Dappled Air

Most gardens seem to have one full shade spot where it is hard to grow anything. I have figured out what plants do grow where in my garden, but I could not give you any suggestions. I discovered this website some time ago and enjoy their newsletter info. Then this morning this info showed up → 25 plants that grow well in full shade . Ferns are very easy to grow.

Discover why companion planting helps your plants grow better. Kevin from Gardening Mentor saw this post and sent me this link about companion planting and why you should use it. Here is another link to the secrets of companion planting.

Cinnamon is not just a spice to use in the kitchen, but also very helpful in the garden. It seems that ants and mosquitoes don't like it. Read the rest of the 6 reasons in this post . I would like to hear about experiences of using cinnamon in the garden.  Please, leave a comment below.

A picture says a thousand words and this video fits this category. Rather than trying to figure out how to do it, see how it is done.

This infographic provided answers to your "What is Borax and how do you use it" question. You can also find more infographics at Visualistan

I imagine that beer leftovers are not a common occurrence in your house, but if it ever does happen here are 9 uses that you might have never thought of.

How often do you see gardens with tastefully arrange recycled items, but have no idea how to create one yourself? This infographic shows you ideas and also gives you instructions.

Tips for pintsize gardens are always helpful. This infographic provides some welcomed information. You can also find more infographics at Visualistan

My Rubiks Cube is almost 40 years old and in all this time I only managed to solve it once. I have long lost the cheatsheet and am happy to have found these instructions. You can also find more infographics at Visualistan

carrots and onions Some plants just don't do well together, whereas other protect each other from bugs. Did you know that tomatoes and cucumbers can't stand each other? Check out this helpful post about companion planting today...

I can't tell you which of these 9 tips to kill weeds naturally will actually work, but I would consider giving it a try to see what works best for you. My personal trick is to use my electric kettle from the kitchen, which I don't really use in the kitchen and boil water and then pour it over the weeds. I have used the recipe below and have discovered that there are many more variations on the web. Play around with the mix until you get the result you want. Some adjustment tips use regular salt reduce the amount of salt to 1 cup reduce the amount of Dawn dish soap to 1 TBsp

I came across this very detailed vegetable growing cheat sheet and placed the info here, so I would not misplace it. This is  the link  to the original full-size infographic page.

I had to grow some grass, but was not quite sure how to keep the birds away. Then a neighbour suggested, why don't you put CDs up? So I gave it a try. I marked the perimeter of the area to be seed with bamboo sticks about 3 feet apart and then strung string wrapped around each stick and finally added CDs between the sticks. Now it looks like I have dancing CDs in the garden. All the neighbours stop and wonder what it was for. And the CDs do keep the birds away. I have the birds all over my garden, but not in the freshly seeded area. Nothing happened for quite some time, but after about 2 weeks the first new grass shoots started to appear. So I can highly recommend this way of growing grass. Let me know if you have tried this before and what your experience was.

I am quite happy with my square foot gardening system, but am always open to experiment with others. I am intrigued by these "10 weird intensive gardening methods that really work" from the gardening channel . Tire gardening (gardening in used tires) -  http://www.tiregarden.net/ Mittlieder method (combines soil-based gardening with hydroponic gardening) -  http://growfood.com/ Square foot gardening (planting in a square foot grid) -  http://squarefootgardening.org/square-foot-gardening-method Keyhole gardening (raised garden with a center composting basket) -  http://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-make-a-keyhole-garden/   Aquaponics (use fish waste to nourish plants) -  Oregonlive.com Window farms (Plants grow out of the bottle while an air pump circulate liquid nutrients that gently flow down the structure) -  one woman’s window farm initiatives Straw bale gardening (use straw bales to make raised beds) -  http://strawbalegardens.co...

This video explains quite nicely how you can feel lonely surrounded by people and why. I would like to hear from you and look forward to reading your comments.

Do you know that your subconscious mind runs your life? It is time to take control back. “It is not a disruption in your energy system but a creation of the mind. It's about subconscious imprints stored within the brain, accumulated from birth, emotional conditioning that built perception and the body gives it reality. You are a creator, this physical reaction is an expression of the your inner world.”                                                            ~Robert G. Smith creator of FasterEFT This post is based on a two part article I found here called "Toxic Thinking Patterns" Part 1 Part 2 Subconscious Mind The subconscious mind does no original thinking. It is the "operating system" in charge of all autonomic processes of the body. If you would have to tell your body to pump the blood, breathe and digest, you would...

What on earth is a Scanner? I came across this cool website that gives book summaries. It is called Actionable Books  and you can join for free and you will receive weekly book summaries. The book I found this idea from is called Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams I am a person like it is described in the book . “Use ALL of your interests, passions, and hobbies to create the life and career of your dreams.” ~ Refuse to Choose! , Book jacket My interests are all over the place and I am drawn to many diverse interests?  When I read the questions the book asks below, I saw myself reflected in the them. "Do you love starting projects, but find you lose interest when the novelty wears off? Have you ever thought following just one career path is a recipe for total boredom?  If so, you may be a Scanner. The book suggests that some people aren’t meant to follow just one path. I have alway...

Is there a trick to figuring out how many plants to plant per square foot? Alphabetical Order Basil: 1/sqft (according to sqft reader Kevin M. Wilson)  Beans: bush-type 9/sqft; pole-type 8/sqft Beets: 16/sqft  Broccoli: 1/sqft  Cabbage: 1/sqft  Carrots: 16/sqft  Cauliflower: 1/sqft  Celery: 4/sqft (6") (according to sqft reader Doreen Howard)  Chard(Swiss): 4/sqft  Corn: 1/sqft (revised in  2/96 OG  to 4/sqft)  Cucumbers: 2/sqft in a row of 4 sqft (6" apart along middle of sqft row)  Daffodils: 36/sqft  Eggplant: 1/sqft  Garlic: 4/sqft (6") (according to several sqft readers. Some say 9/sqft (4"))  Leeks: 9/sqft (see special technique in  2/96 OG )  Lettuce: 4/sqft  Marjoram: 4/sqft (according to sqft reader Kevin M. Wilson)  Muskmelons: 1/sqft (grow in row of 4 squares, on trellis)  Okra: 1-2/sqft (according to reader Sandra Walters)  Onions: 16/sqft  ...

backside of template with holes drilled I am just about ready to start planting my square foot garden . Until now I have used string and sticks to mark things, but then I got an idea of how I could easily make some templates from old plastic election signs. The material was easy to cut with a knife and a permanent marker would help with the design. At first I thought that I would need a whole bunch of templates, but as I got going I realized that I could actually get away with only 2 templates. First cut 2 12x12 inch pieces from the plastic signs Draw a grid:  template 1: 3 rows and 3 columns template 2: 4 rows and 4 columns Mark the center of each square of the grid by drawing diagonal lines Use the electric drill and a ½" drill bit and drill a hole at each center point. Template 1 Template 1 Grid of 3 row and 3 columns (9 plants - holes circled in blue) This can also be used for 1 plant per square foot (hole circled in black and then blue) ...

The knobs on my dryer started to break shortly after I got it. I was not very impressed to say the least. The bigger problem was that I could not find any replacement knobs. The first thing I did is move a good knob to the broken place which, of course, was the on off switch. knob missing and mismatched knob Now where you go looking for appliance replacement parts? I tried a local store and even they did not have the exact one. I got one that fit on the piece sticking out of the dryer console. Who knew that not all knobs are identical. As you can see in the picture above a second knob failed and that function is now permanently set to the on position. Last weekend while looking for something else at Home Depot, I asked about knobs and a very helpful gentleman told me that I should try their Parts & Accessories department and handed me a business card with toll-free phone number. This is the phone number for Canada, I don't know if it will work in the US. I ...