For the Love of Gardening

Dear Lord Launches Today!

2007-07-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come to launch Dear Lord. For all of you who are in need of spiritual counsel, we are now open for business. You can find us
here.

My Baby Pepper

2007-06-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Look at this pepper, isn't it adorable? This is the first of many peppers to come. I have beautiful green tomatoes, a little aneheim pepper, nice sturdy baby corn stalks and happy little squash plants. I am so happy that all of them are doing so well.

After that last frost earlier this month I was getting a bit annoyed at this Colorado weather. So far, no more frosts and the likelyhood of them coming back soon is pretty obsolete. How are your gardens doing? I would love to see some pics!!!

Reno 911- Midnight Shootout Game

2007-06-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

This Reno 911 Midnight Shootout Game is a hilarious game that is goofy and fun. It is based on the unrated Reno 911! Miami The Movie. You start out on a screen where you see civilians, police officers and criminals standing in front of those flat building you used to see in the old western games where you shoot the bad guy who pops up in the windows.
Anyway, you get to see where every one is for a few seconds and then the screen goes all black. You have to remember where the bad guys and the good guys are and you have 10 rounds to eliminate the bad guys. At the end of each round you get points based on how many bad guys you hit and "special people" such as mimes, clowns and laywers. You get points deducted for hitting inocents and police officers.
The funniest round is the last one where you are given a rocket launcher and told to hit a gang on top of a building but to be sure you don't actually hit the buildings. I was not able to master that round and completely destroyed the whole city.
The good news is that I was accepted by the Reno 911 team!!! Yipeee!! ha ha ha

Does your soil need sulfer?

2007-06-19T16:12:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, I know that all of us test our soil to see what elements are missing. If you happen to be missing sulfur and would like a cost effective, practical way to get it into you soil, I have a tip for you.
When transplanting your plant into your garden bed, you would of course dig your hole. Now you know the little books of matches you get free at bars and some restaurants? Cut the tips off 6-12 of the matches right into the hole you are preparing for transplant, mix the match heads around in the soil a bit before placing your plant in the hole and you are ready to go. Easy huh?

Reading Learning Program Offered By Score!

2007-06-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I keep talking about this Score program but if it hasn't convinced you to check them out, do it now! Ha ha. Anyway, in addition to the Summer Camp I told you guys about and the Math tutoring that I told you about too, SCORE also offers Reading Tutors! This is quite like the Math program where it offers the children learning at their own unique rate. As with all SCORE programs it also teaches the fundamentals in a fun and encouraging way, by highly trained tutors so the learning is easier and more productive.

Even if you home school your child, SCORE could be the answer to your frustrated readers, or even advanced ones. Their tailored to fit teaching tools helps a child who is struggling and behind in the subject to catch up, or even the accelerated child who is bored with the average reading lessons, to jump ahead into a level more comfortable and beneficial to them. Just take a look at it guys, their programs have something for everyone.

Planting Potatoes

2007-06-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I am sure you all have you potatoes in the ground by now but I am wondering what technique you used. Last year my husband and I tried two methods of planting potatoes.

We planted one set of them in 5 gallon buckets, covering the tubers with about 2 inches of good soil, manuer and compost. As the tubers grew, we covered them with two more inches of the mixture at a time until we ran out of room in the buckets. After that slow process we just watered and watched the plants grow.

Our other method was putting the tubers directly on the ground. We did not worry about the type of soil the tubers were on. After placing the tubers on the ground, we covered them with about two feet of straw. Right after putting the straw down, we watered the massive pile until it flattened out a bit. We watered this pile regularly and when the tubers started peeking through the straw, we piled some more on top of them.

In both methods the tubers grew well and required little work. After the tubers started dying away and we pulled the potatoes out, we left them outside to dry for a few days.

The main difference between the two methods was that the potatoes grown in the straw were larger and easier to clean. While the bucketed potatoes were good sized they were harder to clean and cost considerably more. We had imported the soil being that we live in a sandy, dry area.

Planning A Trip? Have I Got The Site For YOU!

2007-06-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all, are you planning on taking a trip any time soon? My family and I are going to go New York this summer to see the Yanks in their stadium one last time before they build the other one. When we do we had thought we would drive because to fly is too expensive. Boy were we wrong. I went to this Hotel Reservations web site that offers Cheap Air Fair, Cheap Hotels and Cheap Car Rentals.

I went searching for a flight from Denver, CO to Newark, NY and just about fell off my chair when I saw the price. For six of us it was under $1200!!! Can you believe that? At most sites, that's how much it would be for just four of us. I was so excited that I had to see what the combination of Air, Hotel and Car Rental would be. I laughed with pleasure to see that us six could take a flight from Denver, Colorado straight through to New York, stay in a hotel 1 mile from Times Square and have a minivan for our whole entire trip for less than 600 a person! Seriously, it equaled out to be $3431 for the ENTIRE trip! Can you even believe that?!

Ok, now I know I have been bragging about the prices and they are TRULY great but I also wanted to tell you guys about the user friendliness of the Hotel Reservations web site. It is so easy to navigate through and find exactly what you are looking for. I know you all know what I am talking about when I say that there are some really nice products and web sites out there, but the fact that they are hard to navigate will turn most users off. This is where hotelreservations.com is different. Every page I went to has easy to find information with step by step procedures to get you to the information that you are looking for.

If you are planning on a trip or even if you think you can't afford one, check out this site guys! It will be worth your time!

Roses and Raspberries getting munched on?

2007-06-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I know that most of you probably already know of this tip, but I thought just in case you didn't that I would share it with you.

To deter critters like rabbits and deer, plant garlic cloves or onion bulbs in the same area as your raspberries and roses. I know what you are thinking... garlic and onion bulbs take a while to get started. They have to be above ground before the smell can even be detected by the critters. Well, while you wait for your new best friends to grow up, just sprinkle some plain old garlic powder on your plants.

If you do choose the garlic powder method, be sure to reapply after rain or strong wind.

SCORE Learning Centers Offering Tutoring

2007-06-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

All you parents probably read about my post a few days ago telling you all what SCORE Camp is all about. I was just reading about SCORE Learning Centers and they offer Math tutoring as well. They have highly trained Math Tutors who will help your child either catch up to his/her classmates or jump ahead of them in this accelerated learning program.

They also have a computer system that tailors to each child's learning level that allows the child to learn at their own pace and level. This sounds ideal for us parents who notice our child falling behind in class, or even notice our child getting bored with the Math assignments in school.

Even as a home school mother, the value of this SCORE Math Tutoring is invaluable. One of our 3rd graders struggles with Math and I think that SCORE may be the answer to our problem!

Dear Lord Website Launching in 30 Days

2007-06-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
I'm am just writing to let you know about our upcoming launch date for our website Dear Lord. It is a website that will be offering spiritual counseling for those seeking it.

We will be offering this counseling free of psychology and of course, free of charge. We will be giving you advice and counseling directly from the Word Of God.

The home page tells what the website is about and you can look through the pages on the side that link to each of our testimonies, our doctrine, articles written by the minister and others and much more. Of course you will be able to click on Dear Lord... and write in your problem, issue, question, comment, or encouraging thought.

There are 5 of us who are Born of the Spirit of God who will be offering counseling to those in need. We range from 10 years old to over 30 years in Christ. There are also 2 "fleshly" Christians, which means they are not saved, know they are not saved, but are in the church and content being there. Each of us 7 have something unique to offer those seeking counseling and you may feel free to request which ever one of us you feel will be the most helpful to you and your problem.

You may wish to write in anonymously, or leave us your name, it is completely up to you. You may chose to have your question posted to the site for all to view or send us your personal email address for us to reply to. The one thing you need to keep in mind if you would like accurate counseling, is to give all the information without holding any truths back. Without accurate information, we can not give you accurate counseling.

On July 14, 2007 I will post the link to the website on the side of all my blogs so you will have easy access to it. We look forward to seeing you there, even if the Lord had to lead you by the nose. Ha ha

Pay Per Post Direct Pays More, Less Hassle

2007-06-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
Have you noticed the dark blue badge on the side of my blog page that says “payperpost direct HIRE ME!”? Let me tell you a little about it. It is a handy little badge PayPerPost just came out with that allows advertisers to hire me for blogging about their site for them. You set the amount you would like to be paid on it and when the advertiser wants you to write something about their product, website, etc. they click on the badge and pay you for your post.

This is awesome. Now the good part: PayPerPost competitors charge 50% of the fee you are charging the advertiser for their own fee. PayPerPost charges….wait for it…10%! Can you believe that? You make 40% more posting for advertisers on PayPerPost Direct then you would at its competitors, such as ReviewMe. For example, say you want to be paid $100 to post something on your blog. With a competitor’s fee you would make $50. That’s not bad. Now let’s say you did the exact same thing on PayPerPost Direct. The advertiser was charged $100 and you keep $90. It is that simple. You would have lost $40 going with a competitor of PayPerPost Direct. Is there any doubt in your mind which one you should go with? I think not!

Some Other Published Works on Associated Content

2007-06-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hey again, I have gotten a few more articles published on Associated Content if anyone would like to check them out. The first two I think I told you guys about. The first one was Seperation of Home and State. It is my views about why parents should homeschool, or at least why I homeschool my children.

The second article pertains to gardening! It is about a method of gardening called Companion Planting. It has quite a bit of info for any of you that don't know what Comapion Planting is.

The third and fifth articles are reviews of two of Colorado Springs local hot spots. One being the Flying W Ranch and the other being the Garden of the Gods.

There is a review on the Pirates of the Carabbean: At World's End, and the last one is my favorite. It is about the new Creation Museum developed by Answers In Genesis. Seriously guys check out the article and check out their site. It is beautifully done and they are taking a lot of heat for those of us who have been dying to take our children to a museum that doesn't start off saying... "Millions of years ago..."

I will link my articles on the side of the blog so you all can view them. They will be under the title: Associated Content Articles.
Thanks guys

Summer Program Keeps Children's Minds Sharp and Active

2007-06-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Score Educational Centers is now offering Summer Camps for children to continue learning or even advance their learning while still enjoying their summer break. The program I am talking about is called Score!30. This program offers 30 one hour sessions that can be done daily or spread out through the summer. You can look up the specific program by your child's grade level to see what would be taught.
I have written in to see when I can sign my two children (pictured above with all their other home schooled cousins) up. They are homeschooled but I think this program will give them a chance to see what teaching from another source is like and it will also give them a chance to socialize with others in their grade. You guys should check it out, I know I will!

My disgruntled tomato plant

2007-06-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I called it quits on my poor, beat up tomato plant. Fortunately I had purchased it from Lowes and they were kind enough to take it back. I was very happy to exchange it but when I looked at their plants, they did not look much better than my pummeled tomato plant, so I just got my money back and went to Harding Nursery.

Their plants were beautiful and large and only $1.00 more than the ones I had purchased from Lowes, so I got 2 more. I also purchased some cherry peppers, salsa peppers, jalepeno and bell peppers. After planting them in the garden, I immediately sheltered them from the mean wind and hail.

Are you into saving money?

2007-06-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, just in case you don't know what it is, HSN is the Home Shopping Network. They are online as well as on the television and they have EVERYTHING! From jewelry to computers, to exercise equipment and kitchenware. They offer payments on nearly all of their products as well as HSN credit and tons of sales. In case you haven't figured it out.. I love HSN. I have purchased a ton of things from them and not only does their payments and vast array of products entice me, but their warranties as well. Now, HSN is awesome but guess what? Now the Coupon Chief has got coupons for HSN that I am very happy about. The coupons offer free shipping, from 15%-85% off items and $15-$20 off some items.
If you shop HSN, Coupon Chief HSN Coupons is the place for you to find some great coupons to make your shopping a little easier on the purse.
If you don't shop HSN, don't worry, coupon chief has tons of coupons for all kinds of companies. Whether you shop at the Home Depot, HP (Hewlett Packard), JoAnns, Best Buy or many other stores and websites, you will want to check the Coupon Chief out.

My Poor Tomato Plant

2007-06-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Look at my poor tomato plant! Once robust and full of life, now limp and lifeless, beaten by the hail and wind. I have put a bucket over him in hopes of saving his very frail life, and I will document his progress here to let you all know if he is still with us in a week or so.

PayPerPost- Anyone heard of it?

2007-06-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

I signed up with PayPerPost on May 17th of this year and finally got to writing a post for payment. I wrote the post on May 24, 2007 and got approved and paid for it today, June 4th. This will be my fourth paid post and I will have made just under $30. That's not bad for four posts huh?
I was told about blog marketing by a friend I used to work with at Chacha who is now making around 150.00 a day! I am so glad he introduced me to this because as soon as my ratings go up, I will start to make a decent income from it. I home school my kids, and am a student myself so my income is nonexistent. PayPerPost will open doors for me at home that I have not found elsewhere, and best of all, it is free. There is absolutely nothing to purchase, so no risk involved. If you are interested making some extra money you can click on the badge on the side of my posts and sign up! It's that easy.

Colorado Hail Storm

2007-06-04T07:20:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, I planted my tomato and pepper plants into their comfy little veggie beds about 2 weeks ago and since then we keep getting hail storms. It is so annoying! My poor little babies are all broken and beat down, I am not sure if they will survive. I finally remembered what saved all my plants last year was buckets. My garden looked like I was growing buckets but I don't care, it saved my plants from the horrible winds and hail storms. So I am getting out there today and getting buckets around all my plants.
That is actually the reason I am writing this morning, to let you all know that if you have problems with wind, driving rain, or hail, just take a 5 gallon bucket and cut the bottom out. Place it over your plants and they will thank you for it. the open top lets the sunlight in so you won't have to worry about stunted growth and the sides of the bucket offer a little shade to the plants too so they can cool down a bit on really hot days.

New Hightech, Fun To Use, Portable Telescope with LCD Screen

2007-06-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

Mead MySKY telescope is one of the coolest items I have seen on the market! It is a telescope that helps you identify what you see in our night sky. The problem with most telescopes is they are so big that they are virtually unmovable. Have you ever wanted to take your telescope camping, or hiking but the weight and size of it prevented you from doing so? With the new MySKY telescope, that is not a problem. It's lightweight, portable, and fun to use. The trendy handheld telescope is shaped like a space gun and features an LCD screen that not only allows you to view what the gun is pointed at, but to hear the name of constellations, planets, galaxies and more. So pack up your MySKY and take it with you to your favorite camp site, evening trail ride, or cabin trip; you will be so glad you did.

In addition to pointing and shooting at objects in the sky to identify them, this awesome little telescope has a guided tour that will help you to understand more about our vast universe with intensely detailed pictures, videos and audio. You can even download updated information, tours, and program improvements from the Internet to keep your MySKY up to date.

This is quite possibly the easiest and most fun to use telescope ever invented. You should definitely take a look at this! Check out the pictures from the guided tour MySKY telescope you will be astounded!

If you are looking for other types of
telescopes Optics Planet offers all these
telescopes for you to choose from.

Gardening Essay If Anyone Is Interested

2007-05-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

I got another essay published and this one is on the most convienient way to plant a vegetable garden from home. It is on the Companion Planting Method. If you all haven't heard of it, the essay explains what the method is, how it is beneficial to the vegetables and it saves time, space, and resources.
Here's the link:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/262801/vegetable_gardening_the_companion_planting.html

MINT Credit Card Leaves A Sweet Taste In Your Mouth

2007-05-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

The MINT credit card, with Master Card logo is loaded with incentives for you to apply. There’s no interest on purchases until January 2008, no interest on balance transfers until August of 2008 and there’s a bonus offer of no interest until April of 2009 on balances transferred during October of 2008! When the interest rate does finally kick in, it is a reasonable rate of 14.9 (variable).

You can access your account online 24/7 with MINT’s online services. You can make payments, change your address, view charges on your card and download up to six months of statements. MINT even has mobile service so you can have access to your account at your fingertips, even when you are not at home and only have your cellular phone. On your cell you can get the last five transactions, your balance, and even get texted a reminder of what the due date and minimum amount due on your account is. If you choose to do so, you can just reply to MINT text for free, detailing the payment amount of your choice and whala! You’re finished!

There are a ton of other reasons you will love your MINT card, click on the link here: 0% interest credit card and get the credit card that you deserve.

Essay on Why we Home Schoolers Home School

2007-05-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hey all, just letting you know that I posted an research paper I did for college on Associated Content's site. If you would like to read it to learn more about our public school system, the reasons behind home schooling, and the importance of family check it out. Here's the link:
www.associatedcontent.com/article/258568/the_seperation_of_home_and_state.html

If you do read it, please rate me. I know some of the topics are controversial, but the message is valid non the less. I would love to hear your feedback!

Completely Off Gardening- Does anyone know of a good christian book publisher?

2007-05-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you know a good christian book publisher? I am writing a book about a woman who adopts three children and raises them with christian principles. I am only about a third way through with only 22,300 words so far, but wanted to be prepared for the process ahead. This would be my first book ever written, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thoughts anyone?
Thanks so much.

Bid4Prizes- You Have Got To Check This Out!

2007-05-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Have you guys heard of Bid4Prizes.com? It is the coolest sight ever! You have to check it out. The prizes offered are awesome too. The have some really cool prizes including a BMW! I would love to have all of the prized on the website but out where I live the BMW offered would get pelted to death by sand and rocks, I don't need a Plasma TV, there are six kids in my house and that thing would be broken in no time. So my top choice of prizes offered would be the Baja 110 ATV. I live on five acres of land which is attached to my mom and dad's five acres, not to mention the two mile block we live on out here. The roads are dirt, the streets are long and I can just feel that wind in my hair on a hot summer evening as I fly around the neighborhood. I NEED me a Baja 110!
http://www.bid4prizes.com/Service/bidnow.aspx?code=126&Keyword=ATV&ProductName=Baja%20110%20ATV&BidValue?CID=542=?CID=542

lowest bid

2007-05-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all, just wanted to let you all know about my other blog. It's called all things mommy and that is just what it is. It is about things we do as mothers and things that concern us, like schooling, jobs, weightloss, blah, blah, blah. If you're interested, check it out! I'll post the link here an on my sidebar for you all to click on for easy access.
http://allthingsmommy.blogspot.com/

2007-05-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

These are my experimental plants that I put on the heating pad. They are exactly 7 days in the ground. I planted them last Tuesday, watered them, put he heating pad up to 70 degrees and 7 days later this is the result. I put a Pepsi can next to the tallest plant so you could see how tall they are on a scale that we are all familiar with. Crazy huh? I swear the germination for these seeds was 48 hours!

2007-05-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Another blog she has is called Couch Potato. Funny huh? Ha ha ha, it is ironically about movies and ratings and reviews (done by her of course). It has movie news and interesting facts you movie buffs will love to read about. Stop by sometime and check it out. I am going to post the link at the bottom of this post and on my sidebar so you all can access it easily. Here you go:
http://whereuhangurhat.blogspot.com/

2007-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you guys know that my sister has some really great blogs for you all to check out! One is on weightloss and is actually called weightloss quest. It documents what we are doing to lose some weight and what has been working!! Seriously people.. check it out! Even you guys, don't be shy!
Here's the link:
http://weightlosstrail.blogspot.com/

2007-05-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

2007-05-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Crystina's Place

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2007-05-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

The pepper plant and tomato plant I put on the heating pad almost immediately started to wilt. I think the pad is only good for starting seeds. Any other time or even if it is left on for too long into the seed's growth it seems to have a negetive effect on them. I am getting my garden ready by putting up rabbit fence and tilling the ground once more. In a week or so I will be transplanting all my plants outdoors. It is starting to look like a forest in here with all these different plants every where.

2007-05-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while but just thought I would let you all know that I had purchased some pepper and tomato plants from Lowes today and decided to place only two plants on the heating pads. I'll let you know their progress compared to the others that are just on my planting shelf. I had to put all the plants in bigger containers because their roots were showing out the bottom of theirs. One tomato plant had flowering buds on it that I had to cut off because the plant is no where near strong enough to support tomatoes. Everything else I just put in more milk jugs and stuck on my shelf.

2007-04-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Just checking in to let you all know that the corn in the garage are doing great and the peas in the house are also doing very well. I had to put a dowel teepee around the peas so they could start vining up something, even a three inches apart they were leaning over to vine to each other. They appear to be very happy without their heated soil and thriving in the sun. Soon I am sure I will see pods forming.

2007-04-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Day 14
I have decided to place the corn in the milk jugs out in the garage until I can get them outside into the ground. They no longer have the benefit of the heating pad so I will have to see how that affects them. I turned the heat off completely to the peas to see how they will react as well. It is the first step in hardening them off. I have pretty much given up on the non-heated plants. Some of them are still hanging on, but there are so few, almost the whole container is empty.

2007-04-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Day 13
I seperated the peas in the heated soil to be 3 inches apart instead of the 1 inch that I had originally planted them at. I replanted the corn and had to use milk jugs with the top cut off because the plants were so tall. I burried them up to their first leaves. Now they aer only 2 inches tall, but looking a little happier that they don't have to support their whole stock anymore. Nothing new going on in the non-heated soil. Only few survivors and just a few newbies popping up.

2007-03-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Day 12
Most of the plants that came up in the non heated soil have wilted and died but it looks like 3 corn are surviving and 6 peas are holding on. A few little ones are popping up as well. The heated soil also had 4 little corn sprouts this morning in the middle of the towering stalks. The peas in the heated soil are starting to produce their itty bitty vines so I am going to have to seperate them very soon!

2007-03-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Day 11
The peas and corn in the non-heated soil are starting to wilt. I can’t figure out why. I am still keeping their soil moist, they have a window with plenty of sunshine bathing them everyday. I don’t understand what is happening. The heated soil plants look like they need to be transplanted. If it wasn’t so cold here in Colorado I would plant them in the ground.

2007-03-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Day 10
Still no more wilting plants in the heated soil but the corn are starting to lay down. It is quiet funny looking. Like they got to tall to hold themselves up. They aren’t getting soft or turning brown like the other ones that wilted, but they are laying down on the ground as if too heavy to stand up. The peas are just as straight and tall as little aspen trees. The non-heated soil has produced 4 more corn sprouts and 6 more peas. The peas and corn are still about the same height as each other, almost a ½ inch tall.

2007-03-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Day 9
I turned the heating pad back on this morning and so far, no more wilted plants in the heated soil. There are 5 corn that popped up last night in the non-heated soil! That is great, but they still look so puny compared to the heated soil plants. They also are not growing nearly as quickly. The corn in the heated soil container are 7 inches tall now and the peas are about 6 to 6 ½ inches tall. They seem real sturdy and have developed cute little leaves. So far the peas in the non-heated soil are only about ¼ inch tall, and the corn are about the same.

2007-03-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Day 8
There are 3 more peas that have popped up from the non-heated soil for a total of 9 and no more corn have popped up yet so there is still only 3 of those. The heated plants look much stronger than the non-heated and no more have wilted so far. I was thinking of maybe turning the heating pad off at night so the soil can cool down like it does at night outside. I am going to try that tonight.

2007-03-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Day 7
Ok there are several more sprouts from the non-heated soil. There are 6 total peas and 3 corn that have popped up. The bad news is that some of the plants from the heated soil are wilting. I am not sure what is going on. I am watering them the same as I have been but they are wilting anyway. 2 corn stalks that were at least 5 inches tall are now on their sides looking very sad.

2007-03-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Day 6
Hey! Finally a sprout from the non-heated soil!! There are just 3 but they are there! All three of them are peas. The heated ones look like they were planted a week or two before the non-heated ones. They are now 4 inches tall, and I can’t tell the difference between the ones that popped up the second day and the ones that popped up after that. There are no new ones popping up though, so it looks like out of the 36 peas and 24 corn only 28 peas and 13 corn came up.

2007-03-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Day 5
Still nothing from the non heated plants, but the heated ones are growing like weeds. The ones from day 2 are 2 ½ inches tall! I am not even kidding! 2 ½ inches!! Can you believe that?! The ones that popped up on day 3 are right behind them and soon I’m not going to be able to tell them from each other. I am still watering twice a day the heated soil and every other day the non heated soil. I keep looking for the ones in the non heated soil to pop up.

2007-03-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Day 4
Ok, now the plants that popped up on day 2 are over an inch tall!!! There are 7 more peas that popped up and 2 more corn. There is still nothing from the container with the non heated soil. This is so crazy, I can’t believe it! What I have noticed is that the heated soil needs to be watered twice a day while I have only had to water the non heated soil twice since I started the experiment.

2007-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day 3
Oh my gosh! You are never going to believe this but more seeds are popping up! The ones that were here yesterday are about a half inch tall and ones that weren’t here are popping up like crazy! I counted the little seedlings and there are 21 peas out of the 36 I planted and 11 corn out of the 24 planted.

2007-03-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2-
Ok, I know you guys are going to think I am crazy but the seeds in the box with the heater are already popping up!! I am not even kidding, I can see little green sprouts coming out of the soil! This is crazy, the germination on these seed is 7-10 days and it is only day 2!!!!

2007-03-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Day 1-
There is nothing out of the ordinary happening. I noticed that the container on the heating pad needs to be watered again. The heat must be causing the water to evaporate. Nothing is happening in either container. I am watering the heated soil again, but the one without the heater is still moist.

2007-03-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, just posting to let you all know that I planted 36 pea seeds and 24 corn seeds in a container and put it on one of the water bed heaters I got from the garage sale. I put the temperature at 70 degrees and watered the soil. I planted 36 more pea seeds and 24 more corn seeds in another container right next to the one on the heater and watered the soil. We will have to see what happens….

2007-03-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

I did it, I went back and got that water bed and heater. I asked her if she had any more heaters and she found two more in her garage. I got the whole box of them plus the useless waterbed for $1. Can you believe that?! I am going to set these up and see if they will work. They have temperature gauges so the soil can stay at a steady temperature. This should be a fun experiment!

2007-03-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was just at a garage sale down the road and the woman was selling a waterbed with the heater. I was thinking.... can a water bed heater work for a plant warmer? You know those real expensive heating pads they make for starting seeds. I wonder if I should have bought it and tried it out. Hmmm....

2007-02-21T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys you remember when I was telling you that companion planting was good for plants? I told you about how corn helped beans and beans helped corn? Well guess what? Planting certain plants and herbs can also deter pests from overtaking your garden! Haven't you guys always wanted to grow organic produce but ended up having to spray your plants to save them from determined, destructive pests? Have rabbits eaten your roses or raspberries? Have you ever heard to plant garlic cloves in the same area as your roses or raspberries? The garlic deters the rabbits from eating the roses and there are a TON of different plants you can plant in your garden so you wont end up having to spray it with chemicals. Look at this site and you will be utterly amazed: http://www.gardensablaze.com/Companions/CompanionPest.htm

2007-02-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

Been doing some studying on what type of gardening is best and have found a lot of people that favor the companion planting method. This method, in case you don't know it is where the gardener combines vegetables together for specific reasons that are beneficial to either the plants or the soil. For example, some would plant beans at the foot of their corn stalks. There are a couple of reasons this is beneficial. First, the corn must be at least two weeks in the ground before the beans are planted or the beans could retard the corn's growth. So lets pretend it has been two weeks since our corn stalks were placed in the ground and now we are planting our beans. The shade from the corn stalks allows the beans to grow in shade, which is what they prefer, but it also allows the beans to vine up the natural climbing post the corn stalks offer. Now what do the beans offer the corn? Strangely enough, the beans pull nitrogen from the air and force it down through their roots which seeps into the soil, supplying the corn with the nitrogen it needs to produce a healthy crop. Beans are a heavy nitrogen producer, while corn are heavy nitrogen users. Click on this link to learn more: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

2006-08-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love to garden! Up til this year I thought I just loved vegetable gardening. Come to find out, I love flowers too! Trees, grass, rocks, bushes; I love them all!! Of course I would have to choose to live on 5 acres in a sand ridden town, where good soil is hard to find. Lol. This year I planted a veggie garden that is roughly 3000 sq ft filled with all sorts of goodies. The thing is, I am allergic to almost every fruit or veggie in the garden. No worries though, I have a large family and they mostly eat the fruits of my labor. sigh. After the garden was underway I was walking through a Walmart garden center and saw the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. It was a Weeping Willow and I had to have it. He was about 9 ft tall and had bare weeping branches already. I planted him about 50 ft in front of the veggie garden and he took immediately. Then I went to www.gurneys.com and found a cherry tree and some whopper strawberry plants, which I also had to have so planted the tree about 100 yards from the garden and the strawberries in their own patch within the garden and they decided to grow too. Then I saw an apple tree, maple tree and grape vine and brought those home as well. The apple tree took to the sandy soil right away while after a few days the maple and grape vine were looking wind ripped and grouchy. I clipped and trimmed and encouraged and caressed them for weeks and am very happy to say, they pulled through with flying colors! I live about 5 miles from a sod farm and they give remnants away if you haul them, so I went and picked some up. I thought my willow could use some friends so I made a sod circle around him. Amazingly the sod took too, and my willow was showing off for weeks. He stood up straighter than he had ever done before. As if he was trying to look as tall as he could to show those little blades of grass how beautiful and strong he was. This of course led to more plans for the property. I thought more sod along the back of the garden would be nice too so I sodded that as well as added a Golden Willow, and a Corkscrew Willow on each side. By then everything looked so nice and the garden had finally started producing fruits and veggies so I needed a place out there to sit and watch my garden and all the trees and grass grow. I went to a thrift store and found a metal and wood glider for $15.00 that just needed the metal repainted, and the wood sanded down and sealed. My husband and I knocked that out in less than a day and put it right in the center of the two trees at the back of the garden and now we have this fantastic view of everything we planted this year. Next year I want a smaller garden that utilizes my space better, any ideas for that? I would love to have advice or tips or even pics of your own garden posted on my blog! I will post some myself within a few days so you can better see what I have written about.
Thanks for looking! Happy gardening all!!!