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Showing posts with label Garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garden. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Food Garden Friday - Buncha Berries
Here's an update on an area of my yard that has an array of berries growing. They are already delicious, I've already picked quite a few.
Worth noting is the fact that, while the seeds I purchased claimed 'thornless', my eyes do not deceive me or you, since this video clearly shows thorns all up and down this plant!
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Illuminate - Twinkle Trio
I created three new fairy gardens recently. If you're not new here, you know I can create my fairy gardens quickly and with very little cash because I have an inventory of decor at my disposal. So, while one container can be planted with a setting of plants, it can be changed up by adding new decor. Taking it even further, you can add lights to a miniature garden to add ambiance and a few extra hours of enjoyment after the sun clocks out.
Here are three of my most recent container gardens amplified by the faint glow of dispersed fairy lights as well as inner lighting. Some fairy houses I've purchased come with the ability to be lit up, furthering the fantasy that this is indeed an inhabitable dwelling with the indoor lights on, shining out through the windows. It adds an extra charm to it all, don't you think?
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Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Challenge Accepted - Sunflower Challenge 2019, Update 1
#SunflowerChallenge2019 is off to a great start!
The video will show you the progress these seeds have made in the last two weeks, including adding a new variety of sunflower; Dwarf Teddy Bear. I've seen a handful of others participating in this challenge that have planted this variety so I thought I'd give it a go. Some seeds weren't doing great so I've added some more seeds in the hopes that I can get some sprouts going before I put them in the ground.
The video will show you the progress these seeds have made in the last two weeks, including adding a new variety of sunflower; Dwarf Teddy Bear. I've seen a handful of others participating in this challenge that have planted this variety so I thought I'd give it a go. Some seeds weren't doing great so I've added some more seeds in the hopes that I can get some sprouts going before I put them in the ground.
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Challenge Accepted - Great Garden Experiment, Update 1
It's time to report on my success in the Great Garden Experiment Challenge. Carrots are sprouting! The seeds in the container are doing great and I'm even seeing life from the seeds in the ground, planted in my new raised flower bed. I am grateful for the heavy rain we've been getting here in Southern California.
I'm having a little more trouble with the Three Sisters method since I can't tell what is a bean sprout and what is marigold, but I'm confident that in just a few weeks I'll be able to figure it out and hopefully see even more growth. I'm pleased that the corn is showing the most growth. Again, thank the heavens for all this rain!
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Food Garden Friday - Bed For Berries
This was a recent project I started for my food garden. I cleaned up the area and created a raised bed with cinder block borders to plant my favored Golden Berries and a tomato variety. I haven't decided yet what to plant in the holes of the cinder blocks, but that will be figured out in the future.
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Saturday, May 11, 2019
Food Garden Friday - April Showers
Unfortunately my carrot and brussel sprouts are showing no signs of life, but the rest of this area is doing quite well, especially the radish. I've never been a huge fan of radish but I have read about a radish soup which I am ready to research and try.
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Challenge Accepted - Sunflower Challenge 2019
As if one garden challenge wasn't enough this year, here is another. It involves sunflowers, which I love, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to invite a variety of sunflower into my garden! This challenge was presented by Nick's Allotment Diary and contains three categories, all of which I plan to get involved in:
1. Tallest Sunflower
2. Biggest Seed Head
3. Most Unusual
2. Biggest Seed Head
3. Most Unusual
By using #SunflowerChallenge2019, you can search other entrants. I planted my seeds on April 30 and have until October 1 to let these beauties bloom.
My entries for most unusual will be Velvet Queen, Italian White and Autumn Beauty Mix. Entries for biggest seed head and possibly tallest will be American Giant Hybrid, Pike's Peak and Mammoth.
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Homegrown, Homemade: Okroshka Twist
According to Wikipedia, Okroshka is a traditional Russian cold soup that can be prepared many different ways. It mostly consists of vegetables which is why I thought it'd be a good recipe to try with fresh finds in my garden. I used radish and green onion picked that very morning from my own yard.
In addition, I purchased the rest of the ingredients at the local market. I did some searching online for recipes and picked a little from here, a little from there. My soup will not be traditional since I don't have access to the traditional ingredients, but here is what I ended up using.
Okroshka
5 radish, diced
1 cucumber, skinned and diced
2 green onions, diced
8oz cooked ham, diced
2 russet potatoes, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced
2 sprigs dill
2 cups sour cream
2 cups mineral water
salt to taste
I know traditionally the only thing in this soup that is cooked is the egg and meat, but I really do not like raw radish or onion, so I threw them in the frying pan with the potatoes to cook them down as I boiled the eggs. Let everything cool.
The sour cream and mineral water were then mixed and all other ingredients tossed in. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving. For the pleasure of my own taste buds, I added a dash of red pepper chili flakes.
This soup was surprisingly good considering the "broth" is mineral water and sour cream (which I honestly had very little faith in). This would be a wonderful Summer dish and I plan to make it again, this time with homegrown cucumbers and dill since they'll be ready by then.
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Saturday, April 20, 2019
A Collection of Up-cycles
Here's a collection of some new things that have come into my garden recently. Just wanted to give a bit of a tour.
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Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Local Happenings: Green Scene Expo 2019
Another year, another Green Scene Expo trip with my best friend! Last year my blog post focused more on the vendors and items being sold, so this year, while I did purchase items and enjoyed the vendor section, I decided to focus more on the natural beauty of the Fullerton Arboretum.
This walkway is lined with seating and covered with beautiful flowers, making it a great spot to relax, take in the beauty and enjoy the company of your friends and nature.
The Fullerton Arboretum boasts over 26-acres of botanical gardens. I was able to manage walking the paths for at least 1.5hrs and still didn't walk them all.
The array of colors this time of year is fabulous! There are so many different plants, over 4,000 plants, making it the largest botanical garden in Orange County.
While walking near the lake, people were pointing at the water with 'ooh's and 'ahh's. At first I wasn't sure what they were seeing, until I stood still and looked hard. There were itty bitty baby turtles swimming around! There was a whole bunch of life under the surface that I may have missed if there weren't others pointing. I also saw that there was a collection of turtles on a log which I initially thought were a pile of rocks. In the photo above, there is also a family of ducks. What a great photo opportunity!
I saw these flowers and have decided this is a plant I want in my yard. Can any of My Fairy Folks help me to identify it?
Unfortunately, while I was at this event, I did learn that the future of the Fullerton Arboretum may be in danger. I was hoping to tour the Clark House but had run out of time, and now I hope it will still be there next year (if they continue to do this event, of course). I found a news article about the situation online. If you'd like to read it, click here.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Lillies Under the Lamp Post
I've decided this Spring I'll be planting some bulbs. I've started with two types of Lillies in this unique lamp post planter. I've also added an update to my strawberry container garden at the end.
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Saturday, March 23, 2019
New Life in the Garden - Coco
The newest addition to our garden is baby Coco, already with a health appetite. I found her gumming on some chard. I also discovered some colorful eggs in a nest which I'm interested to see what comes out of that.
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Food Garden Friday - New and Resurfacing
Here's a bit of an update on my Food Garden. I still have some cleaning up to do but I wanted to show the Poppies that have reseeded that will help me establish my Food Forest, as well as the new plants I put in. And stick around til the end of the video when I reveal my new contest through YouTube.
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Thursday, March 21, 2019
Colorful First Day of Spring 2019
I'm absolutely loving the beauty I get to look at every day when I come out to my garden. Since Spring is officially here, I thought I'd tour a bit of the best and brightest in my yard with this video.
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Friday, March 15, 2019
Food Garden Friday - Rough Around the Edges
As I've said many times over the last few months, Southern California has received quite a bit of rain - much more than usual. This is absolutely wonderful for my garden but coupled with recovering from my surgery, I haven't been able to keep up with it!
Oh my, what a mess! There's so much over grown, dead and alive and so little time! However, now is the time I return to my garden. The dead things need to be removed, the live things need to be tamed and there needs to be some method to this madness!
The photos above are of the same area. The left is when I first created the area and planted so many lovely edible greens for salads back in January of 2018. The photo on the right shows what has died (they lived fulfilling lives) and also plants that reseeded themselves because I did not plant anything new in this area. As you can see, the swiss chard is thriving! I actually cooked up some of it for breakfast a few days ago and it was delicious - much better taste cooked than raw!
My plans for the food garden this year are to expand the area to include the many seeds I received from my Seed Bank Box subscription that weren't able to make it into the ground last year. I hope to share more of my home-made, home-grown recipes as well!
What are you planting in your garden this year? I'd love to hear about it.
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Friday, March 1, 2019
Food Garden Friday - Healthy Breakfast
It's Friday and time for an update of my food garden! I used some leftover greens from my garden and some from my fridge to make myself a quick, healthy breakfast.
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Gifts for the garden - February 2019
This first video is a walk through of how I turned recent gifts from Hawaii into new plants for my kitchen window.
I also received seeds for Bird of Paradise. I made sure to follow the instructions and I hope to transplant them as soon as they sprout.
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Monday, January 14, 2019
Meet the Maker - LIVE Fairy Garden Class
If you've been with us for a while, you might remember the few meet-ups we did at Sunshine Grower's Nursery back in 2015 to create themed fairy gardens. Well, they're back!
On Saturday, January 26th at 10am we will burst into the new year with some festive miniature gardens! The $10 entry fee will give you access to a small container, potting mix, bark, moss, plants and one small fairy (however, feel free to bring your own container, fairies and decor as well). On top of all that, My Fairy Folks who reserve their spot in advance will also be able to enjoy a light snack and refreshments. But that's not all! If you see something fairy garden related in the store that catches your eye, take 20% off that day!
We will personally be available until at least 12p when we'll host a raffle for some great prizes. To be entered into the raffle you need to follow these steps:
1. Be on our emailing list. If you'd like to sign up, please email grandmasefg@gmail.com with your first and last name.
2. Register for the class. To do this, you'll need to contact Ken at Sunshine Grower's Nursery via telephone 909-797-9210.
3. Have a friend register. Make sure they tell Ken YOU referred them. If you are able to grab a friend the day of who hasn't registered but is interested, that will work too but RSVP is preferred.
If you've never attended a class before, here are some beginner tips:
On Saturday, January 26th at 10am we will burst into the new year with some festive miniature gardens! The $10 entry fee will give you access to a small container, potting mix, bark, moss, plants and one small fairy (however, feel free to bring your own container, fairies and decor as well). On top of all that, My Fairy Folks who reserve their spot in advance will also be able to enjoy a light snack and refreshments. But that's not all! If you see something fairy garden related in the store that catches your eye, take 20% off that day!
We will personally be available until at least 12p when we'll host a raffle for some great prizes. To be entered into the raffle you need to follow these steps:
1. Be on our emailing list. If you'd like to sign up, please email grandmasefg@gmail.com with your first and last name.
2. Register for the class. To do this, you'll need to contact Ken at Sunshine Grower's Nursery via telephone 909-797-9210.
3. Have a friend register. Make sure they tell Ken YOU referred them. If you are able to grab a friend the day of who hasn't registered but is interested, that will work too but RSVP is preferred.
If you've never attended a class before, here are some beginner tips:
- Come early. I will be in the nursery at 9am to prep and answer any questions and there will be plenty of plants and decor to ogle at and gather ideas before the class begins.
- Bring items from home. If you already have a container or decor, feel free to bring them! Sometimes it's easier to create a fairy garden with things you already know you have and love.
- Pocket money. $10 is a great deal for everything included in this class, but you should also take advantage of the 20% off sale only available this day and only for class attendants! As you saw in the video above, they've got some amazing stuff and I only captured a percentage of it. Small plants are also included in this sale.
To recap:
Sunshine Grower's Nursery
34017 Yucaipa Blvd. Yucaipa, CA 92399
$10 entry - Saturday 26th @ 10am-12p
(fairy garden creation and 20% off sale will continue until 5pm, however myself and the raffle will be gone by then)
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Local Happenings: Fairy Garden Class Returns!
On Saturday, January 26th at 10am we will burst into the new year with some festive miniature gardens! The $10 entry fee will give you access to a small container, potting mix, bark, moss, plants and one small fairy (however, feel free to bring your own container, fairies and decor as well). On top of all that, My Fairy Folks who reserve their spot in advance will also be able to enjoy a light snack and refreshments. But that's not all! If you see something fairy garden related in the store that catches your eye, take 20% off that day!
We will personally be available until at least 12p when we'll host a raffle for some great prizes. To be entered into the raffle you need to follow these steps:
1. Be on our emailing list. If you'd like to sign up, please email grandmasefg@gmail.com with your first and last name.
2. Register for the class. To do this, you'll need to contact Ken at Sunshine Grower's Nursery via telephone 909-797-9210.
3. Have a friend register. Make sure they tell Ken YOU referred them. If you are able to grab a friend the day of who hasn't registered but is interested, that will work too but RSVP is preferred.
If you've never attended a class before, here are some beginner tips:
- Come early. I will be in the nursery at 9am to prep and answer any questions and there will be plenty of plants and decor to ogle at and gather ideas before the class begins.
- Bring items from home. If you already have a container or decor, feel free to bring them! Sometimes it's easier to create a fairy garden with things you already know you have and love.
- Pocket money. $10 is a great deal for everything included in this class, but you should also take advantage of the 20% off sale only available this day and only for class attendants! As you saw in the video above, they've got some amazing stuff and I only captured a percentage of it. Small plants are also included in this sale.
To recap:
Sunshine Grower's Nursery
34017 Yucaipa Blvd. Yucaipa, CA 92399
$10 entry - Saturday 26th @ 10am-12p
(fairy garden creation and 20% off sale will continue until 5pm, however myself and the raffle will be gone by then)
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
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