BLOGGER CONTEST—- ENTRY FOR WORDPRESS VIDEO CONTEST. THEME: “what i am thankful for. 30 second max. video blog.”
Remember Pink Flamingos? November 29, 2009
If you’re in the baby boomer generation then you do remember Pink Flamingo’s which were very popular from the 1950′s to the 1970′s. If you’re in the YouTube generation then this blog does not apply. Do you love those pink plastic birds or hate them? Do you consider them an eye sore, or do you mentally categorize them in the genre of garden art? Cast your votes! Maybe it is a case of bad taste being acceptable now. For those of us with a flair for nostalgia these pink flamingos can stir up a happy memory of grandma’s front yard.
I remember growing up in Arizona and seeing these pink flamingo’s dotted on front lawns much like today’s garden gnomes, which by the way give me the creeps. I do like these pink flamingo’s photographed in an artsy little backyard garden I encountered over the weekend. I thought this photograph of flamingos with the green succulent in the foreground would make a nice Garden Design Blog today!
FYI- Thinking of that perfect gift for that special someone this holiday season? Pink Flamingos are still easy to find online for about $10.00 per bird. I confess to ordering a few today, but I promised my family I would keep them off the front lawn.
Thank you for visiting my garden blog: www.nadiaknows.com
Create – Inspire – Grow
HAPPY THANKSGIVING November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
The temperature in San Diego, CA today is in the 70′s. The surf has been good too. It’s been the perfect week for gardening and hanging out with my bearded dragons and dogs in the backyard.
Today is Thanksgiving and it will be hot in the kitchen. I’m hosting a nice sized crowd today and using a lot of fresh herbs from my garden for the stuffing, fresh picked lettuce for the salad and rosemary for the bread. It’s days like today when I have a lot of different dishes to prepare that I am thankful for my garden and enjoy sharing it with my family and friends.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American Essayist
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
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Thanksgiving is a great day to reflect and be thankful for all of the blessings in our lives.
Wishing you a wonderful and blessed day!
Nadia
The White House Garden vs. Nadia’s Garden November 24, 2009
Today, I was curious about the White House Vegetable and Herb garden and wondered what is growing there, so I did an internet search to get some information. What I found was the planting sketch from March 2009, the beginning design. It’s quite impressive in variety and size, even with companion planting evident throughout the gardens. I’m feeling a little ambitious, and possibly a bit competitive, to keep up with the Obamas now that they have taken up my favorite pastime. This is Michelle Obama’s first vegetable garden and it’s no surprise that it was designed to be completely organic. Maybe we will see a photo of her donning gardening gloves and pulling up weeds like the rest of us.
I took a tally of all the plants from the White House Garden Map along with calculating what is now growing in my garden. I have to admit that I got a surge of inspiration to add radishes, marigold and onion to my garden this month which I had not thought of until looking at the “South Lawn” map. Although the White House Gardens will be showing off their rhubarb, shell peas, chard, kale and collards, these veggies didn’t inspire me enough to want to plant them in mine. My garden herbs are missing marjoram, chamomile and hyssops in comparison to the The White House garden. This brings us to a total plant variety count of minus – 8 for Nadia. If I take into consideration the plants I have in my garden that the First Lady does not have in hers such as lavender, strawberries, and bok-choy, then it brings the variety count down to minus -5!
So, there we have it : Nadia vs. The White House Gardens.
Nadia with much fewer plants because of space differences, but in terms of plant variety it ends up being a close race. Maybe if I count my fig, lemon, orange and apple trees we could call it a tie.
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Thank you for visiting my garden blog: www.nadiaknows.com Creating- Growing- Having Fun
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Garlic Galore! November 21, 2009
I had another “first experience” gardening this week, I planted garlic. Here is a very quick video to capture the essence of garlic planting. I planted an organically grown garlic clove that I bought at a roadside vegetable stand here in San Diego.
A few facts about garlic:
* Garlic is great for growing in containers.
* November is a good time to plant garlic.
* Co-plant or “companion plant” garlic next to lettuce, cabbage, roses, apple trees, beets and carrots. The garlic will act as an organic pest repellant keeping aphids, root fly and snails away. This is a great way to organically keep your garden as pest free as possible without using harmful chemicals.
* Follow this link for the great health benefits of garlic.
Thank you for visiting my gardening blog: www.nadiaknows.com
Create-Grow-Inspire
Botanical Ice Boquet November 18, 2009
Botanical Ice Holiday Table Display
A great idea for your Holiday Table Setting! It is SO beautiful and unique and you can create it!
Here are some easy instructions:
**Make ahead 2 days before you need it to allow for freezing time.**
1. Recycle a smooth food container (yogurt, milk, pudding, margarine, etc). to use as your mold.
2. Fill it to 75% capacity with water.
3. Add cranberries, hardy boxwood type plants, berries, eucalyptus branches, or any stick type plants. Allow some of the plants to rise several inches above the water line. Use fresh, or dried flowers/plants.
4. Freeze part way, then place a candle on the top of the display such as floating candles, or the little tealite candles.
5. Finish freezing over night. Remove ice bouquets from their plastic containers by dipping for a few seconds in hot water. Find a freezable platter with a rim and float the boquets on a thin layer of water. Add berries to the platter and re-freeze. The platter will catch extra water as it melts. Placing a wash cloth, or fabric underneath to absorb any extra moisture when you set it out for display. Keep in freezer until guests arrive.
Botanical Ice Boquet
Cactus Graffiti November 15, 2009
The only good graffiti is the one you can do in your own backyard! This is a prickly pear cactus pad from one of my backyard opuntia cactus where I carved out an anniversary message to surprise my husband. Carving was easily done with a sharp knife. I covered the entire bottom of the “cactus pad” with root hormone to stimulate new root growth, then placed it in a pot of cactus mix and hid it in a sunny part of the garden. Watering was only needed once per week with a light misting from a spray bottle at the base of the plant. The scarring over the words “I Love You” took about two months to completely heal over, so planning ahead was the key to getting this cactus out on time for today- our anniversary. This was a fun and creative project that will get some interesting comments and second looks out there in our garden.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
happy anniversary cactus
My New Strawberry Patch November 13, 2009
This week I created a container garden strawberry patch! This was my dilemma these past few months… I have run out of garden space in my raised planters for adding new plants, or seeds. I want to grow more than I have room for, so garden design and space creativity are taxing my mind. I also have issues with too much shade in the areas that I do have space. I was very happy this week when I found a way to create more space for a strawberry patch and recycle some old metal containers along with a bench that were being unused. I hammered some holes with a big nail on the bottom of the bins for drainage. My teenager was not happy that I woke him up with all the noise, but once I had the idea in my mind I couldn’t wait to get started. I like how the containers are situated at waist level, then taper down to a clay pot on the ground. Depending on how well these strawberries grow, it looks like there may be some room to add more in the future. The nice thing about container gardening is that the pots can me moved around the garden to maximize sun exposure as the seasons change. As soon as these plants produce their first strawberries I will be posting a macro photo.
Thank you for visiting my garden blog: www.nadiaknows.com Create = Grow = Get Inspired
Strawberry Container Garden Patch
Meandering Mint November 11, 2009
The problem with mint is that it likes to spread…. I learned the hard way! My garden blunder has taught me that mint needs to be contained, not let loose to meander and mingle with other plant friends. Under the soil mint develops quickly into a large mass of tangled root, making clean up very labor intensive. These photos of before and after show my lesson learned. I have heard other gardeners say that mistakes we make in the garden seldom happen twice. This gardening mistake won’t happen again in my garden and hopefully not yours!
Thank you for visiting my garden blog: www.nadiaknows.com
Create-Grow-Inspire
Potted Mint
meandering mint
Seven Apple Cobbler November 9, 2009
I planted this “Anna Semi Dwarf Apple Tree” in my garden a year ago and this month 7 apples were ready to be picked. My kids decided something with a lot of sugar would be the appropriate celebration dessert for harvesting our first bumper crop. That sounds like farm talk doesn’t it?, “we harvested our apples.” I searched online for ideas and I have to confess, I chose a cobbler over a pie because cobblers are easy and fast! It tasted delicious, I only wish I could insert the aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg and baked dough on this blog.
Anna Apples grow great in San Diego County, they are crispy, juicy and sweet. They need full sun and grow to about 10 feet. Did you know that full sun means 6 hours of sun per day? Nice little garden fact for the next get together with your friends!
The blooms on the tree are incredibly beautiful, see this photo link- BLOOM.
This dwarf apple tree can be planted in a very large container. I have a variety of dwarf trees in containers around my backyard.
Thank you for visiting my blog: www.nadiaknows.com
“I know that creating, growing and having fun makes each day an inspiration.”
