I love fresh lemony smells, and lemon balm just makes me happy. It's wonderful with chamomille as an evening tea. I've also used it for bath tea... you just crush it, stuff it into a muslin bag, tie the bag shut, hang it under the water spout while the tub fills, and then let it soak in the...
I don't think it's milkwort, but I really don't know southeast plants well at all yet.
I hope the master gardener guys are at the farmer's market next weekend so I can take them more samples! They are either going to start a) rubbing their hands together with glee or b) start running for the...
You are so awesome for including those kids in your garden. Playing with animals, growing things, and eating things you've grown are the most magical things a kid can do.
Maybe approaching a community or school garden from a nutritional standpoint would help get things rolling? There may...
I think the false dandelion in those photos is catsear. Supposedly it is edible... BUT it can make horses sick if they eat too much, and I don't know anybody who does eat it. Needless to say, I'm suspicious. I'm nowhere near as big as a horse. :lol:
No freaking way... I am totally in love with your rain barrel setup! I have rain barrels on my wish list, so I'm hoping for a couple at Christmas. Now I'm actually GLAD that I haven't gotten them yet, because I can put the platform & pump on my wishlist, too. If I show my husband the mounted...
So last year, I noticed these strap-leaved plants growing around the yard. I started watering some of them to encourage them to grow because I thought they were so pretty. Then they bloomed! Adorable 1" little green flower heads at the top of 8-12" stalks with little sputnik-like rings of...
Just a follow up; I didn't want to scare anyone out of trying to harvest dandelions, and thought this might make folks feel better about being sure their dandelions are the real deal:
These are dandelion. Sharply and deeply serrated leaves with no hair and non-branching flower stalks...
Y'all rock! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks plant ID is fun. :lol:
Answering questions & observations:
1. I think this is as big as it gets- 3" tall and about 6" in diameter. It grows in little carpets and starts out with the center leaves curled into little tubes. I don't...
You have a perfect front porch! A woodland theme would be beautiful. A dogwood just to the left corner of the porch would give it height without being too heavy. The posts would look lovely with dainty woodland vines climbing up them. Maybe hostas and ferns mixed with forget-me-nots...
I have some natives in my yard that I'm curious about. All of them are growing in sunny meadow or lawn-like areas with acidic clay soil. Anyone?
1. This one grows in clusters, is about 3" tall, and looks much more silvery than in the pic.
2. This one grows in clumps and gets about...
patandchickens
Actually water chestnuts and taro are exactly what I was thinking of!
I really don't want to use a kiddie pool. When I think of artificial ponds, I think of those rigid black pond forms and the black plastic pond liner that Anny mentioned, but I was kind of hoping someone...
Just a side note of caution:
Pennyroyal doesn't mix with pregnant women. If anyone in the family is pregnant, they shouldn't work with the plant themselves, and others like yourself or granddaughter who may have touched the plant quite a bit should wash well before getting too close to them. :)
I read Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toesnmeier several weeks ago and can't get the siren song of some of those water vegetables out of my head. The book had some photos of a vegetable water garden that was grown in a plastic kiddie pool, and I thought about maybe building a small pond just for...
I love rose hip tea! It has a really happy, fruity taste. Rose hips are supposed to be anti-inflammatory. I don't recall seeing this printed anywhere, but an elderly friend of my folks said that they are a blood purifier, too. I was pretty young at the time and she may have been pulling my...
For the summer, you'll want to use a thin layer of straw. If you have old straw, that's best. You just want enough to keep the fruit from actually touching the soil & spoiling.
Ideally, you'll want to start getting your straw in the mid/late summer and put it somewhere else where you don't...
I second the recommendation for beans & marigolds with potatoes. They also *look* pretty in combination (marigolds around the edges, then potatoes, then bush beans, then runner beans). I've been thinking about making a child's teepee garden with this combination so our son would have a little...
I like the book. I even got it for my mom for mother's day.
This book is right up my alley, philosophy-wise. I quit eating fast food when I started high school in the 80's, and I've been into petrochemical-free gardening and farmer's marketing since college in the 90's. I'll probably read...
Dandelion greens get bitter with age, so stick with the young leaves. Folks think of dandelion as a spring green because there are lots of young greens then. Mine never make it past a mixed salad, but I know folks who steam them lightly. Also, roots collected in the spring can be sauteed with...