Get Busy Gardening!

I Have a Greenhouse!!

2012-02-16T20:56:00.003-06:00

I've always dreamed of having a greenhouse. Well, this year my dream has become a reality; my husband has built me a greenhouse and I'm thrilled! Here's a picture I took of the main materials he used to build the greenhouse. It was hard to believe in only a few short days, these simple items would be my greenhouse! Greenhouse materials We researched building a greenhouse and looked at many

Winter Sowing Status Report #2

2012-02-12T13:43:00.000-06:00

The weather here in Minnesota actually feels like winter lately. Plus, the large envelope of seeds I was waiting for came this week, so I was able to get more winter sowing done! Here's what I started this week... Filling containers Turnip purple top Arikara sunflower Greek radish Radish mix Anise hyssop Peppermint Brussels sprouts Sage Salsify Mustard red frills Calendula 'radio extra'

Houseplant pests series part 5: Whiteflies

2012-02-10T18:58:00.001-06:00

Last winter, I started a blog series about common houseplant pests. So far, I have written about soil gnats, spider mites, mealybugs and aphids. Today I'm going to talk about whiteflies. Whiteflies are easy to identify, the adults will fly around when the leaves of the infested plant are disturbed. Whitefly adults and eggs on underside of leaf You probably won't even notice the infestation

Plants in Mexico

2012-02-09T11:26:00.001-06:00

We took a trip to Mexico a few weeks ago, and it was paradise. As usual, I was drooling over the plants; amazed by the sheer size of what I call "houseplants" here in Minnesota (my houseplants are pathetic compared to these beauties). Here are some pictures I took during my trip... This first picture is of several types of philodendrons growing up some trees. The philodendrons look to be almost

Free Seed Giveaway #1: The Winner Is...

2012-02-07T18:01:00.000-06:00

Thanks again to all of you who participated in this round of the free seeds giveaway! I'm excited to see so many winter sowers this year. It's only the first round and the number of containers sown by all of us so far is already up to 356 WOOHOO! Free seeds! Ok, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The winner of the first seed giveaway drawing is... Random.org Raven (Jennifer)

Winter Sowing Status Report #1

2012-02-02T19:20:00.002-06:00

The winter sowing season is in full swing, and I've finally had a chance to get started! I spent most of my time cleaning and preparing containers, and sorting my seeds. Whew. Now that I've gotten everything organized, I should be able to get the rest of my containers sown in no time. This week, I sowed 13 containers, here's the list... Broccoli Cauliflower Kohlrabi Carrot Danvers Carrot White

Succulent Propagation During The Winter

2012-02-01T18:30:00.001-06:00

Succulents are extremely easy to propagate in the summer. All you have to do is stick the cutting in dirt and walk away. It's so easy that sometimes they don't even need your help; leaves that fall from the plant will root themselves. Succulent plant But during the winter, it's a different story. This time of year succulents are in a dormant state, and getting them to root is much more

Inspiration From a First Time Winter Sower

2012-01-30T22:29:00.000-06:00

I recently received an email that made my day and I wanted to share with all of you! The email was from one of the winners of my winter sowing seed giveaway contest from last year. Here is the post she wrote last year after winning my contest, complete with a picture of the seed prizes I sent her... Mother of Pearls & an Emerald Winter 2011 Giveaway Winner. Michele's prize from last years

Melting Snow to Water Houseplants

2012-01-28T13:34:00.001-06:00

Rain water is the best type of water to use on houseplants. In the summer, I use the water from my rain barrels and my houseplants love it. Three buckets and a shovel Unfortunately, during the winter the water in my rain barrels would be frozen solid if I left them out. So, as an alternative I melt snow during the winter - which is just as good as using rain water. When I first heard

Winter Sowing Free Seed Giveaway

2012-01-24T18:13:00.005-06:00

Last year, I had drawings for free seeds throughout the winter sowing season. The giveaways were a huge success, so I've decided to do it again this year! Winter sown containers If you've never heard of winter sowing, you're missing out! Start by clicking here to check out what it's all about. (Note: You don't have to winter sow to win free seeds, please continue reading to see all the ways

Easy Seed Envelopes

2012-01-18T17:00:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite activities in the fall is collecting seeds from my garden. I use these seeds to grow my annuals and vegetables every year, which saves me tons of money. I also love to share my seeds with friends, and use them to trade for other seeds. For this, I like to make my own envelopes out of scrap paper to save the cost of buying them. It's a fun way to share or store seeds. Here is

Wacky Weather

2012-01-16T17:36:00.000-06:00

Birdhouse by deck It's been feeling like spring here in Minnesota lately. Yesterday people were outside without jackets, and this morning the birds were happily chirping as I walked into work. I don't remember a January where it was this mild; we're breaking all kinds of records. Maybe Mother Nature feels guilty about being so cruel to us last year. Last winter was exactly the opposite,

Keeping Houseplants Happy During The Winter

2012-01-11T22:26:00.001-06:00

Many avid gardeners turn to indoor gardening during the winter when they can't work outside. Indoor gardening during winter gives us the satisfaction of nurturing plants, being surrounded by greenery, and getting our hands dirty. Ficus tree But in the dead of winter when the days are short and the house is dry, indoor gardening can quickly turn into a huge chore. The humidity level and the

Winter Gardening Tasks

2012-01-07T15:58:00.002-06:00

Now that the busy holiday season is over, it's time to start thinking about gardening again. Unless you live somewhere warm, you won't be digging in the gardens any time soon. But there are several things you can do now to start preparing for spring. Winter garden area Design a new garden space - Now is a great time to start planning next years gardens. Start gathering ideas by searching

Winter Solstice - Let The Winter Sowing Season Begin

2011-12-21T00:01:00.001-06:00

Today is the winter solstice here in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year. Now our days will slowly start to get longer and longer until spring is finally here! Winter Sown Containers in snow Another great thing about today - most winter sowers consider the winter solstice the first official day of the winter sowing season. Woohoo! It's been too warm here in Minnesota for

Winter Interest And Food For The Birds

2011-12-17T15:20:00.001-06:00

Plants for winter interest When I first started gardening, I used to cut down all of my perennials and annuals in the fall. I never gave any thought to winter interest or potential food for the birds. As my gardens expanded and I had more and more plants, I started leaving many of the taller plants in the garden for winter interest. (When everything is covered by snow, the landscape looks

Kombucha Tea

2011-12-15T20:36:00.006-06:00

Warning, this is not a post about gardening. This is something I recently discovered and I think it's really cool so I wanted to share with you. Hopefully you'll forgive me for deviating from the topic of gardening for a few minutes. A few weeks ago, I posted about our wine making experience. In that post I talked about how cool and interesting the chemistry of making wine was... well here we

2011 Garden Reflection

2011-12-13T18:18:00.000-06:00

Perennial Garden area Last year, I wrote a garden reflection post. I want to keep up that tradition and do the same thing this year. Gardening is a constant learning experience. Even if you could do things exactly the same every time, mother nature may have different plans - things will always be different. This year, I will start by following up on my "what didn't work so well" list

Succulents As Houseplants

2011-12-11T12:28:00.001-06:00

Succulents are by far my favorite type of plant. They are easy to maintain, easy to propagate, unique and beautiful! They make excellent houseplants. Aloe Vera Succulents are a low maintenance plant, which is especially nice during our long, dry Minnesota winters. They store water in their leaves, so they can go much longer between watering than other types of houseplants. Most are more

The Story Behind My Blogs Name

2011-12-07T20:41:00.001-06:00

A fellow garden blogger posted a fun question the other day on her blog. She asked other bloggers - what is the story behind your blog name? I really loved this post and had fun reading other bloggers stories. I decided to join in and write a quick post about how I came up with the name for my blog, here is my story... Me - busy in the garden When I decided to start a blog, I was excited to

Making Wine

2011-12-06T21:45:00.001-06:00

I've had this blog post in my drafts folder for a few months. I started writing it, got busy and never got around to finishing it... until now... Grapes on the vine Two years ago, we planted a couple grape vines in our backyard. This year is the first year they have produced grapes for us. My husband was excited to try making wine. We knew nothing about making wine so we headed to our local

Lasagna Gardening

2011-12-01T18:46:00.001-06:00

I have a garden area that I've been wanting to expand for a while now, but have been procrastinating because I dread the effort it will take to get started. Ugh, it's so much work. Perennial Garden The hardest part about starting a new garden is clearing away the sod or weeds that are currently growing there. In my case, we have thick, lush sod - which looks beautiful but is a major pain to

5 Easy Annuals to Grow From Seed

2011-11-20T20:50:00.000-06:00

Every year I grow several types of annual flowers. The types of plants I grow always changes, but there are a several annuals that are staples in my annual gardens. For those annuals, I collect seeds every fall and sow the seeds every spring. I thought it would be fun to write a top five list of annuals that are easy to grow from seed. There's no order to this list or specific reason why I chose

Don't Be So Quick To Repot That Houseplant

2011-11-17T21:37:00.000-06:00

It's always exciting to get a new houseplant, especially when the gardening season is over. The plant is lush and green and you have the perfect spot for it. The first thing you'll do when you get it home is repot it into a decorative pot. New plants in ugly nursery pots Yep, I used to do the same thing. For some reason I felt like repotting a plant as soon as I got it home was just one of

Last Harvest of the Season

2011-11-16T12:54:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's mid-November and I am writing this post. Our spring was crappy, but our fall has been great. Normally, I'm done harvesting most stuff by the end of September - early October. But this year, my last harvest was on November 13th. WOW! Honestly, I probably could have left most of this stuff in longer, but we needed to get the garden cleaned out and ready for winter before it