“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine with sweet musk – roses and with eglantine.” ~A Midsummer Night’s Dream The rose is one of the oldest flowers in cultivation and is still considered one of the most popular garden flowers today. […]
Grow Your Own Basil
I’m so excited to be sharing about growing basil. It’s one of the things that we’ve managed to not kill for years, and we use it constantly in our cooking! The basil you see in front of my daughter (and behind her, too) all started from a $3 plant from our HEB grocery store. Here’s […]
Growing Roman Chamomile
Roman chamomile has many of the same uses as the more popular German Chamomile. The visual differences are in size, growth rate, and growing style. Roman Chamomile is of the low growing, creeper variety. Much like mint, it will take over the space it is in and the surrounding area. The plants I have are […]
Growing Comfrey: A Natural Mulch Plant
If you were to create a list of the most important plants for a healthy garden, innocuous-looking comfrey would be high on that list. It might look like a leafy giant that pops up everywhere, but comfrey is an important herb, both for your health and the health of your garden. The plant has long, […]
How To Grow Italian Parsley
As Chris describes in her article The Benefits of Growing Parsley in Your Kitchen Garden, there are three basic types of parsley: curly, Italian parsley (also known as flat leaf), and Hamburg. Her article will provide you with a good introduction to the three types of parsley and some of the basics. But in this […]
DIY Raised Garden Bed
Last year, I asked Nick for a raised flower bed to replace the shale-lined, ground-level one at our house. It happened to be nice weather that weekend, so we gathered what we needed an went to town. Our bed’s outside measurements estimate at 3ft by 9ft and about a foot deep. Materials: Twelve 6ft landscaping […]
Cilantro: The Great Two-For-One Herb
Cilantro is like soccer: 30 years ago, it held almost no interest for Americans. However, as cuisines from Mexico and points south, as well as from Asia, became commonplace, cilantro found a place in American spice racks. Happily, it also found its place in our gardens, and it’s one of the easiest plants to grow! […]
What You Need to Grow a Successful Vegetable Garden
Almost anyone can grow a vegetable garden, but there are some things every vegetable garden will need to produce at full potential. Do you have the basics? Many people may be trying to slash their grocery budgets this year by supplementing their family’s good with a home vegetable garden. Make sure all the basics are […]
DIY Gifts For Giving the Homemade and Personal Touch
Whether you are trying to save money, or just want to give something artisan and personal, homemade gifts are popular again. They don’t have to be cheap looking either! Some of these DIYs are worth far more than cookie-cutter-same-ole widgets you can pick up at big box stores. DIY Gifts for Foodies If you have […]
Homemade Canned Apple Butter
On a recent visit to my grandmother’s house, I received a special canning request. My grandmother had a couple of apple trees that were full of ripe apples, and she wanted apple butter. Normally, my grandmother makes my family apple butter, applesauce, and canned apples, and she gives them to family members for Christmas. I […]
An Alternative to Halloween Treats: Grow Your Own Pumpkin Kits
We live in a Happening Halloween Neighborhood. On the street where I grew up, kids were few and far between. Not here in townhouse land. We get overwhelmed by Halloween visitors every year, and I’m often in a vague panic about running out of candy. This chaos is kind of fun, even though I’m not […]
Bread and Butter Pickles
I’ve been wanting to make my great-grandmother’s recipe for bread and butter pickles. Her recipe takes two full days to make. I think that’s a lot of work now, so I can’t imagine how it was done before refrigeration, fancy kitchen appliances, and most of all air conditioning. I decided to do a very similar […]
