In areas that are even more rural and less populated, there is usually more freedom.  I remember when my cousin and her husband purchased land in the woods in New York State, then again in New Mexico, what freedom they had to mold and shape their property and land the way they wanted too, and the end result was a wonderful home that provided and continues to provide them with a lot of pleasure and happiness.

I can’t help but think that with all the flooding that has been going on (I know, I talked about that already last post…it has been quite an issue in our area and nearby States), many are going to need equipment to put their homes and property in order again.

I went to the “Garden” link along the right side of this page that offered free stuff and found everything from seed samples to free gardening seminars. At the time that I visited there was a free vegetable gardening guide, and free landscaping magazine, a few different types of seed samples, and that was just with a quick look, I look forward to going back and exploring more.

For vacation planning, something we will hope to do in September in 2011, there were free travel brochures…I hope to get some of these, I love to find places to visit that have botanical gardens to visit, and more.

With our challenging economy, anything that we can find free online to help with gardening and caring for our property is a big help. I’m off to do more exploring.

This post contains both personal and sponsored information

The plants are not hard to grow, and there is no excuse for them not being in my garden, so as I sit here with some snow outside and temperatures of 18 degrees, I dream of planting some in my garden when the warm weather comes.

I am so focused on the medicinal properties, especially of Echinacea Purpurea, that it took a visit to coneflowers.com to make me realize that there are many varieties and beautiful colors to these plants. Vibrant oranges, purples, pinks, yellows, reds and a variety of different petal shapes.

Generally the plants are not hard to grow, and though I prefer heirloom plants when possible, the hybrid varieties available are more suited to some gardens, or containers, as heirloom plants tend to get very large. I noticed that there were hybrid Cone Flowers from some of the top growers.

I hope you are enjoying this time of year when we dream and plan our gardens, do you have Cone Flowers in your garden?

Welcome to the first day of winter…and it is wintery here in northern NJ – lots of snow fell over the weekend, as most of you have probably heard on the news, and it’s cold and windy, but the sun shines brightly today! This is Christmas week, and after Christmas come New Years and January, when many begin to see gardening catalogs show up in their mail boxes as they think ahead to Spring gardening…as for me, I like to do my shopping online, and most paper mail ends up in my recycling.

Last summer I enjoyed my medicinal and culinary herb garden, simple as it is, since we have a shortage of sunny property. I’m still eyeing a big section of sunny grass that we gained when a new septic system was put in because trees were removed.  We don’t use many pesticides, and try to make some ourselves, naturally, when we can because it’s not always easy to find chemical-free pesticides and other “green” gardening products that are good for the earth that God has given us to be stewards of.  But now I think I’ve found a source.

You lucky folks that live in warmer climates may already be able to take advantage of the wonderful green, good for the earth, good for the garden products offered by saferbrand.com. I appreciate the time they have put into helping the gardener know about many garden pests, they have a great section on insects that can threaten your garden, and an equally informative section on organic gardening. Since my “green thumb” doesn’t seem to work very well when it comes to growing plants indoors, the “houseplants” section was also very helpful.

There will be events taking place all year to promote organic gardening, and it won’t be hard to keep up with these events because Safer brand is officially on twitter, I’m going to “follow” them on Twitter and invite you to as well.

Twitter and Facebook are the primary, almost only social networking sites that I use, so I was happy to hear about Safer brand’s facebook page, and will be heading over to become a fan after posting this.

As a gardener, I wanted to see what kind of supplies they show online…this gives me a good idea of what I might find in the store before I head out the door. I visited the link above, and used the search box that says “What are you shopping for” along the top, and put in the word “gardening” to see what they offer for those of us who are spending our days in the garden, and here is a partial list of what I found:

• Gardening Gloves
• Gardening Tools
• A bucket organizer
• Gardening Aprons
• Knee pads
• Kneeling pads
• Hoses
• Shovels
• Rakes
• Plant Foods
• Pesticides

And on the list goes, there were over 40 web pages with many gardening items on each.   So, I feel confident that I can find what I’ll need at Kmart.  Prices are good at Kmart even when there isn’t a special, so it’s an extra-special treat to be able to shop there when prices are reduced. 

This weekend the sale included outdoor items like grills, patio equipment, etc., I wonder what the sales in the future will include? 

You can keep up with the latest “tweets” if you’re on twitter by following @kmartdealsnnews so that you don’t miss upcoming specials.

My tulips are beginning to put out their buds, and when they flower I’ll be doing what I can to keep our cute but rascally squirrels from eating the flowers.

Deer are not a big problem for me unless they are making their way down to our lake during a drought, I believe I shared a story on this blog once before about how they came down from the woods on the way to the water and ate every one of my beautiful orange triple-flower Day Lilies. That was a major but rare disappointment, at least here on our property.  But deer can be real pests in many gardens…I have watched them grazing in yards and gardens very early in the morning when driving, while the homeowner/gardeners are still sleeping and unaware.

They are beautiful, but also do their part spreading Deer ticks that cause Lymes Disease, a disease that started here in NJ if memory serves me correctly?  Definitely somewhere nearby in the Northeast. It is quite common here, as are the ticks, I’ve found them on myself and my dog on a number of occasions.

“Deer Off”® is an organic/natural repellent that you can safely spray on your plants and in the gardening area to keep Deer away, after all that work, a deer repellent like this will save you from waking up to a great disappointment like the people that I just mentioned must have found.

havahart.com has a wonderful Havahart® Deer Off ® II Battery-Powered Sprayer that has a patented Dual Deterrent System™ formula that provides both scent and taste barriers to repel deer, rabbits, and squirrels…so not only will it take care of the Deer, but those squirrels I was telling you about that like to eat my tulip flowers.

If you are not interested in offering your plants or other items for trade, but would prefer to offer them for a price, there are instructions on how to do this.

When you offer something for exchange or sale, not only will it be posted on the “Swap, Sell” page, but a post will be written to the blog about what you are offering, and information about you if you wish.

You will also find the story of how this exchange got started quite a few years ago at the bottom of the Swap, Sell Here page.

I remember when I was a young girl, I wanted to start my own garden on our property, so my mother allowed me to try to grow in a plot along the side of our house. I remember getting a few plants to grow, but not with the same skill as my mothers gardens. I was pretty much left to learn on my own by asking questions, reading, no one did the work for me. At that time there wasn’t the emphasis that there is now on organic gardening, or using organic gardening products in the garden. In fact, when I was raising my children, there was some awareness of this, but not with the same passion that we see today.

Do you garden with your children? Do you have a site about gardening with children? Please share in a comment. When thinking about organic gardening products, and how important it is to teach children to garden organically for the health of the earth, as well as our own health in the case of vegetable gardening, I was looking at some products at saferbrand.com and liked all the basic products that I saw for killing weeds, as well as organic bug control in the garden or around the home. I but also found the site educational, explaining the difference between natural -v- organic, providing mulching information, and more.

Here is a video that I hope you’ll enjoy:

Project Orange Thumb grant is a program that encourages and provides the resources for this type of activity by offering tools and funding to start new projects similar to the ones I have shared, or to improve and enhance community gardening projects that are already established.

Please visit the Project Orange Thumb grant link, read all the details, and apply. Pass this information along to gardening friends in your community. Think of your garden clubs, groups like the ones I mentioned above, school grounds (a great educational opportunity in horticulture), parks, land that is unused but has potential to be something beautiful, there are many ideas…look around you and the town or city where you live. The application deadline is February 17, 2009.

Grand recipients will receive $1000 in green goods and $1500 in Fiskars gardening tools.

For six years, Fiskars’ Project Orange ThumbSM has provided over 100 community groups with over $300,000 to create and develop their own special community gardens.

I’m a member of a nice new group called “Gals Go Green” an a while back someone posted a great pesticide recipe. I can’t use it until Spring, but those of you that are in climates where you can garden may like to try this:

All- purpose insect pest spray
(Organic Gardening, 1996)

1 tsp powdered red hot pepper
1 garlic bulb
1 small onion
1 liter of water
1 tbsp of soap
Knife
Strainer
Chop onion and garlic. Add powdered red pepper.
Mix the above ingredients into the water.
Soak for 1 hour. Strain. Add soap. Stir well.
Fill the sprayer. Spray plants thoroughly.
Repeat spraying when necessary.

Posted by
http://www.ritasweetsoaps.com/home.html