Downtown Homestead

I think it is equally important to turn your outside space into a place to feed your family, but not overlook the chance to escape into it. We have a suburban house, that has a backyard backed up to 5 other yards, so we wanted to create a perfect little oasis for ourselves to escape into. So, we are creating a moonlight garden, to give us a perfect little escape for those late-night bonfires.   Many plants bloom in the evening, particularly in warm climates, and their delicious fragrance can be smelled on the breeze perfuming the whole area. The flowers are usually white or light yellow.   One vine that I especially like is an annual called, appropriately enough, moonflower. It’s in the same family as morning glories and the large white flowers can be up to 6 inches across and very fragrant.   The great thing about this plant is the way it opens its flowers. The large buds look like furled white beach umbrellas. But look again. Did you see the bud move? As the twilight deepens, t

I love yogurt, and knowing how to make my own homemade yogurt is a skill that provides me with this tasty treat all the time. I know, I can here you now, “homemade yogurt! I’m not that great in the kitchen!” Well fret not, it is actually very easy if you follow the directions below.   What do you need to make homemade yogurt 1 quart Whole Milk 2 large dollops of natural yogurt with active live bacteria (Okay so you do have to take a trip to the store once). That’s it for ingredients, nothing fancy. Now below are the instructions for simple healthy homemade yogurt: Step 1- Add 1 quart of whole milk to a saucepan and heat until small bubbles appear around the outside of the saucepan (but do not boil). Heat milk to about 170 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the milk from the heat and allow to cool. Cooling will be quicker if you stand the saucepan in cold water.       Step 2- When the temperature of the milk has dropped to between 110 to 115 F, take out one cup of the mil

There’s a new garden in town. It is (mostly) easy to install, looks good year-round, requires almost no maintenance and has a terrifically upbeat impact on the environment. No wonder rain gardens are such a great new gardening trend! Storm water runoff can be a big problem in summer during heavy thunderstorms. As the water rushes across roofs and driveways, it picks up oil and other pollutants. Municipal storm water treatment plants often can’t handle the deluge of water, and in many locations the untreated water ends up in natural waterways. The EPA estimates as much as 70 percent of the pollution in our streams, rivers, and lakes is carried there by storm water! By taking responsibility for the rainwater that falls on your own roof and driveway, you’ll be helping to protect our rivers, streams and lakes from stormwater pollution. To reduce the excess water runoff, many towns are encouraging businesses and homeowners to install rain gardens in their yards. Rain gardens are special

Contrary to popular opinion, long hot summers do not necessarily mean long growing periods for vegetable gardens. Some vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and squash don’t do well when the weather is extremely hot for long periods. There are also many varieties which are resistant to common tomato diseases.   Growing Periods Tomatoes Vegetable gardeners who live in areas with long, hot summers should plant early maturing varieties of tomatoes. In fact, starting them indoors before last frost date, and then planting them in the garden after any threat of frost, will give the gardener a little more growing time, and allow the plants to set fruit before the weather gets too warm. Many heirloom and older variety tomatoes have longer growing seasons. Tomato varieties which mature and fruit in less than 60 days are the ideal ones to use in warm areas. Here are some tomato varieties which have shorter maturity and fruiting dates: Bush Early Girl – 54 days Early Girl – 52 days Ear

There are literally hundreds of common garden pests that can attack your plants and threaten the viability of your gardening efforts. We couldn’t possibly address all of them. There are, however, some that occur in more frequency than others. Common Garden Pests   Aphids Aphids are probably the most common problem in gardens. Aphids are soft, pear-shaped, and very tiny (1/16 to 3/8 inch long). Two short tubes project backward from the tip of their abdomen. Aphids have long antennae. Some types of aphids have wings, which are transparent, longer than their body, and held like a roof over their back. Aphids may be green, pink, yellowish, black, or powdery gray. Nymphs resemble adults but are smaller and wingless. They feed in colonies, so where there’s one, there’s definitely more. Aphid feeding can cause leaves to curl and become deformed. Once this has happened, the aphids are protected from any treatment you give to the plant, so it’s important to attack the problem as soon as

Growing your own fresh, organic produce is satisfying on so many levels. Flavor; the convenience of walking out to your garden to select fresh vegetables to prepare for a family meal; reduction of food costs; and knowing the origin of your food source, are just a few. Gardening can be both an art and a science, and it can take some trial and error to get to the point where you can rely on your own green thumb to provide an adequate food source for your family. Here are a few basic tips that can help you get started.   A Few Easy Steps Will Get You Started with Your Own Organic Garden Location of the garden Choosing an area for your organic garden is the first step, and should be considered one of the most important. Vegetables require a fair amount of sunshine, so choose a location that receives at least 6-8 hours of sun per day. If you need to clear an area of vegetation before working the soil, wet down the area and cover it with a layer of black plastic for 3-4 weeks prior to

Most of us love fresh, delicious fruits, vegetables, and herbs; and gardening is how to get your hands on the freshest. But perhaps you’ve been hesitant to start a garden; worried that your thumb isn’t green enough, hesitant to commit to what looks like a time demanding project. The key to a manageable and enjoyable garden is to keep it small and simple. Your first decision…container or terra firma? Container Gardens If you live in an apartment or condo that has a patio but no yard, container gardens are the only way to go. Containers allow you to garden just about anywhere, but to be successful there are a few guidelines that you’ll want to follow. Containers and Soil Moisture Use the largest containers practical for the space available. Small pots dry out quickly, are higher maintenance and are more prone to stress plants by exposing them to extreme changes in moisture level. Plastic or glazed ceramic pots retain moisture better than more porous, terra cotta containers. It’s fin

As a rule, we choose to grow bush beans rather than pole beans. I cannot make up my mind whether or not this is from sheer laziness. In a city backyard the tall varieties might perhaps be a problem since it would be difficult to get poles. But these running beans can be trained along old fences and with little urging will run up the stalks of the tallest sunflowers. So that settles the pole question. There is an ornamental side to the bean question. Suppose you plant these tall beans at the extreme rear end of each vegetable row. Make arches with supple tree limbs, binding them over to form the arch. Train the beans over these. When one stands facing the garden, what a beautiful terminus these bean arches make. Beans like rich, warm, sandy soil. In order to assist the soil be sure to dig deeply, and work it over thoroughly for bean culture. It never does to plant beans before the world has warmed up from its spring chills. There is another advantage in early digging of soil. It brings