Vegetables to Direct Sow
Direct seeding or direct sowing just means that you start planting seeds in the garden, rather than buying small plants or starting seeds indoors earlier and transplanting them outside. Many seeds of both flowers and vegetables can be started outdoors, at the start of the growing season. [Source: The Spruce]
Beans:
There are generally two types of beans, bush and pole. Pole beans grow long vines and will need support of a pole or trellis. Pole beans continue to produce for a long time until frost. Bush beans produce their crop quicker…
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The Best Flowers for Attracting Hummingbirds
There are many flowers that can attract hummingbirds, but some are better at enticing these flying jewels than others.
When choosing hummingbird flowers for your garden or landscape, look for blooms with rich, bright colors (red flowers are particular hummingbird favorites), long or tapered shapes that can accommodate the hovering birds' long bills, and plentiful nectar to keep them coming back.
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Fine Arts High School Credit
If your kid plays an instrument, fine arts credits are easy to put on the transcript. Weekly music lessons, daily practice, and the occasional recital add up to many credit-worthy hours. Even if your kid is just enjoying it for a hobby, the college fine arts requirement is usually quite manageable.
But for that kid who is NOT musical those fine arts credits can be more of a challenge to figure out. Some ideas (and can be achieved over the summer months) include…
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Grapes, Glorious Grapes!
Grapes are not difficult to grow, especially when you select varieties that are best suited for your soil and growing conditions.
Beyond that, success boils down to starting plants off right when planting, and providing the proper long term support and care for vines.
Selecting what grape variety to grow starts with knowing what you want from your crop. Are you looking for table grapes to eat? Or perhaps grapes for making jam, jellies, juice or wine?
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Making Newspaper Pots
Seed starter pots from newspaper are simple to make, plus starting seeds in newspaper is an environmentally friendly use of the material, as the paper will decompose when the seedlings in newspaper are transplanted. Recycled newspaper pots are fairly simple to make. They can be made in square shapes by cutting the newspaper to size and folding the corners in, or in a round shape by either wrapping cut newsprint around an aluminum can or folding. All this can be accomplished by hand or by using a pot maker – a two part wooden mold.
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Growing Asparagus
It takes patience to start your asparagus patch from seed, but there are advantages to gain from the extra wait. Seed-grown plants don't suffer from transplant trauma like nursery-grown roots, and you can buy a whole packet of seed for the same price you'll pay for one asparagus crown. Most seed-grown asparagus plants eventually out-produce those started from roots. I have not personally started asparagus from seed only from roots.
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Strawberries!
Strawberries are hardy, easy to grow and produce a good crop with moderate effort, making them well suited to home gardens. Early spring is the best time to plant strawberries in Zones 5-7 but don’t rush to remove mulch.
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The Very Best Flowering Vines
Here are a dozen wonderfully fragrant AND incredibly gorgeous flowering vines!
1) Sweet Pea
This vine produces showy pink to white flowers from around June to September, and it grows roughly 6 to 9 feet long. It can be used as a ground cover and border, as well as tied to a support structure. It also grows well in containers. Water regularly and fertilize throughout the growing season. But avoid overhead watering as much as possible, which can cause disease in the vine.
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What I Wish I Had Known When I Started Homeschooling
Some of you have been thrown into homeschooling this year, and many are loving it.
Here are some simple tips for all you new homeschooling mama’s out there — just based on what I wish I would have known when I started out!
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Spring Care for Fruit Trees
Late Winter is also the time to apply conditioners to the soil. Additives such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium need time to be absorbed and spread evenly throughout the soil. Applying them weeks before the growing season is the best bet to allow the roots to properly take in the different nutrients.
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Meet the Morning Basket
As our schedules became busier I noticed some our favorite subjects like literature, art, and nature study were getting swept under the rug. Without these rich subjects our homeschool day felt off balance. Then I discovered the concept of Morning Baskets — something which has absolutely transformed our family homeschool.
A Morning Basket is exactly what it sounds like: a simple basket filled with “first-of-the-day items” where children, both young and not-so-young, can begin their day on their own. Fill the basket (or baskets, if you have many ages and stages in your homeschool) with a custom collection (for some ideas, see the list below) that will inspire and uplift your children’s imagination and set the tone for the day.
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Respiratory Wellness (just in time for Spring!)
Just in time for Spring and seasonal discomfort, doTERRA releases The Respiratory Wellness Program, which is designed to give you support, inside and out.
This program offers a curated selection of products that support your respiratory system, encourage feelings of clear airways, and help you feel like you’re breathing easy. Wellness programs take the guessing out of natural health. Simply sign up for a program and receive product that will support you body specific to that program for three months, with different products each month.
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Homeschooling: Highschool Electives
High school electives do NOT have to be daunting. Find something your child WANTS to spend time learning about and dive in. Look for online classes or those available through the community (community colleges are a great resource, too); find a friend or relative who has the skills/career that aligns with what your student is interested in and ask for some OJT or even an apprenticeship!
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Fruit Bearing... and SHADE?
My family loves their fruit and berries and most need full sun for at least 8 hours per day in order to produce. BUT WAIT!!! There are several fruit trees and berries that are happy in the shade… and quite a number of them, too.
Most of these are in the berry category, but if you have a partially shaded area, even pears and plums may be grown.
Pears trees do need some sun, but they will produce in partial shade. Try a variety such as ‘Beth’ planted in a westerly facing area that will get a few hours of sun in the afternoon.
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Homeschooling: In Favor of Nature
I remember as a child moving several times, but with each move I would find some small sliver of space and claim it for my own. Whether it was a corner of a concrete courtyard, or deep in the forest under huge trees that folded their branches to the ground forming a hollow hut closest to their trunk, it was my space. Each space was limited in comparison to what children have to play with today, but rich in natural resources to use in the exercise and wanderings of my imagination. I could be both a lost orphan scavenging for food or an Indian Princess giving orders and regaling the wildlife with her beauty and bravery.
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Storing Seeds
Whether you have a large seed collection, or are looking to swap out varieties every other year or so? Or maybe you’re being proactive and saving seeds for survival purposes? The best way to store seeds long term is to create the perfect conditions for your seeds to dwell in, which the secret is in two words: cool and dry.
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Oils for Winter Blues
For some like myself, the shorter daylight hours and colder temperatures of the winter months can cause feelings of sadness and depression — commonly known as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Besides frequently feeling melancholy, the so-called “winter blues” can include a number of different symptoms: a depressed immune system, lethargy and low energy, sleeping problems, loss of interest in activities you usually enjoy, changes in appetite, weight gain, agitation, and difficulty concentrating. No fun!
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Homeschooling: Different Ages & Stages
Anyone else homeschooling a variety of ages and grades? Unless you have multiples, I would imagine this is a common issue for homeschooling moms!
I am in the thick of it with a 1st grader and a ninth grader on either end of the spectrum and a fifth and seventh grader in the middle. The difference in learning styles and concepts can be exhausting! My ultimate goal is for my children to master skills and then be able to teach that skill to others, so I spend a great deal of time investing into my older girls who can then teach my younger boys.
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Homeschooling Highschoolers
Since my daughter is in her first year of High School, we (well, really, I am) are slowly making our way through transcripts and course load and the wonders of it all.
As a mom, I always try to keep in mind the pressures I faced during my high school years when it came to EXPECTATIONS — to follow the family in business, to play a certain sport (and play it well), to head into the right college. I certainly understand just how undecided a high school student can be! And while, as parents, we may want to guide a bit forcefully, it’s important to allow your high schooler the freedom to pursue their own dreams. This often means avoiding the temptation to pick a lane for them — after all, lane changes in the coming years are inevitable and MANY.
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Winter in The Garden: Dreaming (& planning) for Fruit Trees
On this February day I have done a quick walk though of my snow-covered garden and started my search for seeds, bulbs, fruit trees, grape vines, and shrubs.
Winter is a perfect time to dream and design what you want this spring, summer, and fall gardens to look like.
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