These days, most of us want to make the most of our grocery dollars — and our trips to the grocery store. We want to stretch our food purchases as far as we can. One way to do that is to regrow green onions bought from the grocery store. Even if you don’t have a…
Squirrels can be some of the most annoyingly destructive animals in a suburban garden, sometimes worse than rabbits. They are notorious for digging up tender, vulnerable seedlings and flinging them everywhere, and they make messes when they paw through flower pots and scatter soil all over a patio or porch. But is there any way…
When we think of growing food in a garden, we often think of annual vegetables that grow for just one year, are harvested, and do not automatically grow back the following year. If you want to grow those again, you must plant new seeds. These are known as annuals, or plants that only live for…
Fresh leaf lettuce is one of the easiest and fastest-growing edibles you can plant in your home garden, and even a small area — as little as one square foot — planted with lettuce can provide you with a lot of fresh salad throughout the spring. However, you and your family aren’t the only ones…
Spring is here and it’s time to start thinking about this summer’s vegetable garden. If you’re new to vegetable gardening, you’ll want to select plants that will provide you with some easy success so you’ll be motivated to continue developing your green thumb. Even if you’re an experienced gardener, you’ll still enjoy growing low-maintenance veggies….
Several years ago, my husband and I built some simple untreated cedar raised garden beds for our backyard. They are four feet by two feet across, and 10 to 12 inches deep. They fit nicely against our cedar privacy fence. I got basic, easy building directions from the book Square Foot Gardening. Last spring, I…
Vegetables belong only in back yard gardens, right? Maybe not. Depending on where you live, some cities or homeowners associations do not allow food to be grown in front yards. Yet it’s becoming more common in many areas to see home owners making use of all of their real estate for garden edibles, and not…
It’s a popular time of year for cleaning house, purging clutter, and generally tidying up. Small bedrooms are a unique challenge in this respect. My youngest daughter’s bedroom is 8 feet by 10 feet, or 80 square feet. The main piece of furniture in her room is a junior loft twin bed with a set of…
I generally like my house, but sometimes it gets me down. Tacked onto our refrigerator is a list of renovation and remodeling projects for the house. The stove and accompanying vent are ugly and old. Our kitchen counter tops have a sprinkling of dents and nicks. Our kitchen cabinets need to be repainted. We have…
There are two good reasons to make your own compost: It reduces landfill waste. It creates a healthy and natural fertilizer product that you can add to flower gardens, vegetable plots, landscaping beds, lawns, and even container gardens and potted plants. If you garden — whether successfully or not — you should learn how to…
