Gardening for Kids

We can see how nature is treated these days. It is a sad thing to know that many people do not pay attention so much anymore to the environmental problems.

Can we do something about this?

It is as simple as starting with the children. It is good to see the children’s involvement with environment-friendly activities. One such nature-loving activity that children could easily get their hands on is gardening. We should consider gardening for our children because it is providing several benefits to them as well as to ourselves.

In planting, children are indirectly taught the wonders of science like the plant’s life cycle and how human’s intervention can break or make the environment. They can have a firsthand experience on the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids.

Watching a seed grow into a tree is just as wondrous as the conception to birth and growth of a child. In time, kids will learn to love their plants and appreciate the life in them. Gardening could actually help simulate how life should be treated – it should be with care. The necessities to live will be emphasized to kids with the help of gardening – water, sunlight, air, soil.

Those necessities could easily be corresponded to human necessities, i.e. water, shelter, air, food. By simply weeding out, one could educate how bad influences should be avoided to be able to live life smoothly.

According to numerous studies gardening can reduce stress because of its calming effect. This is applicable to any age group. More so, it stimulates all the five senses.

Believe it or not, gardening may be used as therapy to children who have been abused or those who are members of broken homes. It helps build one’s self-esteem.

You can forget about your stressful work life for a while be soothed by the lovely ambience in the garden. You can play and spend quality time with your children. You can talk while watering the plants or you can work quietly beside each other.

The bottom line is, always do what you have to do: together with your kids. You might discover a lot of new things about your child while mingling with them in your garden.

Let kids become aware of their environment’s needs. One way to jumpstart that environmental education may be through gardening. It is hitting two birds with one stone – teach them to respect life while you bond with them.

Show your kids the rewards you can get back from Mother Nature.

Plant a seed while the children are learning to explore life.

Choosing the Right Type of Riding Lawn Mowers

Most riding lawn mowers are machines fun to ride and extremely cool to look at. Riding mowers are powerful gardening equipments and can be a practical time saving machine for professionals as well as for beginners or amateur landscapers.

If you are one of those homeowners, lucky to maintain a large yard, it can be a good idea to invest in a riding mower.

The type of mowers on the market and which one would fit with your current needs:

§  Basic riding mowers are actually those featuring rear engines. They use to come with small horsepower engines, usually mounted under the operator’s seat. These mowers have reasonable power sized cutting blades and fit perfectly into small lawns with less than 1 acre.

§  The next level up is for medium horsepower riding lawn mowers. These mowers use to include their engines at the front and can fit larger engines due to the space. They have a stronger and faster cutting capacity. Medium riding mowers provide better performance on hilly gardens and are the perfect complement for yards between 1 and 3 acres.

§  Commercial riding lawn mowers are designed for really large yards, including sport fields. They can be extremely expensive for homeowners and won’t really provide their best performance in yards no bigger than 3 yards.

Here are some important points to have in mind before you decide on the most suitable model that would better fit with your necessities.

The final choose will depend basically on:

-     The type of terrain of your mowing area as well as the size of it. And what other tasks would you like to do with your new lawn mower?

-     It is also very important to know whether or not the area includes slopes or hilly areas. The more flat your mowing area the better performance you will get from the machine.

-     It is always extremely important to select a comfortable seat, especially when you will be sitting for a long time. You will save a lot on back injuries and other common diseases related with sat jobs. There is no choice with that, it’s preferable the mower’s seat to be comfortable enough.

-     Does the garden include trees or rocks that require permanent change of direction during the mowing process? It’s very important to find the finishing touch to choose amongst steering wheels and tires.

-     There are different recycling grass options; here you have mainly to mulching or to bagging. While mulching will cut the grass into fine clippings and then give it back to your lawn, providing nutrients to it, the second will just fill up a rear bag, being easier for the rider to empty and replace it with new ones.

There are many attachments on the market to choose from. You probably just need a riding lawn mower including normal features. In addition, you can usually attach other features, like the ones to remove snow during winter time.

Hopefully you’re getting some good points to think of before deciding on purchasing a riding lawn mower.

Cooking with Flowers – Part 2

Now that we are ready to cook, let the ideas roll in!

Usage of flowers is so varied; they can accompany anything from hors d'oeuvres to dessert. Flowers are perfect garnishes for salty and sweet dishes, and petals add a nice flavour and look to salads. Try making a salad mix of veggies and fruits, and throw in some flowers as well.  This will add to the beauty of such a varied salad, and will add a unique flavour to the sensation of the combined sweetness and saltiness.

Herbal butters have never looked prettier with flower petals mixed into them, and most batters will only be upgraded with a flower mixed into them.

Imagine the beauty of crepes with some lavender flowers spread throughout! Drinks will look sharp with flowers frozen into ice cubes, while teas are delicious with aromatic flowers. Adding some rose jam to your tea is also a delicious option of sweetening your tea, so think of the jams you can make from flowers.

Once you start cooking with flowers, you can be so much more creative in your cooking, with results that all notice and love.

Every cook likes to heighten her/his experience and always looks for new ways to improve and change. Flowers are a wonderful step to this, as they are easy to cook with, add beauty and aroma, and help the imagination flow to create more and more interesting recipes.

Flowers have long been used in cooking, and what luck that the fashion is coming back.

Our dishes will be tastier, more attractive, and richer in aroma. Learn which flowers you can cook with, and, upon buying them, be sure that they have been grown to be eaten and stick to using the petals of the flowers.

Keep in mind that many flowers used as garnishes are often only decorative. For instance, many live flowers used to decorate wedding cakes are not for consumption.

However, when you are cooking with flowers you know to be good for eating, let your imagination run, and you will create a myriad of dishes that are enhanced and beautified by the flower garden you have added into them!

Cooking with Flowers – Part 1

Gourmet food is expensively delicious not only for its quality ingredients and taste, but also for its aesthetics. Aesthetics in food are making a big comeback in today’s restaurants, and for good reason. An experience involving one sense unwittingly involves more than one.

So while we eat, we may think that taste is all that our brain is processing, but it’s a much richer experience than that. The smell and the sight of the food are major points in the eating experience. One of the most natural and most appealing ways to brighten up and beautify a dish is the simple addition of an edible flower!

There are many varieties which are edible, and add a subtle flavour into your dish. Cooking with flowers, though, is a cautious process, as you must be completely sure that what you are serving is neither poisonous nor chemically treated. Once you have chosen your flowers safely, the options available for cooking are very wide.

I don’t recommend you start viewing bouquets as scrumptious salads and chewing away upon receiving a gift, it is worth realizing the value of flowers as a garnish and ingredient to complement a slew of recipes.

The absolutely most important factor when deciding to cook with flowers is to be sure that the variety is edible, and not poisonous. This blog provides general guidelines, do confirm before the use of any plant in your food that it is, in fact, edible.

The safest bet for edible flowers is those that will eventually grow into the vegetables and fruits that we already know and love. Often the flowers of vegetables, fruits, and herbs offer a reminder of the plant they come from, in a more subtle flavour.

Examples are the basil, chive, garlic, and lemon flowers. These are good garnishes for dishes which may already use the fruit of the above-mentioned flowers. The chamomile flower is very gentle and pleasant also.

Other flowers that come from plants we know are the arugula flower, the mustard flower, the squash flower (which can even be fried and eaten on its own), and the sunflower. Edible flowers are not limited to those which later blossom into fruits and vegetables.

Some of the prettiest flowers have petals which we can eat. Specifically, carnations, dandelions, jasmine, rose, lavender, violets, and daisies are edible. Some of these add a beautiful aroma to the dish, and a very romantic bite. Such flowers are perfect to add to a salad, because they add sharp colour, which always makes a salad more appealing, along with a delicate flavour.

There are important rules that absolutely must be followed when using flowers in cooking. The importance of certainty in the safety of the specific flower is of utmost importance. Never use an ingredient in your cooking that you are not sure is safe.

Remember that many flowers are poisonous, so be certain of the identity of the flowers you have chosen to cook with. Once this step has been checked, we’re ready to move on to the next rule of flower cooking. This rule is where you get your flowers from.

Do not buy flowers for cooking from florists, unless specifically grown for eating purposes. Most flowers for a florist are not grown as comestibles, and thus are not treated as comestibles. The products which these flowers are treated with are not to be consumed. Thus, either find a florist who specializes in growing flowers for eating purposes or grow your own!

Growing your own flowers for food entails basically the same rules as growing flowers for aesthetic pleasure, but be sure to avoid pesticides, and use natural methods of keeping bugs away: plant a variety of flowers near each other, as this equilibrium may help ward off bugs; remember that lady bugs are a good bug that eats many pests, so know your friendly bugs; smearing some garlic and coffee grinds into the soil often keeps pests at bay as they hate the sharpness and bitterness of these foods.

Lastly, use only the petals of flowers, as the pollen may cause allergies, and is often bitter. Especially for first-time flower cooks, use small amounts, as any food new to the digestive tract should be introduced slowly and easily.

Part 2 will follow in next weeks; blog! 

Appreciating the Important Garden Element “Grass”

When the subject of gardens and landscaping is brought to a conversation, the first things that pop into people’s minds are trees, shrubs, flowers. Rarely do people take notice of something very significant and crucial for the beauty of most landscapes – grasses. Humans step on them, children play on them, dogs roll over them, but most of the time people ignore these prominent figures of gardens and parks. Imagine how a landscape would be without grasses – it would be dull, dry, boring if not downright ugly. Without grasses, the scenery would usually not be complete.

Grasses are very useful not only for their aesthetic qualities but for some practical purposes as well. Grasses are very flexible as they can grow in almost any quality of soil more than other kinds of plants. Grasses do not need so much for them to thrive, just water is enough for most grasses to grow and make any landscape green.

While many people have the notion that grasses are boring, their wide variety makes them interesting components of a landscape as they come in different colours, textures, and heights. Even when grasses die and get dry, they still have certain decorative and practical value. Grasses are very important for the environment as well as they serve as ground covering that can prevent soil erosion and maintain a good amount of water for other plants to grow.

There are many kinds of grasses each having their distinct qualities that make them worth planting in different kinds of landscapes. Here are some of them:

Bermuda grass – this is perhaps the most popular kind of grass which is extremely popular in places where the sun shines most of the time. This kind of grass is ideal for sunny areas because they are very resistant to heat and drought. This high tolerance makes it an ideal grass to cover vast tracts of lands. However, the hardiness of Bermuda also gives it the tendency to “invade” areas inhabited by other plants.

Blue grass – this is another popular type of grass that grows well during the summer being drought tolerant like the Bermuda. This is very common in the north because of its tolerance cold weather. However, blue grass can grow clumpy when not maintained well.

Bahia grass – this is very popular in the South eastern parts as they are very easy to maintain. Bahia grass has coarse blades that are resistant to drought and shade as well as salty water and soils. However, this grass requires a lot of mowing because of its texture.

Buffalo grass – this one is very much like the Blue grass and is also rather common in the Northern parts. This grass is good for parts where there is little rainfall. The appearance is somewhat a cross between the Blue and Bermuda grasses. Its blue-green tinge in summer turns straw brown during winter.

Kentucky bluegrass – this is the most popular kind of grass in the north, and it is sometimes plant in the south. It is characterized to have a soft texture and a dark green shade and is quite resilient to cold.

Bent grass – this is a perennial type of grass with a fine texture. It is known to form soft turfs that are tightly knit. This characteristic makes it an ideal grass for golf course greens.

There are many other types of grass, each grow for appropriate purposes for appropriate regions and weather conditions. More information about grasses, how to plant and how to maintain a lawn is available at www.theultimatelawncareguide.com.

Grasses are important parts of any landscape. They add life to any dull piece of land as they provide a sense of warmth and cosiness.

Some Gardening Tips to Save You Money

It’s easy to spend a fortune every year creating a beautiful yard. These five tips can help save you money in both this, and future gardening seasons.

1) Plan your vegetable garden according to what your neighbours are planting so you can share your vegetables when they’re ready for eating. Often I’ve had too many of one kind of vegetable and couldn’t give away because my friend’s were ripe at the same time.

2) Select perennials rather than annuals for your flowerbeds. As they multiply each year, cut them back and exchange with your friends so you both have lovely gardens and save money at the same time.

3) Compost your kitchen scraps, as well as your coffee grounds. The end result is much better than any potting soil you can ever get buy from a nursery or hardware store. The price is right, and this is definitely recycling!

4) Instead of using mulch, try pebbles or small rocks in your garden as ground cover. This will save you lots of cash since you won’t need to buy mulch in the spring and fall of every year.

5) Spend more money now by purchasing better quality gardening tools and you will save in the long run. They will last for years, saving you dollars because you don’t need to replace them every planting season. Same goes for gardening gloves - make sure you buy the best you can afford so they last all season.

I hope you’ll find this helpful and I wish you “Happy Gardening!”

Five Tips for Better Lawns and Gardens

If you’re lucky enough to have a lawn with a good topsoil base, much of the hard work of keeping a lawn beautiful is already done for you. But many of us do not have this luxury, and besides, even with a good topsoil base, you still have to do work to keep your lawn and garden beautiful.

To help achieving and maintaining such a beautiful lawn and garden, here are five suggestions for you to follow:

1) The best time to mow a lawn is when it is cool and dry. Wait for the morning dew to dry off, and before the afternoon heat takes hold. Alternatively, late afternoon or early evening following a watering in the morning is also a good time.

2) Simple, but effective weed control can be achieved on your lawn by mowing often during spring. This will prevent dandelions spreading by eliminating the yellow blossoms and preventing seed formation. Mow high during late spring and early summer. This will allow grass blades to shade the ground, and will help prevent crabgrass from sprouting.

3) A hedge is a much better boundary divider than a fence. It will provide better privacy and keep pets and children in – or out. It will attract birds to its shelter, and provide a great backdrop for plants and flowers.

4) Bring the beauty of your garden to you; plant hyacinths near walkways and doors. Their magnificent perfume will swamp the spring air and make your garden really come alive.

5) Add your garden to non-garden items, such as lampposts and mail boxes. Surround these items with flowers planted to take advantage of the earliest to the latest flowerings. You could have white snowdrops, purple and gold crocus, blue hyacinths, and various coloured tulips. You could also surround the posts with rocks to provide added interest.

Your lawn and garden should be a source of pride and beauty. You don’t need to spend lots of money on expensive fertilizers and herbicides, it’s more important to have the right tools on hand for your gardening and a little commonsense and thought can go a long way to making your lawn and garden a much better place.

Designing Gardens – the Basics

You can always move plants around your garden and as your ideas and taste change,  your garden can grow with you. There are some simple elements of garden design. Think of designing your garden with living art in mind being creative and free to try whatever suits your taste. There are no limitations to the creativity that's within no comparison or fear of failure. Although gardening successfully requires learning certain skills, when all is said and done a garden's beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Just go for it and let your garden be the expression of you.

Garden design and its principles used may be called by different names.  There are three basic concepts when combined together will bring about good garden design. Ultimately your gardens' design is up to you and should reflect your own personality and flare.

Order, balance and proportion are the basic structure of the garden. Order is symmetrical through repeating plants or colours. Bold or bright additions bring balance as well as adding some texture. Texture is an important ingredient. Gardens come to life with different textured plants much like the human race. All different but flowing together and being brought together through unity, harmony created comfort and peace.

When all of the parts of the garden are flowing together it is captivating and ones' spirit is caught up in the beauty.

Using a limited colour pattern, repetition of plants and a clear focal point creates this environment. Theme gardens are very soothing: all one colour, butterfly gardens or cross gardens keep you flowing in like unity.

You'll also hear a lot of talk about starting your garden with good bones. That basically means creating an outlining foundation, with trees, structures, paths, etc. for the rest of the garden to build off of. Evergreen is a favourite of the good bones.

Having a focal point is a big benefit for every garden. With no focal point the eye starts to wonder here and there without every getting a grasp of a main feature. This is not creating the harmony you desire for your garden or creating any curb appeal. Beginning gardeners seem to pick the same flowers or foliage over and over again which has no visual interest. Planting an architectural bold leafed plant can restore this visual interest instead of the monotony of likeness.

Last, but not least, is adding colour to your garden. Experimenting with your favourite colours is a good way to see what works best for you. The best advice to heed though is to start out with 2-3 colours to keep the artist palette limited. You can always add new colours to your garden by eyeballing it along the way. This way you keep the living painting flowing in the harmony you wish to relate to. You then will have a peaceful retreat that you have created and enable others to share that intimate part of you.