Dappled Air

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.

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...

Why would you practice crop rotation for your vegetables? This is what Wikipedia says about it: Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar/different types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons. Crop rotation gives various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. Crop rotation also mitigates the build-up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped, and can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants. I came across this image at a New Zealand site that explains it quite well. Every year you rotate between root and bulb, fruit and seed and leaf and stem vegetables. Here is a list of which vegetables belong to each group. Root & Bulb  carrots parsnip potatoes beetroot kohl rabi radishes onions leek garlic Fru...

Why would you want to do raised bed gardening ? The main advantage I found is that the earth in the raised beds warms up earlier in the year. So earlier planting leads to an earlier harvest. There are a number of ways to create raised beds. I have used both wood and cinder blocks. The cinder blocks take up a bit more space, but also give you little cubby holes to plant small plants. The other advantage of cinder blocks is that they absorb heat during the day and then release it over night, so keeping your plants in a warmer climate. Raised bed gardens also lend themselves well to square foot gardening.

When you're tight for space and still want to have a garden, that's when Square foot gardening comes into play. Wikipedia explains it this way: Square foot gardening is the practice of planning and creating small but intensively planted gardens. The practice combines concepts from other organic gardening methods, including a strong focus on compost, densely planted raised beds and biointensive attention to a small, clearly defined area. This method is particularly well-suited for areas with poor soil, beginner gardeners or as adaptive recreation for those with disabilities (Bartholomew, 2005). The phrase "square foot gardening" was popularized by Mel Bartholomew in a 1981 Rodale Press book and subsequent PBS television series. This is a chart that shows the basics - how many plants to plant in one square foot. 20161130 Update I just came across a fantastic free online resource about square foot gardening that I just had to share ► Square Foot Gardening: ...

Have you ever heard of companion planting ? Wikipedia explains it very nicely: Companion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity (in gardening and agriculture), on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture. Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons. Many of the modern principles of companion planting were present many centuries ago in cottage gardens in England and home gardens in Asia. Check out this helpful chart to find the benefits of companion planting: Let me know if you found this information helpful and write a comment.

Are you looking for a simple homemade weed killer that's safe for the environment, but also tough on weeds? Give this recipe a try. Recipe 1 gallon (4.5 liters) of white vinegar 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup liquid dish soap (any brand) Funnel Pour 1 cup of vinegar from gallon bottle, set aside to use in other things. Put salt in the gallon jug (funnel works great) and shake until all salt is dissolved, fill it with the dish soap simply shake up jug to mix well. Set aside and mark jug as weed killer.  How to Use Pour in spray bottles and use as needed.  This solution works best if you use it on a hot day.  Spray it on the weeds in the morning , and as it heats up it will do its work. Let me know if you found this information helpful and write a comment.

When do you start planting your seeds ? Some seeds germinate well in cooler temperatures and others need it warmer. Check out this handy list below. For the full size chart head to Roots Nursery. Let me know if you found this information helpful and write a comment.

This simple graphic helps you figure out if your veggies need full sun or if they can do well in the shade. If you are looking for more gardening tips I have put together a page that should be helpful. Full Sun Plants grown in full sun need to be watered regularly or they will be parched. Fruit and roots:  tomato, peppers and squash Partial Shade Plants grown in partial shade don't need that much water and will die if they get too much water. Leaves, stems or sprouts: salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beans, beets, Brussels sprouts, radishes, Swiss chard, spinach, mustard green, kale, collards. Let me know if you found this information helpful and write a comment.

Gardening season is just around the corner and your garden will grow much better if the soil has the correct PH level. Here is a simple test you can do yourself: Take two containers and put your garden soil in it to test Add ½ cup of vinegar to one container and stir If it fizzes our soil is alkaline Add ½ cup plain water to the second container and stir Next add ½ cup baking soda and stir If it fizzes you have acidic soil If neither of the containers has a reaction you soil is somewhat PH balanced. Now that you have determined if your soil is acidic or alkaline, you can slowly make the necessary adjustments to the soil PH level. It takes time to change the soil PH levels so it is best to make gradual adjustments. If your soil is acidic you can use wood ash or lime to make it more alkaline. If your soil is alkaline you can use pine needles to make it more acidic. Let me know if you found this information helpful and write a comment.

It is official, June bugs are now also May bugs in Canada. Last night they appeared and flew into my bathroom window.  They are attracted to the light. Last year I was wondering if they are turning into May bugs in Canada and now I know it is true. In Switzerland the same bugs are called May bug, because they come out in May. Searching for some new pictures of May bugs, I came across chocolate May bugs. I had totally forgotten about them. I also came across a blog post called "Swiss are still weird" about chocolate May bugs.

I haven't posted for a while and I realized that as I took another picture of a tiny tree seedling. This year it seems that just about every seed that fell on the ground sprouted. The maple tree seedlings are especially abundant. I had to pull them out by the handful. If you let them grow too long they get too big and are hard to get rid of. I don't want maple trees growing all over the place. these maple seedlings grew in the cracks of a wooden bench I don't recall them sprouting like this in other years. I wonder what this means? Are we in for a cold winter or just plain crazy weather? this blue spruce seedling is also growing in a crack of wood

Today I discovered very visibly why it matters what soil vegetables are planted in. This is a picture of my freshly picked carrots. They taste great and grew well, but because the soil had large compost pieces in it the carrots could not grow straight down. So every time the growing carrot encountered an obstacles it started to grow sideways and that's the reason why my carrots grew in spirals. Now my plan for next year is to move this soil to another part of the garden and replace it with more root vegetable friendly soil. I would love to hear from other gardener's about their experiences.

While digging in my garden this week I came across these two salamanders. At first they did not move at all, so I quickly ran for my camera and took the picture. Some quick research revealed that they are Redback Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus): "This salamander is more of a land creature. It lives in all sorts of moist forests and often invades suburban backyards. Its eggs are laid in damp places under rocks or logs, so there is no aquatic stage at all. Redback Salamanders have no lungs. The animals breathe through their skins, and the lining of the roof of the mouth. Read the rest at the above link from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History."

On our daily walk around the lake we came across some elementary school aged kids with one of them holding something in his hand. It turned out to be a 'Spotted Salamander'. They had found it by turning over a rock. Always having my camera with me allowed me to take a picture. The animal was scared and peeing, so they decided to put it back where they found it. Here is the info I found at Wikipedia about the Salamander: Latin name: Ambystoma maculatum "The spotted salamander is about 6-7 1/2 inches long. The spotted salamander's main color is black, but can sometimes be blue-black, dark gray, or even dark brown. There are two rows of yellow/orange spots that run from the top of the head (near the eyes) to the tip of the tail. These rows are uneven. An interesting fact is that the spotted salamander's spots near the top of the head are more orange and the rest of the spots are more yellow. The underside of the spotted salamander is slate gray." "The spott...

That depends of where you live. Growing up in Switzerland, I remember as a small girl 3 or 4 collecting May bugs in the evening (they seem to be nocturnal) with my dad. That was before I was grossed out touching bugs and worms. We collected them in a glass jar. They made a funny sound and smelled strange. Then we let them go again. When I arrived in Canada (1975) I noticed that there were no May bugs, but the same kind of bug appeared in June and therefore was called June bug. I just chalked it up to the cooler temperatures in Canada. Fast forward to 2009, the last week of May I noticed that there were bugs flying against my bathroom window at night. They sounded just like June bugs, but it was still May. So I guess with the climate change they have now also turned into May bugs. Digging in my garden I noticed that the bugs hid during the day in the earth and only come out at night when they are attracted to light and bump against lit up windows. Ok, now that my curiosity was pe...

When we moved into our house in late summer of 1999 our back garden was just a hill with grass that was very difficult to mow due to the fact that it is very steep and very uneven. A weedwacker was the only tool to do the job with. The picture to the right shows the way it looked in 2001. Then in 2004 I started working daily for an hour in the garden. I learned that I can work/transform about one square yard in an hour. So every weekday weather permitting I have been outside working as soon as the ground was workable. Some years it was in mid to late April other years I could only start in May. Now I am down to the last part of the garden. I will show the pictures when I am done. But the hillside is done and I am so pleased the way it looks. I took the picture to the left this morning. Yes, the area does not look the same any more for two reasons. First: in 2003 we had a hurricane come through town and it killed a lot of trees, including the beech trees on the hillside. Two: I removed ...

Continuing with the cleanup of my garden after winter, it was time to collect all the pine cones and put them as mulch underneath the blue spruce. Blue spruce cones are different than pine cones. This is what wikipedia says about blue spruce cones: The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical, 6-11 cm long and 2 cm broad when closed, opening to 4 cm broad. They have thin, flexible scales 20-24 mm long, with a wavy margin. They are reddish to violet, maturing pale brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 3-4 mm long, with a slender, 10-13 mm long pale brown wing. The pine cones are much thicker and hardier and when open look like little hedgehogs. Imagine my surprise, when I discovered something that looked like a little pineapple, but it was a pine cone. This is the first time since I moved to this house that I have seen this (10 years). To me they look like artichokes, after you have pulled the leaves off. So I guess the resident squirrel population thinks that these p...

Today was the first morning that I was out in the garden for this year. I really missed my daily hour of gardening early in the morning. Until now it was just too cold and the ground was also still to wet. I don't mind going outside in a longsleeved tshirt and long pants, but don't like to wear a jacket. The hillside is still a little wet and some of the rocks move when standing on them. I say that the hillside is still at places like molasses. So I was mainly cleaning up fallen branches and checking out how the garden survived the winter. Everything seems fine and new growth is showing. I also I tried out my new gardening shoes that I received for my birthday from my son and his wife. They are bright red and very comfortable. I gave them a trial run yesterday on my walk around the lake and got a lot of compliments, how can you miss them, they almost glow. I find they are especially comfortable on uneven terrain.

Well, there is now no more doubt, winter has arrived. On Thursday we had about 2 inches of snow and everything just had a 'sugar coating' of snow. The storm came from the North and all the North sides of the trees had a line of snow on them. Then yesterday morning we woke up to a foot (25 cm) of snow. It didn't matter that is was Saturday morning, we had our work cut out. On top of it the city had plowed the street narrow, that meant we had an extra 6 feet to clear on the street that was 2 feet high. It took hubby and me an hour and a half to shovel out or drive way. All I can say that we got our daily work out and the opportunity to take some more pictures to share.