Coronavirus! Of all the things we plan for (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc), a coronavirus pandemic was not one of them. But now that cases are increasing outside of China and almost 200 people (as of 2/2020) are being monitored for Coronavirus in our state alone, it’s time to get a little more prepared. Keeping everything in … Continue Reading
Having just finished our first harvest of oyster mushrooms from a kit, we wanted to try growing our own mushroom spawn. And we wanted to first give it a try using materials already on hand, and get our cultures from the oyster mushrooms we had just grown. There are definitely more refined methods of accomplishing … Continue Reading
Toilet Paper This photo was submitted to the North American Mycological Association by Ron Spinosa showing oyster mushrooms growing inside a milk carton using kitty litter as a substrate. Milk Carton This photo was submitted to the North American Mycological Association by Milton Tam showing oyster mushrooms growing inside a milk carton using kitty … Continue Reading
We use several different methods to keep our outdoor potted plants watered depending on where the plant is located and the size of the planter. Making self-watering systems really cuts back on the frequency of manual waterings, and improves the amount of water delivered to each plant. No offense intended to some of the other … Continue Reading
If you are looking for ways to water your houseplants while you are away on vacation, or just looking for a way to streamline watering all your container plants, there are a lot of options to choose from. There are plenty of products you can purchase, and many DIY methods of watering plants as well. … Continue Reading
Given how much we enjoy gardening, it seemed worth it to give a mushroom growing kit a try. We love cooking with mushrooms and if we can manage to grow them in a kit, maybe there’s a chance we could start growing them regularly as a hobby for our own consumption. The kit seemed like … Continue Reading
Keeping plants in the house over the winter always ends up one of two ways in our home; they are either over watered or under watered most of the cold winter season. We can’t ever seem to find a happy balance between indoor humidity levels, and neglect or too much attention. After participating in a … Continue Reading
This should fall under the”Saw a bunch of seeds inside a fruit and figured I’d try to grow some” category, because that’show this project started. After a couple of internet searches, I learned they would sprout on wet paper towels inside a ziplock bag after a month. I scraped out about 50 seeds, cleaned them … Continue Reading
We planted Milkweed late last year after hearing of the Monarch Butterfly decline. This year, the plants were getting bigger and starting to fill out. Bymid-August, the tall plants appeared to be dying. On closer inspection, the stalks and leaves of the plants were covered with thousands of bright orange aphids. But the true cluprit … Continue Reading
Mona Lavender is said to be in the same plant family as Swedish Ivy (notice the purple undersides of the leaves?). I won’t go into how to care for it other than it likes half sun/shade and moderate watering outside, and likes to be ignored inside (I only water when almost dry). I’ve managed to … Continue Reading
The Problem I’ve tried virtually all the seed sprouting tricks posted on Pinterest and elsewhere on the internet. I sprout a lot of seeds, so I wanted to find a quick and efficient process. Since I harvest most of my own seeds, not all of them sprout. I don’t want to start them in soil … Continue Reading