The Home Blog

Share Your Yard, Learn New Ideas

YardShare.com is a new website with the goal of changing the way homeowners search for and share their yards. Looking for that cool back yard weekend project, but don't know where to start? YardShare is a great launching point. By the same token if you have a project you've just completed that you want to share, take a few pictures and write it up.

Each project has a Question and Answer section where you can ask questions of the project owner and share tips. My first suggestion for YardShare is to install a search by region. That Xeriscape in Las Vegas may be nice, but it's not much help for me here in Orlando. (Read)

Garden Blog Review: This Garden is Illegal

This Garden is Illegal is a look at the world of gardening and plants through rose colored and often humorous glasses. Covering the gamut from improbably named “Garden & Gun” magazine, to tomato tastings, to the science of why trees lose their leaves, the blog is accessible by both those who do garden, and those who just think that their fellow gardeners are a little insane.

The author, Hanna Rhoades, is not afraid to tackle current events issues, ponder the joys of gardening and what makes her continue to garden, and offer some of her knowledge of gardening for public consumption. But she does it with a light, humorous touch. She can expound on why she’s growing trees in her kitchen without being bombastic. She also has a few comments to the environmentalists about the importance of being nice, and to a few words on Wal-Mart, and why she no longer shops there.

While primarily a gardening blog, this one runs the gamut of issues that keeps this from being a calendar of why plants did or did not grow this year. And ultimately that’s what makes the blog worth reading and so very accessible. If you’re looking for a friendly garden blog, then This Garden is Illegal is the right place for you. (Read)

You Grow Girl, Gardening for "Black Thumbs" of the world

YouGrowGirl.Com, a web blog founded by Gayla Trail, focuses on nature and the people who interact with it. "The goal is to find a direct connection to the modern gardener", states Trail. Updated weekly, the blog usually focuses on tips and tricks as well as relevant experiences in the gardening world.

Numerous individuals, especially women, flock to this site to hear the latest news regarding gardening and the functions associated with it. One day a post may relate to cacti while the next will be tips on planting garlic with a weather appropriate setting. One post even reflects common myths and truths to adequate watering for tall grasses. Currently, the web blog is selling a calendar to generate funds to continue its mission in bridging the connection between the modern world and plants. With beautiful and inspirational pages, the calendar is a sure bet to please the blog's numerous followers.

Most users find that YouGrowGirl is an excellent choice for web viewing due to the deep thoughts and reflections on nature, the excellent photography, and the professionalism which is brought from Trail, who truly embraces all in developing nature and gardening in anyone who wants to give it a genuine shot. It seems that to the internet world, YouGrowGirl is a blessing from mother earth. (Link)

In-Home Garden, the perfect Christmas Gift

Ever wanted to have fresh vegetables and herbs even when there is a foot of snow in your backyard? Do you live in an apartment or condo with no space to grow a garden on the balcony? Then give the AeroGarden®, the world's first indoor smart garden, a look.

It's so easy to use that anyone, with or without gardening experience can grow lush, beautiful gardens right in your home! The computerized AeroGarden® tells you when to add water and nutrients. The built-in micro-processor automatically adjusts nutrient delivery and water flow and turns grow lights on and off to simulate the sun.

Right now you can try AeroGarden® FREE for 36 Days! Enough time to see the fruits of your labor in a salad or meal. If you've seen it on TV then you know what an amazing product this could be for yourself or as a gift for someone you love.

Grow your own Mother Earth’s Garden

Mother Earth’s Garden ( www.motherearthsgarden.com ) is a gardening blog started by Australian journalist Margaret Simons. It advertises itself as being about ”gardening, composting and growing”, and it is.

Since its beginning in December 2006, it has been consistently updated several times a week. The posts contain both practical advice and more abstract musings on the what it means to garden. If Simons didn’t write well the latter would not work, but she can, so it does. Typical headlines include ”Too much seed” and ”How I became a gardener”.

In March 2007 Rebecca Lehman of Ohio, USA took over the reins, and with posts like ”Uses for vinegar in the garden”, ”Prepare for Earth Day!” and ”Impatience”, she continues in the same vein. Lehman is unfortunate in that she does not actually own land, a clear handicap for any dedicated gardener, but one that she seems to overcome. She does, however, own a camera, and uses it to good ends.

The design is a clean green, and the website’s response time was fairly quickr. Of course there are ads, but they are clearly separated from the text. The comments are all free of spam, unfortunately actual comments are very rare as well. In sum, this is a blog aimed at amateurs who enjoy gardening for its own sake, as well as for people who simply like to read about it.

Unfortunately, it looks like Rebecca has just decided to move on. She did leave a lot of helpful posts in the archives, but hopefully someone will step in and continue this nice gardening blog.

Guerilla Gardening

Given just a little time nature takes over everything here in Central Florida. No abandoned plot of land is safe. We even have highway medians designated as wild flower havens where mowing is forbidden. Abandoned dead patches become a jungle of growth. But if you live in an Urban Jungle, you might have to go out of your way to find some patches of nature.

One group in London was not content in letting some un-nurtured areas of the city exist in their denuded state. So they took it upon themselves to add some green to the gray. The results have not gone un-noticed either. Calling themselves Guerilla Gardeners, they track their progress and the responses too it in a blog.

The origins of this movement can be traced to a 1970s era group in NYC.

Fireflies in your garden?

Cross posted from The Disney Blog:

If you've ever ridden Disneyland's Pirates of the Carribean attraction then you've probably dreamed of having a set of magical fireflies in your own garden. There has been the replica set recreated by an ex-imagineer as a home project. Now there is a commercially produced version that attempts to better recreate the actual Firefly experience (warning: auto-flash with sound and no 'stop' button). (via Inhabitat)

Blogs are like Gardens

We're currently renting a house while waiting for the housing market to stop its greenspanean 'frothing'. The thought of tending a garden only to give it up in a few months is unsettling, therefore I'm having to live vicariously through assorted gardening blogs (which is easier to do since the proliferation of digital cameras). If you're like me and have no garden of your own, here are a few to get you in the mood:

Bookish Gardener: Gardening Books, Plants, and Lists. Good writing too.

Tangled Branches: The ins and outs of maintaining a community garden plot.

An Eclectic Garden: An Ashland Oregon gardener with some wonderful photos.

ReadMud Garden: A gardening grandmother from Canada with excellent writing to boot.

Horticultural: A look at Organic Gardening. Very inspiring.

If you have a garden blog that you'd like me to check out, please drop me a note. I'm especially looking for blogs about Florida Gardens.

[Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, green, organic, home, homeblog]

Landscaping Organically

What would summer be like without the whine of mosquitoes, ants at your picnic, and the chirp of that one displaced cricket under your bed? To some people, it would be heaven. But picture the same summer without butterflies, honeybees, and lightning bugs. Now you’ve fallen far from paradise.

Conscious Choice has a column this month on managing your garden without Chemical Pesticides. I love idea of using ladybugs instead of sprays. I know Disney tries to do that at their Animal Kingdom Themepark and some of their hotels.

Fake or Faux Rock

If you're a big fan of Disney themeparks, like I am, then you'll be happy to have found this supplier for making faux or fake rocks for your own projects. I particularly like the fossil stamps. Great for making that back deck of concrete into something really fun.