Grow your own Strawberries

Interested in growing some of your own organic fruit this year?
Strawberries are a great way to go! They can be enjoyed fresh, frozen, in pies, jams, sauces, breads, and desserts! They are easy to grow, require little care, and are a perennial plant that will give you extended years of harvest.

This week I was able to find a great price on "Sequoia" Strawberry plants at my local Meijer store. They were only $5.99 for a flat of 6 plants. I bought 3 flats.
Sequoia are the most popular and common strawberry variety grown in the home garden. They are a June bearing variety. I also already had 8 "Quinalt" strawberry plants; which are an ever-bearing variety.

I am hoping for a large harvest of strawberries!

Yeah! Spring is coming!

I am so excited that Spring is just around the corner! Why? Because gardening season will soon begin! I love flower gardening & vegetable gardening! I was so excited this week to see leaf buds all over my various rose bushes! I can't wait to see their blooms and smell their wonderful fragrance! The beauty of all of God's creations never ceases to amaze me each Spring and Summer!


Soon I will once again get to journal my gardening adventures! You can join me at: Northern Indiana Backyard Gardening!


"For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isaiah 61:11

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!

Bugs, bugs, bugs. For those of you, who like myself, love gardening those words just made you cringe! Bugs can be a real pain to us gardeners can't they?
I will never forget how excited I was the first time I planted honeydew seeds: I saw them begin to sprout. I saw the flowers bud & bloom. I anxiously watched as cute little melons formed and began to grow! However my excitement ended quickly when something occurred that I was not prepared for; squash bugs! They quickly appeared, multiplied, and completely wiped out all my honeydew plants before I even knew what those ugly things were! Uggh!

So what can we do to prevent garden pests or be rid of them once they have arrived? Most people just go to the local gardening store and pick up the most popular or best priced bug spray. But, if you care enough to grow your own food shouldn't you also care about what you are spraying on that food?
I am an organic gardener. If I ever need to spray anything on my garden plants I will only use an organic pest control. To me spraying dangerous chemicals on something that you are going to eat just doesn't make any amount of sense.

A new product that seems to get high reviews is Safer® Brand Bug Patrol. It is a ready to spray concentrate that is an OMRI listed® organic product. This new organic bug patrol kills over 40 insects in the garden including both hard bodied and soft bodied insects.

If you are getting ready for a new gardening season you might want to try out this new, organic product!



Posted 3/26/09

The first online Book rental program - save gas & trees.

If you love to read the following might be perfect for you!

BookSwim is the first online book rental library service! They lend you paperbacks and hardcover books directly to your home. They have new releases, bestsellers, and classics. You request and borrow the books you want for as long as you want with no late fees! You can even choose to purchase and keep the books you and your children love! Unlimited rentals & no shipping fees either way. Rental plans start at $9.95 for the first month.

Green reasons to check out BookSwim:
"Twenty million trees are cut down every year for American book production. BookSwim encourages book rental, rather than purchasing new books, in part because it helps reduce that staggering figure. Additionally, the bags BookSwim uses to ship books to and from our subscribers are made from 100% recycled plastic.
Finally, by receiving books by mail, rather than constantly driving to and from the bookstore or library, BookSwim helps Americans save quite literally millions of gallons of gas every year. BookSwim knows that it's both good business and good conscience to take care of the Earth, so we go a step further - for every gift card we sell, we plant a tree through a partnership with EcoLibris.net."

Friday's Feature - VitaCost ~ great prices on natural products!

When searching for some good prices on natural bath & beauty products I was happy to come across Vitacost.com! I often find the best prices for my online purchases through Amazon however, I discovered that when it came to natural bath & beauty products VitaCost has them beat! See comparison prices listed below!
Lucky Vitamin.com did come very close in their prices on some of the products I was looking at however, VitaCost beat them out with their same day/$4.99 shipping rate!

Price Comparisons:

Avalon Lavender Facial Cleansing Gel:
VitaCost $7.12 Amazon.com $11.00

Mill Creek Biotin Shampoo:
VitaCost $3.89 Amazon $5.32

Avalon Organics Lavender Daily Moistuizer 2 oz:
VitaCost $10.37 Amazon $12 - $15.00

Dr. Bronner's Almond Bar Soap 5 oz:
VitaCost $2.39 Amazon $2.80 - $3.07

About VitaCost:
VitaCost has wholesale prices on natural bath & beauty products, vitamins, supplements and other over-the-counter products. Most of the products are sold at 33%to 75% less than what you would pay at retail level. Vitacost also has a 30 day money back guarantee.
Click here to start shopping: http://www.vitacost.com