How We Grow, Cure & Store Garlic: From Clove to Bulb

Magical Garden Tour

Acio potting shed! In honor of Harry Potter's birthday, we are taking a magical garden tour of a home in Buffalo, NY.  If you've been on the Buffalo garden tour, this is the gem of the tour.  This muggle was in heaven seeing all of the attention to detail and whimiscal touches.  With a Harry Potter-themed potting shed and artistic accents throughout the garden, see this enchanting space HERE.

I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good...

The Big Flower Fight

Looking for an original series to binge?  Take a peek at The Big Flower Flower Fight on Netflix.  Ten teams of creative people face eight challenges to create magnificient sculptures from flowers, edibles, and plants.  Each 60 minute episode sees one team leave the competition. The eight challenges include:

Episode 1 - Enormous Insects

Episode 2- Fabulous Floral Fashion

Episode 3- Huge Hairy Beasts

Episode 4- Giant Edible Thrones

Episode 5- Magnificent Mobiles

Episode 6- Sea Creatures

Episode 7- Green Giants

Episode 8- Fairytale Finale

Happy binging!

Magical Fairy Gardens

What is a fairy garden?  According to fairygardening.com, "A Fairy Garden is a miniature garden complete with structures and actual living plants.  It is designed to give your green thumb a place to tend year-round and to lure fairies and with them, good luck, to your home.  It’s a tiny space created and tended with love.  The design and components are limited only by your imagination."

Learn more at Fairygardening.com

Want to create your own fairy garden?

You'll need to start with a vessel or planter.  This Fine Gardening article has a good tutorial on creating your own hypertufa pots.  Hypertufa is lightweight and can be created in various sizes and shapes to your specific needs.

Read article HERE

Here are some fairy garden accessories that are available on Etsy:

Adorable fairy doors from  MyFairyTaleDoors 

Miniature wood slices from The Little Hedgerow 

Complete kit from Tiny Gala 

Personalized fairy garden signs from Hello Little Cloud

Wee mushrooms from The Beaded Sock Lady 1

Sedum cuttings for miniature pots from Janit

Miniature gnome from Broken Sparrow Studio

Live moss assortment from Tin Roof Treasure

Solar powered fairy lights on Amazon

May fairies dwell in your garden!

Gardener's Hand Scrub Recipes

Two DIY hand scrub recipes to keep those gardening hands soft and clean.  These make great gifts when added to a gardening basket/terra cotta pot filled with gardening tools and seeds.

This hand scrub recipe is from the Nature Moms blog.  Use a 4 ounce jar with a locking lid and combine all of the ingredients listed below together.

Here is a simple & inexpensive recipe from Green Leaf Tips:

Step 1- Fill a small Mason jar or container 3/4 full of granulated sugar.

Step 2- Fill the remaining 1/4 full with Dawn Hand Renewal Soap.

Step 3- Let mixture soak in for a few minutes.  Using a spoon, scrape the sides and bottom to combine.

Step 4- Top off jar with more sugar and a little more soap and 2 tsp. of light olive oil.

Garden Gate Inspiration

Nothing welcomes visitors to a garden like a whimsical, unique garden gate.  It offers a first glimpse into a world waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.  Here are some examples of inviting gates:

Berkshire Botanical Garden

Cecile's Garden

Akron's own Don Drumm makes fantastical metal gates.  Here is the gate at the entrance of his galleries in Akron.  This is an amazing gallery with lots of art for the garden.  Definitely worth the short drive to Akron.

Don Drumm Studios & Gallery

437 Crouse Street, Akron, 44311

330-253-6268

Don't forget to close the gate!

Vermicomposting & Earthworms in the Garden

Earthworms provide improved soil structure and nutrients, but how do you attract them to your garden?  This Nature Living Ideas article tells you why and how and you can read it HERE.

Worms are awesome!  Ready to take the next step?  

CuyahogaRecycles.org has published an excellent guide to vermicomposting that can be viewed HERE

Here is a stylish composter:

Worm Farm Composter at Gardener's Supply

$179 (also available in gray)

The Backyard Boss website list the top 5 vermicomposters HERE

*NOTE- all of the composters listed are unavailable on Amazon, but they can be found at other retailers.  The composter shown above is on the list.  Use for reference when deciding on a model.

Where Do I Get the Worms?

There are multiple online sources, but here are a few:

Uncle Jim's Worm Farm

Gardener's Supply Company

Planet Natural on Amazon

Happy vermicomposting!

Three Unique Garden Crafts

How to Age Terra Cotta Pots from Martha Stewart

Read tutorial HERE

DIY Handpainted Wind Chimes from Lifestyle for Real

Read tutorial HERE

Wine Bottle Wind Chimes

This tutorial is self-explanatory and watch the YouTube video below on how to cut wine bottles.  

Materials:

Wine bottle

Wine bottle cutter

Small chain

4 eye hooks

One wooden ball

One wooden heart or other element to hang from bottle

S hook to hang wind chime

*Clear wine bottles can be sprayed with sea glass paint

How to Prevent Transplant Shock

Tomorrow will be the day to safely plant those seedlings and plants in the garden!  To maximize your plant's success, this article has 10 ways to minimize transplant shock.  You can read it HERE.

Happy transplanting!

Happy Mother's Day

The Humane Gardener: Nancy Lawson and Gardening with Native Plants

Nancy Lawson's book The Humane Gardener came up in my recommended book feed, so I took a peek at it on Amazon and found timely and valuable information when it comes to planting with natives and co-existing with wildlife.  Nancy's website can be visited at humanegardener.com.  You will find a treasure trove of articles, essays, and links.  

To purchase through Amazon, click HERE

(A preview is available on the site)

Kindle version is also listed.

To listen to The Garden Path Podcast with Nancy Lawson, click HERE.  It runs about 45 minutes.

Happy gardening!

Garden Tips & Tricks

Tip #1:  How to Properly Prune Basil

 Step 1 is to find two large basil leaves on the plant.

Tip #2:  Avoid Bitter Cucumber Crops

Cummber plants that experience heat stress or uneven watering (too much or too little) will taste bitter.  If you are getting bitter cucumbers, remove the section of the plant that is producing bitter fruits.  Plant can be moved to another area in the garden that receives steady temperature and water.

Tip #3:  Better Strawberry Plants

Remove flowers for 3 months after planting to encourage strong root production.

Tip #4:  Epsom Salt in the Garden

"Epsom salt has so many uses, including aiding in a beautiful and healthy garden. It’s rich in magnesium and sulfate which are crucial to plant life. For potted plants, mix a couple of tablespoons of the salt into your watering can once or twice a month. You can also sprinkle it in your garden’s soil to help your seeds germinate better. Tomatoes and peppers benefit the most because they both tend to have a magnesium deficiency. Add a tablespoon or so in with the soil when first planting, and then sprinkle more into the soil once mature."- Listotic article dated June 5, 2014

Tip #5:  Toilet Paper for Seed Starting

Place toilet paper in planting row to show where tiny seeds fall.  Cover with soil according to the seed packaging directions.