Video: Example of A Small Garden Space Plan

This video shows a really cool little garden space with all sorts of cool design elements. Strategically placed mirrors, pots, sculptures, and plants create a feeling of space and coziness at the same time. The Moroccan theme brings an oriental feel to the place, and a lovely mosaic and interesting table add to the beautiful and unique character of this garden. You can find a lot of pieces like this at yard sales and on Ebay without spending a fortune, and create a lovely and unique garden space of your very own.

Small Garden Ideas Pt 1- How to make a small space garden look larger -- Interview
For more tips and ideas for small space gardens visit: http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/?cat=10 In this video, professional garden designer Rachel Mathe...

Utilizing Small Spaces in the Garden

There are often small oddly-shaped spaces in the garden that are left abandoned simply because we can't think of anything to do with them.

This doesn't have to be the case as almost any area can be enhanced with a little thought and planning. Simply adding a garden seat can add to the enjoyment you can get from a garden as it offers a quiet place to rest and relax and look at the beauty of your work.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Replacing a wet area with some paving and adding a pot or two can transform an unused area into a place that you and your garden friends will like to visit. Even adding a water feature or a pond for fish will make areas like this a lovely focal point of the garden. There are so many things that can be done to almost any area of any garden that you are only limited by your imagination.

Careful design can make an area look bigger than it is, or lead you on to other areas of interest in the garden. Color choices in the surrounding plants will also determine the atmosphere that area will create for you. We need these small areas of the garden that are tucked away to compliment the bigger spaces and add a degree of mystery and intrigue to the overall plan.

There are other alternatives if you don't want the focus to be taken away from the main planting and this might mean that the area will be used better for hiding away an implements shed or, provided it is in a sunny position you might decide to use the space for a greenhouse so that you can extend your garden season into the cooler months - or even garden year-round!

Sometimes, with a little thought, these spaces on your property can become your favorite places, rather than something that you would prefer to forget about.

And if you can't think of anything whatsoever to do with such a space, then it sounds like it may be an ideal place to have a compost!

Video - Gardening Tips for Kids

This short video gives some great ideas for things that kids can plant in their gardens in the spring, and it also explains some fun teaching opportunities that gardening provides, so you can teach your kids about nature and how things grow. Getting kids involved in gardening is a great way to give them something to do outdoors, as well as build confidence and skills they can use throughout their lives.

Good Morning - Gardening with kids
You're never too young to start gardening, and if your kids are driving you batty cooped up indoors over the school holidays, why not let them have a crack a...

Getting Children Into Gardening

If you have ever wondered how to keep your children productively occupied for hours on end then it's time to introduce them to the joys of gardening!

Children can really enjoy growing plants particularly if they have their own area of the garden where they can see the results of their own efforts growing there. It will give them a sense of reward to see what they have been able to accomplish, whether it is a lovely bouquet of flowers, or fresh, tasty vegetables they grew themselves and now get to contribute towards the family dinner.

Children gardening (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gardening is also a very healthy pastime that will get them out of the house and into the fresh air. It will do a lot more good for their health than sitting in front of a computer screen or playing on their PlayStation all day.

They will also be learning about gardening and as this is one of the most popular hobbies it will give them a knowledge base that they will benefit from for years to come.

Gardening can also help to relieve stress and fatigue and there are more and more children suffering from that these days. And it can increase confidence and self-esteem, which are important things to instill in your children from an early age.

By getting your children to work alongside you in the garden, it will help to build better family relationships too, and that is something that no amount of money could ever buy.

Some children may even use their gardening skills to make a few dollars of their own by selling the plants and vegetables that they have grown in their own garden to others during their school holidays. Not only do they get a sense of accomplishment from this but they can also get monetary reward for their work. If you have ever seen the delight on a child's face after they have sold something that they have grown themselves in their own garden then you will know exactly what I mean. It can be more exciting than opening their presents on Christmas Day!

Gardening has many great benefits for children, so don't keep it all to yourself - involve them from an early age, and when they're old enough, give them their own little garden plot to tend and care for. It is an investment in them that will yield dividends for many years to come.

Video - Making Bread & Butter Pickles

I hope you liked the recipe from Tuesday! I thought you might also enjoy a different pickling recipe if you have more cucumbers left. Bread & butter pickles are a classic - there's nothing like some homemade bread & butter pickles on fresh bread with homemade butter! I still have fond memories of the ones my mom made when we were kids....

This video gives a simple demonstration of making a small batch of bread and butter pickles (not sure what the dogs have to do with anything...).

How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles
http://GardenFork.TV Making pickles is easy, even Eric can do it. Watch Gardenfork to see Eric make bread and butter pickles with this simple pickle recipe. ...


Get More Tasty Pickling Recipes Here:
   

Fresh Garden Recipe: Refrigerator Dill Pickles

This may be more of a cooking post than a gardening one, but if you're anything like me this summer, you may be wondering what to do with all these cucumbers!  I am so happy with my cucumber harvest this year - it's the first time in years I've been able to successfully grow them. In part, this is probably due to all the rain (no matter how much I water, it never seems to be enough for them during a hot, dry summer), and partly because I planted a different variety this year on the advice of my gardening guru sister. She suggested instead of the long supermarket green variety, I try growing pickling cucumbers instead, which are smaller, sweeter, less seedy, and more prolific. And boy they are!


My cucumbers climbing.

My lovely vines outgrew their trellis in about 2 weeks, and I created a makeshift extension of twine strung from the trellis to the eaves. They greedily climbed it, and are now progressing across the front edge of the roof on another piece of twine. They are constantly and beautifully blooming, and have been producing for over 6 weeks now, with no signs of slowing down.

The cucumbers are lovely and crunchy and juicy, without a hint of bitterness, even though I let some of them get a little bigger than recommended. I don't like large seeds in my cucumbers, and these have very tender small ones.

This must be a good year for cukes, as we're still getting them (longer than usual) in my CSA, and as a result, I have more cucumbers than I can eat fresh - an unusual situation! But one that is easily remedied, since I did grow pickling cucumbers after all....

So today I pulled out my trusty old refrigerator dill recipe, and pickled a couple of pints of extras. These are all organic - the cucumbers and dill are from my own garden, and I also used locally grown organic onions and garlic from my CSA share. Refrigerator dills are super easy, always crunchy, and they keep pretty much forever in the fridge and just get better with time. As long as you have space in your fridge, you're good to go!

Here is the recipe - it's not all that specific on the amounts you will need, but it always works well for me. I made about a half-recipe today, so if you don't have a ton of cucumbers you are welcome to cut it down. I used pint jars instead of quarts, and I had just a few left over so I also made one half-pint jar at the end which will be my "tester" to taste and see if they're ready yet. :-)

Easy Refrigerator Dills

Ingredients:

Fresh organic pickling cucumbers (my recipe doesn't say how many so I usually just guess based on how many jars I want to make; I would guesstimate you would want about 4-5 lbs of cukes for this whole full-sized recipe)
2-3 heads of fresh dill, plus a few extra leaves if you have them
2-3 cloves of garlic
3/4 tsp whole mustard seed
2 c. filtered or distilled water
2 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. kosher salt or pickling salt
1 tsp sugar
One small onion - sliced into rings (optional)

Directions:

• Wash and sterilize 2-3 quart jars and canning lids (you can re-use lids - you don't need to use brand new ones like with regular canning - just be sure that they are clean, with no dents or scratches or rusty places; if not dented, they will seal well anyway) - you can sterilize in your dishwasher if it has this setting, or by immersing in boiling water for a minute or so.
• Wash cucumbers and cut off ends. Cut large ones into spears, or leave small ones whole.
• Meanwhile bring water and vinegar to a boil, then stir in salt and sugar until dissolved.
• Place one dill head - and extra leaf or two if you want them extra dilly, one peeled garlic clove, and a few onion rings (if using) into sterilized jars.
• Pack cucumbers into jars tightly.
• Add 1/4 tsp whole mustard seed to each jar.
• Pour boiling vinegar mixture over pickles. Fill to 1/2" from top. Put lids on jars and tighten, but don't crank them down hard or they can be a dickens to open later!
• Let cool on counter for an hour or so, then put into refrigerator.
• Let sit at least 2 whole days before eating. You will notice the cucumbers changing color from bright to dull green - don't sample until they are all dull green. Wait a whole week (if you can!) for best taste. The flavor will continue to improve the longer they sit. Will keep for many months in the fridge.
• Enjoy!

My half-batch from today. Mmmmm...don't know if I can make it a week!

Now if only we could pickle zucchini....

Video: DIY-Build Your Own Compost Tumbler

If you don't want to spend a hundred bucks or so on a compost tumbler, you can build your own with just a few inexpensive materials such as trash barrels and a few other items. A tumbler is a great way to compost because it is easy to aerate the materials without having to dig and turn the pile with a fork or shovel. It's great for someone like me who has occasional back problems - just give it a spin and it will mix the contents for you.

If you're handy and have the time to create your own bin, check this out to find out how for just a few dollars. 

DIY Rotating Compost Bin (Tumbler) for $12
In this video, Clint from http://gardenfrugal.com teaches you how to make a rotating compost bin (Compost Tumbler) for $12. For under $25, he shows you how a...


But if you don't feel like trying to create your own bin, I've had great success with the Envirocycle Tumbler Bin - I've been using mine for about 5 years and it works great, is completely pest-proof, and easy to use. Unfortunately they don't make this model anymore, but the others below are very similar and highly rated by users.

   

Compost: A Gardener's Delight

Isn't it amazing that all that waste food that we can't or don't want in the kitchen is such a good food source for the plants in our garden? What makes it even better is the fact that we can grow vegetables in our gardens, cook and eat them, and whatever we don't use goes back into the garden to make the next lot of vegetables grow better and healthier than ever! It's a perfect demonstration of the life cycle, and also a great teaching opportunity for your kids.

A closed plastic compost for garden waste. Suomi: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Compost not only helps to feed your plants by improving the quality of the soil but it can also control diseases in the garden, as plants that are well nourished with all of the nutrients they need are less susceptible to all kinds of disease.

You can create compost simply by throwing all your waste on a pile and waiting for it to rot, however this can take quite a long time if the compost pile is quite large. The rotting process is aided by keeping the heap moist and this might require watering in hot climates. Having the compost in an enclosed container can help to retain the heat and moisture, which will speed up the process.

It is possible to buy specific containers that are made for fast composting and apart from the fact that they will keep your yard looking a lot tidier, you will get the benefits of using the compost sooner and there will be less 'bad smells' in your garden.

Contained composts are also a lot better at keeping vermin out which can sometimes become a problem with uncovered waste on your property.

Many containers will spin or "tumble" to help with keeping the contents aerated and uniformly moist. Some of the premium compost containers have separate bins which can be rotated, thereby giving you access to the compost at the bottom of the container, which is ready for use without having to dig through the fresh waste at the top.

This convenience will ensure you have quality compost that you can use as soon as it is ready rather than waiting months for the contents to rot.

Good Compost Bins & Tumblers:
   

Video - Butterfly Magnet Plants for the Summer Garden

This video shows you three plants which are butterfly magnets for the garden!  Butterflies absolutely love these beautiful flowers, and they'll also make a great addition to your flower garden in and of themselves. With showy bright colors, and tasty nectar, these blooms will light up your garden and attract lots of hungry butterflies to add even more lovely color to your summer garden. They should be easy to find, and some, particularly zinnias, are easy to grow from seed as well.

Check it out, and get some butterflies to your garden this summer! For more helpful hints and suggestions for plants that are butterfly magnets, check out the resources below.



Helpful Resources on Butterfly Gardening: