The Happy Garden - April 5, 2007

Volume 2, Number 14, April 5, 2007 (Read It Online) This week we have an article about Square Foot Gardening, tips from readers and more. I hope everyone is having success with their gardening. We would love to see what you are growing. Feel free to submit a photo here: Submit Photos of Your Garden Thanks for reading, Susan Send to a Friend! Submit Your Gardening Tips Submit Photos of Your Garden Submit a Gardening Request Edit Your Subscriptions: To edit your ThriftyFun subscriptions, click the Update Profile/Email Address link at the bottom of this newsletter. Today's newsletter contains: Photos: Valentine Collection of Tulips and Crocus Tips and Articles: The Basics of Square Foot Gardening All-American Rose Selections for 2007 Planting Time Keeping Squirrels Out of the Garden Growing Moss on Rocks CD Scare Crows Use An Old Mailbox for Garden Tools Luring Ladybugs Into Your Garden Teepees for Sugar Pea Vines Homemade Gardening Pots Saving Money on Garden Supplies and Equipment New Requests: Voles In My Vegetable Garden Foxtail Palms Damaged By Cold Fruit Tree Tips Yoshino Flowering Cherry Canadian Green Grass Feedback Mosquito Repellent Plants Today's Sponsor: Download Music from eMusic 25 FREE Downloads from eMusic. No Restrictions - Own Your Music! More Information: Click Here: http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1461546-10398362 Photos: Valentine Collection of Tulips and Crocus This is my Valentine collection of red tulips and white crocus. We just had a rain and then the sun came out. I love taking pictures with raindrops on the plants! They actually have bloomed for Valentine's Day once, now are a bit later. They are unique in that the bud starts way down in the heart of the leaves and works it's way up as it opens fuller. By Betty from Cowichan Bay, BC Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf38764608.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Tips and Articles: The Basics of Square Foot Gardening By Ellen Brown Square foot gardening is a concept so easy, yet so overlooked in lieu of more traditional row or mound gardens. It is less time consuming, less physically demanding, and uses less space and water. About the only tools required are a pencil or small piece of dowel (for making seed holes), and a lightweight, inexpensive trowel. It's also the one gardening technique that allows those physically challenged and wheelchair bound the opportunity to garden independently - without help from others. Read This Article: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf40575731.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print All-American Rose Selections for 2007 By Ellen Brown Founded in 1938, the All-American Rose Selections (AARS) is a non-profit association made up of rose producers and growers dedicated to introducing and promoting exceptional roses to the gardening public. This year's winners include a classic grandiflora named Strike It Rich, a vigorous floribunda dubbed Moondance, and a hardy, old-fashioned shrub rose called Rainbow Knock Out®. Read This Article: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf10139274.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Planting Time It's time to plant our gardens: Plant three rows of squash. Squash gossip Squash criticism Squash indifference Plant three rows of peas. Purity Patience Perseverance Plant six rows of lettuce. Let us be faithful to duty Let us be unselfish and loyal Let us search the scriptures Let us not be weary in well doing Let us be obedient in all things Let us love one another No garden is complete without turnips. Turn up for church, prayer service and scripture study. Turn up with a smile, even when things are difficult. Turn up with determination to do your best for God's cause. After planting, may you grow in grace and knowledge. Terri from Nevada Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf23449971.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Keeping Squirrels Out of the Garden To keep squirrels and other critters out of your garden get toy snakes, I get the ones at Walmart in the toy department for 88 cents. Put them in your garden and it scares the critters away. Be sure to move them around once in awhile, those critters are smart and will figure out they never move. You can also take green garden hose and make some "X's" (yes there are snakes that look like this) on it with black electrical tape, stick an old tennis ball on the end of the hose for a head and this works just as well. I love to stand in my window and watch the squirrels react, they evacuate to my front yard. By Tracey from Thomasville Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf15001484.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Growing Moss on Rocks Tips for growing moss on rocks. Moss Recipe I've never actually tried this, but I've been meaning to. Here is a recipe I've been told works well to give planters and rocks that aged look. Put a handful of whatever type of moss you want to grow into a blender with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and a can of cheap beer (or buttermilk) and mix it up just long enough for it to get thick and soupy. For the sake of your blender, try and remove as much dirt from the moss as you can. Use a paint brush to spread the mixture over items you want to grow moss on, including on the ground between stones in walkways and paths. Keep these items in the shade and mist them once in a while to keep then from drying out. In anywhere from a few months to a year you should start seeing some moss growth. I've also read you can paint plain yogurt directly onto planters and rocks and then rub those items with garden dirt containing moss spores. If you're not familiar with what moss spores look like, when they sprout up from the moss, they look like little bristles of hair with wheat seeds on the tips. By Ellen Brown http://www.sustainable-media.com/ Mix Moss And Buttermilk I read this somewhere and tried it and it actually does work. You go into the woods and collect moss from the ground or trees and you put it in a blender with buttermilk then pour the mixture on your rocks. I didn't like the idea of putting it my blender, so I put it in a jar and shook it and poured it on. The only problem I had was the rocks that got more sun, the moss would dry out and die. But if I kept it damp with the hose now and then it would survive. Not sure what makes it work unless it is the cultures in the buttermilk, but it worked for me. I hope it works for you. By Mividaloca291 Try Yogurt I was given a slightly different recipe. Blend a small amount of moss with plain yogurt, then spread the mixture on the item/area that you want the moss to grow. By Claudia - MD Post your own techniques below. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70210884.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print CD Scare Crows Use CDs to scare away the birds from your berries and crops. Take wire and make a U shaped piece, put it through the hole in the CD. On the other side of the cd, curl the ends of the wire so it works as a hanger and the wire won't go through the hole to make a hanger. Hang the CD from fishing line. The flashing will scare away the birds. It will hang at a 30 to 45 degree angle. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf461998.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Use An Old Mailbox for Garden Tools I probably saw this in a magazine, but a good way to use an old mailbox (the long kind that stands on the post at the end of the driveway) is to keep it on a post in your garden, and put your small hand tools, seeds, gloves, etc. inside of it for convenience. You can repaint the old mailbox with flowers, vines, veggies, whatever. It looks really cute! By Ness Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf001386.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Luring Ladybugs Into Your Garden By Arzeena Hamir Of all the insects in the garden, the ladybug is probably the most easily recognized. Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybirds, are a gardener' s best friend. Not only do they feed on insect pests, especially aphids, but their bright coloring also brings cheer into the garden. Read This Article: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf001355.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Teepees for Sugar Pea Vines I needed "teepees" for my sugar pea vines(good for green bean vines too) to grow up on and had no wooden stakes. Instead of going out and buying stakes,I turned my round, metal tomato cages upside-down and tied together the three legs to form a teepee.You could also use them as you would for tomatoes.(Three legs in the ground).By the time my tomatoes are needing staked up,the peas will be done and the cages ready to use again. Connie Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf001346.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Homemade Gardening Pots Instead of buying peat pots try this: Take a can or jar about the size of the pot you want to make and wrap strips of newspaper around it. Make sure the paper strips are long enough to go around the form several times and wide enough to hang over the bottom. Wrap paper around form tuck the hang over in towards the bottom of the form, overlapping and press all around. Staple seam to keep from unraveling and set in pan/tray before filling with soil and seeds. When ready to transplant just put in whole as is. The paper will decompose very quickly. Can't get cheaper! Mrs Kathy Cohen - Northfield, VT Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000799.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Saving Money on Garden Supplies and Equipment Here are some money saving tips on gardening equipment and supplies from the ThriftyFun community. Post your own here. Tools & Other Supplies I have two answers: the first is for cheap gardening. I always buy supplies and equipment after the growing season! Late Fall is the best time to buy all supplies for next season. Check your local home store for clearance items. I also share with a neighbor. She uses my equipment and vice versa. By Lisa Flea Markets Flea markets are good places to scour for used garden equipment. These are especially fun in August and September during small town harvest festivals. You can find piles of old farm and garden tools and other useful tidbits that even if a bit rusty, can be resurrected into service with a bit of oil and elbow grease. Also scout out estate sales and yard sales. If you need to use larger tools, like a roto-tiller or trimmer, consider renting them for a day or a weekend and splitting the cost with a friend or neighbor. Good tool maintenance practices will extend their life. Yard Sales When I moved into my first house, I didn't have any garden supplies at all. Since we had just closed, and money was tight (isn't it always) I went to yard sales looking for anything I could come across. I found lots of stuff, including a shovel, a pick, a pole saw, an axe and others. The pole saw was $10, but still a good deal (I got it at a flea market). The other stuff was $1 or $2. I also recall seeing spreaders (the kind you use to fertilize the lawn) for around $5. The trick is that you have to go real early on the first day of the sale. There were a couple of places that had yard tools advertised, but by the time we got there, they were already gone. Tony Compost, Tools and Seeds One thing you can do is have a compost pile. This makes good fertilizer, and really does enrich the soil. They have commercial bins you can buy, or, for a small pile just find a spot in the backyard. They are stinky, so be prepared for that. Cheepie small garden tools, hand trowels etc., work just about as well and for as long as their more expensive counterparts. You can pick them up at the grocery or drug store for about a dollar each. If you are planting seeds, there are opportunities for seeds from freebie sites on the web. There are hundreds of freebie sites, and most have ads for others. There are LOTS of free things available. MaryKaye Multi Use Tools, Plant Swaps And Other Ideas When I buy tools I try to buy one that will have multiple uses. For example, I don't use a spray bottle that contained fungicide for misting so I have to buy 2 spray bottles. But instead of buying a typical spade, I bought a shovel with a 12" long skinny blade, slightly rounded on the tip. It works great for general digging, edge, and post hole digging, like for my mailbox. Also, instead of buying replacement wood edging (flat on 2 sides, round on 2 sides, goes around flower beds) I will be taking an old edging post and make a mold in sand. Then I will make smaller edging pieces from cement. They will last much longer than treated wood. But they have to be made smaller, like 12" segments, because they are heavier. Also, I did not buy a pair of small pruners, because large pruners can be used for large and small jobs. But I did buy a pair of large pruners which can be sharpened by myself easily. We also have a local plant swap twice a year. Everyone brings plants to swap. If you want to take 4 plants, then you bring 4 of your own to swap. Every 5 minutes the coordinator announces it's time to pick 1 plant. We all go around and pick one plant we like. When everyone has their plant, we take another turn. There are always lots of plants left over that people just wanted to get rid of, so those are just freebies you can take. We also have lunch before the swap so people can browse what is there and what they want to pick first. This group has a Yahoo email group where you can request people to bring certain plants you like and they will just give it to you at the swap. They are very nice! I also save clear plastic bottles to be used as sun hats outside in the spring when the weather is a little cool. I can also use them to start seeds. I cut the top but not all the way off. I leave a little plastic to make a hinge and a little greenhouse. Then I put in dirt and seeds and keep it moist. A little 10:1 water:hydrogen peroxide solution keeps mold from growing. By Bulrush Read More Ideas: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000255.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Contest! Tip Contest Submit a Tip or Recipe! Photo Contest Submit a tip with photo! The above contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25! My Frugal Life Submit a My Frugal Life Essay! New Requests: Voles In My Vegetable Garden How do I get rid of voles in the vegetable garden? Ken from Baltimore, MD Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf38571407.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Foxtail Palms Damaged By Cold I have two foxtail palms that have suffered from this year's rough winter. All the fronds have died and I have cut them off. I then cut about 6" from the top of the stalk to see what it looked like inside. When I peel back the previous year's frond shaft, it's still fresh and fuzzy like it's alive, but I'm not sure. How do I know if my palms are going to recover or when it's time to remove them? Hardiness Zone: 9a Jasmine from Mobile, AL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37441578.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Fruit Tree Tips We have several apple, peach and pear trees and would like to know what to spray on them to prevent the apples from getting wormy and rusty and the pears from looking good but soft and mushy and bitter on the inside. They were not like that when we moved in our first year but since then they are useless as edible fruit. Can anyone help me? Hardiness Zone: 7a Thanks, Dora from Loretto VA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf79882589.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Yoshino Flowering Cherry Can anyone tell me what kind of cherries the flowering yoshino cherry tree provides? Hardiness Zone: 6a Rachel & Eric from OH Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf53828055.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Canadian Green Grass Feedback Who out there has used "Canadian Green Grass" with success? Who has had problems? Hardiness Zone: 7a Brenda55 from Stanfield, NC Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf42762311.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Mosquito Repellent Plants I am looking for plants that are good at repelling mosquitos in the tropics. Nicolas Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf520715.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit your request here: Click Here Today's Sponsor: Download Music from eMusic 25 FREE Downloads from eMusic. No Restrictions - Own Your Music! More Information: Click Here: http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1461546-10398362 More Stuff Seed Swap! Swap seeds with other ThriftyFun.com users. Submit a Request... Frugal solutions to everyday problems.