Weather The Storm

After spending many years working for a large corporation, I decided to quit and start my own business. It was wonderful in the beginning. I could wake up when I wanted to, I did not have to make the long commute to the office, and I could choose which days I wanted to work. After awhile, though, I started to notice I was very stressed, and that I had put on a few too many pounds. It was no big deal, I told myself, I would find time to work out when my business was stable.

Well, in two years I managed to gain fifty pounds. Instead of making time to work out, I poured all my energy into my business. The business was doing great, but I was falling apart. Instead of making my own schedule, my schedule was controlling me. I was fat, stressed, tired and running out of motivation to stay in business. I knew it was time to do something drastic.

As a last-ditch effort to turn things around, I made the decision to join a gym. I figured the gym contract and expense of the whole thing would guilt me into never missing a workout. It would force me to follow through.

Then, one very stressful day, I made a cup of coffee and went to the back porch to try and settle down. It was a bright and sunny day, and this made me even more frustrated. I started a lot of very negative talk about how my own business was no good if my life was a total mess. I never even got to be outside anymore! To distract myself, I picked up a book from the side table. It was a gardening book.

I had always loved everything about the idea of gardening and had always wanted to start a big one of my own. I could picture myself plunging my hands into the warm soil, watching the little seeds come up, getting to harvest my own fresh vegetables. For years I collected gardening books and articles, reading them and stacking them up for the one day I would finally be able to do it.

That’s when it hit me. Why force myself to go to the gym when I could get a workout doing something I always wanted to do? All that money I was about to spend to motivate myself with guilt could be used instead to by garden supplies. I could motivate myself with something rewarding! No treadmills or bikes, no ugly rooms filled with other sweaty, stressed people. At that moment I realized I a garden could help me live longer and also be happier.

I put in my garden. And although I will not be getting into a pair of skinny jeans any time soon, I did lose some weight. More importantly though, I was able to realize a dream and also found a great way to deal with the stresses of my business. There is nothing I find more relaxing than going out to the garden. On a busy day I find it easy to go outside for a while and do a couple gardening chores, just enough to recharge my batteries. I have even gotten to the point where I grab a gardening magazine instead of a snack! My garden helped me realize that health is not just about weight. It’s about happiness.

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If you are interested in building a homemade hydroponics system, you should be aware of that such task is quite simple and inexpensive. Of course there are numerous myths involving building a homemade hydroponics system, but you can merely achieve this job by utilising some of the material found at house. The crucial decision when you build a homemade hydroponics system is about its type. There are various types of homemade hydroponics systems that you can build at house. The selection should be based on your lifestyle, budget, and wishing.

When it comes popularity, most people tend to build  ebb and flow  type of homemade hydroponics system. There are numerous advantages of  ebb and flow  systems; inexpensive, easy to build, low maintenance, and many variants of plants can be planted. This system is also called  flood and drain  hydroponics system, as in this system, the plant tray is periodically flooded with the water that holds the nourishment. Once the flooding is over, the solution drains back to its primary reservoir and this solution is recycled until it expires.

When you are to buy the equipments for building a homemade hydroponics system, there are two ways of doing that. First is to purchase everything on-line or from the nearest gardening shop. In this method, you have to buy everything required for a homemade hydroponics system and it is a pricey business. To build a homemade hydroponics system, you can use the household items in the second approach. Of course you may have to purchase a few things from a hardware store, but such things are not pricey material.

Among the demands for a homemade hydroponics system, strong lighting or synthetic lighting (such as glow lighting) are necessary. When it comes to building a system, growing medium wants to be picked with a great care. You can merely use clay pebbles or coconut fiber for this task. There should be a strong flat tray for holding your plants and the growing medium. To act as a reservoir for nutrition solution, there can be a big container that can be kept somewhere in a corner.

The irrigation system should be supported by tubes and these tubes are used for transporting the nutrition solution from reservoir to the plant tray. One of the most important parts of the whole homemade hydroponics system is the pump and the timer. The pump should be competent enough to pump the solution to the plants and is should be connected with an electronic timer where the pump can be switch on periodically.

Another option that you can use in your homemade hydroponics system is a pond pump. A pond pump is a great item for both saving money and being more environmentally friendly for your hydroponics gardening. For further information about this pond pump, you can check out the special website on fish pond pumps where you can get the best solar pond pump choices and related information.

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You could go by the local home improvement, nursery or greenhouse to buy your herbs. You can also start your own plants from seeds. Those two are all fine and well, but a third method, called propagation is cheaper than purchasing your plants or starting them from seeds.

Propagation is simply finding a friend or neighbor who already has plants and then taking either part of their plant through division or by taking a cutting of their herb and growing roots for before planting it.

Division works just like it sounds: you take an existing plant and divide it into smaller herbs.. Some herbs are easier than others to divide, like chives and sage. Use your shovel to separate the plant all the way down through the roots. Some spreading plants, like English chamomile, are not as hard as others.

You don’t need to use a shovel; you can take a couple of regular forks and use them and your hands to divide the herb. If you water the herb the day before, the soil will be nice and moist and ready for division. Once you get back home with your new herb, treat it just like you would a plant you get at the store.

Another thing that is different is that you are going to want to fertilize the new little herb when you put it into the ground. I’d also recommend that you use a root stimulator to aid in supporting those tender roots that will need to grow to support the divided herb.

If you are not terribly happy about messing your hands up, you can make a cutting of the existing plant instead. The bad part is that you may have to wait a while before you have an herb you can plant in the ground or in a pot. Not all herbs respond very well to cuttings, so do your research before you get out your garden shears.

The best plants for cuttings are the immature plants instead of mature, more established plants, because they can be woody.  But like I always hear; make do with what you have. When taking a cutting, follow these guidelines:

• Look for a branch that has at least 3 leaves and then cut it off at the stem and remove the leaves

• Now here’s where I am different from other folks: they suggest that you only dip the stem into a root stimulator while I suggest that you soak the stem overnight in a diluted mixture of root stimulator and water.

• One way or the other, once you do that you’ll want to then poke the stem down into your moistened, rich soil. Be sure to cover up the branch (which is now the stem) and all the places where you plucked off the leaves.

• After a few days, add some more water. This will keep the stem moist. But you do not want to drown it. Give your cutting 4 weeks to start growing its new leaves.

Some of my favorite herbs to start from cuttings include: rosemary, salvias, scented geranium, vervain and white willow.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more Herb Garden Information.  Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens. 

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Do you have a wife or girlfriend? Do the two of you live together? Do you want to make her feel special and show you care but want to save money? If so, planting a garden is an option to consider.

Do not do anything by yourself at first, get a gardening book so you will know how to do things properly and what things to expect. They do not typically cost much and small handbooks and mini guides are even cheaper. They are available at most home, tool, grocery, outdoor, and super stores.

Even if she wants a rhodium plated ring, you can please her with the surprise of flowers. They will not be the run of the mill store bought kind, but instead special ones in all different colors and types. Does she have a favorite flower? If so, plant lots of them so when she steps outside and sees them, she will feel special.

Roses are among the most popular choice. It is simple and quite easy to find seeds of any and all colors that she will adore. Options like traditional red, white, yellow, purple, and pink are available. They can grow in several sizes from big rose bushes to small ones. The size of your lot will help you figure out which size variety is perfect for you and her.

Look at each location to find the best place to start planting all the things. Remember to find the areas that do and do not get sunlight. Areas that get a lot of light produce more, while shaded areas do not. Plants use the sun as a food source so location is very important and needs to be thought about.

If she is a lover of designer shoes, but they are too expensive, why not buy an inexpensive pair of leather brown boots? The reason in not for style, but for durability. Tell her you got them so the two of you can be outside together so gardening becomes an activity for the two of you. It is a great way to spend some quality time with one another.

So if money is an issue and you want to construct something special for her and make her feel surprised, a garden in an option. It is inexpensive depending on the variety of things you wish to plant. Flowers and grass are great options and cost next to nothing.

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I recall my first taste of cilantro. It was at a small taqueria in Boston, one of those restaturants where they have all these fresh ingredients and they build the whole thing before your eyes. When they asked if I wanted it on my burrito, I had to taste it first. It was amazing. When I got home I tried my hand at making a cilantro pesto and I was forever hooked.

The cilantro herb, which can grow up to 3 feet tall, has been gaining in popularity for a long time in Tex-Mex cuisine. If you take a quick glance at cilantro you might belive that it is parsley, but its sweet and musky flavor can verify it is certainly unlike any parsley I know of. Cilantro is the name of the leaves, which has awesome pale pink flowers, but the plant that comes from the seeds is called as coriander.

You can start your cilantro plant from seeds or buy it from your local nursery, greenhouse or home improvement store. As an annual, you’ll want to begin each year with fresh plants. I begin mine in pots inside on my kitchen windowsill when there is still frost on the ground, and it usually takes about 7 to 10 days for the seeds to grow.

Cilantro plants thrive on moist, rich dirt, so it is best to cultivate them in a raised bed after the weather gets sunny. If you live in a hot climate, be sure to provide some shade for your cilantro. Be warned, too much sun or too much heat will make your cilantro go bitter.

About nine weeks or so after you plant the cilantro, you can have herbs with pretty lavender, white or pale pink blossoms. You can certainly wait until the weather gets warmer and then plant your cilantro right in the ground. With clear skies, warm temperatures and a little rain you will have cilantro sprouts in about two weeks.

For the strongest tastes, use your fresh cilantro in your summer meals. Just clip off a few leaves and add the whole thing to your dish or chop it up and sprinkle on your tacos or Mexican chicken.

You can also dry your cilantro and use it later for fall, winter and spring meals. Try to cut off the foliage just before the herb blooms so that the leaves can have a heavy concentration of oils. Use a drying rack for great outcomes. Remember that you will need more of the dried cilantro than you will the fresh because the flavor will not be as concentrated.

The best method to harvest the coriander seed is by hanging it upside down in a paper bag to dry. Roll the seeds between your hands to discharge the seed from the pod. Then you’ll want to freeze the seeds for a minimum of 48 hours and then keep them in a cool, dark place.

Because it is one of the curry spices, you can use the crushed coriander seeds as a powder in baking, stews, soups and casseroles.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Herb Garden Plants. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.

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