A Fresh Start

Trial gardens at Dallas Arboretum

Time sure flies! Its hard to believe that two years have passed since I last posted anything here. Life does what it usually does...move on.  Its been a busy season in our family going from full time home schooling to having graduated our last child. What in the world will I do with myself now? --- Oh yes, gardening and blogging again!

I am really looking forward to start a new season of life when I examine all I have to work on that I never could before. I have plenty of projects to finish and lists to check off. Focusing on what has worked over the years and tweaking it to run more efficiently is the plan.

Last fall, my gardening friends and I took a trip to visit the Dallas Arboretum. Talk about inspiration to try new things! Since its local for us, I can take good information away from there about what plants will grow in my area. It saves both time and money when you consider this. Sometimes its not that you are a bad gardener, but you have chosen plants that are not suited for your climate. Even the arboretums have trial gardens for this very purpose. They test plants to see what will thrive and what will not. 

I like to look at my own garden experience through that same lens. I run my own trials per say. Choosing the right plants under ideal conditions can vary from yard to yard. Micro-climates, pests, flooding, wind etc can make a difference. I will get into the details of my own experiences and changes here soon. Good times are ahead and I am looking forward to a "fresh start."

Gardening With Friends

Back in March of this year, a small group of my gardening friends out of support for one another, decided to help one of our friends who'd had a difficult past year. Due to family health problems she couldn't get out to work in her garden and keep up with all of the things she wanted to do. So, we put together a plan to help her. We picked a day we would come out, decided what lunch fixings we each were going to bring and the details of the visit. We were set. When the day arrived we met mid-morning so we could enjoy a cup of coffee before heading out to work. We had all brought our tools and plants to share from our own gardens. After a bit of direction on what to do, we dug in and started planting, moving plants, filling containers and cleaning out the greenhouse. Time flew as we helped each other with the things we could handle. Interestingly, the balance was wonderful. A few women are older and have limitations, but their garden knowledge was phenomenal, while some of us have stronger back and able to lift bags of soil and dig holes. It all worked out and within a few hours we swept through the garden adding new life and encouragement to our dear friend. When lunchtime came we all shared about how fun it was and we shouldn't stop there. We should make the rounds to each of our gardens within the next few months. So that's what we've been doing. Trading plants and giving each other a helping hand in the process. -- So much fun! OUR ONLY RULE - We wouldn't pull weeds!! It made me wonder WHY isn't this done more often? It reminds me a bit of the trades made in the old days of things such as a barn raising or crop harvesting time. People often came together to help one another. It just changes the attitude from both sides. Helping in someone else's garden seems less like work AND it was humbling to have help in mine. All around it was amazing. And, In some ways it held me accountable for preparing for my garden visit and it also made me mindful of what plants I had to share with my friends. Also, after visiting around, it was easier to see what my friends could use that I had growing here. As a result, I think our garden help is going to be a part of our regular social time together for years to come. I wish we had thought of it earlier. Starting a gardening group is fairly easy. All you need to is a plan and a bunch of people you enjoy spending time around. It can be family or friends with varied skills. Just a willing heart and a bit of sweat and I think it will change how you view gardening.

What Shall I Name My Garden Beds?

I recently came across an article on bed names and it got me wandering why I haven't named my beds anything special. Instead of always using the location to describe what bed I'm talking about, how about I name them? I'm working out a list and I hope my nameless gardens will have an identity instead of calling them things such as "The bed at the end of the house by the kids bedrooms" or "The bed on the inside of the side gate" ---so lame. Here's news, according to a post at Dave's Garden I have tons of ways I can name each of them. Of the ones listed I think I do have a bed I need to call-   Murphy Bed - The bed where everything goes wrong  Truck Bed - A bed holding the outdoor grill surrounded with plants. Queen Bed - A bed used to attract bees I'm sure I could add a few more off of the list. They just make you happy thinking about them. Others names I have came across are --- The Red Bed -All things blooming are red The Front Yard Garden - Self-explanatory. Ploppers Garden - Where plants just seem to get "plopped" here or there without rhyme or reason. The Garden of Indecision - Wow, have I got a few of those. I'm still undecided on what to plant there. Animal Name Bed or Zoo Garden- All plants in it have an animal names like Tiger Lily, Bear's Breeches, Butterfly Bush and Monkey Grass Rock Garden -Plants are named after songs The Love Garden - Plants about love like Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate, Bleeding Hearts, Love Lies Bleeding, Forget Me-Nots, and Honesty The Secret Garden - Hidden in the back where no one would think to look Now I could get fancy and give them all posh names to mark us having good-breeding and a prized estate somehow. That would be fun AND funny all at the same time. We could start taking tea in the afternoons near some of the garden beds if it suits us. Do you have your garden beds named? -----I would love to hear them. Also, if you have ideas on some interesting garden names please post them. This will be such fun!! By the way, tomorrow we may or may not serve tea out by the Garden of Indecision. I need to decide and get back with you one it. *grin*

How to Make a Self-Watering Container

I am always on the lookout for practical and frugal gardening ideas. I stumbled upon a few ideas that have gotten my garden creative juices flowing and I hope they will you too. I have three that I think are wonderful ideas to try. Here goes...

The video and directions for this self-watering container are well written and recorded. This made my imagination run wild over the possibilities of how I could apply it in other containers I already have here.

One thing I can tell you about gardening in Texas. One season you are fighting flood-like conditions and the next, drought. Summers here are hot and dry making it necessary to water your plants in containers once or twice per day. Now you can see why I jumped all over this idea when I found it!

I do have one reservation though and I need to do some research on it. The vinyl tile with what seems to be a glued surface on the back. I am concerned about chemicals leaching into the water, especially when our temps hit 100+ here. It may be perfectly safe, but I always err on the side of caution. I'm sure I can easily find a substitute for this when I think about it in depth. I just need to put on my thinking cap. Any ideas?

How to Make a Self Watering Container

Here is another do-it-yourself self-watering container. This one is based off of the design of an Earthbox(TM). I LOVE using totes for so many things, that this just seemed to be a natural pick for me also. The link I am including will direct you to a .pdf file website. (thus the download of it when you click on it) The pictures and instructions are well written, so you should be able to follow them easily.

I do have a concern about this one also if you live in a hot climate. Although most of us have PVC for water pipes, there has been concern that PVC may have the potential to leak harmful chemicals into the water. So, do the research yourself and do what you are comfortable with when building this. Of course PLASTIC itself has raised a lot of concern in recent years about how it affects our health. So, that said, I still think that all of these plans are worth trying even if you modify them to your standards of safety.

Here's the link to make your own: Self-Watering Tote

I really like the professional look of the next self-watering container. It is huge also! I believe the container is a 30+ gallon tote. This is a great size to grow tall vining plants such as tomatoes. The size of the base will help in keeping the plant from toppling over in windy conditions. The video and instructions are very well made also.

Welcome to Tomato Festival's EarthTainer(TM)

Hopefully this will give both of us some garden projects to do while the weather is cold and yucky. I am looking forward to getting started!

Count Your...

Count your garden by the FLOWERS
Never by the leaves that fall
Count your DAYS by golden hours
Don't remember clouds at all
Count your nights by STARS not shadows
Count your LIFE by smiles not tears
And to bring you joy this DAY
Count your age by FRIENDS not years
--unknown

Alltop - Top Gardening News

Being a girl who loves to garden, of course I want to know the skinny on what's going on in the gardening world around me! I don't get the REAL garden programs anymore, so I look elsewhere...

Here is a great resource for those looking to explore what others are doing:

Alltop - Top Gardening News

**Disclosure - I cannot be held responsible for the enormous amount of time you lose out of your day perusing this site. :P

A Gardening Treat For The Eyes

I love to be inspired! I peruse through blogs, websites, magazines etc. to get new ideas that would work in my own yard. The creativity of people never ceases to amaze me. And guess what? I found a new way to explore the web that absolutely blows me away!

Cooliris is an application that allows you to view photos full-screen 3D by transforming your browser into a visually stunning, lightning fast way to search and enjoy online photos, videos and more. Its amazing!

You do need to be using Firefox as your web browser before adding this application, but I will tell you I prefer it over Internet Explorer any day. I've used it for years and I'm happy to endorse it. I have also found that using Windows XP and Vista, Cooliris works well with either.

Give it try and search for terms like Garden Design and I think you'll be hooked. Enjoy! (But don't blame me if you are having trouble turning it off and NO I'm not affiliated with this company in any way.)

**with further research I have found out that you CAN use cooliris with IE6 and IE7. I haven't tried it, but there is a version for it.