fatigue and illness. Some plants are particularly good at these jobs and provide excellent choices for novice green thumbs.One can use Chinese evergreen plant as a starter indoor plant which is known for the well purification of air. Needing only a reading light as a light source and little water the plants are hardy and hard to kill. They offer no real color besides broad green leaves and no blossoms. They are bland but hardy. Some find this the best indoor plant, and others find it hard to name this the best indoor plant.
For others it’s all about show and not so much performance. Many like some foliage and color and enjoy a moderate growing challenge. For this an ideal plant would be something like the Bromeliad, which is leafy with large red, yellow and orange flowers in the middle, it’s pickier than our previous Chinese evergreen. It is supposed to be the best indoor plant for giving splashes of color by some people. No matter what your preference there are many plants to choose and personal taste is a big factor in your selection. Some people really enjoy small potted tropical plants like Kalanchoes or African violets, they tiny little flowers are very colourful and the plants are hardy. They are great accents for tables and window sills and are popular amongst children.These little tropical flowering plants are known to be the best indoor plants in various cases. In the vast arena of horticulture indoor plants are numerous. Finding the best indoor plant is only difficult for one whom is not open to the possibilities and options that all the different flowers bring.
Find The Best Indoor Plant With Local Greenhouse
Many local greenhouses have tropical plants and flowers for sale, potted and ready for you to take home. Go and buy yourself the best indoor plant you can find and spruce up your living space with some tropical foliage and some color. Maybe an African violet or a Chinese evergreen. Whatever your choice, it will be a good one.
Growing Herbs in Your Garden
Posted on 6 March 2010 | Comments Off
It is so nice when you find something that just works, right? Some plants are just like that. All you need to do is plant them out and make sure that they get sunlight and plenty of water and your herbs will do the rest.
Here’s a list of herb plants that after you start them and get’em going, they will take care of themselves:
- Borage: Boil the leaves to reduce the chewy texture, because without this, the long, wooly and prickly leaves are not easily edible. The borage plant loves dry, dark soil and full sun—the blue or purple star-patterned flowers are cute as can be. Start your seeds in early summer and by Independence Day your herb will have grown to up to two feet high.
- Caraway: Even though the foliage of the caraway can look like that of a carrot in its first growing season, don’t mistake it for a carrot. When year two comes around, white or pink flowers that sit in umbrella-shaped clusters replace the carrot-like foliage on 1 to 3 foot stems. Give your caraway plant full-sunlight and also make sure it has well-drained soil for the best outcome. Since this is a biennial, you can plant seeds outside in spring or fall. Since your herb is a self-seeder, you can let the dead blooms fall to the earth and you won’t have to reseed it for the next growing season.
- Dill: This quick-growing herb with fine, fern-like leaves loves well-drained dirt and full sun. Don’t let your dill get more than three feet high before you begin using it in your meals; you can start harvesting once the plant reaches one foot. Dill is great for floral arrangements because of its beautiful, yellow umbrella-like heads, which can also be used as a seasoning. Begin with seeds and you’ll have a mature herb soon, so don’t fret about starting too early.
- Fennel: Don’t confuse your adult fennel plant with dill because the two are similar, but it tastes nothing like the licorice flavored fennel. If you sow your seeds in late spring, you will have an adult, 4-foot-tall plant in only a few weeks. Your plant will do best if you set it out so that it will get full-sun with well-drained dirt. The seeds are the delicious part. Don’t let the seeds get brown. Did you know that you can use your dried stems in all kinds of kitchen creations, including soups, stews and goods?
- Lemon Balm: If you like the sweet, lemony scent of lemon balm, you will be happy to know that this perennial likes light, shady, well-drained soil. I love its heart-shaped leaves. Don’t bother with seeds, buy a little herb at the greenhouse and let it grow for you. Before long, you will be able to divide your lemon balm plant and replant the divided section somewhere else. Don’t feel like you have to put the new division beside the old one, because lemon balm will grow through self-sowing. Snip off the dead flowers to prevent lemon balm from sowing itself.
- Sweet Cicely: This perennial grows in light shade as long as you give it loose, rich sod. Be sure to plant it with mulch and organic compost. Since sweet cicely is a self-sowing herb you will only want to buy the first couple of herbs and it will take over from there.
These aren’t the only good herbs either … there’s plenty more to choose from, including Queen Anne’s lace and dandelion.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Home Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Growing Your Herbs Indoors
Posted on 6 March 2010 | Comments Off
If you have a sunny window in your house or apartment you can start your herb garden there. Make sure that the window is going to provide plenty of sun. A south-facing window is better. If you do not have a good window or place, you can purchase a grow light. This is more costly than sunshine, but whatever works for your herb plants is best!
Don’t put your herb plants near your heater (maybe this is obvious?) because they will get easily scorched and too much hot air will kill them.
I gave up on bringing my herb plants inside during winter long ago because I never really had good luck. If you’re like me, you’ll drop by the greenhouse or grocery store to get the herbs you will need over the winter. Keep the indoor herbs indoors and the outdoor ones outside.
Bringing herb plants indoors in the winter is a big change for them—some get wiry or spindly. What I mean by that is they grow tall, but don’t often get full and bushy is a good thing. To help with this, snip off the top of the herb and that will trick the plant into growing more full.
Because you want your herbs to do well in your indoor herb garden, always try to get the right pot for your herb plants. Do your homework and you’ll find the best herbs for your indoor garden.
These are some nice herb plants to begin within your indoor garden. Not only will these bring a fantastic aroma to your home, they have a lot of uses.
- Sage: Like rosemary, the pungent flavor and silvery leaves make sage a wonderful addition to your inside garden. Here’s some sage advice: cut a few leaves from the lower branches to add them to your next meal.
- Thyme: With all the tastes and types, you may have a hard thyme choosing the right one for your indoor garden. There is also the added benefit that it also smells fabulous growing in your kitchen.
- Mustard: Turn up the spice for this herb. Experiment with some of the different types of mustard, keep in mind that all the flavor of the herb is in the foliage and the seeds. If you like mustard greens, be sure to cook them thoroughly to soften the course leaves. The typical mustard herb can get rather large, so be sure that when you go to pick-up your mustard plant, be sure that you purchase a smaller kind.
- Angelica: This herb is phenomenal in its appearance and its course texture makes it a unique addition to your indoor herb garden. Use the flowers in your floral arrangements. Like mustard, it can also get pretty tall unless you cultivate a type that you can maintain indoors.
Choose a container that will provide for good drainage. That’s crucial for your plants’ health. You will also want to think about where your pot will drain (you do not want water flowing all over the floor or window sill. All my potted herb plants sit on a tray on my kitchen table. The tray keeps them together and catches the draining water. I enjoy using the tray because I can fast move all my herbs at once, or turn the tray so that my plants get the best light.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Mini Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Bringing Your Herbs Inside For The Winter
Posted on 4 March 2010 | Comments Off
If you have cultivated an herb garden outside all summer and into the fall, you are probably disappointed that winter is so quickly approaching. You know the nutritional and health benefits to eating natural and fresh foods, and you do not want to have to stop gardening your own herbs. Do not dismay! During the winter, you can easily bring in your herb garden. Your kitchen would be a great place to have a windowsill garden! You can enjoy fresh herbs all winter long by doing this.
Preparation
In order to successfully move your herbs into your home, you will have to have a windowsill that is in a sunny area. The best place to put your windowsill herb garden is a windowsill that gets at least five hours of sunlight per day and has minimal drafts. Often times, it is perfect to use a south or southeast facing window. Next, buy your favorite herb plants. Make sure that these are smaller plants as the area you will be planting them in is probably not as big as your outdoor space. After that, look for a container that is about half a foot to a foot deep. If multiple herbs are what you plan to plant, get a long container. The pot for individual plants should at least be six inches deep. Plant your herbs in the pots just as you would plant them outside (many gardeners have very specific ways that they plant their gardens, from different top soils to various potting mixes!).
Caring For Your Herbs
Once you have your herbs planted and set in the windowsill, make sure that you remember to care for them. However, do not over do it. While they were outside in your home herb garden you probably did not have to worry about watering them, but make sure that you water them on occasion when they are in your windowsill garden. Do keep in mind however that herbs do not flourish in wet soil. In addition, your herbs can be fed once a month with a specific fertilizer that says it is safe for use on edibles. Remember, you have to allow your plants some time to get used to their new setting. Do not cut them until you see new growth. Or, your plants may not flourish.
Tips For Your Indoor Garden
First, make sure that you are choosing appropriate herbs for your indoor herb garden. You do not want herbs that grow very wide or very tall. Second, if sunny windows are unavailable, you can use a fluorescent light and keep it on for about ten hours a day. Also, keep in mind to keep it close to the plants about eighteen inches away. Third, do make it a point to not trim any more than a third of your plant’s foliage. In addition trimming will often encourage them to grow more, but do make sure that there is new growth before you clip them!
Why Compost Tumblers Meet All Of Your Composting Needs
Posted on 4 March 2010 | Comments Off
If you are creating an organic and natural garden, you will without a doubt completely understand how important the part of home made compost takes on if you are to receive the best results from your endeavours.
Therefore, having your own compost tumbler can offer several excellent advantages. Compost tumblers can make the process of composting significantly simpler. Tumblers are ideal for residential use and for composting kitchen leftovers on a day-to-day basis to help keep them out of the kitchen, the trash as well as the garbage disposal.
If you’ve previously employed a compost mound or bin that you made yourself, you will discover that compost tumblers are significantly better looking. This could be a advantage for your self as well as for your neighbours. Additionally, bins and tumblers are resistant to unwanted pests. This can be a significant problem with conventional compost heaps and bins. Using the tumbler you will not have to worry about any wild creatures or even pet dogs from the area getting directly into your compost.
It is also easy to keep your compost aerated using the compost tumbler, which is important. You won’t need to worry about turning over the compost utilizing a fork or some other type of turning tool. All you’ve to do is turn over the tumbler and your compost will become properly blended.
In addition, it remains closed. This is imperative to producing correct compost, particularly during warm weather conditions. When it’s hot, the enclosed design will ensure that the compost is always damp and does not turn out to be dried out. Furthermore, throughout damp weather the compost won’t turn out to be saturated. Also, there won’t be any odours escaping from the tumbler, which can occasionally be a problem with large compost heaps.
Having a compost tumbler can also make it more enjoyable for the whole household to get started composting. Possibly the children will get a kick out of going out and giving the tumbler a flip. Rather than appearing to be like challenging work, the whole family will feel as though they’re achieving some thing worthwhile without getting to endure lots of smelly, tough work.
Finally, they make it faster and simpler to compost. There’s no working with large piles of compost that must be regularly flipped. Using a tumbler, you are able to enjoy all of the advantages of composting without all of the painful work. Whether or not you live on acreage or you reside in a suburban community, you are able to enjoy the advantages of composting using a tumbler.
Hydroponics Basics
Posted on 3 March 2010 | Comments Off
With hydroponics, important growing factors such as light, temperature, and humidity can be controlled. Plants grown with hydroponics do not require as much tending, because one does not have soil to deal with. Gardeners will no longer need to waste time with weeding while enjoying peace of mind thanks to a significant reduction of soil borne diseases and pests. Hydroponics are always a culture without soil, yet not all cultures without soil are thought of as hydroponics. Many cultures do not use nutrient solutions which are essential for hydroponics. Solution culture and medium culture are the two main types of hydroponics.
Solution culture uses a nutrient solution but does not use a solid growing medium for the roots. Medium cultures possess a stable growing medium for roots like sand, perlite, or gravel cultures. Hydroponic plants can be grown using various methods by providing a nutrient solution to the plant in a number of ways.
You can find hydroponics successfully growing as close as your own backyard. You can grown garden crops and flowers with hydroponics. Hydroponic gardening is considered to be a clean and highly effective method for growing plants. Not as much time to maintain is necessary, as well as not as much mess to deal wtih. A big benefit of hydroponic grow systems is that weeding isn’t as needed, and diseases and pests will also be dramatically lowered. This form of gardening is also easily adapted to indoor environments, which means it can be used throughout the year to grow a gardener?s favorite plants. The best benefit of hydroponics is the general condition of the plants, as they will thrive and are very high-quality. Gardeners give nature a hand while enjoying the fruits of their gardens. Gardeners will notice incredible upgrades caused by growing hydroponically.
For those with environmental sensitivities, hydroponics represents a sound gardening option. Not only does this type of gardening save lots of water, but it also doesn’t deplete the soil or involve any poisonous chemicals. Nutrient formulas that are soluble are re-circulated and utilized by the roots of the plants assisting in getting rid of environmental waste. Plants tend to be healthier in a hydroponic grow lights system than those grown in soil, which makes them more pest resistant. Biological control agents are used as preventative measures. Harmful herbicides are simply not required because there are no weeds in a hydroponic garden. Organic crop cultivation in hydroponics is being popularized today by the increase of demand for organic produce. Basically organic gardening is the cultivation of plants with no use of chemicals or pesticides. Gardeners are willing to invest in necessary additional items for organic gardening since it makes sure that dangerous fungicides and pesticides aren’t utilized. Hydroponic gardens have many organic nutrients and additives that are designed specifically for them.
Gardening Forum
Posted on 3 March 2010 | Comments Off
A gardening forum is a great place to discuss your hobby or occupation with other enthusiasts. You can find almost any gardening forum you can think of: from urban and general gardening to organic gardening, plants, fertilizers, greenhouse gardening and so much more. The ideas are not necessarily amateurish because there are many experts who log in forums and share their experience and knowledge. You can even access large databases of information with thousands of plant species, but this usually depends on the community to which you belong.
By posting comments on a gardening forum you can share your inspiration or seek advice when you are at a loss. Participations to discussions is freely consented and if you have some great topic you want to start, you can initiate it on the gardening forum where you are a member. If you are new to the community, start by introducing yourself. Newcomers are welcome as they bring new challenges, all sorts of questions and a breath of fresh air.
Read the usage conditions, the tips and suggestions provided to the gardening forum users. Sometimes there are rules to be met in order to post comments. Yet, these are just formalities that you can get through easily and then go to the stuff that interests you. The Internet allows for a larger access to information, and great projects can come out of the international collaborations of those who work closest to land and plants.
When you join a gardening forum, pick up the topic that most interests you. View the other people’s comments and see the direction of the discussion. You can just read and learn a few things from the older posts or join in and provide an individual solution or answer related to the gardening topic in question. It is important to mention the fact that forums have moderators and that all the posts are monitored. This does not limit your freedom of expression in any way, particularly since the very nature of a gardening forum leaves little room for controversies and rudeness.
Join a foreign gardening forum if you speak some other language besides English, and you can thus open new horizons on gardening. Nationality is no longer important on the Internet. Most people who use a gardening forum will refer to practical applications, but discussing plants and cultivation specificity from a region different than yours may not be that useful. If you live in the tropics and you enter a discussion about temperate climate gardening, you may not take any interest in the topic.
