The Mystery Seed

Do you know what type of plant this is? I planted some tomato seeds a few weeks ago and up came two mystery plants. I think they might be either watermelon or cucumber. They are the bigger darker green plants to the right of the picture. I usually don't have any luck with planting tomato seeds but I figured I would give it another try. Seeds are very inexpensive so even if you only get two or three plants to live and produce it is worth the money.

Start your tomato seeds indoors and put by a sunny window or take them outside during the day. Bring them back in at night. This will get them ready for the outdoors when time to plant.

In a few weeks when the tomato plants get about 2" tall I will transplant them to different pots to strengthen them and let them have their own space.

Any guesses on the mystery plant? The waiting game begins.

Beneficial Insects For Your Garden

There are many different type of insects out there. Some are good and some are bad for gardeners. Some of the beneficial insects are:

Lady Bugs: They eat aphids, white flies, mites and scale. You can attract lady bugs to your garden
by planting members of the daisy family. You can also buy lady bugs through catalogs.

Lacewings: They eat aphids. Invite them into your garden by planting black-eyed Susan's, goldenrod or sunflowers.

Praying Mantis: These insects love most garden pests such as beetles, spiders, crickets and grasshoppers. Praying mantis also eat small mice. You can buy egg cases through catalogs.

Wasps: Most of the time we try to kill wasps because they either sting us or make a nest close to our homes. Some wasps can be beneficial. They destroy leaf eating caterpillars. You can invite them into your garden by plating carrots, parsley, celery, caraway or queens Anne's lace. Leave the plants to flower, this is what attracts the wasps.
Check out Arbico Organics website for more great organic ideas.

I am not a expert on gardening but have been gardening for many, many years. I have learned alot through trial and error. These are some of my "tips" on gardening.

Free sample of Dove Hair Care

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HAPPY EARTH DAY

Today is Earth Day! Happy Birthday Mother Nature!

Everyone wants clean water to drink, fresh air to breath, and a toxic free neighborhood to live in. Make a commitment today to help the Earth. Start small but start somewhere. Whether it be teaching your kids how to recycle or planting a tree or eating less meat. If we all get together we can make a big impact.

Mother nature has blessed me with rain yesterday for my garden. The broccoli is getting big and radishes are ready for picking. Pretty soon it will be time to plant the tomatoes and beans. Yum!

I thought I would pack my lunch today in my reusable bag and eat no meat. Eating less meat helps reduce the methane gas that is released from cow manure. I believe like many others that eating less meat will help the slow down of global warming. I try to eat at least one meatless meal a week.

Other ways you can help on Earth day is to recycle your plastic bags. If you are planning a grocery store trip today, get all your plastic bags and drop them in the recycle bin out front of your grocery store. Most stores have these recycle bins.

Check out the EPA website for other great ways of helping "OUR" Earth.

How Do You Compost?

Composting is all new to me. It seems very easy to do, so I'm going to give it a try. I think I'm going to build a compost pile out of wood, hopefully pallets instead of buying plastic bins. I have plenty of yard for grass clippings and I'm sure I can find plenty of weeds in the garden to throw in the pile. Most of my kitchen scraps go to the chickens, but they don't mind sharing.

More and more people are getting back to the basics. Raising chickens, growing their own food, making their own compost. Gardening isn't easy and not for everyone. I really enjoy gardening. It is relaxing to me to be in my garden, picking the ripe vegetables, watching a worm dig in the dirt, hearing the birds sing, smelling the warm soil. Call me crazy but I like the smell of soil.
Gardening has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. My grandfather taught me alot, but nothing about composting. Do you have any suggestions for me and my compost pile?

THE SMELL OF SPRING

Spring is here and so are the wonderful smells of lilacs. They have a beautiful purple color and sweet smell. I transplanted these from my mom's old house about 10 years ago. They haven't seem to grow very fast, but they do sprout out new babies every year. Usually the lawn mower gets them before they have a chance. My nieces enjoy their sweet smell too. If only I could keep them for picking them.

ZUCCHINI CAKE

One way to get your kids to eat their veggies, put them in a cake.
This recipe for zucchini cake can be changed to carrot cake also. I had recently bought zucchini just for this cake. It is delicious!!
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts ( I use walnuts)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bunt cake pan. Beat sugar, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients except zucchini and nuts. Beat on low for 1 minute. Stir in zucchini and nuts.
Bake for 45 minutes. This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Big Red Cookbook. Yum!

For the icing I used 1 1/2 cups powered sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons milk. Stir together and drizzle on top when cake is cooled.

Suburban Jungle is giving away Seventh Generation

Suburban Jungle is one of my favorite blogs. She is very organic and has great ideas. She is giving away Seventh Generation cleaning kit which includes multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, wipes, a copy of The Conscious Kitchen, a cleaning caddy, and two rolls of 100% recycled , unbleached paper towels. Contest closes 4/14/10, so hurry over and enter to win.

Free Earthbound Farm Tote

Earthbound Farms is giving away FREE totes on Monday April 5, 2010 to celebrate earth day. I received one of these bags last year and I love it. These bags are very sturdy and carry a lot of groceries. I think I received coupons with them also. So mark your calendars for Monday April 5. I'm sure they won't last long.

April 22 is earth day