This visual guide to herb identification makes identifying herbs a snap. How well do you know the names of the fresh herbs? Many herbs look quite similar, so it’s easy to be confused. Do you often ask yourself – “What herb is this?” I can’t tell you how many times I have come back from …
Every morning I take a garden walk to see what is growing and what needs tending. Today, I spent the morning deadheading daylilies. I have clumps of daylilies – hemerocallis – that have naturalized into plants with numerous blooms on them. Some of them have 12 or 13 blooms out in a day. Since daylily …
Gloriosa lily (gloriosa rothschildiana) is a climbing tender perennial that is sure to catch the eye of anyone who likes dramatic flowers. The flame-colored red flowers have scalloped yellow edges and swept back petals. If you have a bare trellis or a wall in your garden that needs spicing up, plant gloriosa and prepare yourself …
I have a new favorite flower – it’s my beautiful mandevilla vine! This stunning plant is now covered with gorgeous pink flowers that have been blooming for months and shows no signs of slowing down. One of my favorite places to sit outside during the summer in on my back deck overlooking my garden beds. …
The gardens are booming right now and many of my readers ask “why are my cucumbers turning yellow, round and deformed?” It could be the result of avoiding some common vegetable gardening problems, or might be another issue. Let’s see if we can figure out why this happens! Cucumbers are a popular warm season vegetable. …
This homemade pasta sauce is made with both pork and beef for a meaty spaghetti sauce that your family will ask for again and again. It is the ultimate topping for any type pasta. This is a recipe that has been a favorite with my family for one reason – it tastes amazing! I have …
I have been making this roasted tomato pasta sauce for years. It is rich and chunky and one of the best tasting homemade spaghetti sauces I have ever tried. The recipe is just full of flavor. The key ingredient to the taste and texture of the sauce is that I use roasted garden tomatoes. I …
If you like the cottage gardening style, you will likely have a cutting garden. A common question from readers of my blog asks “how to keep cut flowers fresh?” When you purchase a bouquet of flowers from a florist or specialty shop, it will likely have a package of flower food attached. But what about …
Trying to control squash bugs can seem like an insurmountable task when you find them in your vegetable garden. If you grow zucchini or squash, you may be familiar with trying to deal with a squash bug infestation. These bugs can do a huge amount of damage, particularly to new plants. Young seedlings and plants …
I love watermelons. They are sweet, juicy, messy to eat, and remind me of summer like nothing else does. Did you know that there are many watermelon varieties which you probably haven’t even heard of? How many varieties of watermelon are there? More than 50 watermelon varieties are grown around the world. Because of the …
Onions are a vegetable that I use almost every day in recipes. Growing onions at home is easy, as long as you have a sunny garden spot and a patient nature. Onions are a cool weather crop. Get started early on your planting and you will be enjoying fresh onion bulbs by the middle 0f …
After a long winter where not much is growing in the garden, it’s nice to have an early crop that likes the cold. Growing sugar snap peas gives the gardener a much anticipated outdoor task to do at this time of the year. Peas like cool temperatures and have a tendency to fade out when …
Bay Leaf plants are slow growing trees with leaves that are used as seasoning in cooking. It is also known as bay laurel, sweet bay and simply laurel. If you enjoy growing herbs, this is a great one to try, since it has a very aromatic flavor. Bay leaf plants are a member of the …
This creamy shrimp pasta with broccoli has a velvety parmesan cheese sauce that is light but still comforting. It is full of flavor and easy to put together. The dish is colorful to look at and only takes about 15 minutes to get it on the table. Combining shrimp with pasta gives a lovely delicate …
If you are looking for an easy to grow vegetable that ranks right up there in popularity with tomatoes, try growing green beans. Growing string beans is so easy that even gardeners with a brown thumb will be successful. The key is to wait until the ground is nice and warm. Even kids can get …
Growing tulips is a treat for gardeners who love a big splash of color in the spring. No plant ushers in the start of warm weather in a more dramatic way than tulips, so it is worth going the extra mile to have them growing in your garden. Tulips, native to Turkey and then imported …
My version of a healthy granola is packed with flavor, uses whole grains and nuts and is naturally sweetened to make it better for you. Normal store bought granola is delicious and a great breakfast recipe, but is often filled with fat and high in calories. Top this healthier granola with your favorite soy or …
This curried carrot soup makes a wonderful and luxurious starter to a healthy meal. The recipe uses tofu, scallions and vegetable broth and is very easy to make. I’ve recently adopted a vegan diet along with my daughter Jess. The original recipe for carrot soup had lots of butter and cream, so we had to …
These cooking tips for perfect hard boiled eggs will make sure that your eggs are perfectly cooked and that they will peel easily, every time. I love hard boiled eggs. They are great to use in egg salad sandwiches, make a perfect snack or party appetizer with a hint of salt, and are wonderful when …
Covering drainage holes in pots is a necessary evil. Without something to cover the hole in the bottom of your planter, the soil will eventually wash out of the pot through the hole in the planter and the plant will settle. This also means that your furniture will take a beating. Planters without drainage holes …
Believe it or not, this easy raised garden bed can be completed in a couple of hours. Once you have the supplies on hand, most of the work comes from cutting and staining the boards. If you have a very uneven ground area, you’ll need to add an hour for leveling the wall supports. Other …
If you have never tried to grow sweet potatoes before, you are in for a treat. Starting sweet potato slips is easy to do and lots of fun. Slips are the rooted sprouts that grow from an actual mature sweet potato. They are used to grow new sweet potato plants. Growing sweet potato slips is a …
This DIY Pen Roll is the perfect way to send off your child with a fun looking case to hold all of their pens. The summer gives us a chance to recharge and spend some time with families, since most kids have time off through the summer months. But it’s also a time for thinking …
These 20 creative uses for extra large silicone ice cube trays show that they are not just for making ice! If you eat and drink out much, you may have noticed a new trend that has taken over the food and drink industry. The ice cubes are getting larger and larger. Large ice cubes are …
Do you use baking soda for plants? Baking soda in the garden can be used in lots of different ways. Many of us think of baking soda in conjunction with various indoor “green cleaning” techniques. It has so many uses in the house, that it makes sense that it will work outdoors too. We all …
These Easter egg hunt clues for an older child will help your teenager enjoy a more challenging Easter hunt than a typical one where you just hide Easter eggs. A fun thing to do at Easter is to have your child build an Easter basket with clues. It turns an ordinary holiday egg hunt into …