Pascale’s Garden

The hot composting method (also known as fast or active composting) is the most common as it yields desired results relatively quickly.  It is also the best method to take care of unwanted weeds as it will destroy the seeds during the heat phase.

After you have picked a level site for your composting bin, you will need a good base for the bottom of leaves and high-quality soil.  The leaves should be chopped or chipped so that no one piece is larger than two-three inches (this is a good rule of thumb for all materials added to the bin).

Once your bin and base are in place you can start to add your green food (nitrogen-rich) and your brown food (carbon-rich).  The ratio that should be roughly followed is one part green for every two parts brown. Read more…

Now that you have put in the work, waited the required amount of time and have your finished compost material – what are you going to do with it?  There are more uses than just laying it down on your flower beds.  Some are practical everyday uses and others are more specialized.

You can make a tea with your finished compost; it is not for drinking though.  To make your compost tea, add your humus to a water-tight container and fill with water.  Let the tea “steep” anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.  After it is done, put the liquid compost through a fine screen to collect any debris.  What you have made is a liquid fertilizer that can be sprayed on plants or other garden areas.

Compost can be used to help stop the spread of erosion.  It can be laid down thickly on the area that is eroding away or it can be mixed with water to make a thick slurry and then sprayed on the area that is in danger. Read more…

There is nothing that brightens your day anymore than looking at freshly arranged flowers that were just picked that day.

You put them into a clear vase and set them on a table to enhance the beauty of your dining room.

The best thing about that is you were the one who grew the flowers yourself so the arrangement did not cost you a dime.

If you have never grown your own flowers but would like to get started doing so you may find that growing flowers is not only easy to do but it is relaxing and refreshing every time you see a bloom. Read more…

If you’re thinking about starting a garden, the first thing you need to consider is what type of garden you will have. There are many different choices and often it can be hard to pick just one, but hopefully you can narrow it down. But by narrowing it down, you’ll make the gardening experience easier on yourself and the plants. If all your plants are similar, then it shouldn’t be very hard to care for them all. So here are some of the main garden ideas for you to choose from.

If you’re just looking for something to look nice in your yard, you’ll want a flower garden. These are usually filled with perennial flower. Perennial flowers are flowers which stay healthy year-round. They’re basically weeds because of their hardiness, only nice looking. Different areas and climates have different flowers which are considered perennials. If you do a quick internet search for your area, you can probably find a list of flowers that will bring your flower garden to life. These usually only require work in the planting stage - after that, the flower take care of themselves. The only downside to this is that you don’t have any product to show for it. Read more…

When it comes to gift giving nothing is more valuable than a gift that can be enjoyed for years to come and supplies satisfaction with every bite.

Gardening gifts are very popular and they are less expensive than buying something for someone that they probably would not use.

When you give gardening gifts you can personalize that gift to suit the interest of the one receiving the gift.

For example, if someone enjoys cooking and eating Italian dishes, you may want to give them an indoor herb garden that features herbs such as oregano, basil, and cilantro. Read more…

There are several different kinds of gardening; plants, flowers, trees, fruits, herbs and more.

Gardening is very important to everyone because everyone needs to eat in order to stay alive.

A garden can be any size that you want it to be. You can have a box outside your window with a few plants in them or you can have acres of land as a garden.

Gardening can be done in different seasons, depending on your climate and where you live. Grown ups can grow a garden that will produce fresh vegetables to eat for dinner or to can or preserve so they can be eaten during the winter. Read more…

Patience is needed when you compost.  It can take anywhere from one month to one year for your first batch of humus to be ready to use.  It will depend on the size of your bin, if you are using cold or hot composting, what you are putting into the compost and the weather.  Another factor to consider is what you will be using the finished product for.  Different uses can utilize the compost at different stages of the process.

The longer a compost is allowed to decompose the finer, darker, and richer it becomes.  But you do not have to wait until it reaches this state to use it.  If you want to use the compost as mulch for your flower beds or other areas of your garden you can use it when it is still in a chunkier state.  The mulch is used to keep an even temperature for the soil and discourage weed growth. Read more…

Watching “Little House on the Prairie” gave us a sense of what life use to be like a long time ago when there was no grocery store to stop in at on your way home from work in the evening.

We would see Charles breaking the soil with a plow and his team of horses and almost fall asleep while eating his dinner.

Working hard to produce their food was necessary. If they didn’t work to produce their own garden they may not have enough food to get them through for the winter.

Over the years, as times changed, it has become possible for grocery stores to offer foods to consumers for less money than what it would cost to grow it themselves. Read more…

Unless you are using a cold composting method, your compost pile is going to need regular care and maintenance.  You need to monitor it for any foul odors, heat generation, and moisture levels.  You will need to rotate or turn the material on a regular basis.  You should know when to stop adding materials and let the process finish.  And the final step is to use a screen to separate any larger materials that did not fully break down.

If there is a bad smell coming from your compost pile turn the pile over to increase air circulation.  You should also add more brown food (leaves, straw/hay, or small twigs) and make sure the top layer of your pile is only brown food.

You will learn the trick of adding water to your pile to make it moist without making to wet with some trial and error.  Inevitably you will make the pile too wet at one point during the process.  If you do, try rotating the material to soak up any extra water and if that doesn’t work, add more brown food. Read more…

Who hasn’t heard of the song about ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’? The yellow rose is one of the most popular roses in history. The song, however, was actually about a lady a Civil War soldier is trying to find. Dolly Parton also wrote a song titled ‘Yellow Roses’ about a romance with someone who both began and ended the relationship with a yellow rose.

There are companies named for the yellow rose, such as Yellow Rose Products, Yellow Rose Enterprises and Yellow Rose Gifts. There are books written, such as the Yellow Rose Bride, A Texas Sky, the Yellow Rose Trilogy and a series called The Yellow Rose Mysteries. There is yellow rose white gold jewelry. A concealer has been made called the Yellow Rose of Texas, which hides imperfections of the skin. Read more…