Up to 90% of new gardeners give up because of these common gardening mistakes. Here are ways to avoid them, and to successfully grow your own food When I started up my plot at our allotment site it was a grassy field with baling twine outlining plots. Everyone was a beginner and the enthusiasm was thick in the air. It had taken hard work and determination to get the site going and everyone was excited to finally start. That first year the grass was turfed away from many of the plots and ... Read More about Don’t make these 15 Common Garden Mistakes
Ideas from Lovely Greens
20 Winter Vegetable Garden Projects for January and February
These twenty winter vegetable garden tasks will keep you busy in the colder months and prepare the garden for the year ahead We’re deep into winter, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stay inside, twiddling our green thumbs. There’s plenty to do to prepare for the vegetable gardening year ahead. Building hardscaping, planning what to grow, and where, and getting organized. There are even seeds that benefit from being sown now, under the warmth of grow lights. Use this list of winter ... Read More about 20 Winter Vegetable Garden Projects for January and February
Woad Soap Recipe: Naturally coloring soap blue
Use this woad soap recipe to make natural blue soap with specks of darker blue throughout. Part of the naturally coloring handmade soap series. There’s nothing quite like growing a plant, nurturing it through its life, then finally using it in the kitchen or creative pursuit. A full circle of growing, harvesting, making, and finally using that has as much to do with the plate as with the soap draining dish. As you can guess, my main interest, aside from kitchen gardening, is making natural ... Read More about Woad Soap Recipe: Naturally coloring soap blue
30+ Natural Lotion & Skincare Recipes
Basic lotions, rich creams, and healing balms. Make these natural lotions and skincare recipes using plant-based oils, fragrance, and wax. Imagine walking into the beauty section of your favorite department store. Pots of beautifully packaged creams line the shelves with prices that seem disproportionately large to their sizes. Perhaps you wouldn't bat a lash at them -- the expense is normal. You might change your mind when you learn that the cost of making lotions and creams is really just ... Read More about 30+ Natural Lotion & Skincare Recipes
How to grow Oca, a South American root vegetable (New Zealand Yam)
How to grow oca, a low-fuss root vegetable from South America. This lost crop of the Incas grows edible leaves and up to fifty tubers each. Get a head start growing what I think will become a kitchen garden staple in years to come. The first time I’d heard of oca (Oxalis tuberosa) was five years ago when they were still relatively new to Britain. Also called New Zealand yams, oca is a South American root vegetable that is grown as a major crop in the Andes. It's even said to pre-date the Incan ... Read More about How to grow Oca, a South American root vegetable (New Zealand Yam)
