Plant These Fun Veggies Your Kids Will Love to Eat Article From HouseLogic.com By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon Published: March 26, 2013 These nifty plants will entice your kids to eat more vegetables and will make gardening fun for the whole family. Win the eternal battle between kids and veggies by letting your little ones plant these child-friendly varieties in your garden (http://www.houselogic.com/outdoors/landscaping-gardening/gardens/). The more invested they are in the growing process, the more they'll want to eat the fruits (and veggies!) of their labor. Heirlooms: Heirloom (non-hybrid) veggies can grow in surprising colors and wacky shapes. Try: •Chocolate peppers •Watermelon radishes •Italian rose beans
As an added bonus: Heirloom plants and seeds can trace their ancestry back hundreds of years, so you can slip in some history while you're planting with your kids. Popcorn: Your kids can grow their own popcorn - specialty kernels with tough hulls and starchy centers that produce the pop! when heated. Japanese White hull-less and Robust Yellow hybrid are popular varieties. Grow in full sun and keep well-watered. Leafy greens: Greens provide almost instant gratification for kids. Little hands can scatter lettuce seeds anywhere and see tiny sprouts in about a week. In a month, help them cut the tops for a salad. In hot weather, the plants will bolt (kids will love how they suddenly shoot up), flower, and go to seed, which kids can harvest for planting next year. Pick mild, sweet varieties, such as iceberg, which are more likely to appeal to youngsters. For some extra fun, plant leafy greens in an old wheelbarrow or unused wading pool that's reserved as a garden space just for kids. Climbing peas: Kids will enjoy watching these vines climb up trellises. Some popular pea seeds: •Super Sugar Snap •China Snow •Mammoth Melting Sugar Plant in full sun as soon as the soil has thawed. Cherry tomatoes: Kids will gladly pop these sweet mini-tomatoes into their mouths straight from the vine. •Sweet 100 and Matt's Wild Cherry are particularly yummy and sweet.
•Sungold produces a golden-orange fruit. •Snow White is a pale yellow, almost white. •Jolly Elf is oblong with sweet, red fruits. Be prepared to stake or cage the plants, because they can grow 8 feet tall. And throw on some mulch so they don't dry out. Growing tomatoes can be tricky, so check out this helpful article, How to Grow Your Best Tomatoes Ever (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/plants-trees/how-grow-your-best-tomatoes-ever/). Pumpkins: What kid doesn't love a pumpkin? Large seeds are easy for kids to plant in little hills surrounded by plenty of open growing space: a single vine can stretch 30 feet. •Connecticut Field is the traditional jack-o'-lantern pumpkin. •Rouge Vif d'Etampes is the Cinderella coach pumpkin. •Musquee de Provence is a flavorful, deep-brown pumpkin with orange flesh. •Cucurbita maxima is the giant pumpkin that can top 500 pounds. Even if you can't get your kids to eat roasted pumpkin, they'll love the toasted and salted pumpkin seeds. Warning: never throw pumpkin pulp down the drain; it can wreck your disposal (http://www.houselogic.com/blog/plumbing/what-can-go-in-garbage-disposals/). Potatoes: If your kids like treasure hunts, they'll love to grow potatoes they can search for in late fall. As foliage grows, continue to add soil around the stems. Then, when the green parts die, let the kids get down and dirty digging up the spuds. Pizza fixings: Kids can grow oregano, basil, and thyme to spice up their pizzas. •Basil likes hot weather and well-drained soil. •Oregano self-seeds, so thin plants annually. •Thyme seeds are hard to germinate, so avoid frustration and plant seedlings. Want more veggie gardening tips? You can find free seeds for your veggie garden (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/gardens/free-vegetable-seeds/) right in your own kitchen. Veggie gardening newbies will want to avoid making these rookie gardening mistakes (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/gardens/growing-vegetable-garden-rookie-mistakes/). By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon
Published: May 09, 2012
Even the best vegetable gardeners can forget basics and make rookie mistakes. Here are 7 no-nos to avoid. Even if your vegetable garden is the envy of neighbors, it's still easy to make rookie mistakes that waste precious resources and growing time.
Avis Richards, whose Ground Up Campaign teaches New York City school kids how to grow their own food, reveals the rookie mistakes that all gardeners should avoid.
1. Unwise watering. Too much, too little, too hard, too soft - they're all watering mistakes that'll wreck your garden. Before adding water (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/saving-water/how-to-save-water-when-gardening/), poke a finger a couple of inches into the soil. If it's moist, save the water; if it's dry, train a gentle spray at the base of plants. Better yet, wind a drip hose ($13 for 50 feet) through your garden; that way, you'll deliver moisture to the roots without wasting water on leaves and to evaporation.
2. Forgetting to test. Even veteran gardeners forget to test their soil every year to make sure it has the pH and nutrients plants need. For about $10, you can send a sample to your state extension service (http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/) and receive a complete analysis. Or, buy a DIY test kit at your local garden center. When you know what your soil is made of, either select plants that thrive in that type of earth, or amend soil to match your garden's needs.
3. Planting garden divas. Of course you love summer tomatoes, but they can be tricky to grow during summers that are too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. So newbies should try growing a couple of tomato plants just for fun, then load gardens with foolproof veggies and herbs, such as beans, peppers, oregano, and parsley. If you must grow a tomato, plant cherry tomatoes that can survive anything summer can throw at them and even yield fruit into fall.
4. Raising too much. One cherry tomato plant can yield 80 fruit, and a single zucchini plant can keep your neighbors in zucchini bread through winter. So don't plant more than you can eat, put up, or share with friends. The National Gardening Association (http://www.garden.org/) says an edible garden (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/plants-trees/save-money-your-edible-garden/) of about 200 sq. ft. should keep a family of four in veggies all summer. If you do grow more than you need, donate it to a local food bank or plan a swap with fellow gardeners.
5. Growing everything from seed. Some crops, such as salad greens, radishes, carrots, peas, beans, and squash, are easy to grow from seeds that germinate in a couple of weeks. Experience will tell you that eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes are better grown from seedlings, which someone else has nurtured for months. Pick plants that are short and compact; avoid leggy plants with blooms that are liable to die on the vine as the plant acclimates itself to your garden.
6. Assuming you know. Gardeners often read seed packages and figure they know everything about growing vegetables. Wrong! The more you know about your hardiness zone (http://www.houselogic.com/blog/gardens/hardiness-zone-map/), soil, weather, insects, and vegetable varieties, the better your garden will grow. So curl up with a good gardening book, and surf the web for garden bloggers that share your passion. Better yet, join a gardening club where you can share tips and seeds.
7. Relying on pesticides. Don't bring out the big guns, which can contaminate the watershed, until you've tried less-toxic ways to get rid of garden pests (http://www.houselogic.com/maintenance-repair/pest-control/). Ladybugs and praying mantis, which you can buy at garden supply stores, will eat garden intruders, such as aphids and beetles. Non-toxic insecticidal soaps will take care of soft-bodied insects (don't use if ladybugs are around). Have you made any rookie mistakes? Got a tip for your fellow newbie gardeners? Let's hear it! Are You Making These 7 Rookie Mistakes in Your Vegetable Garden?
Article From HouseLogic.com
How Does Your Garden Grow?
If your home smells a little stale or stinky, here are a few plants to freshen things up naturally.
If you're looking for some natural alternatives to heavy-duty commercial deodorizers, try plants and herbs that you can grow in your kitchen or garden to give your home a fragrant boost. Here's our list of herbal nose pleasers. FYI, for best results, put plants around your home. But if that's not possible, you can fill small vases with sprigs or stems of your choice throughout your house.
•Scented geraniums: This member of the herb family is incredibly fragrant, plus there
are dozens of varieties that come in different scents. Some smell like chocolate, orange, and even nutmeg.
•Anise hyssop: If you love the smell of licorice, the leaves and flowers on thisplant are both heavily scented and edible.
•Basil: This herb known for making recipes sing is available in a wide range of scented varieties, like lemon or lime.
•Mint: Mint has a fresh, clean, potent scent that makes it perfect for the kitchen (http://www.houselogic.com/home-improvement/rooms/kitchens/) or bathroom (http://www.houselogic.com/home-improvement/rooms/bathrooms/).
•Lavender: Not only is this a beautiful herb to look at, but most folks think its sweet, deep scent is divine. Plus, if you keep some growing in your garden, it makes a great deer deterrent (http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/pest-control/deer-repellents-for-home/). Fragrant Plants That Will Keep Your Home Smelling Good
Article From HouseLogic.com
By: Deirdre Sullivan Published: September 26, 2012