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Gardening and Eating
11/9/2009
ljejmom
Around the Backyard Post
September. It’s a reminder that fall is just around the corner and another gardening season is winding down. But the truth is there is still planting to be done; bulb planting that is. Yesterday, I received my first package/box of bulbs I ordered last spring.
I love bulbs. Sure, you don’t see any results for at least six months but just knowing that the bulbs are there, waiting to signal the coming of spring, is exciting. Winter is my least favorite time of the year, so when...
8/9/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
Much of the country is set to begin tilling under their summer gardens and preparing for next growing season. A major part of this preperation usually involves the time-honored, battle-tested, gardener's best friend: compost.
Composting has been an unwritten must for home gardeners for quite some time. In fact, in places like San Francisco composting has become a legal must as well.
The addition of properly prepared compost will make any soil better. It increases nutrient levels that can be...
31/8/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
Well this weekend produced a very fall-like environment for us here in East Central Illinois, and while it may continue to be hot here and there, the inevitable decline of temperatures that precedes the onslaught of winter has begun. Overall, it has been quite a cool and pleasant summer. This was good for us humans, but may have produced blight-like effects on the inhabitants of your garden (those that are Facebook fans know this happened to me).
The cool weather has also made it difficult for...
27/8/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
There are a variety of tradeshows and we have an assortment of projects going on around the country at all times. It is, of course, necessary for us to attend the tradeshows and check up on our projects from time to time. In one such instance, my boss purchased and read "The Omnivore's Dilemma," a book that traces lineage of the food we eat in America. It was found that, in most cases, our food begins in some way in a cornfield. Whether it's soda sweetened with high fructose corn syrup or...
26/8/2009
ljejmom
Around the Backyard Post
Second part of my "I love to garden" post, started here:
Seek and Destroy. Weeds will suck all the water, nutrients, etc. from the soil and away from your plants so it (the weed) can grow. I actually enjoy weeding; it is a good way to let out frustration by yanking on something that is not wanted. I don't use chemical weed killers. Kids, pets, and the expense of the chemical method are reason enough to keep on yanking. Weeding also has the added benefit of reducing pesky bugs.
Debug the...
25/8/2009
ljejmom
Around the Backyard Post
I love to garden. That said, I am no garden expert. I've just taken the little bit of info that has somehow wormed its way into my brain from reading, HGTV, trial and error and with that, I hit the yard.
I have to admit my yard looks pretty good. When we bought our current house there was not a plant or bulb in sight. Just some large oak trees and some very scraggly firs that were planted as a wind block (and also in hopes of blocking the view of a very run-down house).
Three years later,...
24/8/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
This time of year gardeners are beginning to swim in a sea of vegetables from the garden. Most have already become utterly sickened at the thought of another zucchini dish. Cucumbers may haunt the dreams of gardener's around the country.
However, many are enthusiastically harvesting their tomatoes. There's just something about a bountiful harvest of ripe, red tomatoes that is good for the soul. These plump, juicy fruits have a culture all their own and are among the most...
24/7/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
You may have noticed the lack of a post last week…well, that’s because I’m a new father for the second time. My wife gave birth Monday night, and here I am back at work (at least in the office) a week later. The vacation from kids, housework, and weary wife is welcome.
I just wanted to post an update on my garden. I used seeds from the Greenhouse Megastore, and they have been in the ground for just over two weeks. I can happily report that everything...
30/6/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
As this article is written, a gentle soaking rain falls outside. This gets me thinking about the fact that my freshly planted garden really perked up after our most recent rainfall. After not even a week of being in the ground, I was seeing some sprouts. Small and sparse though, even with diligent watering twice daily to keep the ground moist.
One gentle soak by Mother Nature, a little sunshine, and in one day the amount of visible sprouts doubled. This, to me, just...
13/4/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
A colleague of mine submitted this article for my review as seen in the Seattle Times. Basically you just grow the potatoes in a box on the ground, and build the box up as the potato grows. This is made possible by the in which a potato grows. It appears you must follow a pretty stringent watering regimine though, but for gardeners short on space but long on ambition it may be something to look into.
1/4/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
There was a recent stir...a hubbub if you will...buzz even...over the vegetable garden going in at the White House. Of course this prompted a flurry of articles both about the garden specifically and about the absence of a garden on White House grounds since WWII. I even wrote a quick little blurb about it, because it is very cool in fact. The New York Times featured a couple of really good articles about the broader organic and homegrown food movement as well.
One...
2/2/2009
IGCadmin
Around the Backyard Post
By all accounts, 2009 is going to be a pretty rough year on an economic and personal finance front. It has certaily show signs of going that direction already. However, with turmoil comes the opportunity for change. To be able to take a fresh look at your situation and try something different. If you have always wanted to grow and maintain your very own vegetable garden, then current events may just be the catalyst you need to pull you off the fence and into the dirt. ...
