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You can make a vegetable smoothie creamy in a few different ways depending on your preferences. Learn how to make a vegetable smoothie creamy with help from Celebrity Eco Chef Bryan Au in this free video clip.
A wide variety of different fruit toppings go great with pancake breakfasts. Prepare fruit toppings for pancakes with help from a longtime kitchen employee in this free video clip.
Aeroponics is a method of growing plants without using any soil or growth medium for the roots. Instead, the plants are supported in pots or by other means, and their roots are suspended in the air. A nutrient mist is applied frequently so that the roots never dry out and they receive constant nourishment. There are many complicated and expensive aeroponic systems you can use, but you can also build a simple one that will let you plant and grow vegetables quickly and easily.
Push plows are not as common today as they were the past. But push plows are still available on the market, along with replacement parts. You can save money by making your own plow from pieces of bicycles. The only plow piece you will need to purchase is the blade. You may be able to purchase the blade used, or you can buy a new blade from a garden supply store.
A loader is a bucket on the front of a garden tractor that allows you to pick up and move materials around, including dirt and cement. This allows you to transport heavy materials when working on a garden without having to carry them. Many garden tractors, however, do not come with loaders. You can attach an aftermarket loader to your garden tractor to make gardening and landscaping easier.
Galvanized metal is a type of coated steel designed to hold up to the elements. It does not rust or deteriorate as quickly as untreated metal. This makes it ideal for outdoor purposes, such as vegetable beds. The metal also keeps the soil warm so it is ideal for cooler climates. Galvanized metal beds may heat too much in hot climates, unless they are used for winter gardens.
The number of certified organic farms more than quadrupled from 1992 to 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and organic gardening is a growing trend among consumers seeking to ensure that the food they eat is free of pesticides and other chemicals. Whether you are new to gardening in general or have experience with traditional gardening practices and want to make a transition to organic gardening, challenges await you. “Going organic takes some planning, but it can be done, and once you’ve done the preparation, it’s really no different than regular gardening,” said David Chambers, manager of Mr.…
A garden hoe is a great tool to have, especially during planting season. Find out how to use a garden hoe with help from an expert with over two decades of experience working in Garden Centers in this free video clip.
Keeping vegetables in the fridge requires a little bit of care to properly preserve freshness. Learn how to beset keep vegetables in the fridge with help from a registered and licensed dietitian in this free video clip.
Many people have made water conservation a key part of their overall mission to conserve natural resources and cut energy costs. Gardeners are experimenting with using gray sewage water to provide irrigation for plants. While gray water can be a valuable resource for the home gardener, it is important to understand how gray water conservation works in order to take advantage of the benefits without endangering your health.
If you have always wanted to transform that wet section of your yard into a beautiful garden, do not let the mud and puddles discourage you. Areas with poor water drainage can make garden planning a bit more difficult but certainly not impossible. Make the wet section of your landscape stand out like a rainforest paradise, rather than an eyesore by adding some tropical plants. With a little bit of ground care and a proper selection of water-loving plants, your garden will blossom and thrive.
Decorative gardens make any area of your home look beautiful, but if you live in a smaller space without a yard, it's difficult to experience the beauty of a garden on a regular basis. One solution is to create a tower garden consisting of vertical pots of flowers, herbs or other plants that can be displayed on a small balcony or patio. Make your own tower garden using inexpensive materials and tools purchased at a garden-supply store.
Pansies are colorful, cool-weather flowers that thrive best in mild temperatures most common to the fall, winter and spring. Though intolerant to freezing temperatures, pansies grow vigorously in cool temperatures ranging between 55 and 65 degrees F. These small blooms are fairly easy to maintain and can quickly fill their bed when grown in the right conditions.
Any furniture positioned in a garden is automatically more romantic. So when the furniture is a loveseat, the romance is heightened. Building a garden loveseat is a project that can be done entirely with two-by-fours and can be customized to be as fancy as desired beyond that. Using treated lumber is necessary when building outdoor furniture, and an all-weather stain is also helpful for ensuring the durability of the loveseat.
Whether you are growing fruit in your backyard or on a large farm, the type and quality of soil you use will directly affect the yield of your crop as well as the actual size of the fruit. Soil is a fine type of sediment that can vary in texture and pH level.
Catching fruit flies in plants is best accomplished in a very specific way. Learn about the best way to catch fruit flies in plants with help from the operator of a pest control business in this free video clip.
Cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers occur in the chaparral, and wildfires occur to cleanse the vegetation debris. Worldwide, the biome known as chaparral occurs naturally only in the coastal ranges, Central Valley and Southern California, extending into Mexico's northern Baja California. While a rather dry, rugged-looking landscape, the chaparral does sustain many plants with spectacular floral beauty. Creating a garden of this theme requires proper site selection and choosing plant material appropriate to your climate and soils.
Use a garden roller in early spring to smooth the soil after winter freezing and thawing cycles have disrupted it. Garden rollers break up clots and mounds of soil, making it simpler to plant, weed and harvest the garden. Build your garden roller using common tools. The necessary materials are readily available at most home improvement stores. You do not need construction experience to build the garden roller. While the project requires a full day of your complete attention, the garden roller lasts for many years, even when stored outside. This task is best accomplished with a helper.
More concerned about their food supply than ever before, Americans have developed an increasing interest in whether pesticides can be found in their vegetables, as well as in organic foods. The United States government strives to keep the food supply safe by setting limits on pesticide use on crops. Unfortunately, methods of testing vegetables for pesticides require cost-prohibitive and sophisticated laboratory equipment. However, you can minimize your exposure to pesticides in vegetables by choosing and preparing foods carefully.
Garden paths enhance the beauty of outdoor spaces and serve the utilitarian purpose of making your garden more accessible. There is no one right way to build a sloped garden path; however, stone steps safely accommodate areas with slopes up to about 40 degrees. Pick stones that accent the natural hues of your garden, especially when growing flowers or colorful veggies.
Starting a small vegetable garden is a great activity to undergo in the fall. Start a small vegetable garden in the fall with help from a social entrepreneur in this free video clip.
Hops are best known for their role in making beer, but are actually tall herbaceous perennials, grown for their lush foliage and sharply flavored flower blossoms. The plants overwinter as root stock, grow quickly to 15 to 25 feet in summer, produce their crop of blossoms and then die down again for winter dormancy. They require at least 120 days of frost-free growing, with full sun and plenty of space. If you can satisfy these demands, plan and plant your own hops garden for bright growth and heavy hops harvests.
Skunks are a direct relative of the weasel and are nocturnal, so they are rarely seen during the day unless foraging for food. Skunks are omnivorous, so the eat just about everything, but subsist on a diet of bugs, worms and grubs dug out of the ground using their strong front claws. When their normal food supply is low, skunks will seek out other food sources, which often bring them into contact with humans and pets. Limiting their access to food is one way to properly deal with skunks.
Transform vegetables, such as tomatoes and radishes, into eye-catching "roses" that can be used as decorative garnishes on appetizer trays. They're easier to make than they look, so you don't have to be a professional chef to create them, and will enhance vegetable and cheese trays at your next party or family get-together.
Grubs are the larval stage of beetles, and are readily identifiable by the "C" shape they form when disturbed. Most grubs feed on roots underground and some species can wreak havoc on the vegetable garden. Of the hundreds of beetles that may leave their grub progeny in garden plots, the most notorious is probably the Japanese beetle. Before you think about drenching the garden with poisonous insecticides, find out how many grubs are present and what kind they are.
Very few homes sit on perfectly level ground, making slopes an obstacle many home gardeners encounter. Planting on very steep slopes usually is not a good idea, and is even dangerous if your plants need any care that requires you to work on the slope. For less severe slopes, the main annoyance often is soil washing down the slope. As the top layers of soil erode, so too do many of the soil's life-sustaining minerals. Home gardeners can take several approaches to preventing this soil erosion. Established plants help curb such erosion, so the slope problem should lessen over time.
Flowering plants are divided into two main groups, which are the dicots, or magnoliopsida, and the monocots, or liliopsida. Though the clear difference between the two groups is often taken for granted, there are actually a variety of cases of plants blurring the lines between the two. There are, however, some basic rules for identifying which group a plant belongs to, that will work in most cases.
Biointenstive gardening focuses on efficiency and sustainability, striving to achieve the maximum yield from the smallest plot possible. This “less is more” approach seeks to cut back across the board, from land, water and fertilizer usage to actual human energy expenditure. Though there is no one right way to design a biointensive garden, most biointensive gardens follow certain near-universal design principles.
Making vegetable wax is ideal for people who prefer organic substances because the wax is biodegradable, nontoxic and extracted from vegtables. Soy wax, which is a soft vegetable wax made from the oil of soybeans, is well-known. Other examples of vegetable waxes include carnauba, candelilla and palm. Many plants, shrubs and trees yield waxes that can be extracted and used to make cosmetics, lotions, soaps, balms and candles. All vegetable waxes burn clean with reduced smoke and soot buildup and no pollutants. According to The AgWeek website, waxing also protects fruits and vegetables from losing moisture and helps prevent bruising…
Weeding is essential if you want to raise a healthy, productive vegetable crop. Some consider your own two hands to be the best gardening tools you have, as they have the ability to remove nutrient-stealing plants located close to your vegetables. In addition to your own appendages, there are many garden tools that will help keep your vegetable patch weed-free.
There are many messy chores associated with gardening. You need an area to trim injured plants, plant seeds and repot growing seedlings. In addition, it's useful to have a place to organize all your gardening tools. Fancy potting benches are available for a price. Often made of cedar, these workspace shelves can be used indoors or outside. If you're willing to work inside, in a garage or basement, you can create a garden workspace shelf from inexpensive materials.
Raised garden beds offer gardeners many benefits. They improve drainage, contain only good soil, are warmer and lift plants closer to the sun. Deciding what to build your raised beds out of can be a challenge. Wood is often the cheapest and most attractive option but doesn't stand up to insects, fungi and the elements for very long. Pressure-treated lumber lasts longer but can introduce harmful chemicals into your garden.
Useful garden structures add interest and beauty to the landscape. Arbors and archways make covered frames for gates and supports for climbing flowers. A rustic garden archway made from sapling trees and branches creates a natural look in any yard or garden. With a few simple hand tools and materials, you can build an interesting, attractive archway for a special occasion or to highlight the entrance to a garden.
Conifer or cone-bearing plants come in a vast array of sizes, shapes and colors. While many home landscapes include at least a few conifers, it's more unusual to see whole garden beds dedicated to these versatile plants. Well-designed conifer gardens include a variety of shapes and sizes of greenery, usually focused on one outstanding tree or shrub. Choose plants proportional to the size of your home and surrounding landscape, and your conifer garden will be a beautiful, integral part of your landscape design.
Vegetable gardens produce bright growth and blooms in the summer and fall, and can bring in abundant harvests for careful gardeners. All gardens require the right mix of sun, soil and water to produce, though, and also need good air movement and drainage. If you want a garden and can't provide a site with quick, efficient drainage, raise the soil level to keep the plants healthy and safe. Use recycled materials such as packing pallets to cover large areas and provide ready-made raised planting rows.
Raised beds work well if you have poor draining soil or problematic soil with weeds or fungus. They allow you to save space and grow vegetables on a hill where you might not be able to otherwise, and raised beds typically allow you to plant earlier in the season because the soil is warmer.
Nothing invites whimsy and childlike play in the yard like a garden swing. Gather the family together for a weekend project building a garden swing for your backyard. This simple swing provides an opportunity to introduce your kids to power tools and basic, DIY projects. Completed swings may be hung from a porch roof, a tree or a garden pergola. Whatever you choose, hang the swing where you have views of the flora in your home garden.
Designing and planting gardens and home landscapes take time, research and a healthy dose of personal taste. While some homeowners like the bright foliage and blooms of vegetable or flower gardens, others prefer the greenery of a lawn. People with an eye to lush, thick growth and orderly patterns prefer shrubs such as boxwood, which lend themselves to pruning and shaping. If an orderly, structured look fits your personal taste, design and plant a boxwood garden for formal, contained growth.
A raised bed is an ideal way to grow vegetables and other plants, particularly in a small space. Because you can continually add new organic material to the bed, without needing to till it in or dig up the ground, it requires less maintenance than a traditional garden. In addition, raised beds are usually easy to keep free of weeds. Raised beds that are created by mounding soil can erode, however, beds made with lumber or concrete blocks will hold in the soil.
A garden waterwheel adds charm and character to any small or medium-sized garden. This garden waterwheel uses simple materials and design for an easy do-it-yourself project. The waterwheel features a tiled A-frame roof to prevent deterioration from rain and weather, and PVC piping to avoid rust and corrosion. Position the waterwheel anywhere in the garden, as the water is fed through a hose and pump system rather than a natural stream. Use brightly colored exterior paint to give the waterwheel a durable finish.
A raw plot of land yields numerous opportunities for landscaping. Creating home gardens can be as simple as planting a few packets of flower seeds out the back door, to laying out exotic plants in formal geometrical designs. Spend some time thinking about what you want to grow, then add timbers to frame and shape your garden beds.
If you're frustrated with four-legged moochers eating your herbs and vegetables before you can, change the environment so rabbits and other snackers can't reach the food. Instead of planting herbs and small vegetables in a garden patch, create a hanging vertical wall of plants. The plants will be easy to care for, will have many fewer weeds, and will stay out of garden raiders' reach.
Giant vegetables are surreal, standing out as giants among typical produce. In addition to being a sight to behold, giant vegetables can also be lucrative. Giant vegetable contests are held yearly all over the world, allowing growers to show off their prized vegetables and enter them into size contests, where the winner could receive anything from notoriety to a cash prize. You can grow your own giant vegetables for contest purposes or just to show off to friends.
Extreme heat makes growing most vegetables difficult. However, there are ways working around it. Signs of heat stress in vegetables include bolting, loss of flowers or fruit, and disease such as blossom end rot on tomatoes. Savvy gardeners beat the heat with techniques that conserve soil moisture and cool the area around the plants, allowing their vegetable garden to thrive regardless of the temperature.
It's every gardener's fear: the site of little white spots on the leaves of their flowers, fruits and veggies, which are the telltale signs of stink bugs. Squash the little critters and the reason behind their name becomes all too evident. If you coat your garden in pesticides you risk harming your plants and the Earth. Use preventive practices and get rid of stink bugs naturally to keep your garden green.
To amend something means to make a positive change in it, and this includes how you change clay soil to make it more suitable for vegetable gardening. Of the four basic types of soil -- clay, sand, silt and loam -- clay is the densest and least permeable, meaning that water has a harder time moving through it than through any other type. Fortunately, that's not a permanent situation, and there are several things you can do to improve it.
Giving your home a makeover can be an invigorating and rewarding experience. Get ideas for home makeovers with help from an award-winning celebrity interior designer in this free video clip.
A vegetable cage is a support that keeps your vegetable plants upright. Some garden plants, such as tomatoes, need the support because their fruits are too heavy for the stems to hold. Other plants, such as some squash or beans, are vining and need the support to keep their fruits off the ground where they will rot. The cages also protect the plants from wind damage. You can make your own vegetable cage from concrete wire available at a local hardware store.
Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) is a finely bladed tropical turfgrass with a coarser texture than bermudagrass. It tolerates low mowing — as does bermudagrass — but it requires less nitrogen fertilizer and remains a darker shade of green. Its exceptional tolerance to salt allows it to thrive along coastal areas and it is popular in Texas, Florida and Hawaii. Seashore paspalum tolerates a wide range of soil textures and drainage capacities. In residential applications, it is typically established with sod or stolons.
Jasminum is the botanical name for the jasmine family. These vining plants are a common addition to gardens primarily because they provide a heady, sweet scent that adds to any landscape. Pick them in full bloom to bring the scent indoors. Growing jasmine doesn't take a lot of work -- they'll rapidly sprawl over rock walls, up fences and over trellises where you initially plant. Because trellises add beauty to the garden, you can place them almost anywhere to enjoy the sight and fragrance of the flowers.
